Price Transparency
What to know: Most big hospitals in the U.S. are defying federal rules on price transparency.
The TPPF take: Price transparency is the first step in fixing our broken health care system.
“A lack of price transparency means providers can hide fees, add costs, or charge different prices for the same services,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “Fortunately, there is a path for policymakers to reform our system to ensure patients are in charge of their care by knowing prices before services are provided and creating more options that bring patients and doctors together.”
To view our new video explaining price transparency, click here.
Rebalancing Energy Resources
What to know: Wayne Christian, who chairs the Texas Railroad Commission (the agency that regulates oil and gas), says that wind and solar didn’t show up during the recent winter storm, and that our energy resources need to be “rebalanced, with an emphasis on cheap, plentiful and reliable sources such as natural gas, coal and nuclear.”
The TPPF take: Government subsidies have distorted our energy market and undermined investment in reliable power.
“The race to add in renewables pushed out more reliable forms of energy and kept new reliable energy from being built,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “That resulted in the buffer in our electric grid being stripped out—going from more than a 20% surplus years ago to single digits in the last couple of years.”
For more on how subsidies affected the grid, click here.
Unconstitutional
What to know: The CDC could attempt to extend its nationwide ban on evictions, despite losing a federal court case on the ban (a case argued by TPPF attorneys, along with the Southeastern Legal Foundation).
The TPPF take: The CDC rule is a clear case of government overreach.
“Under the order, private property owners are required to allow non-paying renters to live rent-free until the federal government says otherwise, costing landlords billions of dollars in unpaid rent — all while landowners remain responsible for property taxes, mortgages, and the costs of their property,” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke. “But the federal ruling makes it clear that even during a pandemic, the Constitution persists.”
For more on the CDC ban on evictions, click here.