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
600 Physicians Say Lockdowns Are A ‘Mass Casualty Incident’
More than 600 of the nation’s physicians sent a letter to President Trump this week calling the coronavirus shutdowns a “mass casualty incident” with “exponentially growing negative health consequences” to millions of non COVID patients. “The downstream health effects...are being massively under-estimated and under-reported. This is an order of magnitude error," according to the … [Read more...] about 600 Physicians Say Lockdowns Are A ‘Mass Casualty Incident’
Follow the Data…
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…
Focus on the Most Vulnerable
At least half of the deaths from COVID-19 have been among nursing home residents—those most likely to be elderly and to have underlying health conditions. Shouldn’t our first priority be to protect these vulnerable seniors and the workers in these facilities? Apparently not in New York. There has been too little coverage of an order signed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo requiring … [Read more...] about Focus on the Most Vulnerable
Incentives and Data Matter: An analysis of the left’s coronavirus relief plan
Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase concludes in an important new paper that the formula being proposed by leading House Democrats to provide coronavirus relief to states would exacerbate Medicaid’s already-serious problems and provide a huge incentive for states to keep their unemployment rates high. His analysis shows most states would receive $19 in federal money for every $1 they spend through … [Read more...] about Incentives and Data Matter: An analysis of the left’s coronavirus relief plan
Caution! Medicaid and coronavirus relief don’t mix!
Op-Ed in The Wall Street Journal by Brian Blase | The left’s new priority is to convince Congress to send hundreds of billions of additional dollars to states to help them weather the coronavirus storm. A leading Democratic proposal would funnel the money through Medicaid, with a built-in incentive for states to keep their economies closed and unemployment rates high. The bill, … [Read more...] about Caution! Medicaid and coronavirus relief don’t mix!
Is Social Distancing Working?
“Sweden has largely eschewed social distancing, choosing instead to permit more normal levels of economic and social interaction,” Galen Senior Fellow Doug Badger writes in a piece he coauthored for The Daily Signal. So how is that working out? They link to an interview with one of the world’s leading epidemiologists, Johan Giesecke, who “gave a very blunt … [Read more...] about Is Social Distancing Working?
Will Private Practice Medicine Survive?
With fire truck parades and flyovers across the country, there have been many deserved tributes to honor the medical heroes who are battling the coronavirus on the front lines. But the doctors behind the scenes also are heroes. They risk exposure every time they see a patient, and most are concerned about the non-COVID patients who are not getting the medical care they need because elective … [Read more...] about Will Private Practice Medicine Survive?