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I don’t know a person whose life is not touched by Alzheimer’s disease in some way: a family member or a friend might be a victim, and some of those may be undiagnosed. I had been somewhat encouraged that the cause of Alzheimer’s had been clearly diagnosed and was being treated. Now it appears that […]

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In essence, this is Charles Krauthammer’s view (2009) of the what should have happened instead of Obamacare. Seems today to be a good framework for Repeal/Replace – (not necessarily in order) tort reform, interstate purchasing and taxing employee benefits. What do you think? Preview Open

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Welcome to the Harvard Lunch Club Political Podcast for March 14, 2017, it’s the Nobody Will Ever Have Healthcare edition of the show.

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. The CBO Score Is In, and It’s Bad News for the GOP Healthcare Plan

 

The Congressional Budget Office just released its analysis of the American Health Care Act, the House GOP replacement legislation for Obamacare. The Beltway was eager to see how many people might lose their health insurance. Independent studies from Brookings and Standard & Poors estimated that 6 million to 15 million Americans would be effected, but the CBO’s estimate was much higher: 24 million.

The Washington Post created a chart showing the drop in insured Americans.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. It’s Time to Uncouple Health Insurance from Employment

 

It’s a little-known fact in the great outside world — although probably widely known among Ricochet readers — that employer-paid health insurance is an artifact of the Roosevelt administration.

When employers were prevented by law from raising their employees’ salaries, they compensated by offering benefits, such as health insurance, to make it more desirable to stay on as employees.

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The authors of this book, Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinny, first came to my attention when Phelim McAleer caught the director of the faux-documentary Gasland in a Dan Rather moment. Ignorant as I was about fracking at the time, but having heard some of the scare stories, this 3-minute video and their FrackNation documentary revealed […]

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I am typing this on a computer with more computing power than anything in the world until a about decade ago. When I was born, government agencies would literally kill for this computer – it would be a major advantage in the Cold War. Yet I could buy this on a limited budget several years […]

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Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Health Care Reality Does Not Care About Partisan Delusions

 

While I can think of at least a score (or two) of salient facts regarding the current health care reform debate, there are five that suggest that the politically palatable “plans” (left or right) are delusional. Here are five reality checks for America’s partisan “reformers.”

Reality Check 1 – While in real time price-wage terms, the average earner today pays less than one quarter of what they paid in 1958 for non-medical products and services, the average earner now pays four times the time-price for the health care services. (Time price is the number of hours of work required to pay for a product or service).

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You cannot fix this without underwriting. Insurers have been losing money and exiting the market. The huge ACA premium hikes will continue as long as carriers have to take pre-existing conditions. That means that, outside the group/employer markets, more healthy people will figure a way to avoid health insurance and more and more people will game […]

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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. How to Fix the GOP’s Health Care Fix

 

In my new The Week column, I express concern that failure to reform Obamacare today may push America toward a single-payer health care system tomorrow. Given that the ACA was passed in 2010, I’m not sure how many bites at the apple remain for Republicans. FreeMarketCare when? Will we at least be headed that way directionally sometime soon?

Now if you want to read two pieces on the new House GOP health care plan, definitely read my The Week piece. But as fantastic as it is, if you are only in the mood to read one thing on the topic, let me enthusiastically recommend a new column by my AEI colleague Jim Capretta. It’s chock full of real-talk goodness. Such as this:

In combination, the policies in the House bill would lead to a very large increase in the number of Americans without health insurance. It is true that all Americans could get insurance if they wanted to, but many households will see their options get worse under this plan compared to the ACA, not better. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is sure to make these points when its estimate of the plan is released in the coming days.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America react to Howard Dean saying pro-life people have no home in the Democratic Party. They also wince as Republicans are divided about how to overhaul Obamacare and leaders suggest any opposition to the current bill is tantamount to supporting Obamacare. And they discuss how ESPN’s political agenda had led to a subscriptions free fall and the need to eliminate $100 million in on-air personnel.

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Obamacare did not expand health insurance. Obamacare literally banned health insurance in the United States through its pre-existing coverage rule. I am disappointed that the GOP healthcare bill accepts this state of affairs. The long-term fiscal and political consequences of allowing the Democrats’ ban on health insurance to remain after a first GOP healthcare bill […]

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Avik Roy and Ross Douthat were the first two guys I thought to check in order to learn more about the GOP health care plan. (Roy is, of course, well known as a health care wonk, and Douthat is my favorite columnist). Like many others, their reaction is negative. Here is Avik Roy’s article at […]

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America found a lot to like in Pres. Trump’s speech, from conservative principles to powerful moments to a calm but determined delivery. They also point areas where Trump is embracing big government: including infrastructure, family leave, and health reform. And they have fun with the very awkward Democratic response.

Welcome to the Harvard Lunch Club Political Podcast for March 1, 2017, it’s the Dems Must Be Crazy edition of the show. This week, we are brought to you by Zip Recruiter. Find the right person for the job you have to offer with one click. We are also brought to you by Harry’s Shave. Try it. You will not go back. Promise. And we are brought to you by The Great Courses Plus. With over eight thousand video lectures re-discover the excitement of learning.

Our first topic this week is the psychological stability, or lack thereof, of the left. A report in the L.A. Times by Soumya Karlamangla described the problems that therapists of America are having in treating people with depression, anxiety and general craziness on account of the recent political turn of events (shhh…the election of Trump). Is the root of the problem that the left feels – the origin of the hysteria that Trump’s election has wrought – the lack of ability of leftists to cope with their own mortality? That’s my theory. Todd has his too.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Trumponomics Will Fail and So Will Repeal/Replace

 

Actually any economic policy we have will fail. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has stated that Social Security and Medicare won’t be touched now but that the regulatory reform and tax cuts will stimulate business, thereby helping with our debt long term. The surge is supposed to make all the Mnuchinkins happy in Lollipop Land.

I am positive that Trumponomics will be massively better than whatever the socialist party would have given us so I do expect short term gain but also the usual avoidance of needed pain. No one meaningful is willing to take one on the chin so our enormous economic mess will be another four years down the road until someone discusses fixing it.

Greg Corombos of Radio America and David French of National Review applaud Pres. Trump for planning to modernize and upgrade America’s nuclear arsenal. They also discuss the complexities of repealing Obamacare as former House Speaker John Boehner says it will never happen. And they react to CNN’s Chris Cuomo accusing dads who don’t want their 12-year-old daughter to share locker rooms with biological males of being “overprotective and intolerant.”

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Spare a kind thought for Ted Cruz? His effort a little over three years ago to defund Obamacare before full implementation was heavily criticized by many Republican politicians and conservative pundits as a futile exercise. The GOP, controlling only the House of Representatives, was powerless to stop Obamacare. However, it was asserted, if the GOP won […]

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Richard Epstein looks at recent setbacks to Obamacare — including the implosion of state exchanges — and describes what Congressional Republicans can do to reform the system without compounding uncertainty.