Publications
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Trump Administration Pressures Insurers to Streamline Prior Authorization
Publication -The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has secured a pledge from insurers to streamline the companies’ practice of requiring prior authorizations before covering a claim. “Americans shouldn’t have to negotiate with their insurer to get the care they need,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a June 23, 2025, news release. “Pitting patients […] -
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Supreme Court Decision Allows Task Force to Mandate HIV Prevention Drugs
Publication -The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the legality of a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requiring insurers to cover preventative care services without cost sharing, including services that employers may find objectionable. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force determines what services should be covered. The plaintiffs in Kennedy, Sec. of H&HS v. Braidwood Management […] -
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‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Will Test Value of Medicaid, ACA
Publication -Congress and President Donald Trump moved to cut the exploding costs of government-sponsored health-care programs, as part of the $3.4 trillion One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) budget package Trump signed into law on Independence Day. Ballooning enrollment in Medicaid and subsidized Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans has put increasing pressure on the federal budget. […] -
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Health Savings Account Expansion Survives in ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
Publication -After nearly a month of debate, the U.S. Senate sent its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) to the U.S. House for final passage, in time to land on President Donald Trump’s desk by July 4. The House version of the budget reconciliation bill passed on May 22 included provisions to expand […] -
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Health Coverage Is Not the Only Measure of Success – Commentary
Publication -In evaluating the success of Obamacare in general and Medicaid expansion in particular, reporters and commentators have tended to focus on a single measure: health coverage, the increase in the number of people with health insurance. At the same time, in evaluating the health consequences of the House Republican reconciliation measure, almost all the focus […] -
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Kennedy’s CDC Vaccine Committee Meets for First Time
Publication -The new vaccine committee appointed by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took minimal action in its first meeting. The seven members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met on June 25 and 26 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The committee […] -
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FDA to Ban Sales of Prescription Fluoride
Publication -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will remove “ingestible fluoride prescription drug products” or supplements for children from the market effective October 2025 after completing a safety review, the agency announced in a press release on May 13. The FDA says these products were never approved by the agency. “Ingested fluoride has been shown […] -
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MAHA Commission Report: Sickest Generation in History
Publication -The first report by a presidential panel commissioned to “Make America Healthy Again (MAHA)” raises concerns about the rising rate of childhood disease, suggests possible causes, and recommends a 10-step strategy “to close critical research gaps” to guide efforts to solve the problem. The 71-page “Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment,” released on May 22, […] -
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Supreme Court Affirms State Authority on Medicaid Providers
Publication -South Carolina has the constitutional authority to block a provider from its Medicaid program without being vulnerable to lawsuits from recipients, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in late June. Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic weighed in on whether Medicaid enrollees have a right to sue the state government if they believe their right to […] -
Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Missouri Falling Behind on Education Choice
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A new report shows Missouri has gradually fallen well behind in a nationwide education movement still building momentum. According to the 2025 EdChoice Friedman Index—a new measuring system released in April by the titular education reform organization, which is designed to measure how much educational choice families in a particular state actually have— Missouri only […] -
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Grace-Marie Turner, Leading Force for Free Market Health Care, R.I.P.
