It won’t make the headlines, but Congress was hard at work this week producing health reform legislation around ideas that have bi-partisan support and which actually could become law. But that apparently is not Speaker Pelosi’s goal. Pelosi strong-armed her drug pricing bill, H.R. 3, through the House yesterday, with unanimous Democratic support and two Republican defections (Reps. … [Read more...] about Politics Prevail Over Solutions To Drug Pricing
Published in Forbes
Grace-Marie frequently contributes articles to Forbes.com as an expert in Healthcare Policy.
Hot topics: Drug prices and surprise bills
Amidst the deluge of impeachment coverage, Speaker Pelosi has announced she will be bringing her aggressive prescription drug pricing bill to a vote in the House on Wednesday. The bill would impose destructive price controls on medicines, levy crushing taxes of 95% on sales if companies that don’t play along, and extend the price controls to private plans. The Council … [Read more...] about Hot topics: Drug prices and surprise bills
Three Cheers for Transparency
Hospitals and insurers will howl, but the Trump administration today took a big step toward consumer empowerment with administrative actions designed to increase price transparency for hospital and other medical charges. Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase, who was instrumental in developing the executive order on price transparency issued in June, congratulated the administration for its … [Read more...] about Three Cheers for Transparency
Medicare For All Would Fail Patients
“Before now, Warren’s radical proposal never would have been introduced by someone with a serious shot at becoming president,” Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase explains in a piece for RealClearPolitics. “But the health care status quo is failing too many Americans. She is right that health care prices are generally too high, that provider consolidation is a serious problem, and … [Read more...] about Medicare For All Would Fail Patients
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
We Are Making Progress
Forbes, October 4, 2019 | In a major health care speech in Florida on October 3, President Trump outlined plans to bring Medicare into the 21 century. This is the best answer so far to Medicare for All by showing the clear contrast between bills that would put all Americans onto one centrally-run government program and efforts to modernize the existing Medicare program. The … [Read more...] about We Are Making Progress
Budget Deal Landmines
Published on FORBES.com | The Trump administration and the Congress reportedly are close to a budget deal that would increase federal spending and also suspend the debt limit for two years. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is personally engaged in the talks in an effort to reach a deal before the Congress leaves town for its August recess. As a sweetener, she says she will … [Read more...] about Budget Deal Landmines
A Spectacular Celebration!
Published on FORBES.com | The July 4 Salute to America was a thrilling, awe-inspiring celebration of America’s greatness. Jaws dropped from the first minute as Air Force One soared low over the Lincoln Memorial just as President Trump and the First Lady stepped onto the stage. The hot, muggy, rainy weather did nothing to dampen the spirits of the crowd who, like me, surely have … [Read more...] about A Spectacular Celebration!