Medicare
Business & Economics
Increasing Benefits Without Reducing Jobs
Thought leaders on the left believe we can save federal government dollars by making employers pay more to their employees. Ralph Nader’s recent blog on the Huffington Post cites a Center for American Progress study that welfare rolls would drop by 6 percent if a minimum wage of $10.10 were ...
Tom Fowler
December 7, 2015
Commentary
Pharmaceutical Price Controls Risk Future Cures
Recent reports of significant price increases for certain medications have ignited, yet again, calls for pharmaceutical price controls. If implemented, price controls will reduce medical discovery and diminish patients’ access to life saving medicines. Pharmaceutical innovations help patients and strengthen the U.S. economy Pharmaceutical innovations are improving the quality of ...
Wayne Winegarden
December 7, 2015
Commentary
Uncle Sam Can’t haggle better than private insurers
The White House is declaring war on prescription drug prices. “The administration is deeply concerned with the rapidly growing prices of specialty and brand name drugs,” notes President Obama’s 2016 budget proposal. To keep prices down, the president wants the government to negotiate prices for drugs dispensed through Medicare. But ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 19, 2015
Commentary
Brace Yourself
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care bogeymen — insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed tears ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 16, 2015
Commentary
Tough times for health care insurers — and patients
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care boogeymen: insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed too many ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 16, 2015
Health Care
Obamacare Co-Op Mess Causes $1.3 Billion In Losses
Obamacare health insurance co-ops surged past the $1 billion mark in losses this week, making history of sorts. The insolvencies, totaling $1.36 billion, mean that the co-ops have burned through more than half of the original $2 billion appropriated in 2010 for the program under the Affordable Care Act. The ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 5, 2015
Commentary
Obamacare’s Enrollment Is Flatlining
Yesterday, Obamacare’s third open-enrollment period began. From November 1 to January 31, Americans without employer-sponsored or government insurance coverage will be able to purchase health plans for 2016. It’s the third open-enrollment period for Obamacare. And it’s shaping up to be a challenge. According to the Obama administration, 10.5 million ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 2, 2015
Commentary
Don’t let artificial caps stifle drug production
This is shaping up to be another banner year for medical progress. Regulators have already approved 28 new medicines, roughly on last year’s pace of 41 new drug approvals – the most since the Clinton administration. But in future years, the list of medical breakthroughs could prove much shorter. In ...
Wayne Winegarden
October 27, 2015
Commentary
Mind the PPACA gaps
Sally Pipes, the president of the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, has been one of the most visible players in the U.S. health finance policy fight for decades. Sir Anthony Fisher, a British businessman, set up the institute and sister think tanks, including the Manhattan Institute, to publish analyses ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 26, 2015
Commentary
Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare For All’ Would Be A Disaster For All
This month, Bernie Sanders took his vision for the future of American health care to a national television audience in the first Democratic presidential debate. “We should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway and learn from what they have accomplished,” Sanders said. He wants the United States ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 19, 2015
Increasing Benefits Without Reducing Jobs
Thought leaders on the left believe we can save federal government dollars by making employers pay more to their employees. Ralph Nader’s recent blog on the Huffington Post cites a Center for American Progress study that welfare rolls would drop by 6 percent if a minimum wage of $10.10 were ...
Pharmaceutical Price Controls Risk Future Cures
Recent reports of significant price increases for certain medications have ignited, yet again, calls for pharmaceutical price controls. If implemented, price controls will reduce medical discovery and diminish patients’ access to life saving medicines. Pharmaceutical innovations help patients and strengthen the U.S. economy Pharmaceutical innovations are improving the quality of ...
Uncle Sam Can’t haggle better than private insurers
The White House is declaring war on prescription drug prices. “The administration is deeply concerned with the rapidly growing prices of specialty and brand name drugs,” notes President Obama’s 2016 budget proposal. To keep prices down, the president wants the government to negotiate prices for drugs dispensed through Medicare. But ...
Brace Yourself
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care bogeymen — insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed tears ...
Tough times for health care insurers — and patients
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care boogeymen: insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed too many ...
Obamacare Co-Op Mess Causes $1.3 Billion In Losses
Obamacare health insurance co-ops surged past the $1 billion mark in losses this week, making history of sorts. The insolvencies, totaling $1.36 billion, mean that the co-ops have burned through more than half of the original $2 billion appropriated in 2010 for the program under the Affordable Care Act. The ...
Obamacare’s Enrollment Is Flatlining
Yesterday, Obamacare’s third open-enrollment period began. From November 1 to January 31, Americans without employer-sponsored or government insurance coverage will be able to purchase health plans for 2016. It’s the third open-enrollment period for Obamacare. And it’s shaping up to be a challenge. According to the Obama administration, 10.5 million ...
Don’t let artificial caps stifle drug production
This is shaping up to be another banner year for medical progress. Regulators have already approved 28 new medicines, roughly on last year’s pace of 41 new drug approvals – the most since the Clinton administration. But in future years, the list of medical breakthroughs could prove much shorter. In ...
Mind the PPACA gaps
Sally Pipes, the president of the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, has been one of the most visible players in the U.S. health finance policy fight for decades. Sir Anthony Fisher, a British businessman, set up the institute and sister think tanks, including the Manhattan Institute, to publish analyses ...
Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare For All’ Would Be A Disaster For All
This month, Bernie Sanders took his vision for the future of American health care to a national television audience in the first Democratic presidential debate. “We should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway and learn from what they have accomplished,” Sanders said. He wants the United States ...