Publications
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- Health Care News
Corporate Medicine, Physician Licensure a Bad Deal for Patients
Publication -Devin Herrick, Ph.D. ([email protected]) is a health care economist. Physician licensure has created a cartel—there, I said it out loud. The right to practice medicine has high barriers to entry, both in terms of high standards and high costs. It takes seven to 11 years beyond college to train a new physician, but the process begins […] -
- Health Care News
New Mexico Bill Would Fund DEI Program to Combat Healthcare Shortage
Publication -A New Mexico bill advancing in the House aims to address a major healthcare worker shortage by giving $1.1 million to a university diversity, equity, and inclusion program. The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 9-1 in favor of House Bill 35, sponsored by Democrat state Reps. Pamelya Herndon and Cristina Parajon, on Jan. 23. […] -
- Health Care News
Families File Lawsuit over Hospital COVID-19 Treatment
Publication -Two widows who lost their husbands after they were given remdesivir filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court in Minnesota against HealthPartners, Inc. and Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where their spouses died while receiving care for COVID-19. One plaintiff was dismissed from the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning she may file suit […] -
The Georgia House Should Not Consider Minimum Wage Hikes Amid Rising Inflation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Georgia House of Representatives is considering House Bill 1507, legislation that would raise the minimum wage in the Peach State from its current $5.15 per hour to $8 per hour, effective immediately. Historically, some state lawmakers have advocated for quick “fixes” in response to perilous economic situations, such as minimum wage hikes. However, minimum […] -
The Tennessee House Should Not Consider Minimum Wage Hikes Amid Rising Inflation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Tennessee House of Representatives is considering House Bill 819, legislation that would raise the minimum wage in the Volunteer State from its current $7.25 per hour to $12 per hour, effective July 1, 2024. Historically, some state lawmakers have advocated for quick “fixes” in response to perilous economic situations, such as minimum wage hikes. […] -
Research & Commentary: Anti-ESG Bill in Georgia Will Ensure Peach State Pension Funds Invested Appropriately
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Legislation in the Georgia House of Representatives would combat environmental, social and governance (ESG) scoring systems and ensure state pension funds are invested solely to achieve the maximum return on investment for pensioners, rather than advancing social or political causes that may likely lead to lower returns and financial underperformance. ESG scores are essentially a risk assessment mechanism increasingly […] -
Revising the Uniform Commercial Code to Protect Americans’ Property Rights and Impede a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency
Publication -Policy Tip Sheets -Important provisions in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) contain highly problematic elements that undermine Americans’ individual rights and threaten the stability of the U.S. economy. This Tip Sheet will provide a brief description of those troubling areas of the UCC and propose a set of related concrete policy solutions for lawmakers. The UCC was created […] -
- Health Care News
Kansas Governor Makes Another Attempt to Expand Medicaid
Publication -Kansas may become the 42nd state in the nation to expand its Medicaid program. Gov. Laura Kelly (D) proposed the Cutting Healthcare Costs for All Kansans Act on January 17. The Republican-led legislature is poised to reject her bill after leadership in December gave a thumbs-down on expansion. North Carolina became the most recent state […] -
- Health Care News
Congress Moves to Allow Inpatient Drug Addiction Care Under Medicaid
Publication -For the first time, states would have the option to provide inpatient care for drug addiction in mental hospitals for 30 days under Medicaid without seeking a waiver, under the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act (H.R. 4531) passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in a vote of 386 to 37, on December […] -
- Health Care News
Illegal Aliens Get Free Health Care in California
Publication -California has set another milestone this year by becoming the first state to offer taxpayer-funded health insurance for all undocumented immigrants. Now, regardless of age, all undocumented immigrants in the Golden State qualify for Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the federal Medicaid program for American citizens with low incomes. As a result, an additional 700,000 […] -
- Health Care News
FDA Green Lights Florida’s Canadian Drug Import Program
Publication -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Florida’s plan to import drugs from Canada, a first for the agency that could save patients millions of dollars, on January 5. However, the program limits access to individuals enrolled in certain state programs run by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Children and […] -
Research & Commentary: The Time is Now For Universal Education Choice in Alabama
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Legislation in the Alabama Senate, the Creating Hope & Opportunity for Our Students’ Education (CHOOSE) Act, would create an education savings account (ESA) program that would be open to all Alabama children by the 2027–28 school year. These accounts would cover tuition, fees, and curricula for children at private and parochial schools, as well as […] -
