Publications
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- Health Care News
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Feds Allocate Another $1 Billion to Stop Bird Flu, Cut Egg Prices
Publication -The federal government is allocating an additional $1 billion to combat the avian flu, an outbreak of which led to the killing of millions of healthy chickens and soaring egg prices over the past 12 months. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins unveiled a “comprehensive strategy to curb highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), protect the U.S. […] -
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Trump Administration Downsizes Federal Health Agencies
Publication -Ten thousand staffers at federal health agencies received pink slips on April 1 in a major overhaul to shrink the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) headcount from 82,000 to 62,000. “Our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs,” posted HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy on X. “But the reality is […] -
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Trump Orders Hospitals to Disclose Prices, ‘Not Estimates’
Publication -President Donald Trump ordered the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to develop a framework to enforce hospital price transparency, within 90 days. Trump originally established the rule during his first term in office, but compliance and enforcement under the Biden administration were weak. Trump signed the new “Making America Healthy Again […] -
Tax Cuts & Jobs Act: An Updated Study on the Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on U.S. Personal Income Taxes
Publication -Policy Briefs -The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduced the average amount of personal income taxes paid by filers in every income bracket, with the largest benefits going to lower- and middle-income households. -
Defending American Sovereignty: Opposing the EU’s Overreach Through the CSDDD
Publication -American policymakers must take decisive action to protect U.S. businesses from the destructive influence of foreign ESG mandates that serve political interests rather than economic well-being. -
CSDDD: The European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive Is a Direct Threat to U.S. Sovereignty, Free Markets, and Individual Liberty
Publication -Policy Studies -It is difficult to overstate the wide-ranging negative impacts the CSDDD will have on the sovereignty and democratic institutions of the United States. -
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Federal Court Blocks NIH Research Grant Administrative Fee Rate
Publication -A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a nationwide preliminary injunction to stop the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from setting “indirect costs” for grants at a flat rate of 15 percent. “Indirect costs” are paid to universities and research institutions to cover administrative expenses attributed to research projects. Indirect costs can run as high as […] -
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Judge Blocks President’s Ban on Child Trans Treatments
Publication -A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order defunding institutions that perform transgender treatments on children. U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson in the District of Maryland issued a preliminary injunction on March 4 preventing the order, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” from going into effect. The judge ordered the injunction in response […] -
Research and Commentary: Florida Bill Would Reform Flawed Step Therapy Program
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Florida lawmakers are considering a bill that would empower health care providers to prescribe the best-suited medications for Floridians on Medicaid suffering from “serious mental illnesses” without having to initially prescribe possibly inferior, cheaper medications. The bill, SB 264, “would create an exception to what is known as ‘step therapy’ for a series of psychiatric […] -
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ID Verification for Entitlements Can Save $1 Trillion a Year, CEO Tells Congress
Publication -Simply verifying recipients’ identification could save $1 trillion in entitlement spending per year, LexisNexis Special Services CEO Haywood Talcove told a congressional committee. “Between federal, state, and local government, you can save one trillion dollars a year by simply putting in front-end identity verification, eliminating self-certification, and monitoring the back-end of the programs that are […] -
Research and Commentary: North Carolina Medical Licensure Compact
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Through House Bill 67, North Carolina would join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC), which “offers a voluntary, expedited pathway to licensure for qualified physicians who wish to practice in multiple states,” as the IMLC websites states. The legislation would grant physicians licensed in North Carolina “the opportunity to apply for issuance of an expedited license to practice in Compact states, subject to the requirements and restrictions provided in the Compact,” the bill summary states. The bill establishes application procedures, provides for eligibility appeals, and mandates other processes to implement the compact in North Carolina. -
Research and Commentary: North Carolina Bills Would Increase Access to Health Care
Publication -Research and Commentaries -North Carolina Senate Bill 370 and House Bill 455 would eliminate the certificate of need requirement for all health care facilities in the state. This CON reform would greatly improve access to health care in North Carolina while putting beneficial pressures on costs and quality by encouraging greater investment in new facilities and improvements of existing ones. -
