Perilous Journey
What to know: Even Mexico’s president warns would-be migrants to the U.S. that the trip is dangerous, and controlled by organized crime.
The TPPF take: Organized crime and illegal immigration go hand-in-hand.
“From motivating the decision to migrate to controlling the smuggling routes, criminal organizations are an inextricable part of the current equation of illegal immigration across our southwestern border,” says TPPF Senior Fellow Josh Jones, who most recently served on the U.S. Attorney General’s Task Force Vulcan created to eliminate the threat of the MS-13 gang in the United States.
For more on immigration and organized crime, click here.
How is This Transparency?
What to know: A new study finds vast differences in how—and whether—hospitals comply with price transparency rules.
The TPPF take: It’s time to enforce those price transparency rules.
“Given that entrenched secrecy in pricing benefits large hospitals and traditional insurers, allowing them to charge as much as they would like, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing this scattershot approach to implementing reform,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “The Texas Public Policy Foundation, in partnership with Health Cost Labs created a “Price Transparency Compliance Index” to objectively observe and compare state compliance with this Federal Rule. Only 46% of Texas hospitals have complied with the law at this moment in time, putting our state at the bottom half of the list.”
For more on price transparency, click here.
You Don’t Say
What to know: It turns out that draconian lockdown rules didn’t stop the pandemic. Florida, for example, fared better than New York and California, with fewer rules (and a much higher population of the elderly).
The TPPF take: We must learn the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and never again allow governments to lock down society.
“If history can teach us anything, it is that disasters can be devastating to an individual’s mental health,” says TPPF’s Shelby Sterling. “In April, experts estimated that ‘a prolonged shutdown could bring tens of thousands of deaths through spikes in…suicide, heart attack, missed cancer diagnoses, domestic violence deaths, substance abuse, and more.’”
For more on how prolonged lockdowns can affect people, click here.