Betsy

IBD Editorial Failure: The Obama Health Law is supposed to increase health coverage and slow spending. The promises of RomneyCare in Massachusetts were the same. But it has neither brought universal coverage nor contained costs. The failure of former Gov. Mitt Romney’s health care reform to provide universal coverage in Massachusetts is well-documented. As many as

By Herbert Pardes and Edward D. Miller Seeking to reduce the federal budget, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are looking at cutting funds for graduate medical education. Specifically, they’re considering reducing the Medicare reimbursement for doctor training, possibly in half, to cut about $4 billion from the federal budget. This could dramatically limit the ability of

By Michael Cannon Americans may be surprised to learn that little solid evidence exists to support the claim that expanding health insurance will improve the health and financial security of the uninsured; that some research calls into question whether broad coverage expansions improve health at all; and that some research even suggests that the overall

By Gina Kolata When poor people are given medical insurance, they not only find regular doctors and see doctors more often but they also feel better, are less depressed and are better able to maintain financial stability, according to a new, large-scale study that provides the first rigorously controlled assessment of the impact of Medicaid.

By Amy Goldstein Don Berwick, the administrator in charge of Medicare and Medicaid, was having dinner in Dupont Circle not long ago with five of his predecessors when the conversation veered to how long he could keep his job. In the realms of health care, his is a pivotal role: overseeing two entitlement programs that

By Phil Galewitz To curb rising Medicaid costs, about a dozen states are starting a new budget year by reducing payments to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers that treat the poor. Some health care experts say the cuts, most of which went into effect July 1 or will later this month, could add

Amid the ObamaCare fiasco, the latest is that physicians will be subject to streams of grubby government spies checking up on their Medicare patient intake. This isn’t Eurosocialist care anymore. This is the Soviet Union. In a front-page news story, the New York Times reported Monday that Obama administration officials intend to recruit a team

By Henry J. Aaron, Ph.D. Among the most important attributes of legislative statesmanship is self-abnegation — the willingness of legislators to abstain from meddling in matters they are poorly equipped to manage. The law creating the Federal Reserve embodied that virtue. Congress recognized the abiding temptation to use monetary policy for political ends and realized

By Gregory Conko On June 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a hearing to decide the fate of Avastin, a drug taken by thousands of women fighting late-stage breast cancer. Many of these women have pleaded for continued access to the drug, which they consider a matter of life and death. But