On November 20, 2014, Chairman Darrel Issa of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent letters to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Director Marilyn Tavenner and Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) professor Jonathan Gruber asking them to testify before his committee on December 9 at 9:30 AM. The topic: to examine the […]
Family Feud
On October 22, 2014, Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Okla.) released his annual “Wastebook 2014: What Washington Doesn’t Want You To Read.” The report listed 100 wasteful spending programs that cost taxpayers $25 billion annually. The Wastebook always brings chuckles and disbelief that the government could dish out so much money so foolishly. On the other hand, […]
Dueling Agencies
On October 22, 2014, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released his annual “Wastebook 2014. What Washington Doesn’t Want You To Read.” The new edition includes 100 wasteful programs or projects, ranging from the bizarre to the truly egregious, worth $25 billion. Here are just a few examples: A $331,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) […]
See You In Court – Again
One of the things that is becoming more disturbing each day is how the Obama Administration is issuing a tsunami of regulations, interpretive rules, sub-regulatory guidance, executive orders, guidelines, and even divine proclamations on White House tissue paper (just kidding on that last one) that contradict, subvert, or circumvent the law. Even though I just […]
Happy Anniversary Healthcare.gov
It is hard to believe that the online marketplaces, or exchanges, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare, are having their one year anniversary this month. It seems like only yesterday that the federal website, Healthcare.gov, which officially opened on October 1, 2014, crashed almost immediately. Only six people in the entire country were able to utilize the federal exchange on the first day and sign up for a plan.
The Medical Device Tax: A Vise On Innovation
Since the day of its passage in 2010, millions of Americans and hundreds of members of Congress have called for the repeal of the Patient Protect and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare. The House of Representatives has had 54 votes on bills that would have fully repealed, restructured broadly, or modified parts of Obamacare. Many of these bills received bi-partisan support; most have died in the Senate. One bill that is likely to pass in the Senate if it could get a vote would fully repeal the ACA’s 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device sales.
One, Two, Three Examples of ObamaCare’s Harmful Effects
Three interesting articles can be found in the September 8 Weekly Special Edition of Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) concerning the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) with respect to jobs and the economy. Low-Wages + ObamaCare = Fewer Work Hours One article, entitled “Low-Wage Workers See Hours Trimmed as ObamaCare Hits,” concerns how little discussion there is on this topic […]
“Shocking” News: CMS Went Over Budget
I’m shocked…shocked that CMS went over budget! The Health and Human Services Inspector General’s (HHS-IG) office released a report last Tuesday, August 26, that shows the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that is overseeing the implementation and operation of Healthcare.gov, went over its budget for developing the on-line marketplace. The IG […]
Control, Alt, Delete
Control, Alt, Delete seems to be the standard M.O. for the Obama Administration when they want to extricate themselves from politically damaging, and possibly criminal, behavior. Deleting emails, using alias emails, crashing or losing computers seem to be some of their favored tactics.* Most informed citizens are well aware of Lois Lerner’s lost emails due […]
The Name Game
Biologics are, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), medical products “made from a variety of natural sources (human, animal or microorganism). Like drugs, some biologics are intended to treat diseases and medical conditions. Other biologics are used to prevent or diagnose diseases.” Top-selling biologics include Humira® (adalimumab) and Remicade® (infliximab), which are both used for treating rheumatoid arthritis, and Rituxan® (rituximab), which is used to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. These remarkable drugs represent the future of drug research and development.