Medicare
Commentary
Medicare Advantage is a healthier alternative for seniors than traditional Medicare
The latest federal review of Medicare is out and it says taxpayers are getting a raw deal. The review is from MedPAC— the congressionally chartered review commission that advises lawmakers on the state of Medicare. MedPAC’s mandarins have concluded the government is paying the private insurers who administer Medicare Advantage too much. The seniors ...
Commentary
Attention Seniors — Medicare Isn’t Free
About 10,000 Americans turn 65 each day. Many may soon leave the workforce and claim the Medicare benefits they believe they’re entitled to after paying Medicare taxes for decades in the workforce. But they may be in for a rude awakening. Even after paying tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars ...
Commentary
Medicare is grabbing the power to ration approved drugs
On Thursday, officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Medicare will limit coverage of Aduhelm, the first promising treatment for Alzheimer’s in years, to patients participating in clinical trials. This precedent is devastating. By curtailing broad access to an FDA-approved medicine, Medicare is essentially declaring that ...
Climate Change
Democrats’ Tone-Deafness on Medicare for All Costly
House Democrats haven’t given up on bringing socialized health care to the United States — at least judging from a hearing the Committee on Oversight and Reform held earlier this week. The event was titled “Examining Pathways to Universal Health Coverage.” But for the committee’s Democrats, the only pathway worth considering was a ...
Commentary
Light starts to shine on opaque drug pricing tactics
Late last month, the Federal Trade Commission announced it would seek public comments on the ways pharmacy benefit managers distort the prices of prescription drugs. PBMs deserve the scrutiny, as they’re to blame for much of the rise in prescription drug costs. Insurers hire PBMs to negotiate drug prices with ...
Blog
Why A Public Option Would Not Be Successful
Editor’s Note: Last week, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes participated in a debate on the public option at the annual conference of the National Council of Insurance Legislators conference in Las Vegas. Nevada Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton moderated the debate. ...
Commentary
Put Patients in Charge to Keep Healthcare Spending in Check
New research suggests health insurers could take some negotiating tips from people who pay for health care out of pocket. According to an analysis from HealthCareInsider, hospital costs for patients with insurance are higher than for those who self-pay. That flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Insurers are in the business ...
Commentary
Don’t Dam the Telehealth Flood
To say that Americans are anxiously awaiting the end of the COVID-19 pandemic would be an understatement. But for patients who have enjoyed the ease of attending doctor’s appointments virtually, a return to the way things were pre-pandemic might be bittersweet. That’s because onerous restrictions on telemedicine, which lawmakers relaxed ...
Commentary
High Healthcare Spending Doesn’t Bolster Case for Single-Payer
Does the United States spend too much on healthcare? A look at the lower levels of healthcare spending in peer countries like Canada and the United Kingdom would seem to indicate as much. But a closer look at those numbers reveals a far more complex story. Take the matter of ...
Commentary
Plan to Expand Medi-Cal is a Costly Step Towards Single-Payer
It’s budget season in Sacramento. Governor Gavin Newsom’s spending proposal is the largest in the Golden State’s history. There’s no shortage of expensive and misguided policies in his budget. Chief among them is his push to expand Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to cover all undocumented immigrants. Doing so would ...
Medicare Advantage is a healthier alternative for seniors than traditional Medicare
The latest federal review of Medicare is out and it says taxpayers are getting a raw deal. The review is from MedPAC— the congressionally chartered review commission that advises lawmakers on the state of Medicare. MedPAC’s mandarins have concluded the government is paying the private insurers who administer Medicare Advantage too much. The seniors ...
Attention Seniors — Medicare Isn’t Free
About 10,000 Americans turn 65 each day. Many may soon leave the workforce and claim the Medicare benefits they believe they’re entitled to after paying Medicare taxes for decades in the workforce. But they may be in for a rude awakening. Even after paying tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars ...
Medicare is grabbing the power to ration approved drugs
On Thursday, officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Medicare will limit coverage of Aduhelm, the first promising treatment for Alzheimer’s in years, to patients participating in clinical trials. This precedent is devastating. By curtailing broad access to an FDA-approved medicine, Medicare is essentially declaring that ...
Democrats’ Tone-Deafness on Medicare for All Costly
House Democrats haven’t given up on bringing socialized health care to the United States — at least judging from a hearing the Committee on Oversight and Reform held earlier this week. The event was titled “Examining Pathways to Universal Health Coverage.” But for the committee’s Democrats, the only pathway worth considering was a ...
Light starts to shine on opaque drug pricing tactics
Late last month, the Federal Trade Commission announced it would seek public comments on the ways pharmacy benefit managers distort the prices of prescription drugs. PBMs deserve the scrutiny, as they’re to blame for much of the rise in prescription drug costs. Insurers hire PBMs to negotiate drug prices with ...
Why A Public Option Would Not Be Successful
Editor’s Note: Last week, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes participated in a debate on the public option at the annual conference of the National Council of Insurance Legislators conference in Las Vegas. Nevada Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton moderated the debate. ...
Put Patients in Charge to Keep Healthcare Spending in Check
New research suggests health insurers could take some negotiating tips from people who pay for health care out of pocket. According to an analysis from HealthCareInsider, hospital costs for patients with insurance are higher than for those who self-pay. That flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Insurers are in the business ...
Don’t Dam the Telehealth Flood
To say that Americans are anxiously awaiting the end of the COVID-19 pandemic would be an understatement. But for patients who have enjoyed the ease of attending doctor’s appointments virtually, a return to the way things were pre-pandemic might be bittersweet. That’s because onerous restrictions on telemedicine, which lawmakers relaxed ...
High Healthcare Spending Doesn’t Bolster Case for Single-Payer
Does the United States spend too much on healthcare? A look at the lower levels of healthcare spending in peer countries like Canada and the United Kingdom would seem to indicate as much. But a closer look at those numbers reveals a far more complex story. Take the matter of ...
Plan to Expand Medi-Cal is a Costly Step Towards Single-Payer
It’s budget season in Sacramento. Governor Gavin Newsom’s spending proposal is the largest in the Golden State’s history. There’s no shortage of expensive and misguided policies in his budget. Chief among them is his push to expand Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to cover all undocumented immigrants. Doing so would ...
