Opinion
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Low Demand, Mismanagement Plague I-SaveRx
Opinion -The State of Illinois' drug importation program, I-SaveRx, expanded its supplier list of countries offering prescription medications by adding Australia and New Zealand in July. -
Past Prosecutor to Combat Medicaid Fraud
Opinion -In response to revelations of ever-increasing Medicaid fraud, New York Gov. George Pataki (R) in August named Kimberly O' Connor, a former prosecutor and senior criminal justice official, as New York's Medicaid Inspector General. -
The Case for Medicaid Modernization
Opinion -Since Congress committed to cutting Medicaid expenditures in April, states have been working to reform their individual Medicaid programs and curb soaring costs. -
Medical Sharing Societies Offer Affordable Alternative ‘Insurance’
Opinion -The debate over health care reform frequently focuses on government policy and programs, often to the exclusion of nongovernment solutions. -
California Insurance Commissioner Criticizes HSAs
Opinion -A July report from California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi criticized Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and consumer-directed care and stressed his preference for a universal, government-run health care system. -
Hill Notes: Congress and Health Week: A Spark or a Sputter?
Opinion -During the final week of July, the U.S. House of Representatives allotted precious floor time to health care reform, and the Senate laid out a health care agenda before Congress recessed for a five-week "summer district work period. -
Montana Woman Becomes Good Will Ambassador for Medicaid Reform
Opinion -Every state department of social services could use someone like Sharon Rivera, to ease Medicaid benefit cuts and make the reform process a little less painful for recipients and government officials alike. -
‘Health Week’ on the House Floor July 26-27, 2005
Opinion -Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, S. 544: Passed 428-3 State High Risk Pool Funding Extension Act of 2005, H.R. -
Ohio Creates One of the Nation’s Largest Voucher Programs
Opinion -In a year already marked by several legislative victories for the school choice movement nationwide, Ohio is poised to become the state with the largest voucher program in the country by next fall. Gov. -
Quick Facts on Texas Charter Schools
Opinion -20: Number of first-generation charters granted to publicly funded nonreligious schools in the inaugural year, 1996-97. 190: Number of charters operating in Texas in 2003-04. 274: Number of campuses those charters operated in 2003-04. -
States Shouldn’t Meddle with IPTV
Opinion -Because old cable rules allowed local governments to grant near-monopolies to cable companies, bureaucrats have been able to use their power to extract big bucks and obtain special favors. Cable companies haven’t had much choice in the matter. -
Pennsylvania Expands Tax Credit Program
Opinion -The new Pennsylvania state education budget for the 2005-06 academic year, signed on July 13 by Gov. -
State Network to Collect Cross-Border Sales Tax
Opinion -An 18-state network for the voluntary collection of taxes on goods sold over the Internet or through the mail has been created by the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), a step project members hope will lead to a national sales tax collection program. -
S. 4 ‘Healthy America Act of 2005’
Opinion -Sponsors: Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY) Senator Jim DeMint (R-NC) Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) -
Fifty Years Closer to Choice
Opinion -In considering the role government plays in various areas of life in 1955, Milton Friedman cast his discerning eye on education and saw a Six Million Dollar Man. -
Special Election to Decide Key Education Issues in California
Opinion -California schools are in trouble--both fiscally and academically. On July 8, the California controller's office reported that, after years of deficit spending, 552 school districts overspent a total of $682 million in the 2003-04 school year. -
Kansas Court Takes Over School Finance Decisions
Opinion -On June 3, the supreme court of Kansas issued a ruling in Montoy v. Kansas requiring the state legislature to appropriate an additional $853 million per year to Kansas elementary and high schools. -
Chicago Taxes Keep Climbing, This Time for School Funding
Opinion -Chicago public school officials on July 27 approved what they called a "bare bones" budget that imposes a maximum allowable 1.9 percent property tax increase, the latest of a series of tax hikes imposed on Chicago residents, businesses, and visitors. -
Taxes, Spending Climb After Minn. Shutdown
Opinion -The 2005 legislative session proved to be brutal for Minnesota taxpayers and Republican lawmakers. -
Outsourced Flight Services to Save $2.2 Billion
Opinion -The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects taxpayers to save $2.2 billion over the next 10 years, thanks to a contract with Lockheed Martin that goes into effect in October. -
Tobacco Harm Reduction Emerges as Viable Public Health Strategy
Opinion -At the National Conference on Tobacco or Health, held in Chicago in May and attended by more than 5,000 tobacco control advocates and health education officials, an important topic--tobacco harm reduction--was pointedly ignored. -
Poll Shows Falling Support for Unions
Opinion -Barely one in three non-union workers would consider voting to unionize their workplace, while a 56 percent majority would not, according to a Zogby/Public Service Research Foundation poll released July 22. -
Fraud and Waste Infect New York Medicaid
Opinion -New York State's Medicaid problems are the worst in the nation, but they exemplify troubles that plague the entire system: lack of control over costs and fraud. -
New Research Provides Quality Rankings of City Hospitals
Opinion -A provision in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 that gives money to hospitals that release statistics has resulted in a database of formerly unavailable information that will help patients and payers to evaluate
