The WasteWatcher

The WasteWatcher is the staff blog of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW). For questions, contact blog@cagw.org.

They’re Baaaaack – The Sequel

January 11, 2019 - 15:03 — Elizabeth Wright

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 “

Read more about They’re Baaaaack – The Sequel

Stay Calm and Carry On

December 20, 2018 - 12:03 — Elizabeth Wright

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.

Read more about Stay Calm and Carry On

Using an International Pricing Index is NOT the Way to Lower Drug Costs

December 14, 2018 - 16:55 — Elizabeth Wright

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.

Read more about Using an International Pricing Index is NOT the Way to Lower Drug Costs

Congress Fails Farmers and Taxpayers with its Farm Bill

December 11, 2018 - 16:24 — Allen Johnson

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.

Read more about Congress Fails Farmers and Taxpayers with its Farm Bill

HHS OIG Admits: We’re Just Flushing Money Down the Drain

December 11, 2018 - 14:09 — Leslie Paige

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 300 hospitals more than $140 million in taxpayer dollars.

Read more about HHS OIG Admits: We’re Just Flushing Money Down the Drain

FCC Taking Steps to Protect Consumers from Robotexts

December 6, 2018 - 15:58 — Deborah Collier

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 to their CalWORKs account, could be the subject of a scam.

Read more about FCC Taking Steps to Protect Consumers from Robotexts

More Good News from Trump Administration on Lowering Health Insurance Costs

December 4, 2018 - 16:30 — Elizabeth Wright

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 for State Innovation, found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare.

Read more about More Good News from Trump Administration on Lowering Health Insurance Costs

USPS’s 12 Years of Financial Woe

November 29, 2018 - 16:57 — Leslie Paige

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, and its net “controllable” income went from a $610 million profit to a $8

Read more about USPS’s 12 Years of Financial Woe

Healthcare Moves from the Election and Back to Congress

November 19, 2018 - 17:11 — Elizabeth Wright

Poll, after poll, after poll shows that healthcare was the top issue in the 2018 elections. This should not be a surprise as Democrats ran on the issue, while many Republicans hid from it.

Read more about Healthcare Moves from the Election and Back to Congress

Farm Bill Conferees Should Avoid Broadband Overbuild

November 19, 2018 - 14:09 — Deborah Collier

Broadband overbuild using taxpayer dollars has been an ongoing problem across this country. Some providers will obtain a grant or loan from a federal agency to build out broadband in rural communities and then use the funding to either deploy or upgrade equipment where broadband already exists rather than spend taxpayer resources on unserved communities where the cost to build networks is much higher.

Read more about Farm Bill Conferees Should Avoid Broadband Overbuild

Citizens Against Government Waste America's #1 Taxpayer Watchdog