In their July 2, 2015 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commentary, “Price Transparency or TMI,” Office of Policy Planning authors Tara Isa Koslov and Elizabeth Jex noted, “Is more information about prices always a good thing for consumers and competition? Too much transparency can harm competition in any market, including in health care markets.”
The House Passes H.R. 1628, a Bill to Repeal and Replace Obamacare
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017. Only Republicans voted for the measure and every Democrat voted against it, along with 20 Republicans. The vote was 217 to 213.
A Dopey Policy
Currently, 26 states and the District of Columbia allow either medical and/or recreational marijuana. The January 23, 2017 edition of Westword reported that 11 additional states are considering legalizing recreational marijuana this year.
Pharmaceutical Transparency Legislation – Sounds Good but Foolhardy
Legislation to create “transparency” in drug costs has been introduced in dozens of state legislatures across the country, purportedly to understand how prescription drugs are priced. While details vary from state to state, all the bills would require pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide reams of pricing and cost data, much of it proprietary, to state officials. […]
Big Pharma DOES Negotiate Drug Prices
On March 7, 2017, President Trump tweeted he was “working on a new system where there will be competition in the Drug Industry. Pricing for the American people will come way down.” The next day, in a meeting with Representatives Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) , the president reiterated that he wanted to […]
Obamacare Still Vulnerable to Fraud
Even before Congress failed to pass a repeal and replacement for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), a November 2016 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report again exposed rampant and systematic fraud in the application process.
Obamacare Lives — For Now Anyway
Today certainly was a disappointing day for congressional Republicans. Since March 23, 2010, seven years ago yesterday, Republicans have wanted to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. But, House Republican leadership was unable to satisfy enough members in their caucus to vote for their repeal and replacement bill, H.R. 1628, […]
American Health Care Act — A Bill to Repeal and Replace Obamacare
The House Republicans have introduced a bill that will begin the process to repeal and replace Obamacare, entitled the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA). Obamacare is collapsing and Congress must act to stabilize and prevent further turmoil in the individual and small group health insurance market. For example, there are more than 1,000 […]
Bernie’s Bereft and Bogus Bill
On February 28, 2017, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced, S. 469, the “Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.” As of March 3, the bill is co-sponsored by 20 of his Democratic colleagues. In a February 28 press release, the sponsors challenged President Trump to “support our efforts” and to “encourage his Republican colleagues to […]
An Obamacare Repeal/Replace First Draft
On February 16, an “Obamacare Repeal and Replace Policy Brief and Resources” document was released that laid out the following points: Obamacare has failed; it will only get worse; that repealing the law will provide relief combined with a stable transition to something new; and the Republicans in Congress have a better way to deliver […]