Medicare
Commentary
No, Socialized Medicine Won’t Expand Life Expectancy
U.S. life expectancy has declined by nearly three years since 2019, according to data out this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average person can expect to live 76 years. The COVID-19 pandemic is largely to blame for this regrettable trend. But many progressives believe the U.S. healthcare ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 2, 2022
Commentary
VA issues illustrate pitfalls of government health care
In the fall of 2020, a patient in Augusta, Georgia, went to the local Veterans Affairs medical center for a minimally invasive urologic surgery, according to a new report from the VA’s Office of Inspector General. Less than two weeks later, the OIG reports, he was dead. The Inspector General ...
Sally C. Pipes
August 15, 2022
Commentary
A Birthday Wish For Medicare And Medicaid: Less Waste And Better Care
This Saturday, July 30, marked 57 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law as part of his “Great Society.” For almost six decades, the healthcare entitlements have grown increasingly costly and expansive while delivering subpar care to beneficiaries. Consider Medicare, the health plan for Americans 65 and ...
Sally C. Pipes
August 1, 2022
Commentary
Nothing Curative About Dems Inflation, Higher Taxes and Prices
Congressional Democrats are one step closer to passing their trillion-dollar “Build Back Better” spending package. On July 6 U.S. Senate leaders hashed out a key proposal that would allow Medicare to “negotiate” with pharmaceutical companies over prescription drug prices. The effort is part of Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s, D- N.Y., drive ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 7, 2022
Commentary
A look under the hood of ‘Medicare for All’
“Medicare for All” is back. For the fifth time in the last decade-plus, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced legislation that would launch a government takeover of the U.S. health insurance system. “Health care is a human right, not a privilege,” he insisted from the Senate floor May 12. But Americans also ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 10, 2022
Commentary
Single-Payer ‘Medicare for All’ Would Inflate Americans’ Healthcare Bills
Inflation is ripping through every sector of the U.S. economy. But there’s one curious exception: healthcare. The cost of medical care is up 3.5% in the last year. The overall inflation rate, by contrast, is nearly two-and-a-half times higher — 8.3%. So why are Sen. Bernie Sanders and 14 of ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 7, 2022
Commentary
Let’s Not Be So Quick to Lower Medicare Eligibility Age
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office takes a close look at one of the most wasteful and unnecessary healthcare proposals on the Democratic agenda — reducing Medicare’s eligibility age to 60. Joe Biden endorsed the idea as a candidate for president. But it’s never made much sense. Medicare’s Part A hospital insurance ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 6, 2022
Commentary
Sanders’ Newest Medicare Pitch Reaches New Dishonesty Highs
Earlier this month, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., re-introduced a bill that would establish Medicare for All. It’s at least the fifth time over the last decade he’s tried to advance legislation that would abolish private health insurance and replace it with a single government health plan. His new bill is the ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 31, 2022
Commentary
Lowering the Medicare eligibility age would be an expensive mistake
During his campaign for the White House, Joe Biden promised he would lower Medicare’s eligibility age from 65 to 60. Democratic lawmakers have taken up the cause but have thus far failed to advance major Medicare reform through Congress. That’s a good thing. To understand why, consider a report published this month by the Congressional ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 30, 2022
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 21, 2022
No, Socialized Medicine Won’t Expand Life Expectancy
U.S. life expectancy has declined by nearly three years since 2019, according to data out this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average person can expect to live 76 years. The COVID-19 pandemic is largely to blame for this regrettable trend. But many progressives believe the U.S. healthcare ...
VA issues illustrate pitfalls of government health care
In the fall of 2020, a patient in Augusta, Georgia, went to the local Veterans Affairs medical center for a minimally invasive urologic surgery, according to a new report from the VA’s Office of Inspector General. Less than two weeks later, the OIG reports, he was dead. The Inspector General ...
A Birthday Wish For Medicare And Medicaid: Less Waste And Better Care
This Saturday, July 30, marked 57 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law as part of his “Great Society.” For almost six decades, the healthcare entitlements have grown increasingly costly and expansive while delivering subpar care to beneficiaries. Consider Medicare, the health plan for Americans 65 and ...
Nothing Curative About Dems Inflation, Higher Taxes and Prices
Congressional Democrats are one step closer to passing their trillion-dollar “Build Back Better” spending package. On July 6 U.S. Senate leaders hashed out a key proposal that would allow Medicare to “negotiate” with pharmaceutical companies over prescription drug prices. The effort is part of Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s, D- N.Y., drive ...
A look under the hood of ‘Medicare for All’
“Medicare for All” is back. For the fifth time in the last decade-plus, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced legislation that would launch a government takeover of the U.S. health insurance system. “Health care is a human right, not a privilege,” he insisted from the Senate floor May 12. But Americans also ...
Single-Payer ‘Medicare for All’ Would Inflate Americans’ Healthcare Bills
Inflation is ripping through every sector of the U.S. economy. But there’s one curious exception: healthcare. The cost of medical care is up 3.5% in the last year. The overall inflation rate, by contrast, is nearly two-and-a-half times higher — 8.3%. So why are Sen. Bernie Sanders and 14 of ...
Let’s Not Be So Quick to Lower Medicare Eligibility Age
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office takes a close look at one of the most wasteful and unnecessary healthcare proposals on the Democratic agenda — reducing Medicare’s eligibility age to 60. Joe Biden endorsed the idea as a candidate for president. But it’s never made much sense. Medicare’s Part A hospital insurance ...
Sanders’ Newest Medicare Pitch Reaches New Dishonesty Highs
Earlier this month, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., re-introduced a bill that would establish Medicare for All. It’s at least the fifth time over the last decade he’s tried to advance legislation that would abolish private health insurance and replace it with a single government health plan. His new bill is the ...
Lowering the Medicare eligibility age would be an expensive mistake
During his campaign for the White House, Joe Biden promised he would lower Medicare’s eligibility age from 65 to 60. Democratic lawmakers have taken up the cause but have thus far failed to advance major Medicare reform through Congress. That’s a good thing. To understand why, consider a report published this month by the Congressional ...
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 ...