Republican Politicians' Weakness on Health Reform

The other day, the Wall Street Journal editorialized on the failure of Republicans in Congress to propose a coherent reform to private health insurance, in the wake of Obamacare's failure.

Today, they published my letter in response. Read the letter here (no subscription required).

The Supreme Court Obamacare Decision: An Interview

Here is a link to my radio interview last Sunday, which discusses scenarios in the wake of the Supreme Court's forthcoming decision on the constitutionality of Obamacare.

Shortages of Generic Sterile Injectable Drugs: Diagnosis and Solutions

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the number of times that sterile injectable drugs were in short supply almost tripled from 61 in 2005 to 178 in 2010. The figure reached more than 250 in 2011.

Although the problem is complex, the possible causes can be categorized as supply-side or demand-side. But which dominates?

Repealing Medical-Device Tax is Lifesaving Legislation

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal Obamacare's medical-device tax. Conventional wisdom concludes it will go no farther. It can, and it should. Read the entire column at Forbes.com: The Apothecary.

Obamacare's Medical-Device Tax Kills Jobs, As Well As Patients

How has the medical-device industry been so successful at moving repeal of its Obamacare excise tax to the front of the queue of the agenda to repeal Obamacare?

My latest column at Forbes.com tries to figure it out. Read it here.

Obamacare's Medical-Device Tax to Cost $2 Billion R&D, 1 Million Life-Years, Annually

Obamacare levies an excise tax on medical devices that will reduce research & development investment by over $2 billion every year, beginning in 2013. This will have an impact on patients' health. An initial estimate figures that this will cause a loss of one million life-years annually.

Read this month's Health Policy Prescription, by Benjamin Zycher, at this link.

Interstate Purchase of Health Insurance? No Magic Bullet

Many conservatives promote the idea of interstate purchase of health insurance as a solution to the health-insurance crisis. What exactly does this mean?

In fact, health insurers "sell across state lines" already. Generally speaking, large insurers either have separate subsidiaries in different states (e.g. WellPoint) or write policies from a balance sheet in the state in which they are domiciled (e.g CIGNA).

But interstate purchase as described by conservative activists is somewhat different. In a podcast produced by the Heartland Institute, I explain why it is an impractical solution.

Listen to it here.