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What Should Republicans Do About Medicaid? – Commentary
Publication -Republicans are in a bind. To give substance to their new budget bill, they need to cut Medicaid spending by billions of dollars. Yet the White House and many congressional Republicans insist that they do not want to cut Medicaid benefits. Here is where the Department of Government Efficiency can come to the rescue. In mainstream […] -
Federal Budget Deficits and the Iron Law of Federal Revenue
Publication -There is a natural limit on what the U.S. government can take away from the American people each year. -
- Health Care News
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Medicaid Improper Payments Estimate: $1.1 Trillion
Publication -Medicaid issued approximately $1.1 trillion in improper payments over the past decade, double the agency’s stated amount, the Paragon Health Institute estimates. “Cracking down on improper payments is a necessary first step that could provide hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid savings for federal taxpayers,” states the March 3 policy brief based on examination […] -
Research & Commentary: Oregon Legislation Would Ensure Grid Reliability for Beaver State Families
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Legislation introduced in the Oregon House of Representatives would safeguard reliable electric power in the Beaver State so that it is not subject to blackouts and brownouts. The bill stipulates that the Public Utility Commission “may not authorize or approve a plan by an electric company to retire an electric power generating facility that provides […] -
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HHS Secretary Pledges to End Conflicts of Interest at Health Agencies
Publication -In his welcoming remarks at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the agency’s employees it is time for a new era of “radical transparency” in dealing with the public. Newly confirmed by a 52-48 Senate vote, Kennedy embraced the spirit of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) […] -
Research and Commentary: Tennessee Bills Would Increase Access to Health Care by Removing CON Rules
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Tennessee lawmakers are considering legislation to remove Certificate of Need (CON) requirements for health care services across the state. Tennessee SB 853 and HB 970 would eliminate the certificate of need requirement for all health care facilities except for nursing homes. The bills are currently under consideration in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and […] -
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Panelists Offer Ways to Reform Health Care Without a Political Fight
Publication -Offering people money instead of social programs and market regulations can help lawmakers get health care budgets under control without a huge political fight, said panelists during a public forum on February 12. “Who is the best judge of value? People,” said David Hyman, M.D., J.D., a Cato scholar and law professor at Georgetown University […] -
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Truly Voluntary Medicare Will Bring Down Health Costs for All – Interviews
Publication -As Congress grapples with how to cut health care spending by $880 billion in the next budget, one move that could permanently bring down costs in both the public and private sectors is to decouple Medicare from Social Security, says Twila Brase, president, and co-founder of the Citizens Council for Health Freedom. Brase spoke with […] -
Research and Commentary: Indiana Medicaid Work Requirement
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Indiana lawmakers are considering legislation that would add a work requirement for enrollees in the state’s Medicaid expansion group. SB 2 would require able-bodied, mentally fit enrollees above the federal poverty level to work an average of 20 hours per week or meet other requirements to retain eligibility for Medicaid in the Healthy Indiana Program (HIP), which expanded Medicaid coverage to them under provisions in the Affordable Care Act of 2010. -
Research and Commentary: Wisconsin Direct Primary Care Reform
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Wisconsin lawmakers are considering legislation establishing that direct primary care agreements are not insurance. Combined with high-deductible, low-cost insurance against catastrophic health problems, direct primary care provides low-cost, high-quality, personalized care while the separate insurance provides protection from financial disaster. The main barrier to DPC is the complicated regulations imposed by state bureaucracies and consumer protection authorities that regulate insurance companies. -
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Measles Outbreak Sparks National Concern
Publication -A limited outbreak of measles in Texas has received nearly daily media attention, with 200 cases confirmed as of March 10 and one child and one adult having died with the disease. Alarm grew after a case not associated with the Texas outbreak was confirmed in Maryland. The patient had recently traveled internationally through Washington […] -
Research and Commentary: Indiana Medicaid Eligibility Reform
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Senate Bill 2 would benefit Indiana Medicaid recipients by slowing the program’s movement toward insolvency as skyrocketing Medicaid costs threaten to devour all discretionary spending in the state. Nearly two million people in Indiana were enrolled in Medicaid at the end of 2024, in a state of just under seven million people. Indiana ran a Medicaid budget shortfall of more than $1 billion in 2023 and is still struggling to recover. The cost of Medicaid in the state increased by more than $5 billion in the last four years. Medicaid is forecast to cost Indiana taxpayers $10 billion over the next two years.