MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'government health care'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:54:31 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911481&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhealthcare-regulations-gone-wild%2F2011.06.08 We certainly have seen regulations upon regulations appear for health care over the past several years, and this letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal (1 June 2011) from the Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Nancy A. Nord, should cause us all to pause: As a commissioner at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), I can attest that no such (regulatory reform) activity is happening at this agency. We certainly have not combed through our regulations to eliminate those that are “out-of-date, unnecessary, [or] excessively burdensome,” as he suggests is being done across the government. Instead, we are regulating at an unprecedented pace and have pretty much abandoned any efforts to weigh societal benefits from regulations with the costs im... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911481 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:00:00 +0100 4911481 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780342&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVQjbjeleWX8%2F By Michael F. CannonThat didn’t take long at all.  Left-wing congresscritters have (re-)introduced legislation to create a “public option” in ObamaCare’s health insurance exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office scores the bill as reducing federal deficits by $53 billion by 2019.  How?  Paying doctors and hospitals less!  Put that on a bumper sticker! The public option would use Medicare’s price and exchange controls to pay doctors and other health care providers 5 percent more than Medicare does.  Except for prescription drugs: the public option would, ahem, “negotiate” those prices, meaning it would use a separate price-control scheme and pay less than Medicare does.  (Which means PhRMA probably won’t be bankrolling the public-optio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780342 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:47:04 +0100 3780342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3515338&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FH78JrwFZ7EQ%2F By Michael F. CannonPopular discontent with ObamaCare extends even so far as the traditionally left-of-center Columbus Dispatch editorial page: Almost daily, the ill effects of the health-care overhaul passed by Congress last month are becoming apparent. As employers and government bureaucrats analyze the law’s effect on bottom lines for the private sector and for government, the alarm bells are ringing. The tragedy is that these ill effects could have been and should have been calculated before the law was passed, not after. In fact, many of them were prophesied before passage of the bill, but the prophets were ignored by President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress. That’s because their uppermost goal was not to pass the best health-care bill possible but me... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3515338 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:05:13 +0100 3515338 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3374106&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUA3h7xM7mE4%2F By Michael F. CannonThe Associated Press reports: Buyers, beware: President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul will lower premiums by double digits, but check the fine print… The [Congressional Budget Office] concluded that premiums for people buying their own coverage would go up by an average of 10 percent to 13 percent, compared with the levels they’d reach without the legislation… “People are likely to not buy the same low-value policies they are buying now,” said health economist Len Nichols of George Mason University. “If they did buy the same value plans … the premium would be lower than it is now. This makes the White House statement true. But is it possibly misleading for some people? Sure.” Nichols’ comments are also m... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3374106 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:51:05 +0100 3374106 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3354300&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwQuYeknmjsg%2F By Tad DeHavenThe President has announced a government crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud. The effort appears to be an attempt to make it easier for Americans to swallow the health care “reform” he’s trying to shove down their throats. As House Republican leader John Boehner correctly asked, “Why can’t we crack down on fraud without a big-government takeover of health care?” As I’ve noted before, improper payments made by Medicare and Medicaid is may well be $50 billion more than the already appalling $100 billion annual figure the president cited. Administrative efforts to rein in fraud and abuse are welcome, but they won’t solve the huge and fundamental inefficiencies of these programs. Because the law requires government health care programs to quickly get payments... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3354300 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:10:42 +0100 3354300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3318376&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYB9U3Y7eSzg%2F By Michael F. CannonFrom my health care reform oped in today’s Daily Caller: President Obama wants to work with Republicans on health care reform. “I am going to be starting from scratch,” he says, “in the sense that I will be open to any ideas that help promote” controlling health care costs and making health insurance more widely available. As it happens, many of the worst ideas are in the legislation Obama supports. Republicans have embraced some of the best ideas, but also some of the worst. The best health care reform ideas ideas give consumers the money, let them choose a health plan regulated by a state of their choice, and reduce the federal government’s role in providing medical care to the needy.  