Galen Institute

In late April, erstwhile Obamacare champion Rep. Allyson Schwartz became the fourth Democrat in Congress to support legislation repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a powerful new body established by President Obama's health care law. IPAB assumes much of the Medicare cost-cutting powers previously endowed to Congress.In a letter to her colleagues, the congresswoman wrote that … [Read more...] about On Medicare, the Right Role for Congress

One of the major innovations in the House 2012 Budget Resolution is a plan to give states much greater flexibility in running their Medicaid programs through block grants.Yet today, a new study was released by the Kaiser Family Foundation, with researchers from the Urban Institute, that is highly critical of the plan. The study concludes that if Obamacare were repealed and states were given block … [Read more...] about Misguided on Medicaid

In Alex Brill’s paper on “Overspending on Multi-Source Drugs in Medicaid,” he writes about “the potential savings that could have been achieved had Medicaid consistently used the lower-cost version” of 20 multi-source drugs.While there is little or no debate about the need to control Medicaid spending, Brill’s recommendations could lead legislators to institute policies that would be even more … [Read more...] about Doctors, Not Politicians, Should Decide

The four co-authors of Why Obamacare is Wrong for America recently addressed The Bloggers Briefing at The Heritage Foundation. Grace-Marie Turner provided the Foundry exclusive highlights from her remarks:Obamacare may be fading from the headlines, but the health law still is steaming toward us like a freight train.Obamacare is the most sweeping single piece of social policy legislation in the … [Read more...] about The Coming Obamacare Train Wreck

The whole point of providing a prescription drug benefit in any health plan is to make sure that patients have access to the right medicines to treat their specific illnesses.Why, then, would some analysts recommend that state officials limit the prescription drugs available through Medicaid just to generic drugs when evidence shows those may not be the right drugs for individual … [Read more...] about Doctors Should Decide When Generic Drugs Are Acceptable