Opinion
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Congress in Dog Fight over Veterans’ Health Care Funding
Opinion -A congressional measure guaranteeing increased annual federal payments to veterans’ health care programs failed on June 23 to muster the 60 votes needed in the Senate required for passage. -
Kerry’s Rx Plan Short On Facts
Opinion -Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) punctuated his emergence as the Democratic Party's Presidential front-runner with a drug plan he claims would lower prescription prices. "I will repeal the ban on reimporting drugs from Canada," pledged Kerry. -
‘Cover The Uninsured’ A Starbucks Grande
Opinion -The first thing I need in the morning is my favorite blend of Starbucks coffee in my Grande cup. The last thing I need is a tasteless blend of misinformation served up "Grande" by Starbucks and disguised as a "public service" announcement. -
Congress Acts to Defuse Obesity Time Bomb
Opinion -At a March 9 news conference, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced HHS will sponsor a national advertising campaign to encourage Americans to eat less and exercise more. -
Pawlenty Proposal Pfizzles At Pfizer Meeting
Opinion -Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's attempt to threaten Pfizer with a price control resolution went nowhere at the Pfizer stockholder meeting held April 22 in St. Louis. -
Medicines Are Worth The Price We Pay
Opinion -Just as the price of a Rolex™ watch is not solely determined by the cost of its materials, the cost of a prescription drug is not simply the cost of its ingredients. -
HSAs Will Dominate Health Care Financing
Opinion -Although Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are new kids on the health insurance block, some industry experts contend the accounts could become the dominant form of health care financing in the next five to 10 years. -
Debate Rages Over Second-Hand Smoke
Opinion -Looking for a surer method of being ripped apart than entering a lion's den covered with catnip? Conduct the most exhaustive, longest-running study on second-hand smoke and death. Find no connection. -
Washington Hopes to Recover From Failed Reforms
Opinion -Before Washington Governor Gary Locke (D) signed HB 2460 in March, the state defined "small group" as any employer group with 1 to 50 employees. -
Washington Still Suffering From Clinton-Care Experiment
Opinion -On March 31, Washington Governor Gary Locke (D) signed into law HB 2460, an act that redefines a small group as any employer group with 2 to 50 employees. -
Prescription Drug Importation: Just the Facts
Opinion -Election-year rhetoric is threatening to bury the real facts about prescription drug importation. The following facts are indispensable to understanding what is really at stake in the debate. -
Blagojevich ‘Playing a Shell Game with People’s Lives’
Opinion -Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced on April 20 that he is sending a task force overseas to study whether the state should import prescription drugs from Europe. "There's a big world out there," said Blagojevich. -
Canadian Health Care Is No Model for U.S.
Opinion -When one travels through Canada, as I regularly do, one cannot help but enter into frequent discussions on the pros and cons of health care in Canada versus the United States. -
Doctors And Patients Benefit When Insurers Are Bypassed
Opinion -The Joint Economic Committee of Congress held a hearing in April on "Consumer-Directed Doctoring: The Doctor Is In, Even if Insurance Is Out." Among the witnesses were Robert S. -
The Problem With Price Controls
Opinion -If you ask most people about the cost of medical care, they may tell you how much they have to pay per visit to their doctor's office or the monthly bill for their prescription drugs. But these are not the costs of medical care. These are the prices paid. -
Commonwealth Fund Distorts Employer Attitudes
Opinion -The reported findings of the latest Commonwealth Fund study, "Job-Based Health Insurance in the Balance: Employer Views of Coverage in the Workplace," shouldn't be taken at face value. -
Maine Tries ‘Voluntary’ Socialized Health Care
Opinion -While the most dramatic--and widely popular--trend in health care today is toward patient control over health care decision-making, state government officials in Maine appear determined to take their constituents down a path toward socialized medicine -
Kentucky Gov. Fletcher Seeks Insurance Reform
Opinion -On April 2, Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher signed HB 650, legislation aimed at resuscitating a health insurance market that has suffered greatly from a decade of state government interference. -
Arbitration: An Alternative to Lawsuits
Opinion -Few aspects of the health care debate seem to generate more vigorous discussion than the way medical malpractice and other legal disputes are resolved. -
Congress Takes Up Health Policy Measures
Opinion -Following the 2003 enactment of tax-preferred health savings accounts, President George W. -
Canadian Health Care System Nears Collapse
Opinion -In no-nonsense language cutting across their diverse political stripes, Canadian provincial premiers lashed out at the federal government for reducing its share of provincial health care budgets at a time when costs are rising 10 percent a year. -
Canadian Pharmacies Flunk Inspections
Opinion -The number of U.S. politicians who have reversed course and now publicly endorse the importation of prescription drugs from Canada would seem to reflect newly found evidence that drugs imported from Canada are safe. But that is not the case. -
Clinton-Style Task Force Resurfaces
Opinion -Tucked away at the back of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 is a provision reminiscent of the oft-criticized health care working group headed by former First Lady Hillary Clinton. -
Kerry’s $895 Billion Waffle
Opinion -During his campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for President, Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) took a narrowly defined position on health care reform, carefully avoiding anything that looked like a re-run of the failed Clinton reform project.