The worst ideas?  Creating or expanding government health car... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3318376 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:44:40 +0100 3318376 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3294576&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEC6-I7P_zjE%2F By Michael F. CannonHoping to revive his increasingly unpopular health care overhaul, President Obama has invited Republicans to a bipartisan summit this Thursday and plans to introduce a new reform blueprint in advance of the summit.  On Sunday, the White House announced that a key feature of that blueprint will be premium caps, a form of government price control that helped kill the Clinton health plan when even New Democrats rejected it. The New York Times reports on President Obama’s blueprint: The president’s bill would grant the federal health and human services secretary new authority to review, and to block, premium increases by private insurers, potentially superseding state insurance regulators. It bears repeating what Obama’s top economic advisor Larry Summers thi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3294576 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:41:15 +0100 3294576 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3239556&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FE6jX2NqYGS8%2F By Chris Moody David Boaz debates at The Economist: Is Obama failing? “In many ways, Obama has just doubled down on George W. Bush’s policies of bailouts, takeovers, expanded Fed powers and nationalizations. In a recession he is adding debt, taxes and regulation to the burdens already felt by business.” Readers can vote and join the debate. Ever wonder why weather forecasters can get things so wrong? Looking for a primer on the causes of the financial crisis? The new Cato Policy Report has answers. How to tell when the government health care overhaul is dead. Podcast: “Citizens United and SpeechNow.org” featuring Steve Simpson of the Institute of Justice. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3239556 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:40:46 +0100 3239556 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3208630&cid=t_281736_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F01%2F26%2Fthe-health-care-divide-dems-that-have-and-dems-that-dont%2F My new post on Politics Daily / Woman Up: There’s a civil war going on among Democrats in the so-called heartland. Here in the Midwest, Democrats agree on most things. We were thrilled to usher in the first African-American president. We are largely pro-choice, we’re OK with gay marriage, and we hate Rush Limbaugh with the passion of 10,000 suns. But when it comes to the health care reform bills working their way through Congress, Democrats fall into two distinct camps. Some of us, myself included, are skeptics. We believe the health care reform bills are so gutted and weak that it’s better to just let them die and start over. We think the bill takes too long to take effect. Four years? That’s plenty of time to get sick and go broke. Plus, the bills leave too many l... Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3208630 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:36:20 +0100 3208630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3182136&cid=t_281736_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F17%2Fon-selecting-where-tax-dollars-can-be-spent-a-video-on-hydestupaknelson%2F Because I love anything Jay Smooth does. Oh, and because I’m not a fan of “I don’t want *my* tax dollars spent on X” arguments because there are a whole lot of things any individual might not want their tax dollars spent on for moral or other reasons. Like war, for example. The video below talks about the Hyde Amendment and the expansion of the “I don’t want my tax dollars spent on abortion” argument carried through Nelson/Stupak in health reform legislation. Feministe has a transcript and more commentary. Posted in Abortion, Access, Rights, & Choice, Ethics, Government (Source: Women's Health News) Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3182136 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:40:43 +0100 3182136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171877&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfYqakBfBSqo%2F By Tad DeHavenOne aspect of the health care debate that has not been sufficiently addressed is how the Department of Health and Human Services will handle all its new responsibilities given the massive fraud and abuse that already plagues its existing programs. It seems that every week there’s a new report of government health care being bilked. Since what’s reported is typically only what is caught, one can only imagine how much isn’t being caught. Harvard’s Malcolm Sparrow, a top specialist in health care fraud, estimates that up to 20 percent of federal health program budgets are consumed by improper payments, which would be a staggering $150 billion a year for Medicare and Medicaid. New York Times columnist David Leonhardt did raise the question this week of whether the HHS bur... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171877 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:42:55 +0100 3171877 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171885&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIn435zpiq7c%2F By Chris EdwardsWe’ve got an IRS Commissioner who doesn’t even do his own taxes, and is not embarrassed about it. We’ve got complex deductions that nobody understands, including the government, as the Maryland nurse with the MBA found out. We’ve got a Treasury Secretary and other high appointees who apparently cheated on their taxes. And we’ve got the Democrats hell-bent on greatly increasing the power and responsibilities of the overwhelmed IRS with their health care bill. Now, more than ever, it’s time to scrap the current income tax and put in a flat tax. Or at least we could take a big jump in that direction with a “Simplified Tax,” as discussed in a new National Academies report. Get rid of all almost all deductions, exemptions, and cr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171885 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:21:59 +0100 3171885 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096828&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FvG1MFG7RDvc%2F By Michael D. TannerPresident Obama gave what seems like his thousandth exclusive health care interview last night, this one to ABC News’s Charles Gibson.  