Medicare pays for expensive bariatric surgery as well as treatments for more than 200 comorbidities linked to obesity—including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers—but not for new medicines that scientists have developed that can address the disease itself. This is bad public health policy, it is harmful to patients, and it is inconsistent with a focus on care … [Read more...] about Modernize Medicare by Covering Anti-Obesity Medications
Medicare
Taking on Bernie Sanders
Grace-Marie Turner testified before the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday, May 12, 2022, during a hearing on Medicare for All. … [Read more...] about Taking on Bernie Sanders
Analyzing Medicare Vaccine Policy
While Covid-19 vaccines have been “free” to everyone, Medicare’s overall vaccine policy is haphazard at best. In a new paper, Galen Senior Fellow Doug Badger examines Medicare’s “balkanized” coverage of preventive vaccines. He asks: “Should Medicare Eliminate Cost Sharing for Preventive Vaccines?” Badger explains the current confusion: “Medicare Part B … [Read more...] about Analyzing Medicare Vaccine Policy
Medicare Blocks Innovation—Brian Blase research
Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase looks to the future in a new paper describing a medical innovation that can improve health care productivity—largely through more accurate, timely, and affordable diagnoses—and expand access to care by more efficiently deploying specialists’ time and making tests less expensive. In a new analysis, “Properly Incentivizing Health Care Innovation & A Case Study … [Read more...] about Medicare Blocks Innovation—Brian Blase research
Is Medicaid Expansion Worth It?
Targeted initiatives focused on vulnerable patients and children prove to be far better public investments than does a broad-based Medicaid expansion, according to a new paper by Brian Blase and David Balat for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Their detailed review of academic studies and state experience shows the most cost-effective way to use public resources to improve health is … [Read more...] about Is Medicaid Expansion Worth It?
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
Grace-Marie Turner Testifies Before Congress About Universal Coverage
Grace-Marie Turner testified on June 12 before the House Ways & Means Committee’s hearing on “Pathways to Universal Health Coverage.” She argued against dramatically expanding the role of government through Medicare for All or other new taxpayer-supported programs, such as Medicare Buy-In or a new “public option” insurer. She said we should instead target appropriate … [Read more...] about Grace-Marie Turner Testifies Before Congress About Universal Coverage
The Left’s Utopian Health Care Promises
Published on FORBES.com | Democrats have been pulling levers for decades to exert greater and greater government control over our health sector. But the more government gets involved, the more dysfunctional the market becomes. The left now contends that the mess can only be solved with a complete government takeover. They believe their moment has come. Americans are … [Read more...] about The Left’s Utopian Health Care Promises