With Bud Light, Target, and North Face trying to outdo each other in their “wokeness,” it is refreshing to see a company standing up for its rights and its customers—and quite forcefully. Merck filed a lawsuit this week to stop what it called the government’s “draconian and deceptive scheme” to dictate drug prices through the ironically named “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA) … [Read more...] about Fighting Back
Grace-Marie Turner
We’ll Take the Win
Republicans too often take an all-or-nothing approach to health reform legislation. And they too often wind up with the latter. Democrats, on the other hand, take a win whenever and wherever they can get it. And they have shown over more than half a century their success with that incremental approach by ever expanding the role of government in our health sector. So now both houses of … [Read more...] about We’ll Take the Win
Let’s Learn from Canada
So here’s a study in contrasts based upon two news reports this week: Sending B.C. cancer patients to Bellingham for treatment 'a sad state of reality,' critics say [Canadian] Health Minister Adrian Dix announced Monday that eligible breast and prostate cancer patients will be sent to one of two clinics in Bellingham, Washington, for radiation treatment, starting May 29. The … [Read more...] about Let’s Learn from Canada
Sharpening the Debate
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ hearing on insulin prices on Wednesday was indeed contentious, as we anticipated, but also surprisingly informative and polite. Yes, top executives of pharmaceutical companies sparred with executives of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), pointing fingers over who is responsible for high insulin prices that consumers can encounter at the … [Read more...] about Sharpening the Debate
Make It A Trifecta
Following up on critiques from my last two newsletters, we have even more evidence this week that conservatives have an abundance of ideas to tackle health reform… House Republicans held three hearings on Wednesday about dozens of initiatives to restore competition, consumer choice, and sanity to our health sector. A few highlights: These activities and … [Read more...] about Make It A Trifecta
The right way to save Medicare
One claim I find especially annoying is when people say conservatives don’t have ideas for health reform. That absolutely, positively is not true! It’s lazy to cite one thumbs-down vote by a particular senator in 2017 as the final say on the matter. We and our colleagues in the Health Policy Consensus Group offer a plethora of ideas and proposals—which are … [Read more...] about The right way to save Medicare
Henry is Wrong
Henry Olsen—a friend and political and policy guru whom I greatly admire—should know better. He wrote a recent column for The Washington Post entitled “The GOP is playing catch-up on health care. It needs some fresh ideas.” Henry writes about the growing number of states that are taking Washington’s bribe to dramatically expand Medicaid, most recently North Carolina. But he makes a … [Read more...] about Henry is Wrong
Freezing Innovation
The Biden administration issued its guidance last week to explain how it plans to implement price controls on pharmaceuticals, per the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” and it is even more outrageous than the law itself. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its first list of 27 drugs it will target for government price … [Read more...] about Freezing Innovation