A few months after Obamacare was enacted, three of my colleagues and I began work on a book to explain, as the title says, “Why Obamacare Is Wrong For America.” It was published exactly a year after the law was signed, and virtually everything we predicted then has happened (except where parts of the law were subsequently changed, such as repealing the long-term care … [Read more...] about Obamacare’s Biggest Hits
Ready for 2020
With Iran and impeachment dominating the news, health reform has moved to the sidelines. But health care remains by far the top issue for voters in 2020, so here are some articles I think are the most important and relevant going forward. Health Costs: Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, writes about health costs in his terrific … [Read more...] about Ready for 2020
More Hits And Misses For Obamacare
Between Congress and the Courts, Obamacare took more hits this week: The most despised part of the ACA—the moribund individual mandate—was declared unconstitutional in a 2-1 decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the judges left it to a lower court to sort out the complex task of deciding how much, if any, of the rest of the law should stand.Congress repealed for good three key … [Read more...] about More Hits And Misses For Obamacare
Politics Prevail Over Solutions To Drug Pricing
It won’t make the headlines, but Congress was hard at work this week producing health reform legislation around ideas that have bi-partisan support and which actually could become law. But that apparently is not Speaker Pelosi’s goal. Pelosi strong-armed her drug pricing bill, H.R. 3, through the House yesterday, with unanimous Democratic support and two Republican defections (Reps. … [Read more...] about Politics Prevail Over Solutions To Drug Pricing
Hot topics: Drug prices and surprise bills
Amidst the deluge of impeachment coverage, Speaker Pelosi has announced she will be bringing her aggressive prescription drug pricing bill to a vote in the House on Wednesday. The bill would impose destructive price controls on medicines, levy crushing taxes of 95% on sales if companies that don’t play along, and extend the price controls to private plans. The Council … [Read more...] about Hot topics: Drug prices and surprise bills
Why Obama Stopped Auditing Medicaid
The share of recipients who aren’t eligible has grown sharply since the expansion began in 2014 Improper spending in the Medicaid program more than tripled in 2019, according to an analysis by scholars Brian Blase and Aaron Yelowitz, pointing to misuse of the program since it was dramatically expanded under Obamacare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a … [Read more...] about Why Obama Stopped Auditing Medicaid
Three Cheers for Transparency
Hospitals and insurers will howl, but the Trump administration today took a big step toward consumer empowerment with administrative actions designed to increase price transparency for hospital and other medical charges. Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase, who was instrumental in developing the executive order on price transparency issued in June, congratulated the administration for its … [Read more...] about Three Cheers for Transparency
ObamaCare Made Individual Market Worse
The Wall Street Journal published another commentary by Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase about the damage the ACA has done to individual health coverage. He also describes efforts by the Trump administration to broaden choices and make insurance more affordable. Here are highlights:Biden’s Plan for Health is Already a FailureObamaCare was supposed to improve the individual market. It … [Read more...] about ObamaCare Made Individual Market Worse