Musk's Department of Government Efficiency Can—and Should—Tackle Medicare and Social Security
Doing nothing will lead to Medicare benefits being cut by 11 percent and Social Security Benefits being cut by 23 percent in less than a decade.
Medicaid
DOGE Can Succeed by Scaling Back Its Ambitions
The new advisory group promises bold savings and massive spending cuts, but without any expertise in the federal budget, it’s likely to be all bark and no bite.
To Succeed at Cutting Government, Musk and Ramaswamy Must Take on Entitlements
When it comes to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, what's lacking is not ideas but the political will to act on them.
Medicare and Medicaid Spend More on Native-Born Americans Than Immigrants
Despite anti-immigrant rhetoric, the foreign-born account for nearly 20 percent less public health spending than those born in America.
Feds Arrest Telehealth Execs for Overprescribing Adderall
But will the government ever face repercussions for its role in the Adderall shortage?
The Congressional Budget Office's Alternative Scenarios Forecast a Dire Economic Picture
Why aren't politicians on both sides more worried than they seem to be?
All I Want for Christmas Is for Congress To Exercise Fiscal Restraint
Lawmakers can take small steps that are uncontroversial and bipartisan to jumpstart the fiscal stability process.
The Great Medicaid Unwinding
The ongoing rollback of Medicaid is a rare step to reverse the “ratcheting growth” of our social safety net.
Here's One Way To Move Toward Responsible Government and Sane Fiscal Policy
The Copenhagen Consensus has long championed a cost-benefit approach for addressing the world's most critical environmental problems.
The Real Scandal in Washington Is the Government's Reckless Spending
Those sounding the loudest alarms about possible shutdowns are largely silent when Congress ignores its own budgetary rules. All that seems to matter is that government is metaphorically funded.
The U.S. Credit Rating Just Dropped. It's Time for Radical Budget Reform.
The lack of oversight and the general absence of a long-term vision is creating inefficiency, waste, and red ink as far as the eye can see.
Is the Budget Process Broken, or Is Congress Just Refusing To Do Its Job?
Since Congress designed and implemented the last budget process in 1974, only on four occasions have all of the appropriations bills for discretionary spending been passed on time.
The Next President Needs To Cut Spending
At a minimum, the national debt should be smaller than the size of the economy. A committed president just might be able to deliver.
CBO Projects Huge Deficits, $116 Trillion in New Borrowing Over the Next 30 Years
A new Congressional Budget Office report warns of "significant economic and financial consequences" caused by the federal government's reckless borrowing.
Private Insurance and Government Programs Drive Up Health Care Costs
Letting third parties pay our bills pushes prices higher and limits our options.
The Fight Over the Debt Ceiling Is Just Beginning
Legislators will increasingly argue over how to spend a diminishing discretionary budget while overall spending simultaneously explodes.
Social Security Is on the Brink of Collapse. The GOP Won't Touch It.
In 1950, there were more than 16 workers for every beneficiary. In 2035, that ratio will be only 2.3 workers per retiree.
The GOP's Current Plan To Cut Spending Is a Political Failure
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are still the chief drivers of our future debt. But Republicans aren't touching them.
Congress Can Reduce the Deficit by $7.7 Trillion in 10 Years
The Congressional Budget Office projects that future deficits will explode. But there's a way out.
Additional Thoughts on the Supreme Court's Covid-19 Mandate Decisions
Assorted observations on yesterday's opinions, what they mean, and what comes next.
BREAKING: SCOTUS Stays OSHA Vax-or-Test Rule, Allows CMS Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers to Take Effect
By divided votes, the justices entered stayed t the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard and stayed the lower court injunctions against the mandate that Medicare and Medicaid service providers require their employees to get vaccinated.
Injunction Against Health Care Worker Vaccine Mandates Unlikely to Be Stayed Before 2022
The Supreme Court has asked for responses to the federal government's stay request.
