Publications
-
- Health Care News
Washington State Voters Could Nix Long-Term Care Tax
Publication -Washington state’s mandatory long-term care (LTC) insurance program, WA Cares, and the payroll tax that funds it will become optional if voters approve a citizen’s initiative in November. WA Cares was authorized by a law enacted in 2019, and the state began collecting a 0.58 percent payroll tax on all wage income on July 1, […] -
- Health Care News
FTC Ban on Non-Competes Seen as a Plus for Doctors, Patients
Publication -Employers will no longer be able to require doctors and other health care workers to sign non-competition agreements (NCA) after a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule banning all NCAs takes effect on September 4. NCAs prevent physicians, nurses, and therapists employed by large health care providers and hospitals from moving to a competitor or establishing […] -
- Health Care News
FTC’s Noncompete Ban is Good for Health Care but Legal Challenges to Come – Commentary
Publication -The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) announcement that it plans to ban noncompete agreements in all industries is a welcome relief to many professionals in health care. Two physicians in my family relocated to small towns after they were recruited to join other practices. Both uprooted their families to move hundreds of miles away. Ultimately, neither move […] -
- Health Care News
The New York Times Admits Injuries from COVID-19 Shots
Publication -The COVID-19 shots have caused multiple, serious injuries, an article in The New York Times acknowledged on May 4. It is the first time the self-described newspaper of record has reported on the severe side effects from the vaccines, since the massive inoculation campaign that went into full swing starting in January 2021. The article […] -
- Health Care News
Biden and Trump Differ Widely on Health Care Reform
Publication -Although he rarely talks about it, the most significant gift President Donald Trump bequeathed to economic prosperity was deregulation. And the one sector that was deregulated more than any other was health care. Since Joe Biden has been re-regulating the economy, it’s hard to think of a starker contrast between the two leading presidential candidates this year—and […] -
- Health Care News
Analysis of the 2024 Medicare Trustees’ Report
Publication -Analysis of the 2024 Medicare Trustees’ Report shows the Hospital Trust Fund will reach insolvency in 2036, says CRFB. by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget The Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports detailing the current and future financial status of the trust funds. (Our analysis of the Social Security Trustees report […] -
- Health Care News
UK Bans Puberty Blockers for Children, France Could Be Next
Publication -Massive changes are occurring across Europe in the matter of “gender affirming” care for children. In March, Britain’s National Health Service announced it would no longer cover puberty blockers for teens, and there are indications France could be next. A landmark Dutch study that concluded that most kids outgrow gender confusion was released in April. […] -
- Health Care News
Documentary Examines Big Medicine, Anti-Depressants, and Suicide – Film Review
Publication -By Bonner Russell Cohen and AnneMarie Schieber Review of SICK: Unmasking Big Medicine (Daily Caller News Foundation), 52 minutes, 2024 The public health establishment’s response to COVID-19—prolonged lockdowns and school closures, vaccines that provided no immunity and didn’t stop transmission, and mask mandates that served no public health function—came as a rude awakening to many […] -
- Health Care News
Private Equity Skirts Malpractice Laws in Texas
Publication -A medical malpractice lawsuit claims the University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center (UT Tyler) fraudulently hires physicians as medical school professors to protect them from malpractice litigation. The lawsuit claims Ruben Garcia, M.D., failed to share a cancer diagnosis with patient Michael Simington, aged 67, for a year and a half, costing Simington […] -
- Health Care News
Menthol Tobacco Ban Delayed Again
Publication -Menthol tobacco ban delayed again by Biden Administration; lacks any scientific justification, targets blacks, doesn’t deter smoking. By Jeffrey A. Singer, M.D. In April 2022, the Food and Drug Administration announced plans to ban all menthol cigarettes and cigars. In December 2023, after several civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, expressed concerns about […] -
- Health Care News
Small Firms Introduce More Drugs at Lower Costs—Report
Publication -Drug price controls in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will not stymie the introduction of new products, because innovative drugs are increasingly being developed and marketed by smaller companies with less capital and revenue than Big Pharma, according to the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP). A report by Gregg Girvan, FREOPP health care […] -
- Health Care News
States Expand Pharmacists’ Prescribing Authority
Publication -Colorado, Idaho, and Montana have broadly expanded the prescribing authority of pharmacists to make health care more accessible and to lower costs, a new report states. Expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice can decrease the burden on emergency departments and help cover physician shortages for basic care, especially in rural areas, because pharmacists are more numerous […] -
- Health Care News
Medigap Increases Medical Consumption and Drives Up Costs—Study
Publication -Medicare enrollees who purchase Medigap insurance spend an average of $2,300 more annually on health care than those who don’t, according to the authors of a Michigan Retirement and Disability Research Center (MRDRC) study. In an MRDRC working paper titled “Insurance Purchases of Older Americans,” funded by the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), University of […] -
- Health Care News
Does Medicare Underpay Physicians?
