What I call health policy orthodoxy is committed to two propositions: (1) The really important health issue for poor people is access to care, and (2) to ensure access, waiting for care is always better than paying for care. In other words, if you have to ration scarce medical resources somehow, rationing by waiting...
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Phil Mickelson is being targeted for his comments on California’s and the Feds’ tax hikes. The offending statements, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, are as follows: “Well, it’s been an interesting offseason, and I’m going to have to make some drastic changes,” Mickelson told reporters Sunday after tying for 37th place at 17 under...
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Just looking at the rate at which the federal government’s debt is growing is unnerving. If you’re brave, you can look here. The table shows federal debt on September 30 of each year, the end of the federal government’s fiscal year. The numbers almost speak for themselves. About 37.6% of that debt was accumulated...
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In my previous post I discussed the case for replacing the current Medicaid system with block grants to the states; the states would spend this money on indigent healthcare, and nothing more. But must we think only in terms of keeping the poor in a separate healthcare system? Is there any reason to partition...
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A salmon trap (also known as a pound net) is a setup for catching salmon as they return to their spawning places in the gravel beds of shallow inland streams. Such traps were used in Washington and Oregon until they were outlawed—by Oregon in 1926 and by Washington in 1934—and in Alaska until they...
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Does President Obama hate private charity, or does he think only the government should take care of people? Does he just hate the idea of anyone directing their own money as they choose, or what? For whatever reason, for now the fifth time in his administration, he’s proposing eliminating or limiting the tax deductibility...
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg would apparently prefer his storm-ravaged city’s homeless eat nothing at all than benefit from the generosity of private individuals—declaring that only items his food police pass inspection on can be donated to city homeless shelters: Another example of why the government does not belong in the business of charitable relief. If...
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In 2011, 14.6% of households in the United States were below the poverty line, according to these statistics. That represents 16.8 million households. That same year, the federal government spent $746 billion on means-tested welfare programs, according to this report recently released by the Congressional Research Service. If that money were divided up and...
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With his latest ad, “Your First Time,” President Barack Obama has now completed his trifecta on the the 3 Biggest Lies in the World. You remember those, don’t you? #1: The check is in the mail. #2: I’m from the government and I’m here to help you. #3: Of course I’ll still respect you...
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I now want to address a fascinating question, about which there is considerable debate. One person who thinks we are getting a good deal for the money we spend on healthcare is Harvard University health economist David Culter. A 45-year-old man alive in 1950 had few effective treatments for today’s most common killer, heart...
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