In trying to sell his health care plan, the president warned that if Congress does not pass legislation controlling health care costs, the federal government “will go bankrupt.”  He also warned that unless health care is reformed, “your premiums will go up.”  The president is absolutely correct about that.  The only problem is that, according to the president’s own chief health care actuary, the bills that Congress is now considering do nothing to restrain either federal health care spending or total health care costs.  In fact, Rick Foster, chief actuary at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says that... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096828 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:48:43 +0100 3096828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3089268&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLZfA4J3pOmQ%2F By Chris Moody Supporters of the government health care overhaul pulling select quotes from research papers while hiding conclusions from the very same papers that hurt their political cause. Will the Senate health care bill pass in 2009? David Boaz: “It’s looking like a health care overhaul won’t pass this year. The basic problem is that the more people learn about the bill, the less they like it.” Religious persecution update: The State Department’s new list of the top 30 most egregious offenders. Strategies for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear reality. Podcast: “Perverse Incentives in Obamacare.” (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3089268 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:51:48 +0100 3089268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3071132&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDr-VY5JMWbQ%2F By Michael D. TannerSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has announced that he has reached a super secret compromise on how to deal with the so-called public option for health reform.  While Reid said the agreement was too important to actually tell anyone what is in it, most of the details have been leaked to the press. Rather than set-up a completely government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurance, Congress would establish a program similar to the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP), which currently covers government workers, including Members of Congress.  The FEHBP offers a variety of private insurance plans under a program managed by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM).  Each year OPM uses the Federal procurement process to solicit bids from... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3071132 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:58:14 +0100 3071132 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3003724&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fl9onG7CQuoI%2F Most international comparisons conclude that America’s health care sector under-performs those of other advanced nations.  Aside from other serious flaws, those studies typically ignore each nation’s contribution to medical innovation — the discovery of new knowledge and practices that improve health in all nations. Today, the Cato Institute releases a new study — the most comprehensive study of its kind — that helps fill that void. In “Bending the Productivity Curve: Why America Leads the World in Medical Innovation,” economist Glen Whitman and physician Raymond Raad conclude that the United States far and away outperforms other nations on medical innovation, but that the legislation moving through Congress threatens America’s ability to in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3003724 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:19:52 +0100 3003724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2971880&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiuYpk8X2ArI%2F Democrats are having difficulty corralling 218 votes for the Pelosi bill because Americans do not want government to be as big and as powerful as the House leadership does. Pro-life Democrats do not want a government so big that it can force taxpayers to fund abortions. Pro-choice Democrats do not want a government so big that it uses subsidies to restrict access to abortion coverage. Other Democrats don’t want a government so big that it turns the United States into a welfare magnet. The American people don’t want the Democrats’ approach to health care generally. The more time the public has to digest ObamaCare, the more they dislike it: And the Pelosi bill is the most expensive and extreme version of ObamaCare.  Opposition will climb higher when the public learns the bill costs s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2971880 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:14:49 +0100 2971880 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2930960&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fx-EV8cQFOHY%2F Including a Fannie Med with a “state opt-out” provision in the Senate Democrats’ health care bill accomplishes only this: it helps Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) survive as majority leader by appeasing his left wing.  It doesn’t make it any more (or less) likely that Fannie Med will survive. (Cross-posted at Politico’s Health Care Arena.) (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2930960 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:42:26 +0100 2930960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2920165&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwAL90kAa9rg%2F That sensible — and hopefully not rhetorical — question was posed by Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) on National Public Radio, according to The Hill. Regarding recent polling that shows that a new Fannie Med (my term) commands majority support among the public, Landrieu quipped, “I think if you asked, ‘Do you want a public option, but it would force the government to go bankrupt?’, people would say no.” Real health care reform wouldn’t bankrupt taxpayers or the government. