President-elect Joe Biden proposed a massive $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package in a speech last night, urging Congress to quickly approve $1,400 per-person direct payments and funding for testing and vaccine distribution. With ultra-narrow Democratic margins in both the House and Senate, whether such a huge expenditure is needed hopefully will at least be debated at a time when … [Read more...] about The Dreaded Masks
A dreadful beginning
2020 was awful, and we rang in 2021 with hopes we would put the pandemic, riots, and economic shock behind us. Who thought 2021 could be worse! Like many of you, I am in despair over this week’s calamities. We will soon turn to sorting through the policy consequences to try to chart a positive path forward, but in the meantime, I want to share with you a few … [Read more...] about A dreadful beginning
Coalition Supports State Flexibility Rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken steps to increase states’ ability to reform their individual and small group health insurance markets, and a coalition of health policy experts has provided comments supporting a proposed rule that would codify the agency’s more flexible guidance. Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act permits the secretaries of Health and Human … [Read more...] about Coalition Supports State Flexibility Rules
Counting our Blessings
As we near a blessed close to 2020, all of us at the Galen Institute wish you and the world a better 2021. Reflecting on this unprecedented year, our first thoughts and prayers go to those who have lost loved ones to Covid and to those who have suffered and even died in tragic isolation from family and friends. I lost my mother in 2017 and often wonder how on earth she would have survived such … [Read more...] about Counting our Blessings
Rapid testing now!
Is there a magic wand—one thing that the government could do to control the Covid pandemic and help us safely return to work and school? Yesterday’s approval by an FDA-panel of Pfizer’s miraculously rapid development and production of its Covid-19 vaccine is vital. “This is a triumph,” wrote Dr. Eric Rubin, a Harvard immunologist in the New England Journal of Medicine, where he is … [Read more...] about Rapid testing now!
One In Four Medicaid $$ Spent Illegally—Blase And Dublois In NRO
Improper Medicaid Payments Have Soared since Obamacare By Brian Blase & Hayden DubloisNational Review, December 9, 2020 A recent report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reveals astronomical improper spending in Medicaid that should alarm all Americans.The rate of improper payment in Medicaid, the nation’s third largest government program, … [Read more...] about One In Four Medicaid $$ Spent Illegally—Blase And Dublois In NRO
A Welcome Boost
You can imagine our delight when the lead editorial in The Wall Street Journal on Monday gave a timely nod to the Consensus Group’s Health Care Choices 20/20 proposal. Entitled “Can Republicans Regroup on Health Care?” the editorial wonders, “How many elections will the party lose before coming up with a potent political argument on health care? “For all the Republican successes in Senate and … [Read more...] about A Welcome Boost
Alarming & Unlawful Medicaid Spending: Brian Blase In NY Post
Medicaid is hemorrhaging $100B on Americans ineligible for the program By Brian BlaseNew York Post, November 28, 202 States are facing alarming costs for their shares of Medicaid spending, and a new report helps explain why: the government—both in Washington and in state capitols across the country—is failing to ensure that only those who are eligible for benefits are … [Read more...] about Alarming & Unlawful Medicaid Spending: Brian Blase In NY Post