I’m so tired of hearing that conservatives/Republicans have no plan for health reform. The narrative has persisted since Congress failed—by one vote—to get repeal-and-replace legislation over the finish line in 2017. There are lots of reasons why that happened, but it’s more productive to look instead at plans now and for the future. You know, of course, about the work of the Health Policy … [Read more...] about Ideas that work
Three Quick Takes
Supreme Court: It took the court more than six months to decide (7-2) that plaintiffs didn’t have standing to challenge Obamacare’s individual mandate. The accurate headline would be “SCOTUS punts,” but instead we read, “Supreme Court upholds Obamacare for the third time.” Sigh. Since Congress had set the individual mandate penalty at zero in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the … [Read more...] about Three Quick Takes
Taxpayers Protecting Inheritances
Today we are focusing on the latter in an article just published in The Hill, written by leading long-term care expert Steve Moses and Galen Senior Fellow and Medicaid expert Brian Blase. The title says it all: “Using Medicaid to protect inheritances.” Here’s the issue: Many affluent Americans are hiring lawyers to protect their estates so they don’t have to spend their own … [Read more...] about Taxpayers Protecting Inheritances
A New Breath of Freedom
I boarded an airplane Tuesday for the first time in 18 months to attend an actual, real-life, in person conference in Austin. How great it was to see friends and colleagues in person and not on Zoom. Bringing the third dimension back into play somehow sparks energy, enthusiasm, and creativity in conversations and makes everything feel real and right again. The occasion was the … [Read more...] about A New Breath of Freedom
Bundled Payment For Dialysis Patients Can Block Access To Innovative Treatments
by Grace-Marie Turner | Forbes | June 1, 2020 | Bundled payments are a good idea, until they aren’t—for patients. The idea of paying a combined price rather than piecemeal for a routine medical treatment or procedure has gained traction as a way of driving efficiency. You wouldn’t want to buy a car by ordering a carburetor, ignition, fuel tank, braking system, etc. But when the government … [Read more...] about Bundled Payment For Dialysis Patients Can Block Access To Innovative Treatments
Destructive New Subsidies
Obamacare Subsidies: Six Reasons Congress Should Not Make Temporary Increases Permanent By Doug BadgerThe Heritage Foundation, May 26, 2021 The recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act spent an estimated $90 billion on free health insurance for the unemployed and on temporarily increasing Obamacare premium subsidies. That temporary expansion made some of the nation’s highest-paid workers … [Read more...] about Destructive New Subsidies
Welcome, Laura!
Many of you know that a key project of the Galen Institute since our inception is facilitating the work of the Health Policy Consensus Group, an affiliation that has grown to include more than 275 leaders in the free-market health care and health policy space. And this month, we welcome Laura Trueman to bring her extraordinary expertise in consensus-building and outreach to the Galen team … [Read more...] about Welcome, Laura!
A Disaster for Life-Saving Innovation
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