Medicare
Business & Economics
Our federal financial nightmares revealed … and how to fix them
During this week’s GOP presidential debate, Michele Bachmann twice said the federal government is spending about “40 percent more” than what it takes in. If only we were in such good shape. The federal government has actually been spending about 75 percent more than what it takes in. For every ...
Health Care
Part D Price Controls Kill Jobs
Washington faces two pressing tasks getting a handle on escalating federal debt and addressing the country’s unemployment crisis. Unfortunately, the White House, thanks to its usual ideological blinders, has come up with a plan that will actually cost jobs even as it achieves only trifling savings. The proposal, ...
Health Care
Higher Health Insurance Premiums This Year? Blame ObamaCare
Most Americans saw their insurance bills jump this year, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average employer-based premium for a family increased a startling 9% in 2011. Over the next decade, rates are expected to double. The Kaiser report is only the latest piece of ...
Business & Economics
Comparative effectiveness reviews mean fewer cures
Elected officials have powerful incentives to spend, and the administrators of government agencies — always seeking to increase their budgets — are happy to oblige. But the federal budget is finite. There are equally-powerful incentives to create more programs, as politicians are driven to make more citizens dependent upon government. ...
Government Spending
The deficit ‘super committee’ and health care
The federal debt-reduction super committee recently held its third meeting to explore changes in the tax code. The 12-member bipartisan panel must find $1.5 trillion in federal savings by Thanksgiving. Committee members have gone to great lengths to emphasize their differences, but there is still room for agreement. The committee ...
Health Care
Doctors and AMA Split Over Contentious Issue of ObamaCare
For more than 160 years, the American Medical Association has served as the self-appointed chief lobbying group for doctors. But the AMAs lofty status has been under threat over the last several years and is under attack today. In fact, the AMA now only counts about 17% of doctors ...
Commentary
Democrats’ Plan B For Medicare: Medicare For All
Last month, ObamaCare was dealt another huge blow. On August 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled that the law’s requirement that all adults purchase health insurance was unconstitutional. The court determined that the government isn’t empowered to force private citizens to buy a ...
California
Pay cut story highlights pension absurdities
Fresno schools Superintendent Larry Powell has been getting the hero treatment in the national media for his reportedly selfless decision to give up his annual salary/benefits of $290,000 a year and instead take $31,000 in salary only. He’s doing it for the kids, he said, to save the district significant ...
Commentary
Competing To Save The Health-Care System Money
American seniors recently received some good news they wont be seeing higher premiums in 2012 for their Medicare prescription drug benefits. In fact, the rates they pay for prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D will decline this coming year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human ...
Business & Economics
The Federal War Against Medical Technology
At about $75 billion annually, U.S. private-sector investment in medical technology is substantial, and a large body of research demonstrates that the economic returns to these investments are enormous. But emerging federal policies are likely to create powerful disincentives for the research and development of medical innovations, in particular, pharmaceuticals ...
Our federal financial nightmares revealed … and how to fix them
During this week’s GOP presidential debate, Michele Bachmann twice said the federal government is spending about “40 percent more” than what it takes in. If only we were in such good shape. The federal government has actually been spending about 75 percent more than what it takes in. For every ...
Part D Price Controls Kill Jobs
Washington faces two pressing tasks getting a handle on escalating federal debt and addressing the country’s unemployment crisis. Unfortunately, the White House, thanks to its usual ideological blinders, has come up with a plan that will actually cost jobs even as it achieves only trifling savings. The proposal, ...
Higher Health Insurance Premiums This Year? Blame ObamaCare
Most Americans saw their insurance bills jump this year, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average employer-based premium for a family increased a startling 9% in 2011. Over the next decade, rates are expected to double. The Kaiser report is only the latest piece of ...
Comparative effectiveness reviews mean fewer cures
Elected officials have powerful incentives to spend, and the administrators of government agencies — always seeking to increase their budgets — are happy to oblige. But the federal budget is finite. There are equally-powerful incentives to create more programs, as politicians are driven to make more citizens dependent upon government. ...
The deficit ‘super committee’ and health care
The federal debt-reduction super committee recently held its third meeting to explore changes in the tax code. The 12-member bipartisan panel must find $1.5 trillion in federal savings by Thanksgiving. Committee members have gone to great lengths to emphasize their differences, but there is still room for agreement. The committee ...
Doctors and AMA Split Over Contentious Issue of ObamaCare
For more than 160 years, the American Medical Association has served as the self-appointed chief lobbying group for doctors. But the AMAs lofty status has been under threat over the last several years and is under attack today. In fact, the AMA now only counts about 17% of doctors ...
Democrats’ Plan B For Medicare: Medicare For All
Last month, ObamaCare was dealt another huge blow. On August 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled that the law’s requirement that all adults purchase health insurance was unconstitutional. The court determined that the government isn’t empowered to force private citizens to buy a ...
Pay cut story highlights pension absurdities
Fresno schools Superintendent Larry Powell has been getting the hero treatment in the national media for his reportedly selfless decision to give up his annual salary/benefits of $290,000 a year and instead take $31,000 in salary only. He’s doing it for the kids, he said, to save the district significant ...
Competing To Save The Health-Care System Money
American seniors recently received some good news they wont be seeing higher premiums in 2012 for their Medicare prescription drug benefits. In fact, the rates they pay for prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D will decline this coming year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human ...
The Federal War Against Medical Technology
At about $75 billion annually, U.S. private-sector investment in medical technology is substantial, and a large body of research demonstrates that the economic returns to these investments are enormous. But emerging federal policies are likely to create powerful disincentives for the research and development of medical innovations, in particular, pharmaceuticals ...
