The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud services contract is facing new challenges as the Pentagon investigates potential conflicts of interest by former employees involved in the drafting of the request for proposal (RFP).
CBO Budget Outlook Projects Debt Disaster is on the Horizon
On January 28, 2019, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its annual Budget and Economic Outlook for 2019 to 2029 and unsurprisingly, the United States’ fiscal outlook remains dreadful. CBO estimates a 2019 deficit of $897 billion, a $118 billion increase from 2018. Trillion-dollar deficits will resume in 2022 and reach all-time highs by the end of […]
They’re Baaaaack – The Sequel
In their never-ending quest to run roughshod and exert control over the research-intensive biopharmaceutical industry, socialists in Congress have introduced various price-control bills. For some reason they continue to think innovative drugs that cure cancer or other chronic diseases, such as hepatitis C, are whipped up in a back room with a 1970s-style “Mr. Wizard’s […]
Stay Calm and Carry On
On Friday, December 14, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled in Texas, et al v. United States, et al, that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, was unconstitutional. The hysteria immediately began, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) stating, “This is an awful ruling. Of course, it undoes pre-existing conditions, […]
Using an International Pricing Index is NOT the Way to Lower Drug Costs
On December 6, John O’Brien, the senior advisor on drug pricing reform to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, published a blog, entitled, “How the IPI Model Would Introduce New Market Competition to Medicare Drug Spending.” The blog left a lot of fiscal conservatives and patient-centered, free-market healthcare advocates scratching their heads. Mr. […]
Congress Fails Farmers and Taxpayers with its Farm Bill
President Nixon’s secretary of agriculture, Earl Butz, once said in 1973, “get big or get out.” He enthusiastically urged farmers to buy up their neighbors’ land. Since then, American agriculture policy has enabled big industrialized farm businesses to triumph over smaller family farms. Big businesses usually receive larger subsidies, so the most powerful farming operations are rewarded. […]
HHS OIG Admits: We’re Just Flushing Money Down the Drain
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) admitted last week that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital payment process is broken. The OIG’s report, “Significant Vulnerabilities Exist in the Hospital Wage Index System for Medicare Payments,” showed that from 2004 to 2017, CMS overpaid nearly […]
FCC Taking Steps to Protect Consumers from Robotexts
Much like robocalls to cell phones, text messaging scams are on the increase. This was one of the reasons the Fresno County Department of Social Services issued a warning on December 5, 2018, that anyone receiving a text message prompting its clients to call a number and provide information that could allow another individual access […]
More Good News from Trump Administration on Lowering Health Insurance Costs
It’s a common saying in D.C., that bad news gets released on Fridays. But, that was not the case on Friday, November 30, 2018. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma announced that her agency was releasing four waiver concepts to help governors and state legislatures take advantage of Section 1332, Waiver […]
USPS’s 12 Years of Financial Woe
On November 14, 2018, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that, for the 12th year running, it lost money. While this annual revelation has become something of a dog bites man story, the new, and more alarming news was that the $3.9 billion loss will outstrip its FY 2017 losses, which were $2.7 billion, […]