Medicaid
Business & Economics
Facing $22 Trillion National Debt, New PRI Report Shows How “15 Percent Solution” Can Cut Debt, Grow Economy
On the heels of the news that the national debt has surpassed $22 trillion, the Pacific Research Institute today recommended reforms to bring spending under control, reduce the national debt and maximize economic growth in the latest report in its Beyond the New Normal series. “Just last week, as we learned ...
Wayne Winegarden
February 19, 2019
Commentary
Democratic 2020 Hopefuls: All Roads Lead To Single-Payer
The Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls are diverse in all ways but one — their stance on healthcare reform. The front-runners want to eliminate private insurance and put everyone on a government-run plan. But that’s not something they’ve been enthusiastic about revealing to voters. Senator Elizabeth Warren recently refused to say whether she would ...
Sally C. Pipes
February 19, 2019
Business & Economics
Fostering Transparency In The Pharmaceutical Market
In response to the problem of rising list prices for drugs, elected officials continue to propose counterproductive reforms. Whether it is importing drugs from Canada or indexing U.S. drug prices to the prices charged in other countries, these policies will make the current bad situation worse because they fail to ...
Wayne Winegarden
February 12, 2019
Commentary
Arizona Patients Should Welcome Medicaid Work Requirements
Arizona just received the Trump Administration’s go-ahead to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries. Under the policy, able-bodied enrollees between the ages of 19 and 49 will have to spend 80 hours a month working, attending school, or giving back to their community in some way. Arizona will be the eighth state ...
Sally C. Pipes
February 5, 2019
Commentary
To Win The White House, Democrats Will Have To Hide The Truth About Single-Payer
Senator Elizabeth Warren kicked off the 2020 Democratic presidential primary late last month by announcing she’d created an exploratory committee, the first step in any serious presidential campaign. This month, Sen. Kamala Harris followed suit and declared her candidacy. Other contenders — including Sen. Cory Booker, Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas, ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 28, 2019
Commentary
Wasteful Medicaid spending prevents government from fulfilling core responsibilities
Few states can waste public healthcare dollars like California. According to a recent state audit, Medi-Cal — the Golden State’s Medicaid program, which covers about 13 million people — improperly spent more than $4 billion on thousands of ineligible enrollees from 2014 to 2017. At least one of those ineligible enrollees had been dead ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 23, 2019
Commentary
Health spending in US is finally slowing: Here’s why
America’s health bill appears to be moderating, and market forces deserve the credit for this good news. National health expenditures grew more slowly in 2017 than in 2016, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS statistics break down cost increases by category. Private health insurance spending grew ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 23, 2019
Commentary
Partial Medicaid expansion isn’t the solution
Some Trump administration officials, and even President Trump himself, reportedly favor allowing states to partially expand Medicaid, the program for low-income Americans jointly funded by the federal and state governments. Any expansion is a bad idea, for both fiscal and moral reasons. Obamacare enabled states to enroll able-bodied, childless adults ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 18, 2019
California
Governor Newsom’s troubling first act on medications
In one of his first acts, Governor Newsom signed an executive order that will change how medicines are purchased in California. With visions of big-box store discounts dancing in his head, Governor Newsom has established a bulk program that will now purchase drugs for the state’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal). The ...
Wayne Winegarden
January 17, 2019
Commentary
Electronic records are driving doctor burnout
Doctors are being driven daffy by electronic health records, or EHRs. That’s the takeaway from a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Seven in 10 Rhode Island doctors surveyed who used electronic health records said that the technology stressed them out. Those who reported health ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 16, 2019
Facing $22 Trillion National Debt, New PRI Report Shows How “15 Percent Solution” Can Cut Debt, Grow Economy
On the heels of the news that the national debt has surpassed $22 trillion, the Pacific Research Institute today recommended reforms to bring spending under control, reduce the national debt and maximize economic growth in the latest report in its Beyond the New Normal series. “Just last week, as we learned ...
Democratic 2020 Hopefuls: All Roads Lead To Single-Payer
The Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls are diverse in all ways but one — their stance on healthcare reform. The front-runners want to eliminate private insurance and put everyone on a government-run plan. But that’s not something they’ve been enthusiastic about revealing to voters. Senator Elizabeth Warren recently refused to say whether she would ...
Fostering Transparency In The Pharmaceutical Market
In response to the problem of rising list prices for drugs, elected officials continue to propose counterproductive reforms. Whether it is importing drugs from Canada or indexing U.S. drug prices to the prices charged in other countries, these policies will make the current bad situation worse because they fail to ...
Arizona Patients Should Welcome Medicaid Work Requirements
Arizona just received the Trump Administration’s go-ahead to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries. Under the policy, able-bodied enrollees between the ages of 19 and 49 will have to spend 80 hours a month working, attending school, or giving back to their community in some way. Arizona will be the eighth state ...
To Win The White House, Democrats Will Have To Hide The Truth About Single-Payer
Senator Elizabeth Warren kicked off the 2020 Democratic presidential primary late last month by announcing she’d created an exploratory committee, the first step in any serious presidential campaign. This month, Sen. Kamala Harris followed suit and declared her candidacy. Other contenders — including Sen. Cory Booker, Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas, ...
Wasteful Medicaid spending prevents government from fulfilling core responsibilities
Few states can waste public healthcare dollars like California. According to a recent state audit, Medi-Cal — the Golden State’s Medicaid program, which covers about 13 million people — improperly spent more than $4 billion on thousands of ineligible enrollees from 2014 to 2017. At least one of those ineligible enrollees had been dead ...
Health spending in US is finally slowing: Here’s why
America’s health bill appears to be moderating, and market forces deserve the credit for this good news. National health expenditures grew more slowly in 2017 than in 2016, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS statistics break down cost increases by category. Private health insurance spending grew ...
Partial Medicaid expansion isn’t the solution
Some Trump administration officials, and even President Trump himself, reportedly favor allowing states to partially expand Medicaid, the program for low-income Americans jointly funded by the federal and state governments. Any expansion is a bad idea, for both fiscal and moral reasons. Obamacare enabled states to enroll able-bodied, childless adults ...
Governor Newsom’s troubling first act on medications
In one of his first acts, Governor Newsom signed an executive order that will change how medicines are purchased in California. With visions of big-box store discounts dancing in his head, Governor Newsom has established a bulk program that will now purchase drugs for the state’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal). The ...
Electronic records are driving doctor burnout
Doctors are being driven daffy by electronic health records, or EHRs. That’s the takeaway from a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Seven in 10 Rhode Island doctors surveyed who used electronic health records said that the technology stressed them out. Those who reported health ...