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  • Showdown at the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force – Commentary

    Published August 21, 2025
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    Reports began circulating this July that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might fire all 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). (See related article, page 1). The task force is an all-volunteer group of experts who make recommendations about which preventive services Americans should receive. Preventive services—think immunizations, […]
  • Future of U.S. Prevention Task Force in Question as Kennedy Cancels Meeting

    Published August 20, 2025
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    A meeting cancellation has raised speculation over what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has in store for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) The task force is an advisory panel that recommends what preventive services health insurers must cover fully under the Affordable Care Act. The task force was scheduled […]
  • Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Virginia Falling Way Behind on Education Choice

    Published August 15, 2025
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    A new report shows Virginia is lagging 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—Virginia only has an index score […]
  • Research & Commentary: New Index Shows South Dakota Lagging Behind on Education Choice

    Published August 13, 2025
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    A new report shows South Dakota is lagging 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—South Dakota only has an […]
  • Study: Illegal Immigrants Are Costing Texas Hospitals $122 Million Per Month

    Published August 13, 2025
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    Texas hospitals spent $121.8 million in November 2024 on health care for individuals in the United States illegally, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) reports. Noncitizens without legal status made more than 31,000 hospital visits across Texas that month alone, the report states. The data was collected in compliance with Gov. Greg Abbott’s […]
  • ICE Uses Medicaid Enrollee Data to Facilitate Deportations

    Published August 12, 2025
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    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using Medicaid enrollment data to facilitate deportations of people illegally in the United States. A coalition of 20 states, mostly Democrat-run, is suing the federal government to prevent ICE from accessing Medicaid enrollee data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Plaintiffs include California, Colorado, and […]
  • Illegal Immigrants Will Have Health Care Options – Interview

    Published August 11, 2025
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    The era of “free health care” for people not living lawfully in the United States is waning as states such as California, Illinois, and Minnesota begin to pause or eliminate Medicaid enrollment for this population. Fourteen states and Washington, DC provide coverage for low-income immigrant children, and seven of those states and DC cover eligible […]
  • Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Pennsylvania Lagging Behind on Education Choice

    Published August 8, 2025
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    A new report shows Pennsylvania is lagging 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—Pennsylvania only has an index score […]
  • Research & Commentary: New Index Shows North Carolina Falling Behind on Education Choice

    Published August 8, 2025
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    A new report shows North Carolina is 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 particular state actually have—North Carolina only has an […]
  • New Analysis Shows Medicaid Cuts Will Have Smaller Impact on Medicaid

    Published August 8, 2025
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    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the Medicaid provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will leave 7.8 million people without health insurance by 2034, not 10.3 million or more as claimed in earlier estimates. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) wrote […]
  • Big ACA Plan Price Hikes Expected

    Published August 7, 2025
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    Preliminary filings by insurers on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges indicate premiums for the coming year will be 15 percent higher over last year, the biggest increase since 2018. An analysis by Peterson-KFF noted two factors insurers have already cited to justify higher premiums: the elimination of premium tax credits and imposition of tariffs […]
  • Florida Takes New Approach to Hospital Price Transparency: Subpoenas

    Published August 6, 2025
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    Florida Attorney General James Ulthmeier has taken action against several hospital systems in his state, including subpoenas, to ensure they are complying with President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring hospitals to provide “clear, accurate and actionable health care pricing information.” Ulthmeier issued subpoenas on May 30 to Southern Baptist of Florida and AdventHealth, the Orlando […]
  • Medicare Advantage ‘Coding’ Loopholes Targeted in New Bill

    Published August 5, 2025
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    Responding to criticisms lodged against an otherwise popular program among seniors, Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced a bill to improve the way Medicare Advantage (MA) providers determine patients’ health risks, to eliminate overpayment. The bipartisan No Unreasonable Payments, Coding, and Diagnoses for the Elderly (No UPCODE) Act aims at saving […]
  • Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Mississippi Falling Well Behind Neighboring States on Education Choice

    Published August 4, 2025
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    A new report shows Mississippi is 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 particular state actually have— Mississippi only has an index […]
  • Senate Considers Ending More-Expensive Hospital Rates Under Medicare

    Published July 30, 2025
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    The U.S. Senate is considering legislation that would mandate “site-neutral” reimbursement in Medicare, eliminating the rule that pays hospitals more for services that can often be provided at a lower cost elsewhere. The Congressional Budget Office estimates implementing site-neutral payments for hospital outpatient departments could save taxpayers roughly $157 billion over 10 years. Over that […]
  • New Iowa Law Reins in Pharmacy Benefit Managers

    Published July 29, 2025
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    A new law in Iowa requires pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to reimburse pharmacies based on average state or national drug prices instead of negotiated rates and stops PBMs from favoring a specific pharmacy to fill a prescription. Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa signed the bill on June 11, saying it was necessary to improve accountability […]
  • Research & Commentary: Report Finds BlackRock in Violation of Lone Star State’s Anti-ESG Law

    Published July 29, 2025
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    A new report from the American Energy Institute (AEI) and Consumers’ Research (CR) finds that the multinational investment behemoth BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is in violation of a Texas anti-environment, social, governance (ESG) scoring law that prohibits financial institutions from taking any action that penalizes a company involved in fossil fuel production for […]
  • Research & Commentary: CAE Report Details the Environmental, Ecological, and Cost Concerns of Headlong Rush into Increased ‘Renewable’ Energy Generation

    Published July 28, 2025
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    A report released in June by the Center of the American Experiment (CAE) details the myriad environmental and ecological downsides of the push to transform the American energy sector via the widespread adoption of “renewable” technologies such as wind and solar. In Shattered Green Dreams: The Environmental Costs of Wind and Solar, CAE demonstrates the […]
  • CVS Faces Lawsuits for Using Patient Database to Evade PBM Law

    Published July 28, 2025
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    Pharmacy giant CVS is facing several lawsuits over allegedly sending text messages to customers in its prescription database to stop the state of Louisiana from enacting a law that would have threatened the company’s pharmacy benefit management (PBM) business. House Bill 358 would have banned ownership of a pharmacy and a PBM by the same […]
  • Research & Commentary: New Index Shows Iowa in the Vanguard of the Education Choice Movement, but Work Still Needs to Be Done

    Published July 25, 2025
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    A new report shows Iowa is among the leaders 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—Iowa takes the sixth overall […]
  • HHS Cracks Down on Removing Organs from Patients Declared Brain Dead

    Published July 25, 2025
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    HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced a move to tighten oversight of the practice of removing vital organs from neurologically impaired patients. In a July 21 news release, Kennedy announced a “major initiative” toward reforming the organ transplant system. “Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs […]
  • AMA Rejects Doctor-Assisted Suicide Despite More State Approvals

    Published July 24, 2025
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    With several states having approved physician-assisted suicide, the American Medical Association (AMA) staked out a firm position opposing the practice. Reaffirming its long-held position at the annual meeting of its House of Delegates, which took place from June 6 to 11 in Chicago, the AMA “overwhelmingly rejected” a proposed change in policy, according to the […]
  • Medicaid Cuts Would Cause Thousands of Deaths, Study Claims

    Published July 22, 2025
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    While the U.S. Senate was debating the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine projected cuts to Medicaid could lead to 16,642 premature deaths. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York based their projections on an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office […]
  • Research & Commentary: New Index Shows West Virginia in the Vanguard of the Education Choice Movement, but Work Still Needs to Be Done

    Published July 18, 2025
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    A new report shows West Virginia is among the leaders 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—West Virginia takes the […]

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