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2920165 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:46:22 +0100 2920165 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2904857&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCi50C2kTAYs%2F Last week, editors at Politico posed two questions to an online panel to which I contribute: “ACORN: Underplayed or overblown?” and “Will the Dems ever get their act together on healthcare?” The two are intimately connected by a simple proposition: “Most people want more housing and health care than they can afford.” Of course, for “housing” or “health care” one could substitute whatever one wishes: food, clothing, cars, education, entertainment, vacations, you name it. Economists call this the problem of scarcity, and it’s the beginning of economics. In a free society, most individuals, families, and firms will deal with that problem through such homely measures as creating and husbanding wealth, planning for the future, an... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2904857 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:27:00 +0100 2904857 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2883011&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FRvsn9icqQzU%2F Thanks to the push for a more transparent Congress, we’re getting a better look at what new health care regulations might shape up to be. Alas, not a very good look: with weak justifications, the Senate Finance Committee is working on a strange “plain language” description of the bill, and apparently not planning to read or release the final language. I’ve found something worth noting, though, in each of the bill versions I’ve seen. The Senate Finance Committee’s Rube Goldberg plan for health care in America has a provision establishing paragraph talking about “Eligibility Verification.” If you want to access the “state exchanges” or collect the federal tax credits created by the bill, your eligibility will have to be verified. He... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2883011 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:40:36 +0100 2883011 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2807575&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOR0nsVjEuGI%2F A new T-shirt for Senator Baucus: I worked for six months with half a dozen members of the Senate Finance Committee, and all I got was this lousy 223-page summary of what I hope the new health care bill will look like. Why should evidence even matter in education policy? I mean, we’re doing this for the children. Videos reveal tax-funded organization being used to help those who want to open a brothel and illegally bring underage girls into the United States as “sex workers.” Meet the two 20-something who exposed it. It’s time to narrowly define the mission in Afghanistan. “The United States does not have the patience, cultural knowledge or legitimacy to transform what is a deeply divided, poverty stricken, tribal-based society into a self-sufficient, n... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2807575 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:31:32 +0100 2807575 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803887&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUJEALC3pR_E%2F In their attempt to defeat Obamacare, Republicans have focused their criticism on the public option, painting it as the most objectionable feature of existing proposals. Senator Max Baucus, (D-Mont.), has now proposed a plan without the public option. This leaves the Republicans in an awkward position, especially since Baucus’s plan is projected to cost less than earlier proposals. If Republicans oppose the Baucus plan, they surely risk the ire of voters who will be told during the mid-term elections, “The Republicans blocked a plan that would have covered the uninsured and reduced the deficit.” The problem is, the public option was never the crucial issue; instead, it was the mandate to purchase insurance. Once government mandates insurance coverage, it gets to define wh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803887 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:26:45 +0100 2803887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2785864&cid=t_281736_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F11%2Fupdate-coverage-of-the-health-care-speech-at-our-bodies-our-blog%2F Christine has commentary and resources here, and you’re welcome to leave your reaction to the speech and the plan in the comments. Posted in Events & Observances, Government (Source: Women's Health News) Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2785864 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:51:17 +0100 2785864 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2781968&cid=t_281736_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F10%2Fobamas-speech-on-health-care%2F Here’s the text of the speech from the Press Office, and video of the speech and the Republican response from C-SPAN. Posted in Events & Observances, Government (Source: Women's Health News) Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2781968 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:03:20 +0100 2781968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774607&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsQnzXQxW7fE%2F President Obama continues to portray the debate over health care reform as a choice between his plan for a massive government-takeover of the US healthcare system and “doing nothing.”  Those who oppose his plan are said to be “obstructionist” or in favor of the status-quo.  Yesterday, the President again said, “I’ve got a question for all those folks [who oppose his plan]: What are you going to do? What’s your answer? What’s your solution?” Well, I can’t speak for all his critics, but the Cato Institute has a long record of supporting health care reform based on free-markets and competition.  If the President wanted to know more he might have read my recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times or Michael Cannon’s piece in Investors Business Daily.  H... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774607 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:15:10 +0100 2774607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2715916&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FM3QLksw70Ho%2F A fun video on “free” health care in Canada: (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2715916 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:50:40 +0100 2715916 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2610887&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHn9Z5ivfmb8%2F I was on the Glenn Beck Show yesterday… …talking about this rendering of the House Democrats’ 1,018-page health care plan: That’s you all the way on the left, and your doctor/hospital all the way on the right. What could be simpler? (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2610887 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:00:42 +0100 2610887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2610890&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpdgGefsqbyw%2F Reading the New York Times’s coverage of a Senate committee’s recent vote on health care legislation, I was struck by the following statement from Sen. Dodd: If you don’t have health insurance, this bill is for you,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, who presided over more than three weeks of grueling committee sessions. “It stops insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It guarantees that you’ll be able to find an insurance plan that works for you, including a public health insurance option if you want it.” The bill would also help people who have insurance, Mr. Dodd said, because “it eliminates annual and lifetime caps on coverage and ensures that your out-of-pocket costs will never exceed your ability to... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2610890 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:05:02 +0100 2610890 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2605945&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6_XbFFeVUIM%2F House Democrats released their 1,018 page health care reform bill, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, yesterday. This bill is a dog’s breakfast of bad ideas paid for by more than $500 billion in new taxes. The reform would impose an individual mandate on individuals, requiring every American to buy a government designed insurance package or pay a new tax equal to 2.5 percent of their income. At a time of rising unemployment, businesses would be required to provide health insurance to workers or pay a new tax equal to 8 percent of workers wages. These new taxes could drive the total cost to taxpayers much higher than the $500 billion in direct taxes in the bill. In addition, the bill includes a host of new insurance regulations that will drive up the cost of insurance ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2605945 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:24:02 +0100 2605945 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473189&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOVHZMzbFKSM%2F Will Obama Raise Middle-Class Taxes to Fund Health Care? President Obama is promoting an expansion in federal health care spending, and Democratic leaders are scrambling to find ways to pay for it. The plan is expected to cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade, but the administration has promised that health care legislation won’t add to already huge federal budget deficits. In a new paper, Cato scholars Michael D. Tanner and Chris Edwards argue that expanding government health care will likely involve huge tax increases on the middle class. Tanner warns of “Obamacare” to come, saying that Obama’s new health care plan will give “government control over one-sixth of the U.S. economy, and over some of the most important, personal, and private decisions in Americans&#8217... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473189 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:17:08 +0100 2473189 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2347788&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKvRxHU_B4nk%2F As we all know, the American health care system is less than perfect.  An inefficient amalgam of government spending, federal tax incentives, employer-based insurance, and private providers, the U.S. system costs us more than it should for the services provided.  Nevertheless, medicine in America remains far more directed by and for patients, in contrast to nationalized systems, which are usually organized by and for bureaucrats. The results sometimes are horrific.  Indeed, the best way to understand the consequences of Britain’s National Health Service is simply to read stories in British newspapers.  Consider this one in the Daily Mail about  the lack of adequate dental care: Like so many young women, Amy King always took great pride in her appearance. Standing in front of... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2347788 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:19:55 +0100 2347788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2249693&cid=t_281736_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fi4lkHj5smg4%2F At yesterday’s White House Summit on Health Care Reform, President Obama had this to say: If there is a way of getting this done, where we’re driving down costs and people are getting health insurance at an affordable rate and have choice of doctor, have flexibility in terms of their plans, and we could do that entirely through the market, I’d be happy to do it that way. Well, Mr. President, may I recommend Healthy Competition: What’s Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It for a detailed proposal for how to accomplish this without turning one-seventh of our economy and some of our most important, personal, and private decisions over to the tender mercies of the federal government. Of course, as my colleague Michael Cannon points out, no one who supports free market pro... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2249693 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:01:59 +0100 2249693