Health Policy Program: Latest Articles

WASHINGTON -- Attacking real or imagined health care villains, though sometimes necessary and always fun, will not make health care more affordable today or tomorrow unless we also face hard facts and reform our system. It is broken and our leaders know it, but courage to talk about real solutions is scarce, so most stick to diversionary tactics.

The ultraliberals' diversion is to blame capitalism and greed, to pretend that employers could just pay more while insurers… more

Quick. When you read "veterans hospital," what comes to mind? Maybe you recall the headlines from a dozen years ago about the three decomposed bodies found near a veterans medical center in Salem, Va. Two turned out to be the remains of patients who had wandered months before. The other body had been resting in place for more than 15 years. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) admitted that its search for the missing patients had been "cursory." Or maybe… more

Once upon a time in America, there was a young dad who toiled each day assembling automobiles at a local factory. It was hard work, but it provided him with ample treasures: enough money to put food on the table, pay his mortgage, and make sure that his wife and three children had excellent medical coverage

Today, that man's daughter also works long hours as an office manager for a local auto-repair business. But the insurance provided by her employer… more

President George W. Bush has framed his domestic agenda in recent speeches as a response to women's economic security concerns. In fact, in the president's "Ownership Society," women would be less -- not more -- economically secure.

The president's nomination acceptance speech contained a direct appeal to working moms. He offered women a post-"era-of-big-government-is-dead" message about putting government on the side of families: "The times in which we live and work are changing dramatically...Today, workers change jobs, even careers, many times… more

In response to a question about the cause of rising health care costs in last week's domestic policy debate, President Bush blamed the rise on a lack of consumer involvement and then declared his support for Health Savings Accounts. On the stump, he frequently trumpets these acounts, known as HSAs, as a way to "own your own health care." Yet under the pretext of restraining health care costs by empowering consumers, HSAs could have precisely the reverse effect. Rather than… more