Publications
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- Health Care News
States Using Tax Dollars to Pay Off Consumer Medical Debt
Publication -Seventeen states have acted to reduce or eliminate the burden on consumers of rising medical debt, according to an opinion article in Governing. The average medical debt owed by households was $18,660 in 2021, says David Kendall of Third Way, a center-left think tank. “Unfortunately, having health insurance is no guarantee of financial protection,” wrote […] -
- Health Care News
Congress Considers Bill to Prohibit DEI at Medical Schools
Publication -Legislation to ban race-based mandates in medical schools has been introduced in both houses of Congress. U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced identical versions of the Embracing anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act (H.R. 7725/S. 4115) in the House of Representatives and Senate, on March […] -
- Health Care News
Biden Administration Probes Anticompetitive Practices in Health Care
Publication -In an ironic turn, the federal government, which regulates much of health care, is taking steps to investigate why the industry is so uncompetitive. Teaming up with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Justice launched an online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, the agencies say […] -
- Health Care News
Michigan Family Succeeds in Stopping Organ Donation
Publication -A Michigan state judge halted the harvesting of organs from a patient declared “brain dead,” in a case that highlights the shortcomings of organ donation cards and informed consent. The family of 30-year-old Jaszmine Philips went to court to stop Gift of Life Michigan, the organ procurement agency working with Trinity Health in Muskegon, Michigan […] -
- Health Care News
Biden CMS Imposes ‘Unachievable’ Staffing Standards on Nursing Homes
Publication -The Biden administration issued final rules setting minimum staffing levels and national waiting times for medical care in the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes certified for Medicare and Medicaid long-term care. The new regulations “fulfill President Biden’s commitment to support family caregivers, boost compensation and job quality for care workers, expand and improve care options, and […] -
- Health Care News
DEA to Reclassify Marijuana as a Less Dangerous Drug
Publication -The Biden administration will reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug with fewer restrictions on its use under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, according to news reports. The Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) recommended changing the status of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III to the White House on April 30, the Associated Press […] -
- Health Care News
Biden Administration Eager to Sign WHO Pandemic Treaty
Publication -The Biden administration signaled its support for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) new pandemic treaty expected to be finalized at its World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, the final week of May. Pamela Hamamoto, the State Department official representing the United States at the meeting, stated that “America is committed to signing the treaty that will […] -
- 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 […]