Health Care

Trump’s health care transparency order a positive step toward a true patient-controlled system

The lack of predictability in health care costs continues to frustrate Americans. Most people blame the insurance companies, which negotiate rates with providers behind closed doors. Others say government intervention has destroyed health care markets and the lack of competition drives up costs. Both sides are right, which is why Americans should embrace the latest executive order from...

July 8, 2019

Health Care

New Lawsuit Challenges Texas’s Physician Dispense Laws

The Institute for Justice has taken up the cause of doctors in Texas who want to offer their patients affordable medications at the point of care—a practice known as physician dispensing of prescription drugs. As the doctors point out, the Texas ban on physician dispensing is irrational. “As 45 other states have recognized, doctor dispensing...

June 27, 2019

Health Care

Thanks to Trump, the healthcare choice is yours

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and many various versions of “Medicare for All” have something in common: they all want to limit your options: From which doctors you can see to the type of treatment you receive, and the kind of coverage you can get, both our current system and the socialized medicine proposed by the Left...

June 24, 2019

Health Care

The Party of Prohibition

To protect Obamacare, House Democrats have passed a resolution that will kick hundreds of thousands of Americans off their insurance plans. HR 1010, sponsored by Representative Kathy Castor (D- FL) and cosponsored by 25 members of her party, is a prohibition of short-term limited duration insurance plans that were put in place by the Obama...

May 6, 2019

Health Care

In Healthcare, Failure Is Rewarded

In the world of commerce, the market rewards success with profit and punishes mismanagement with bankruptcy. In health care, mismanagement is rewarded. Witness Medicare, which provides medical care for 51.2 million Americans aged 65 years and older, as well as 8.8 million disabled. The latest report about the Medicare Trust indicates that the “depletion date”...

May 4, 2019

Health Care

Direct care plans could alleviate problem of high deductible plans — if Congress would fix the law

Often, the most effective way to make a point is to tell a story. And that’s what NPR does in its new report on high-deductible health policies (HDHPs) that are keeping too many Americans out of their doctors’ offices. Susan, who carries a gene that makes her predisposed to breast cancer, has one of those policies....

April 27, 2019

Health Care

In Texas, It’s a Dog’s Life!

Maisy was having a severe reaction to her allergies this season and was having difficulty breathing. We called her doctor and he recommended we bring her in to the office. After the examination and a shot that gave her some relief, we went to the front desk, where the doctor wrote a prescription that was...

April 17, 2019

Health Care

‘Grandmothering’ and Other Health Care Improvements

Here’s some grandmotherly advice for lawmakers: Be sure you’re not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. In other words, when crafting legislation that will affect hundreds of millions of Americans, keep an eye out for unintended consequences that might make their problems worse. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—popularly known...

April 12, 2019

Health Care

Medicare-for-All will make things worse

Sometimes, the diagnosis is right, but the prescription is wrong. U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, correctly diagnoses the American health care system, but her prescription will only make things worse. “The state of our health care system is absolutely atrocious,” she said recently. “We believe that the market is broken, and that is the core...

March 8, 2019

Health Care

Surprise!

Christy called the ambulance on Christmas Eve because her husband passed out and was unresponsive. He was rushed to the hospital and remained there for three months before passing away. While Christy sat by his silent bedside—he was in a coma the entire time—she watched person after person come into the room to read the...

March 4, 2019

Health Care

‘Medicare for all’ would limit health care choices even more

Will those who say they promote the ideology of choice be the ones to limit your choices when it comes to health care and coverage? The drumbeat for socialized medicine — nowadays often referred to as “Medicare for all” or a “public option” — is becoming relentless. The truth is this is a deliberate effort...

February 22, 2019

Health Care

Pre-existing conditions: Political versus financial reality

Health care was the single biggest issue affecting voters this past election cycle, and it will continue to be, at least through the 2020 elections. And at the center of the debate — the crux of the issue — is protection for consumers with pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Aact (ACA) — ObamaCare — mandated...

February 13, 2019