The more-contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus led the CDC to issue a directive yesterday that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should wear masks indoors in higher-contagion areas. It’s not going over well. The first reaction was on Capitol Hill where the Capitol Police posted a statement saying visitors and staff members must mask up. “Any person who … [Read more...] about What? Not again!
Grace-Marie Turner
Shouting in the Senate
One of the vitally important jobs of public health experts is to locate the source of disease impacting public health to contain the spread and guard against future outbreaks. Recall the famous story of physician John Snow who isolated the source of a serious cholera outbreak in London in 1854 to a single contaminated town well, the Broad Street pump, and convinced local … [Read more...] about Shouting in the Senate
Collaborating is Central to Success
Regardless of political ideology, most Americans share a common goal to further the common good by assuring that no one is left behind in accessing quality healthcare. There are, however, divergent approaches to achieve this goal: Some argue that: Only government can be relied on to make sure healthcare is delivered fairly and equitably;Healthcare decisions are too complex for patients … [Read more...] about Collaborating is Central to Success
What? Bipartisan Agreement on Health Reform?
It’s refreshing to be able to write about positive, bipartisan developments in health policy. In a new paper, Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase explains that Biden Seeks To Build On Many Of Trump’s Health Care Policies via a new executive order issued on Friday. Brian was, of course, President Trump’s senior health policy adviser in the White House from 2017-2019 and launched a number … [Read more...] about What? Bipartisan Agreement on Health Reform?
Ideas that work
I’m so tired of hearing that conservatives/Republicans have no plan for health reform. The narrative has persisted since Congress failed—by one vote—to get repeal-and-replace legislation over the finish line in 2017. There are lots of reasons why that happened, but it’s more productive to look instead at plans now and for the future. You know, of course, about the work of the Health Policy … [Read more...] about Ideas that work
Three Quick Takes
Supreme Court: It took the court more than six months to decide (7-2) that plaintiffs didn’t have standing to challenge Obamacare’s individual mandate. The accurate headline would be “SCOTUS punts,” but instead we read, “Supreme Court upholds Obamacare for the third time.” Sigh. Since Congress had set the individual mandate penalty at zero in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the … [Read more...] about Three Quick Takes
Taxpayers Protecting Inheritances
Today we are focusing on the latter in an article just published in The Hill, written by leading long-term care expert Steve Moses and Galen Senior Fellow and Medicaid expert Brian Blase. The title says it all: “Using Medicaid to protect inheritances.” Here’s the issue: Many affluent Americans are hiring lawyers to protect their estates so they don’t have to spend their own … [Read more...] about Taxpayers Protecting Inheritances
A New Breath of Freedom
I boarded an airplane Tuesday for the first time in 18 months to attend an actual, real-life, in person conference in Austin. How great it was to see friends and colleagues in person and not on Zoom. Bringing the third dimension back into play somehow sparks energy, enthusiasm, and creativity in conversations and makes everything feel real and right again. The occasion was the … [Read more...] about A New Breath of Freedom