Last month’s Census Bureau report on the uninsured overlooked an important point: More than 99 percent of Americans have access to health coverage, regardless of their income or medical condition. The overwhelming majority of those lacking insurance could have obtained coverage but did not enroll. Many of those with lower incomes may not sign up for subsidized coverage because they know they … [Read more...] about What You Should Know about the Uninsured
Health Insurance
How price transparency would revolutionize healthcare
In his recent speech on health care, President Trump highlighted a proposed rule that hospitals make their prices public. It’s time for hospitals to comply. Transparency will likely lead to lower prices and a reduction in health care spending. Many policy experts dismiss the importance of price transparency in health care. Skeptics argue that because health insurance insulates … [Read more...] about How price transparency would revolutionize healthcare
Surprise Billing Answers
One item on voters’ short list for congressional action is addressing the growing problem of surprise medical bills. Insured patients should be confident that if they receive care at a facility that is in their health plan’s network or have a medical emergency, they will be responsible only for their share of the plan’s negotiated rates. But all too often, a patient receives a bill … [Read more...] about Surprise Billing Answers
Transparent Prices Will Help Consumers and Employers Reduce Health Spending
In this new paper, Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase explains that greater transparency in health care pricing will help employers to offer better payment structures for their employees and give employees and other consumers more tools to get better value in health spending. Price transparency should also will give employers the ability to monitor insurer effectiveness and eliminate … [Read more...] about Transparent Prices Will Help Consumers and Employers Reduce Health Spending
Why Pelosi’s Drug Price Control Scheme Is a Prescription for Disaster
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reportedly readying a plan that could limit Americans’ access to lifesaving medicines and impede the development of new treatments for deadly and debilitating diseases. Her plan, a summary of which was leaked last week, would double down on the failures of existing government policies that have contributed to higher health care costs. It would … [Read more...] about Why Pelosi’s Drug Price Control Scheme Is a Prescription for Disaster
Health Reform Progress Beyond Repeal and Replace
From the start of 2017 through the fall of that year, Congress labored to pass legislation to replace large parts of the Affordable Care Act. Ultimately, political obstacles proved insurmountable, and Congress was unable to enact a health reform bill. Soon after that failure, President Trump signed an executive order promoting health care choice and competition and directing the administration to … [Read more...] about Health Reform Progress Beyond Repeal and Replace
Good and Bad Ideas in the Senate’s Medicare Drug Bill
Responding to popular anxiety over prescription drug prices, the Senate Finance Committee last month approved a bill to restructure the Medicare prescription drug benefit. The bill is part of broader congressional and administration efforts to address rising health care costs, one in which lawmakers are laying aside partisan differences to seek constructive solutions. The … [Read more...] about Good and Bad Ideas in the Senate’s Medicare Drug Bill
How Health Care Premiums Are Declining in States That Seek Relief from Obamacare’s Mandates
Galen Senior Fellow Doug Badger has a new paper out this week, published by The Heritage Foundation, showing how a few states that gained waivers to escape some of Obamacare’s expensive, restrictive mandates are helping to lower health insurance premiums for their residents. In his new paper, “How Health Care Premiums Are Declining in States That Seek Relief from Obamacare’s … [Read more...] about How Health Care Premiums Are Declining in States That Seek Relief from Obamacare’s Mandates