Health Care
The Federal Government Has Shed 271,000 Jobs This Year. That's Great.
It's also not the whole story. Federal spending isn't falling and the private sector job market is stagnant.
17 Ways Politicians Can Make Things Cheaper, Starting With Food, Health Care, and Appliances
A real affordability agenda would unleash free markets, not constrain them.
Obamacare Subsidies Can't Fix a Broken System. Rand Paul's Bill Could.
The Senate failed to pass a three-year extension on tax credits for the Affordable Care Act. But the only thing keeping it at all "affordable" was a flood of taxpayer money to conceal its true expense.
The Horseshoe of Doom: Populists Left and Right Say America Is Failing. The Facts Don't.
When voters believe they're living through an economic apocalypse, they're willing to embrace the very policies that would create one.
Auditors Submitted 24 Fake Applications for Subsidized Health Insurance. Only 1 Was Denied.
A new GAO report suggests the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges are rife with fraud.
Chatbots Are Not Medical Devices
Why does the FDA want to regulate AI wellness apps?
'Catch Kits' for Fetal Remains Are Republicans' Latest Dystopian Plan To Punish Abortions
GOP lawmakers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are pushing the idea that abortions are a water quality issue.
Can the Government Mandate a Vaccine for Your Own Good? This Federal Court Says Yes.
The 9th Circuit made a ruling this year that could allow far-ranging government interference with private health decisions.
Katie Engelhart on Medically Assisted Dying in the U.S. vs. Canada
"When you open up the option of assisted dying to people who are not dying, things get complicated," says the author of The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die.
AI Might Help Doctors Be More Efficient and Lower Medical Costs
A Northwestern University clinical study found that generative AI sped up radiology documentation by 15.5 percent.
Did Democrats Blow It on the Government Shutdown?
Plus: Obamacare subsidies take center stage, the abundance agenda meets socialism after Mamdani’s win, and the differences between liberals and libertarians
Veterans Are Suffering Because of Government Red Tape
Filmmaker Jon Shenk and former Navy SEAL Marcus Capone discuss how psychedelics are helping veterans recover from war trauma.
Will a Mamdani Victory Push the Democrats Further Left?
Plus: Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, a court ruling extending SNAP funding during the shutdown, and Trump’s tariff fight reaches the Supreme Court
America's $30 Trillion Publicly Held Debt Is 42 Times Larger Than It Was in 1980
Democrats defend every entitlement and dream up new benefits. Republicans demand more defense spending and still more tax cuts.
Don't Extend Obamacare Subsidies To End the Government Shutdown
Government interference in health care should be reduced, not expanded.
What the Democrats Are Doing Right Now Won't Lower Health Care Costs—but Here's What Actually Would
Four ideas that are better than extending Obamacare subsidies and a government shutdown.
Democrats Shut Down the Government to Obscure Obamacare's Failures
The fight over whether to extend "temporary" health insurance subsidies is really a fight over how best to hide the costs created by the Affordable Care Act.
Shutdown Livestream: This Won't Fix Trillion-Dollar Deficits
Reason's Peter Suderman and Eric Boehm discuss the government shutdown live at 3 p.m. Eastern time today.
Can Americans Trust RFK Jr.'s Health Advice? A Breakdown on Vaccines, Autism, Food Dyes, and More
As ever, be cautious about what you hear from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Department of Veterans Affairs
In 16 Years, the V.A. Turned This $450 Million Hospital Project Into a $1.6 Billion Boondoggle
What began as a simple hospital project has become yet another example of bureaucratic failure at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Washington Says Tax Breaks Help People. Instead, They're Corroding the Tax Code.
The expenditures are often costly privileges for special interests that mask the true size of government and fail to deliver the promised bang for the buck.
Don't Fear 'Frankenfood.' We're Already Living in the Lab-Grown Future.
Many people prefer naturally produced over man-made. But isn't there something just as compelling about the stuff that thousands of people collaborated to make?
Chip Roy on Why He Backed Trump's Spending Bill
Texas Rep. Chip Roy joins Nick Gillespie to talk about runaway spending, the uphill battle for health care reform, and where immigration fits into the liberty vs. sovereignty debate.
Upholding a Vaccine Mandate, the 9th Circuit Embraces an Alarmingly Broad Definition of 'Public Health'
The appeals court held that the government may require COVID-19 shots based purely on the benefits to recipients.
How Sports Tickets Got So Expensive—Or Did They?
Plus: regulating college sports, forgiving baseball’s legends, and Happy Gilmore 2
Thomas Massie's New Bill Would Let People Sue Pharma for COVID Vaccine Injuries
Federal liability protections currently prevent people suing COVID-19 vaccine makers, and instead require them to request compensation from a program that's covered only 39 COVID vaccine injury claims.
Should the U.S. Have a Public Health Insurance Plan?
Yale’s Jacob Hacker and Sesame’s David Goldhill debate a government-run health insurance plan.
Debunking the 100,000 Medicaid Deaths Myth
Partisan pundits are misreading statistical estimates and misrepresenting the science to suggest that Trump's Medicaid cuts will kill 100,000 people. That claim doesn’t survive scrutiny.
Arizona Just Created, Then Defunded, an Independent Watchdog for Its Troubled Prison System
Criminal justice reform advocates are still hopeful the office can secure outside funding and bring much-needed transparency to Arizona's prisons.
The 'Big Beautiful Bill' Expands Health Savings in a Rare Policy Win
In a bill packed with spending, one provision offers real gains for health care choice and savings.
Medicaid Work Requirements Are a Short-Term Fix to a Long-Term Problem
A more effective reform is to let the market curb waste and reward innovation.
Reason Earns 15 Southern California Journalism Awards
First-place finishes include a piece on the Dutch "dropping" rite of passage, a documentary exploring citizen journalism and free speech, and a long-form interview with exoneree Amanda Knox.
Texans Gain the Right To Try Individualized Medical Treatments
Ailing Americans are winning expanded freedom to try experimental medicine.
How Making GLP-1s Available Over the Counter Can Unlock Their Full Potential
Drugs like Ozempic might not only address obesity but also alcoholism, smoking, and drug addiction.
Trump's Prescription Price Controls Would Lead to Fewer New Drugs
The executive order is likely unconstitutional, but if implemented as written, it would be detrimental to the American health care market.
The GOP Budget Is Big, Bloated, B.S.
Plus: A listener asks if the economic inequality data is bad.
Richard Dawkins: Why Atheism Is Winning
The evolutionary biologist challenges modern dogmas, defends scientific objectivity, and warns against the rise of ideological orthodoxy in society.
Reason Nominated for 17 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominees include stories on inflation breaking brains, America's first drug war, Afghans the U.S. left behind, Javier Milei, and much more.
What Did We Learn From DOGE?
Plus: A listener asks which domestic policy changes could realistically boost U.S. manufacturing without raising costs for consumers.
The Bad Data Backing Josh Hawley's Attack on Abortion Pills
A new study being used to call for mifepristone restrictions relies on vague and dubious definitions of drug-related complications.
John Arnold: Government Can't Be Trusted To Fix Any Problems
John Arnold argues that private markets solve problems better than government or philanthropy, and that real reform comes from decentralization, incentives, and evidence—not top-down control.
Will Florida Teens With Sexually Transmitted Diseases Have To Tell Their Parents Before They Can Get Treatment?
These bills would require exactly that—and a lot more.
Jeffrey Singer: Get Government Out of Health Care
Longtime surgeon and Cato Institute fellow Jeffrey Singer argues that government overreach in health care undermines patient autonomy.