Medicaid
Commentary
Biden sets the stage for a radical health care agenda
President Joe Biden recently announced his picks to lead his administration’s approach to health care policy — and moderate they are not. Take his nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra. He served in the House for 12 terms but has no on-the-ground experience in public ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 23, 2021
Commentary
Price Transparency: A Gift To Americans In The New Year
The New Year is starting off with a healthcare victory for American patients. On January 1, a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services went into effect requiring hospitals to publish the prices they negotiate with insurers for various medical procedures. Previously, those prices had been secret. ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 4, 2021
Commentary
Americans are getting a good return on their healthcare spending
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released new data on Dec. 16 on health expenditures. In 2019, overall spending rose 4.6% to reach a total of $3.8 trillion, or 17.7% of the economy. That’s enough to make anyone do a double take. But a deeper look at the data ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 29, 2020
Commentary
Work Requirements Can Preserve Medicaid For Those Who Need It Most
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case early next year that will decide whether states have the power to impose work requirements as a condition of receiving Medicaid benefits. The question before the high court is a legal one. But as a matter of policy, work requirements are a great ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 21, 2020
Commentary
Don’t Lower the Medicare Eligibility Age
President-elect Joe Biden wants Congress to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60. That’s long been a goal of Democrats. But even 7 in 10 Republicans have expressed support for expanding Medicare in the direction Biden has suggested, according to polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Opening up ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 4, 2020
Commentary
Republicans and Democrats missing the point on prescription drug costs
Bashing drug companies, long a bipartisan pastime, reached a fever pitch when President Trump recently announced a new federal rule aimed at slashing the prices Medicare pays for some lifesaving medications. Republicans and Democrats alike are stuck on the idea that the best way to reduce our nation’s health care bill is ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 3, 2020
Commentary
What uninsured crisis?
Roughly 30 million Americans lack health insurance, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office. But there’s more to that 30-million figure than meets the eye. The majority are more or less uninsured by choice. Getting those folks covered can be done for a lot less than the hundreds of ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 19, 2020
Commentary
Biden His Time On Health Care?
It’s all but certain that Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States. Down the ballot, though, Democrats didn’t fare as well. They lost seats in the House. And Republicans appear poised to hold onto the Senate, provided they win at least one of two upcoming runoff ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 9, 2020
Commentary
Make relaxed state-based telehealth restrictions permanent
Imagine you’re traveling from Nashville to Louisville to visit your grandmother. When you’re 15 minutes from her house, you decide to call to let her know you’ll be arriving soon. For some reason, your mobile phone doesn’t connect. So you stop at a payphone to call your wireless phone provider. ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 3, 2020
Commentary
The ‘public option’ will destroy choice
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has made it abundantly clear that he opposes the “Medicare for All” model of health reform favored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Instead, Biden proposes creating a public insurance option that would compete against private insurers on Obamacare’s exchanges. ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 26, 2020
Biden sets the stage for a radical health care agenda
President Joe Biden recently announced his picks to lead his administration’s approach to health care policy — and moderate they are not. Take his nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra. He served in the House for 12 terms but has no on-the-ground experience in public ...
Price Transparency: A Gift To Americans In The New Year
The New Year is starting off with a healthcare victory for American patients. On January 1, a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services went into effect requiring hospitals to publish the prices they negotiate with insurers for various medical procedures. Previously, those prices had been secret. ...
Americans are getting a good return on their healthcare spending
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released new data on Dec. 16 on health expenditures. In 2019, overall spending rose 4.6% to reach a total of $3.8 trillion, or 17.7% of the economy. That’s enough to make anyone do a double take. But a deeper look at the data ...
Work Requirements Can Preserve Medicaid For Those Who Need It Most
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case early next year that will decide whether states have the power to impose work requirements as a condition of receiving Medicaid benefits. The question before the high court is a legal one. But as a matter of policy, work requirements are a great ...
Don’t Lower the Medicare Eligibility Age
President-elect Joe Biden wants Congress to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60. That’s long been a goal of Democrats. But even 7 in 10 Republicans have expressed support for expanding Medicare in the direction Biden has suggested, according to polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Opening up ...
Republicans and Democrats missing the point on prescription drug costs
Bashing drug companies, long a bipartisan pastime, reached a fever pitch when President Trump recently announced a new federal rule aimed at slashing the prices Medicare pays for some lifesaving medications. Republicans and Democrats alike are stuck on the idea that the best way to reduce our nation’s health care bill is ...
What uninsured crisis?
Roughly 30 million Americans lack health insurance, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office. But there’s more to that 30-million figure than meets the eye. The majority are more or less uninsured by choice. Getting those folks covered can be done for a lot less than the hundreds of ...
Biden His Time On Health Care?
It’s all but certain that Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States. Down the ballot, though, Democrats didn’t fare as well. They lost seats in the House. And Republicans appear poised to hold onto the Senate, provided they win at least one of two upcoming runoff ...
Make relaxed state-based telehealth restrictions permanent
Imagine you’re traveling from Nashville to Louisville to visit your grandmother. When you’re 15 minutes from her house, you decide to call to let her know you’ll be arriving soon. For some reason, your mobile phone doesn’t connect. So you stop at a payphone to call your wireless phone provider. ...
The ‘public option’ will destroy choice
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has made it abundantly clear that he opposes the “Medicare for All” model of health reform favored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Instead, Biden proposes creating a public insurance option that would compete against private insurers on Obamacare’s exchanges. ...