Opinion
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Judge Strikes Down Florida Voucher Law
Opinion -On August 5, just weeks before the start of the school year, a state judge in Tallahassee ruled Florida’s Opportunity Scholarship program unconstitutional, since the state constitution forbids the use of tax money to send children to religious schools. -
Congress Approves $100 Million for High-Risk Pools
Opinion -The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (TAAA), passed by the Senate on August 2 by a vote of 64-34, contains a little-known provision that could provide a big boost to market-based health care financing. The measure was signed by President George W. -
Patent Protection Law at Risk
Opinion -Failing to pass a prescription drug benefit for seniors in July, the Senate offered consumers legislation that encourages cheaper generic alternatives to brand-name drugs by passing the Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act (GAAP). -
09/2002: The Pulse
Opinion -Scott Holleran publishes “The Pulse,” a weekly email newsletter sort of like this one, on behalf of Americans for Free Choice in Medicine. His current edition includes a wonderful little “blast from the past” in the form of President Richard M. -
Why Price Controls Don’t Work
Opinion -State efforts to rein in health care spending by imposing price controls on pharmaceutical manufacturers are not the first time price controls have been suggested in the health care reform debate. -
Congress Gets Hooked on Rx Drug Plans
Opinion -Bidding wars over a Medicare prescription drug benefit are accelerating, with political leaders behaving as though they were in a high-stakes poker game with no tomorrow. Earlier this year, President George W. -
Other People’s Money
Opinion -On Capitol Hill, members of Congress are continually increasing the price Americans pay for health care. They do this by giving away benefits and, in some instances, by making people buy unwanted benefits. -
What Are High-Risk Pools?
Opinion -High-risk pools play an important role in a free-market health care system. They are state-chartered, nonprofit associations offering comprehensive health insurance through the private sector to individuals with pre-existing and chronic health problems. -
09/2002: State Legislative Update
Opinion -Managing Editor’s note: Information here on legislative activity regarding MEHPA was provided by Andrew Schlafly, Esq., general counsel for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). He can be reached at 908/719-8608. -
09/2002: The Galen Report
Opinion -The country dodged a bullet when the Senate rejected the latest compromise bill for a Medicare prescription drug benefit. -
Blaine Amendment Falls in Washington
Opinion -On July 18, just three weeks after the Court’s landmark Zelman ruling, members of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit voted 2-1 to invalidate a Washington State law that was used to deny a state “Promise Scholarship” to an -
Presidential Commission Reports on Special Education
Opinion -A Presidential panel in July established markers that may prove crucial as Congress undertakes its reauthorization of special-education programs over the coming months. -
The Model for the Nation: an exclusive interview with Annette Polly Williams
Opinion -Thirteen years ago, Wisconsin State Representative Annette Polly Williams, an independent black Democrat from Milwaukee, took an historic step that earned her the title, “the Rosa Parks of vouchers. -
Colorado Health Insurance Market Evaporating
Opinion -Colorado’s small group health insurance market displays all the symptoms of a patient in dire distress. While premiums and the ranks of the uninsured soar, the number of carriers plummets. -
Profits, Patents, and Seniors: A guide for policymakers
Opinion -The U.S. House of Representatives passed Medicare prescription drug benefit legislation, only to have it defeated in the Senate. -
Boys Lag Behind, but Extra Help Goes to Girls
Opinion -While major newspapers reported boys falling behind girls in graduation rates and other key academic indicators, the U.S. -
Calculating NEA and AFT “Market Share” by State
Opinion -The clout of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers is primarily due to the manpower and financial resources of their vast membership. It is obviously in the unions’ interest to magnify their numbers as much as possible. -
MEHPA Update: Most States Reject Law
Opinion -A year ago this month, anthrax attacks sent shock waves from coast-to-coast and border-to-border as state health care officials tried to cope with potential bioterrorism and other public health emergencies following the September 11 terrorist attacks. -
Reform the FDA, Not Patent Laws
Opinion -The Senate’s recent passage of the Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act (GAAP) proves Senators are seeking an easy way around a complex issue. -
Senate Rejects Yet Another Rx Plan
Opinion -A Medicare prescription drug benefit is all but dead for this year’s Congressional session. The Senate defeated a scaled-back plan to help the nation’s neediest seniors pay for their medicines. -
State Drug Price Controls Backfire
Opinion -Politicians in Washington, DC and state capitols across the country have claimed the remedy for high-priced prescription drugs is to be found in enacting price controls on medications sold to senior citizens. -
The Friedman Report: School Choice Roundup
Opinion -In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision—that the inclusion of religious schools in the Cleveland school voucher program is a legitimate exercise of state authority under the U.S. -
The Myths of Medical Monopoly and Monopsony
Opinion -Two erroneous notions have long infected the debate about appropriate public policies for prescription drugs. The first is that patents protecting intellectual property grant monopoly power and keep prices higher than they otherwise would be. -
Why Do Public Health Advocates Lie About the Risks of Smoking?
Opinion -At the Northwestern train station in downtown Chicago, commuters are met with a billboard that reads: “Odds of dying in a car crash: 6,200 - 1; dying from smoking: 3 - 1.