Publication -A nationally respected voice for “individuals, not bureaucracies” in health care, Grace-Marie Turner never lost her belief that health reform was within the nation’s grasp as long as advocates stayed unified and persistent. Turner, aged 77, died on May 29, 2025, from brain cancer, according to the organization, CURE Policy. Turner was the founder and […] -
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How Operation Warp Speed Helped Create RFK, Jr. – Commentary
Publication -Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since mid-February. Despite being new to the job, Kennedy has made more statements to provoke public outrage than any HHS secretary in history. One example is when Kennedy once stated the measles vaccine (usually part of the combination measles-mumps-rubella […] -
Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Florida Leading the Education Choice Movement, But Work Still Needs to Be Done
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A new report shows Florida is the leader in a nationwide education movement still building momentum. According to the 2025 EdChoice Friedman Index—a new measuring system released in April by the titular education reform organization, which is designed to measure how much educational choice families in a particular state actually have—Florida takes the top spot, […] -
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Medicaid Is Not a Test Lab for Foreign Price Controls – Commentary
Publication -In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate drug prices under threat of coercion, […] -
Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Georgia Lagging Behind Neighboring States on Education Choice
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A new report shows Georgia has gradually fallen well behind its neighboring states in a nationwide education movement still building momentum. According to the 2025 EdChoice Friedman Index—a new measuring system released in April by the titular education reform organization, which is designed to measure how much educational choice families in a particular state actually […] -
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Fauci’s Fortune Doubled While He Led COVID-19 Policy
Publication -Anthony Fauci, the retired director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), doubled his fortune from $7.6 million to more than $15 million from January 2019 and the end of 2023, the watchdog group Open the Books reports. Fauci earned $3.5 million in his first year of retirement in 2023 alone. In […] -
Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Education-Choice Pioneer Wisconsin Falling Behind
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Once the pioneering state in bringing choice to students and parents, Wisconsin is gradually falling behind in a nationwide education movement still building momentum. According to the 2025 EdChoice Friedman Index—a new measuring system released in April by the titular education reform organization, which is designed to measure how much educational choice families in a […] -
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Why Are Lower-Cost Biosimilars So Hard for Patients to Get?
Publication -The House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on hindrances to the expansion of use of biosimilars, medications close in structure and function to a patented biologic medicine. Witnesses at the April 8 hearing told legislators biosimilars save patients and taxpayers money, that pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) middlemen often raise prices or limit availability for […] -
Research & Commentary: Report Finds New York’s Decision to Ban Fracking Had Serious Economic Consequences for Shale Counties
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A Special Report released by the Heritage Foundation in April 2025 has found that New York’s decision to ban the process of hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as “fracking”) for natural gas in 2010 has had serious economic consequences for the residents of the Empire State living above the Marcellus Shale. It has resulted in a […] -
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Pfizer’s COVID-19 Shot Linked to More Deaths Than Moderna’s, Study Finds
Publication -Recipients of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine experienced more all-cause deaths within the first 100 days post-vaccination than those who received the Moderna shot, a new study of 1.47 million people found. Although all-cause mortality for either shot should have been the same, 230 more people per 100,000 who got the Pfizer jab died within the […] -
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Best Way to End Medicaid Waste: Give Enrollees Cash – Commentary
Publication -In their paper titled “Leveraging the Medicaid Expansion,” David Hyman and Charles Silver write, “We propose that rather than adhering to Medicaid’s traditional structure, where states pay providers at unreasonably low rates for treating beneficiaries, expansion projects should be modeled on Social Security and the Earned Income Tax Credit, both of which distribute money that […] -
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‘Designer Babies’ through IVF Raise Critics’ Ethical Concerns
Publication -Genetic screening technology now allows parents employing in vitro fertilization (IVF) to select for certain traits, allowing them to avoid passing on diseases or undesirable traits to their children. Orchid, a genetic screening company that bills itself as “the world’s most advanced whole genome screening for embryos during IVF,” allows parents essentially to customize children, […] -
Research and Commentary: Texas Bill Would Unleash Faster, Better Health Care Treatments
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would speed and improve health care treatments by easing preauthorization requirements for physicians and providers delivering certain health care services. Senate Bill 1380 would establish “that certain health care services, including emergency care, intervention-necessary care, outpatient mental health treatment, and preventive services, cannot require preauthorization from health maintenance […] -
Research & Commentary: Heartland Policy Study Provides State-Level Blueprint for Curbing the Destructive Expansion of Industrial Solar Power
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A new Policy Study from The Heartland Institute details the major problems caused by the construction of industrial solar facilities and offers legislators solutions they should consider to prevent large scale solar development in their states. In “How States Can Push Back Against the Destructive Expansion of Industrial Solar Power,” the authors relay how industrial […]