Cigarette Smuggling
Diverse state tobacco taxes are a key reason for cigarette smuggling, in which organized crime and terrorist groups increasingly are involved.
Making Sense of Sustainable Development
The idea of sustainable development, the focus of the recent United Nations Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, is both commonsensical and contentious.
Is Medicare Too Stingy?
The fees Medicare pays physicians who treat seniors are not determined in the marketplace. Instead, they are arbitrarily set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), based on a complex formula implemented in 1992.
Association Health Plans – Part Two: Answering the Critics
A cornerstone of President Bush's approach to health care reform is the introduction of Association Health Plans (AHPs). These plans would enable business and professional associations to offer health benefits to their members.
Association Health Plans – Part One: Lowering Small Group Costs
A cornerstone of President Bush's approach to health care reform is the creation of Association Health Plans (AHPs). Intended to control costs and improve access to coverage for small employers and individuals, AHPs would allow bona fide business and professional associations to offer health benefits to their members.
Repeal the Federal Job Tax
Employment has declined in most states, but the federal government continues to tax it. Employers in the 50 states will send an estimated $7.2 billion to Washington, D.C., in federal unemployment insurance taxes this year.
The Case against Mental Health Parity, Part II: Predictable Harms
Advocates of mental health parity propose legislation that would require all private health insurance to establish the same deductibles and co-payments for physical and mental health care services.
How to Save Social Security
President Bush's bipartisan Social Security reform commission delivered its final recommendations for repairing Social Security in December 2001.
Explaining the Growth of Medicare: Part I
Utilization of medical care has risen dramatically since Medicare began in 1965. That year, health expenditures accounted for 5.7 percent of the nation's output.
Health Insurance: How Much Does It Matter?
Two recent reports associate lack of health insurance coverage with less access to health care services and worse health outcomes. One study is written by Jack Hadley of the Urban Institute and published by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the other by an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Bush Health Agenda – Part I: Strengthening Employer-Provided Health Insurance
Almost 40 million Americans go without health insurance coverage for an entire year, and as many as 20 million others are without health insurance coverage during some part of the year.
The Bush Health Agenda – Part II: Tax Credits for the Uninsured
Current federal law includes a number of tax incentives that encourage Americans to obtain health insurance. Employer-provided health insurance and employer reimbursements for medical care are generally excluded from an employee's taxable income.
The Farm Bill: A Twice-Baked Potato
The $190 billion Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, was a big mistake. While the Farm Act may serve farmers in the short run, it will harm them and many others over time.
The Case against Mental Health Parity, Part III: Does the Care Really Work?
No one doubts that there has been a major scientific breakthrough in the use of drugs to treat the seriously mentally ill. The discovery of atypical antipsychotic drugs makes it possible for schizophrenics – who would have been institutionalized only a few decades ago – to lead reasonably normal lives.
The Case against Mental Health Parity, Part I: Faulty Assumptions
Advocates of mental health parity assume that all health care should be paid for in the same way. Federal law already requires that any cap on private health insurance benefits (e.g., a limit on the amount of total spending) must be the same for physical and mental health services.
Explaining the Growth of Medicare: Part II
Utilization of medical care has risen dramatically since Medicare began in 1965. In that year, health expenditures accounted for 5.7 percent of the nation’s output.
Kyoto Misses Targets — Hits Poor Instead
In March 2001, President Bush announced that the United States would not be a party to the Kyoto Protocol on Global Climate Change.
Prescription Drugs for Seniors
Medicare currently pays only five percent of the cost of prescription drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries. Proposals to add a comprehensive prescription drug benefit to the program could shift as much as two-thirds of senior drug costs to Medicare.
School Choice after Cleveland
The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris affirmed the constitutionality of the publicly funded school voucher program in Cleveland, Ohio.
African Americans Benefit Most from Personal Retirement Accounts
All Americans would benefit from Social Security reform, but African Americans would benefit the most. African Americans rely more heavily than other demographic groups on Social Security for a secure retirement; thus they stand to lose the most from an unreformed system.
Texas Charter Schools: Do They Measure Up?
Charter schools are independent public schools that are freed from many of the bureaucratic rules and regulations preventing innovation and flexibility in traditional public schools.
Immigrants, Welfare and Work
Throughout its history, the United States has been a nation of immigrants. However, in recent years, and even more so since September 11, 2001, Americans have favored a stricter immigration policy.
Welfare Reform: Reasons To Stay the Course
The number of Americans receiving cash welfare – called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) – has fallen in half; the number of Americans living in poverty has fallen 21 percent; and the annual incomes of the poorest women have increased nearly $1,000.
How Big Is the Government's Debt?
Reports about the enormous federal debt abound, as do dire predictions about the impact of that debt on future generations. But just how big is the debt?
Health Care in Five Nations
A new survey sheds light on the relative merits of the health care systems in five English-speaking countries. This is the latest in a series of studies conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Commonwealth Fund in New York City.