Galen Institute

With the increasing ability of the medical profession to save and improve our lives, Americans value the security of health insurance to cover their health costs.  For public policy solutions to be effective in reducing the number of those who do not have the security of health insurance, we must look beneath the numbers to see who is uninsured, why, and what solutions are likely to work to … [Read more...] about Living Without Health Insurance: Why Every American Needs Coverage

Health care already has emerged as a top issue for the 2008 elections. Sensing mounting public support for reform, each of the leading Democratic candidates is calling for universal health coverage, as are a number of governors from both sides of the aisle, including Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.   “We need a truly universal solution,” former Sen. John … [Read more...] about Universal Care Works Great; Just Don’t Get Sick

While the favored tax treatment of health insurance has provided a stable source of health coverage for hundreds of millions of American workers over the last half century or more, it also is clear that it is leading to many of the problems that our health sector faces today.   Click here for the full text. … [Read more...] about The Tax Code and Health Insurance Coverage

Health care clearly has become a top-tier issue, with governors, presidential candidates, business and labor coalitions, and now President Bush all offering dramatic new proposals for reform.  Mr. Bush has taken a different approach than most of the others. Instead of new mandates and expanding public programs to achieve universal coverage, he would start by creating new incentives for … [Read more...] about A New Conversation about Health Reform

The president's proposal, announced in Tuesday's State of the Union Address, is a win-win-win-win: It is a win for the uninsured because it offers millions more Americans the chance to buy health insurance with the tax savings they will receive from this generous new standard deduction. Taxpayers win because 80 percent of them will receive a tax cut when they take the new … [Read more...] about Response to President Bush's Bold Health Reform Proposal

In Kathy Kristof's campaign to eliminate subsidies to Medicare Advantage, she would disproportionately harm millions of low-income seniors ("Tough Rx: possible ways to fix Medicare" June 24).  MA plans offer more comprehensive benefits than traditional Medicare, and studies show these plans are an especially important option for low-income and minority seniors. These seniors … [Read more...] about Responding to Kathy Kristof

By Grace-Marie TurnerCongress will try to take a few small but crucial steps toward reforming the out-of-control Medicaid program when it reconvenes to finish work on the budget reconciliation package.  But even though the proposed Medicaid changes are modest, they have provoked heated battles on Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “Republicans are launching an attack … [Read more...] about Moving Forward on Medicaid

No one denies that America's health sector faces problems. Costs continue to rise, and 45 million people lack insurance. Even worse, many politicians think they've discovered the cure in a single-payer system. But that remedy would be worse than the disease. The government-dominated health systems of Europe and Canada are struggling with serious cost pressures, inefficient bureaucracies, … [Read more...] about The Single-Payer Remedy Is Worse Than the Disease