- Health Care News
Physicians Urge Congress to Pull the COVID Shots
Publication -Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) held a hearing on the injuries associated with the COVID-19 shots over the past three years, on January 12. Johnson, and Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Warren Davidson (R-OH), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) discussed the systems, agencies, and individuals responsible for the flawed […] -
Farmer Protection Act Would Protect States’ Agriculture Sectors from ESG
Publication -Policy Tip Sheets -ESG Basics Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores are the chief mechanism by which ideologically aligned influential interests and powerful institutions working through unelected supranational organizations are attempting to “reset” the global financial system to their advantage. At its core, this emerging design circumvents national sovereignty, free markets, and individual rights by altering traditional financial […] -
- Health Care News
Health Insurance Without Health Care – Commentary
Publication -One reason the United States spends more on health care than other countries is that we are obsessed with health insurance instead of health care. When the British National Health Service or the Canadian Medicare system spends additional money, they spend it employing doctors, building hospitals, or buying medical equipment. When the U.S. government spends […] -
Mail-in Voter Fraud Was Rampant in 2020: Here’s How to Stop It in Future Elections
Publication -Policy Tip Sheets -In November and December of 2023, The Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports conducted a landmark survey of voters, which former President Donald Trump called “the biggest story of the year” and “the most important poll released in the last 20 years.” According to the results of the survey, a massive number of voters who cast […] -
- Health Care News
‘I Couldn’t Afford It’—Olympic Champion Mary Lou Retton on Health Insurance
Publication -Gymnast Mary Lou Retton, one of the most charismatic Olympic gold medalists of all time, narrowly escaped death from a rare form of pneumonia last fall, only to be saddled with hospital bills she says she cannot afford to pay. Retton, known as “America’s sweetheart” after her stunning performance in the 1984 Olympic Games at […] -
- Health Care News
Diabetes-Related Amputations on the Rise
Publication -Diabetes-related amputations have reversed a decade-long trend and are now on the rise, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). ADA’s Amputation Prevention Alliance reports that 154,000 diabetes sufferers now undergo amputations annually, and up to 80 percent of all non-traumatic lower-limb amputations are the result of uncontrolled diabetes. Limb amputations due to diabetes occur […] -
- Health Care News
Biden Touts ‘Record-Breaking’ Obamacare Enrollment
Publication -After the 2024 open enrollment period for Obamacare ended, President Joe Biden boasted that 21.3 million people signed up for health insurance on the government exchanges, an increase of 30 percent over 2023, and nine million since he took office, in a statement on January 24. “It’s no accident,” stated Biden. “My actions to protect […] -
- Health Care News
Bodies of Prisoners Missing Organs, Say Families
Publication -The Alabama Department of Corrections is under fire after families alleged that, in two separate incidents, the bodies of inmates Brandon Clay Dotson and Charles Edward Singleton were returned with their organs removed. A lawsuit filed by Dotson’s family alleges a pattern, citing the Singleton case and complaints by University of Alabama medical students alarmed […] -
The Mississippi House Should Not Consider Minimum Wage Hikes Amid Rising Inflation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Mississippi House of Representatives is considering House Bill 16, legislation that would raise the minimum wage in the Magnolia State from its current $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour. Furthermore, HB 16 would require that on September 30, 2024, and on September 30 of each subsequent year, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security […] -
- Health Care News
Would I Receive an Organ Transplant? – Commentary
Publication -By Heidi Klessig, M.D. Would I ever receive an organ transplant? I have often addressed this question in my lectures and videos on the ethics of organ harvesting and transplantation. Like most questions, the answer to this question is, “It depends!” There are many types of transplants, some of which are ethical and some which […] -
Who Really Won the 2020 Election? Measuring the Effect of Mail-in Ballot Fraud in the Trump-Biden Race for the White House
Publication -Policy Studies -Impartial elections are absolutely essential to a cohesive and fruitful society. Historically, Americans have generally trusted that national elections have been free, fair, and secure, as well as bereft of widespread fraud. For generations, the majority of Americans have trusted that the electoral results delivered to the public were an accurate reflection of the will […] -
- Health Care News
Drug Company Faces Lawsuit for Not Releasing Safer Treatment
Publication -Gilead Life Sciences, Inc. is facing charges of negligence in California, not because its HIV/AIDS drug was defective, but because the company delayed the release of an allegedly safer drug. A California Court of Appeals affirmed a new, extraordinary negligence liability theory on January 9, 2024, holding Gilead could be liable for negligence, not because […]