Newsletter

Another lesson from COVID-19:  Data and politics can be a dangerous brew. Take, for example, the political narrative that New York tamed the beast and Gov. Andrew Cuomo was a model of leadership—including praise that New York “got it right” and did a “laudable job ”in managing the spread of the virus.    And then there are the facts, detailed in a new paper by Doug … [Read more...] about New York City, A COVID Calamity

The health reform debate has taken a new focus during the coronavirus crisis, with a greater emphasis on innovation to produce treatments and vaccines, different options for accessing care, and the great harm done when people aren’t able to get needed surgeries, cancer care, and other non-COVID treatments. Health care, including COVID, is poised once again to be the key issue in … [Read more...] about Health care and the elections

So…How Much Do You Know About COVID-19? A piece by Doug Badger over at The Daily Signal is getting a lot of attention as people take the quiz to see how they do in sorting fear from facts in the blizzard of “information” about COVID-19. A lot of decisions are being made based upon inaccurate, distorted, and misunderstood reports and data, making it harder to concentrate … [Read more...] about Fear vs Facts

Congress appears deadlocked over the vast differences between the latest $3 trillion House-passed coronavirus relief bill and the Senate’s more targeted and temporary bill that includes a reduced extension of federal unemployment insurance, another round of direct payments, liability protections for businesses and doctors, and $105 billion in school funding.  As the battles on Capitol Hill … [Read more...] about Please don’t make it worse

The White House has invited members of Congress and others to a 3 p.m. ceremony today for the signing of an executive order (EO) on prescription drug pricing.   We know this continues to be a hot political issue, but a key part of the EO reportedly involves importing price controls from countries with government-run health systems and using them as a basis for U.S. drug … [Read more...] about The IPI Won’t Fly

Today’s good news about jobs recovery, with businesses unexpectedly adding 2.5 million jobs, is a welcome glimmer of hope in an otherwise terrible week.  I pray that our country can begin healing from the death, damage, and destruction that have devastated the lives and livelihoods of so many Americans. It’s crucial that states open their economies so people can go back to … [Read more...] about We Must Begin Healing

In the five months since the first known COVID-19 case was reported, policymakers have much more evidence to guide better and more informed decisions about opening the U.S. economy and keeping vulnerable people safe.  Galen Senior Fellow Doug Badger and Heritage Scholar Norbert Michel provide a valuable roadmap based upon their detailed review of what has worked and failed in an important … [Read more...] about The Experts Were Wrong. Evidence Must Guide Us Now

New York finally has seen the light.  The state on Sunday reversed its deadly mandate, issued in March, prohibiting nursing homes from testing incoming residents and requiring them to accept patients from hospitals, even if they were diagnosed with COVID-19. New York now says hospitals can send patients to nursing homes only if they have tested negative for the virus. The March … [Read more...] about Follow the Data…