Even before he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia, Rev. Raphael Warnock’s brand was speaking “uncomfortable truths.” When preachers tell the truth, he once told a reporter, “very often it makes people uncomfortable.” Now that Sen. Warnock is in the Senate and pushing a massive Medicaid expansion in the reconciliation bill, here’s an...
It’s a truism—yet also true—that collectivism discourages innovation. If one size fits all, as the Affordable Care Act and its proponents insist, then we need not search for other fits—or other solutions. Yet a federal judge in Tyler, Texas has now sided with Texas and innovation in his ruling on a Medicaid waiver program that...
In July, the University of Houston Medical School announced a bold new program—it will open a direct primary care clinic on the campus of Memorial Herman Southwest Hospital. The new DPC facility—aimed at low-income Houston residents—is to be the first in a network of such clinics. Low-income and uninsured Texans stand to benefit from this...
As prescription drug prices continue to skyrocket, Walmart’s new program shows that markets—not government mandates—are key to keeping live-saving drugs like insulin affordable. The nation’s largest retailer is providing a 75% discount from the list price of a 10mL vial of NovoLog, and for the five-pen box of NovoLog FlexPen, Walmart is offering an 85%...
It’s refreshing to hear President Joe Biden call for more competition in health care. “Too often,” the President noted recently, “the government has actually made it harder for new companies to break in and compete.” Let’s see if his actions match his words. For too long, people have mistakenly believed that the American health care system...
While President Donald Trump cut the 2021 Obamacare open enrollment period (OEP) in half, President Joe Biden has hastily doubled up and overlapped successive enrollment periods, despite stagnating ACA Marketplace enrollment rates. Every year, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) establishes an OEP for eligible individuals to select a qualified health plan (QHP)...
As late as mid-April, Texas seemed poised to expand Medicaid—an Affordable Care Act bait-and-switch that other Republican-led states have fallen for in recent months. The online news site The Texan even reported, “Nine Texas House Republicans have signed onto House Bill (HB) 3871, authored by Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Carrollton), that would expand the federal welfare...
In a recent letter to Health & Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the leadership of the Committee on Energy & Commerce came together in a bipartisan effort to encourage HHS to step up its enforcement and accountability of the law that requires hospitals to list their negotiated prices in a transparent manner. According to one organization, compliance has...
Insulin truly is a miracle drug—extending countless lives and expanding the quality of life for millions of Americans. Yet its skyrocketing price, largely the result of pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) practices, is putting it out of reach of far too many patients, including children. According to the Endocrine Society (a global research group), “Novolog, a...
You know what they say about assumptions. And two specific assumptions in the Texas media’s chorus of condemnations of the Legislature for not expanding Medicaid stand out as both ill-informed and short-sighted—the assumption that expanding Medicaid would result in better health and fiscal outcomes, and that coverage equals care. Both assumptions are made in a...
An updated analysis of hospital price transparency information shows the vast majority of states are not coming close to complying with rules that require certain providers to publish their negotiated prices. Less than half (48%) of eligible hospitals are compliant with rules that require the providers to publish pricing information so patients can know the...
An important slate of health care reform bills has passed in the Texas House. It’s now up to the Senate to move the legislation forward, and if these bills are signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, the result will be a healthier, more prosperous Texas. The bills, bundled together as the “Healthy Families, Healthy...