Health Care Worker Vaccine Mandate Reaches the Supreme Court
The Biden Administration is seeking to stay lower court injunctions against the mandate.
Fifth Circuit Narrows Injunction Against CMS Vaccine Mandate for Medicaid and Medicare Providers
The district court's justification for a nationwide injunction was decidedly lacking.
Will Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers Be First to Reach the Supreme Court?
Now that a federal appeals court has weighed in, the CMS mandate may reach One First Street.
Health Care Provisions of Democratic Spending Bill Would Add More than $500 Billion to the Deficit
New analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows massive deficit increase as a result of spending bill’s health care provisions.
Progressives Want To Use a Giant Budget Gimmick To Hide the Cost of the Democrats' Spending Bill
When everything's a priority, nothing is.
The Biden White House Is Lying About the Democrats' Spending Bill
For Biden, "build back better’" apparently means eyes on everything in the economy.
Blame Both Parties if the Federal Government Shuts Down in December
Democrats want to raise the debt ceiling, while Republicans occasionally remember they're against big government spending.
Democrats Plot Huge New Federal Health Program as Part of $3.5 Trillion Budget Plan
Plus: Steven Horwitz's economic theories, Hawaii cops sued over fatal shooting, and more...
The Failure of LBJ's Great Society and What It Means for the 21st Century
Historian Amity Shlaes talks about the last time a president massively expanded the federal government to help people.
Why LBJ's Great Society Flopped—and What It Means for the 2020 Election
Amity Shlaes's new history of the late 1960s explains the failure of the last time the federal government tried to fix all that was wrong with America.
The Trump Administration Should Stand for Cancer Patients' Freedom to Choose
Restricting a cancer treatment to only hospitals will harm patients.
Forget Paying for Medicare for All—We Can't Pay for the Medicare We Have
A new report predicts Medicare spending will rise faster than private health care spending.
Brett Kavanaugh Joins With Liberal Justices; SCOTUS Won't Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Cases
"If Kavanaugh was going to deal a major blow to health care rights during his first session on the court, this would have been the case to do it."
A Surprisingly Normal Election
The biggest shock from yesterday's midterms was that everything went more or less as expected.
Subsidies and Price Controls Aren't the Answer to Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Prices
Prescription drugs are getting more and more expensive thanks to the needlessly complex interplay of intellectual property, public funding, and FDA regulation.
Is Chelsea Manning the First Real 21st Century Politician?: Podcast
Like millions of Americans but with more emojis, the convicted/commuted leaker and would-be senator has views that don't fit neatly into our two-party mold.
Would the Poor Be Better Off Without Welfare? A Debate Next Week in New York City.
Neera Tanden from the Center for American Progress vs. Tarren Bragdon from the Foundation for Government Accountability at the Soho Forum.
Did Arizona Fund Medicaid Expansion With an Unconstitutional Tax? Supreme Court Will Decide.
The tax was passed in 2013, but did not receive a two-thirds majority from both chambers of the state legislature.
The Single Payer Threat Is Real
Republicans should start taking liberal health care efforts seriously.
Sorry, Liberals: Protecting the Medicaid Status Quo Won't Save Patients
The program desperately needs radical surgery
Will Reforming Medicaid Kill People?
Liberal attachment to the worst insurance program in the civilized world is mind-boggling.
John Kasich's Misguided Moralism for Medicaid Expansion
Ohio could freeze expansion enrollments next year, ignoring the governor's pleas.
The Illusory Savings From Cutting Medicaid
Congressional Republicans promise to achieve greater frugality in Medicaid without inflicting more hardship. It's not gonna happen.
Oregon Passes Hefty Insurance Tax to Prop Up Its Scandalous Medicaid System
The state is spending $37 million a month on recipients potentially not eligible for the program.
Nevada Governor's Veto Won't Be The End of Medicaid-for-all Proposals
They haven't found any that work yet, but Democrats continue running political experiments with expanding government's role in health care.
