COMMENTARIES

Whenever there is head-to-head competition to meet the same needs, markets routinely outperform government. For that reason, in Part I and Part II I argued that we should rely on the private marketplace to meet all the health care and health insurance needs it can meet. The role of government should be restricted to meeting only important needs that the market leaves unmet.

Here is the final suggestion:

Rule 3: Eliminate public policies that give people perverse incentives to raise costs and reduce quality.

Today, multiple special interests are shaping our health care system. Fortunately, there are opportunities to defy the special interests and enact sensible reforms if we follow three simple rules. In Part I, I discussed:

Rule 1: Let the private marketplace meet all the health care needs it can meet, leaving to government any important needs that are left unmet.

Here is the follow-up:

Rule II: Apply Rule I to the health insurance marketplace.

How can we resolve the impasse in Congress over health care spending? Bipartisanship should be possible as long as we follow three simple rules. Here is the first one:

Rule 1: Let the private marketplace meet all the needs it can meet, leaving to government any important needs that are left unmet.

Novo Nordisk’s  list price for the weight loss drug Wegovy, for example, is $1,349.02 for a four week pack. The list price for Ozempic is $1,000. But in order to gain access to the Medicare market, the company has agreed to sell both drugs for $245 plus a patient co-pay of $50. Even more interesting is Trump’s push for direct-to-consumer sales. Novo Nordisk has agreed to sell its weight loss drugs for a cash price of $350. Eli Lilly has agreed to sell its weight loss drugs, Zepbound and Orforglipron, for a cash price of $346. More.

A lot of doctors and some conservatives don’t like Medicare Advantage. And there are definitely some bad actors. However, this is the only place in the health care system where we could see the emergence of market-based developments that right-of-center folks like. But before we can institute free market reforms, we need to set the record straight on what is actually happening in that market. That is the point of my latest post at Forbes.

Democrats like to think of themselves as the creators and protectors of social insurance. Yet, there are two things to know about the safety net: 1) Almost all the money goes to special interests, not to poor people, and 2) although the special interests want more money, the last thing they want is reform of the programs from which they profit. More.

1. Codify the Trump 1 regulations for the short-term health insurance market.
2. Let people who buy into that market have one-half the tax credit Obamacare offers.
3. Let employers buy their employees into that market.
4. Continue the (Obamacare) enhanced subsidies for one year.
5. During that year work out the details on a fairer tax system for all private health insurance along the lines of the Sessions/Cassidy health reform bill.

More.

The main reason Democrats in Congress are willing to shut down the government is health care.  Both parties are missing an opportunity here. Obamacare insurance desperately needs reforming. Smart reforms would make the insurance better for those who have it and save taxpayers money at the same time. More

The Congressional Budget Office is now estimating that 10.9 million people will lose health insurance coverage because of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In all the press coverage and editorializing about these changes two facts are being ignored: (1) people who lose their coverage are almost certain to be healthy,  and not in need of  medical care, and (2) if people who drop their coverage get sick, they can easily re-enroll and get Medicaid to pay their medical bills retrospectively. More.