Since Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took office he has been a one man force of nature. At every turn he has decided to exploit the current Senate rules any way he can to advance his agenda. He doesn’t just threaten to filibuster a big piece of legislation for public attention like some, he also uses [...]

A new study in Health Affairs appears to disprove the commonly cited myth that public insurance programs “shifts cost” onto private insurance. The idea behind the myth is that public insurance programs pay providers less than what procedures cost which forces them to make up the difference by charging private insurance companies more. In reality, [...]

President Obama and Congressional Republicans actually view concerns about the deficit in two different ways and that is what has prevented a deal. Obama for whatever reason actually thinks reducing the long term deficit should be important. He has put forward plans to include spending cuts and tax increases in order to achieve this goal. He [...]

Larry Summers has decided to rush into the fray to defend his “colleagues and friends” Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff. Unfortunately, the only way for Summers to defend his friends is by trying to rewrite history. Summer tried to pretend the problem was simply a matter of making some errors. From Summers: First, this experience [...]

There is growing concern that a problematic implementation of the Affordable Care Act will hurt Democrats in 2014. In response, some on the left, like Jonathan Cohn, have pointed to Medicare Part D as an example why such concerns are overblown. They argue while the implementation of the drug benefit program was rocky, it was [...]

Getting a lot of attention today is a new study about Oregon’s Medicaid program. Basically several years ago Oregon wanted to greatly expand the program but didn’t have enough money to cover everyone they wanted. As a result they held a lottery. This created a perfect natural experiment on the effect of Medicaid coverage. The [...]

The Obama administration has decided to fight a court order to allow Plan B to  be sold over the counter to younger women. This is a very disappointing move by a man that goes to great lengths to pretend to be a “technocrat.” This whole fight started when back in 2011 the FDA, after extensive review, concluded that [...]

During a rare press conference President Obama defended the Affordable Care Act by saying “in a country as wealthy as ours nobody should go bankrupt if they get sick.” The problem is the Obamacare will not even come close to eliminating medical bankruptcy. Even under the law, people who buy insurance on the new exchange [...]

Support for the Affordable Care Act has dropped to its lowest level in years, according the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll. The poll found only 35 percent have a favorable opinion of the law, while 40 percent have an unfavorable opinion. This is the lowest level of support since 2011. From Kaiser: At least [...]

One of the big reasons I’m so pessimistic about the new health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act is the principle behind them. The idea is that everyone will be well- informed dedicated shoppers who will know how to select the best plan to fit their needs, which will reduce cost for everyone. [...]