Publication -There is a shortage of physicians in the United States. There is especially a shortage of primary care physicians willing to treat Medicare enrollees. People nearing the age of Medicare eligibility are often advised to begin searching for a primary care physician who accepts Medicare a year in advance. Based on data published in 2020, the […] -
- Health Care News
Obamacare Searching for Success Stories 14 Years Out
Publication -Fourteen years ago, President Barack Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, the most sweeping overhaul of the health insurance market in U.S. history, on March 23, 2010. To celebrate the anniversary, the Obama Foundation featured 26 interviews on its website that “bring to life so many moments of triumph, impact, […] -
- Health Care News
‘Facility Fees’ Are the New Surprise Medical Bills – commentary
Publication -The Wall Street Journal reports that facility fees are becoming increasingly prevalent in the U.S. health care system. In some cases, a facility fee for using a physician employed by a hospital nearly triples the cost of those services. The WSJ article describes how Tim Ebel’s visit to an Ohio ear, nose, and throat clinic in a local hospital […] -
Research & Commentary: Louisiana House Legislation Would Protect Louisianians from ESG De-Banking Discrimination
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Legislation in the Louisiana House of Representatives would combat environmental, social and governance (ESG) scoring systems and ensure Louisianans are not discriminated against for ideological reasons by financial institutions based on their exercise of speech, political activity, religious views, or their occupation. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores are essentially a risk assessment mechanism increasingly being used […] -
- Health Care News
EPA Restricts Chemical Sterilizer of Medical Equipment
Publication -The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new limits on a gas widely used to sterilize medical devices called ethylene oxide (EO), as a suspected carcinogen, on March 14. The agency first proposed new restrictions in 2023, recommending an 80 percent reduction in the use of the chemical. The new standards seek a reduction closer to […] -
- Health Care News
Justices Appear Skeptical of COVID Censorship Case, Media Reports
Publication -U.S. Supreme Court justices offered skeptical feedback in Murthy v. Missouri, a landmark case that is testing the limits of the federal government’s power to control information during a public health emergency, during oral arguments on March 22, according to many news reports. The case, formerly known as Missouri v. Biden, was brought by New […] -
- Health Care News
Amicus Briefs Reveal Censorship Supporters – Commentary
Publication -By the Brownstone Institute The convergence of state and corporate power has spawned unexpected bedfellows as Stanford University, the CATO Institute, and New York State Attorney General Letitia James have joined forces to support the censorship regime in Murthy v. Missouri. The David and Goliath dynamic of the case, which had oral arguments before the Supreme […] -
Research & Commentary: Obamacare ‘Holdout Governors’ Need Opportunity, Not Punishment
Publication -Research and Commentaries -As pressure builds on the 10 remaining “holdout” states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act ( also known as Obamacare), Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves isn’t just holding his ground, he’s challenging Republicans in his own party to reject what he calls “Obamacare Medicaid expansion.” Mississippi Republicans, who control both the House […] -
- Health Care News
Health Authorities Made ‘Catastrophic Errors’ during COVID-19–Report
Publication -“Lockdowns, school closures, and other mandates were catastrophic errors, pushed with remarkable fervor by public health authorities at all levels,” concludes a report on the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, titled “COVID Lessons Learned: Retrospective After Four Years,” by Scott W. Atlas, M.D., Steve H. Hanke, Ph.D., Philip G. Kerpen, and Casey […] -
- Health Care News
FDA Authority Under Scrutiny in Abortion Pill Case
Publication -The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of mifepristone, the first pill pregnant women take in inducing chemical abortions. The case, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine questions the legality of the FDA’s removal of basic patient safeguards for mifepristone since it was first approved […] -
- Health Care News
Becerra Grilled on Putting Politics Before Health Policy
Publication -Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra defended a wide range of White House health policies during a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee, on March 21. From what GOP committee members said was the administration’s flawed implementation of a bipartisan law to end surprise billing by hospitals to the White House’s proposed […]