by Grace-Marie Turner | RealClear Health | The Biden administration has taken a bulldozer to intellectual property rights in announcing it will not protect COVID-19 creator companies, auspiciously to hasten access to vaccines in developing countries. Instead of pulling this political stunt, officials should listen to the companies that already are on track to provide near-universal access to their … [Read more...] about A Disaster for Life-Saving Innovation
Health Insurance
On the Verge
The House is on the verge of ramming through its destructive and pork-laden $1.9 trillion relief bill, with Senate Democratic leaders eagerly awaiting its arrival next week. Galen Senior Fellows Brian Blase and Doug Badger have been prolific in helping policymakers see how regressive, wasteful, and destructive the ill-conceived health spending provisions in the bill are, as you have seen from … [Read more...] about On the Verge
Coalition Supports State Flexibility Rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken steps to increase states’ ability to reform their individual and small group health insurance markets, and a coalition of health policy experts has provided comments supporting a proposed rule that would codify the agency’s more flexible guidance. Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act permits the secretaries of Health and Human … [Read more...] about Coalition Supports State Flexibility Rules
Health Care Choices 20/20
Americans have said for decades that health care and insurance cost too much and that they feel like cogs in our vast health care system with little control over choices and spending. And for too long, the “solutions” Washington has offered have led to fewer choices, more government control, and vastly more taxpayer spending that further fuels rising health costs. The Health Policy Consensus … [Read more...] about Health Care Choices 20/20
Covid Politics
It is very difficult to ask the country to put politics aside during a presidential election season, but it is crucial that we do so now regarding the expected approval of vaccines for Covid-19. Pharmaceutical researchers are laboring for thousands of hours and investing billions of dollars to develop treatments and vaccines desperately needed to save lives and unlock economies around the … [Read more...] about Covid Politics
Outrage over CDC Obsolescence
With thousands of lives and trillions of dollars at stake and economies reeling from the global pandemic, the U.S. government agency most responsible for decisions to guide the response has been using faxes and phones to collect vital data from front-line workers, then entering the information manually—leading to delays and mistakes. This is inexcusable and intolerable, veteran health policy … [Read more...] about Outrage over CDC Obsolescence
The ACA’s Risk-Adjustment Program Needs Adjusting
By Brian Blase, Ph.D. Galen Institute, July 27, 2020 | The Affordable Care Act dramatically changed insurance regulation in the individual and small-group health insurance markets. A key change detached the amount of an individual’s premium from his or her expected medical claims. By itself, this would have led to a variety of problems, including creating an incentive for … [Read more...] about The ACA’s Risk-Adjustment Program Needs Adjusting
Getting America Back to Work and Hastening the Recovery
By Brian Blase, Casey Mulligan and Doug Badger | Three former White House economic advisers warn in a paper released today by the Galen Institute that Congress would delay the recovery if it extends the $600 weekly increase in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits scheduled to expire July 31. In their paper, “Getting America Back to Work and Hastening the Recovery,” they estimate that … [Read more...] about Getting America Back to Work and Hastening the Recovery