The government lockdowns due to COVID-19 over the past several months have devastated American families. And that means Medicare is in trouble. According to the recent jobs report, the unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, almost triple the unemployment rate in February before the lockdowns began. In July, the number of insured unemployment was 16.2 million and the four-week...
Throughout the government-ordered shutdowns to address the novel coronavirus, many people are concerned about the unintended health consequences, both physical and mental, from these measures. Public health experts have raised concerns about increasing drug and alcohol overdoses during the pandemic and shutdowns. There is evidence that economic downturns can increase risky behaviors like alcohol and drug consumption, and we’re in dismal...
The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on the U.S. health care system. But our government’s response to it—including heavy-handed demands that all but “essential” care cease—has been harder still. Recently, the Texas Public Policy Foundation held a webinar with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan. He discussed the COVID-19...