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Liberals in Congress are actively campaigning to force price controls on drug manufacturers. The House has already passed bills that would limit the amount of money pharmaceutical companies can charge for drugs. The fate of this proposed legislation is uncertain in the U.S. Senate. At the same time, the Biden Administration and others on the political left are attacking the companies that have made the COVID-19 vaccines. They seek a waiver to the 1994 TRIPS Act, which was accepted by all...
SEATTLE–The COVID-19 pandemic has caused devastation locally, nationally, and internationally. It is a once-in-a-lifetime crisis that has taken the lives of over two million people worldwide. (here) Although co-morbid factors may exist, the number of deaths and the number of hospitalizations directly related to the coronavirus are easy to track and report. Government officials have used these easy-to-obtain numbers to set policy that has closed the economy and schools over the past year. The d...
Imagine you walk into a grocery store and instead of shopping for food based on quality and price, the market does not post any prices. You fill up your shopping cart with anything that looks attractive. At the check-out stand, a third party, let’s say your employer or the government, suddenly appears and pays for your groceries. Sounds crazy, yet that is exactly what happens when a patient visits a doctor or hospital. Whether you believe health care is a right or not, everyone can agree that m...
The government bureau that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is required by law to track waste, fraud, and abuse in the entitlements. The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has identified several parts of the entitlements that are “at-risk” for fraud. CMS recently released its report on improper payments for the past fiscal year. (here) The report states that the improper payments are “not necessarily indicative of, or measu...
While people on the political left continue to demand a “Medicare for All,” single-payer health care system for the United States, Americans should understand the looming financial unsustainability facing the existing Medicare program. Medicare began in 1965 as single-payer, government plan for seniors 65 years of age and older. It is funded by three sources–payroll taxes, premiums paid by enrollees, and an ever-increasing amount of money from federal general tax revenue. By 1990, Medic...
As the COVID–19 viral pandemic rages across the world, the political left in the United States wants to use this health crisis as a reason to transform our health care into a government–run, single–payer system. As Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff said at the time of the 2008 economic turmoil, a crisis should not be politically wasted. Canada is the poster–child for a single–payer system. Researchers at the University of Toronto estimate that 35 percent to 70 percent of the count...