Answers for Seniors About Medicare Reform
This Brief Analysis looks at the problems facing Medicare and answers some of the questions seniors have about the program.
Is Preventive Medical Care Cost-Effective?
Studies show that in many cases preventive medical care not only does not save money, it also may do little to prolong life.
How Not To Be Poor
There is a strong correlation between poverty and certian behaviors. Thus one solution to the problem of poverty is to encourage young Americans to avoid behavior that will tend to lead them into poverty.
Why the Democrats' Medicare Plan Won't Work
Congressional Democrats have proposed an alternative to the Republican plan to solve the Medicare financing crisis.
How Poor Are The Poor?
Although the poverty rate receives the most attention, another recent Census Bureau report adds an important perspective on the state of the poor in America today.
Poor Gain (Proportionately) the Most From Capital Gains Tax Cut
As Congress considers whether to reduce the tax on capital gains, much of the debate has focused on who would benefit from such a reduction. Opponents claim that those with high incomes would gain disproportionately.
Medical Savings Accounts for Medicare: The Adverse Selection Issue
The Republican Medicare reform plan allows the elderly to choose a catastrophic health insurance policy coupled with a Medical Savings Account (MSA) rather than remain in traditional Medicare.
Are Medical Savings Accounts Good for the Sick?
Critics assert that Medical Savings Accounts are good for the healthy and bad for the sick. The facts tell a different story. People with high medical expenses are almost always better off if they can switch to a Medical Savings Account plan.
Answers for Seniors About Medical Savings Accounts
The U.S. Congress is on the verge of enacting the most sweeping reform legislation in the 30-year history of Medicare. Under the legislation, Medicare recipients would have new options, including the choice to remain in the traditional Medicare program, enroll in a health maintenance organization (HMO) or select a high-deductible health insurance plan with a Medical Savings Account (MSA). This Brief Analysis explains how MSAs work.
Censorship by the FDA
In the last few years, the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications has limited the drug companies' freedom to send out reprints.
A New Day for Welfare
Congress is on the verge of passing a major reform that ends the entitlement status of Aid to Familes with Dependent Children, a status it has held since 1935. Instead, each state will receive a specific amount of money in a block grant and will have the freedom to design programs that meet its particular welfare needs.
Better Than Medicare
The Republicans have accomplished what no one in the Washington establishment contemplated when the Republican budget blueprint was adopted by Congress earlier this year. They have proposed a Medicare reform plan that actually offers the elderly a better system than Medicare, while still meeting the budget targets.
The Truth About Wages
Workers have chosen to take more of their compensation in the form of benefits, and their choice is not surprising. Benefits are tax free, whereas wages are taxable.
Controlling Riots: A Sensible Role for a Well-Regulated Militia?
Since the ability to rapidly mobilize large numbers of trained law enforcement authorities is vital to stopping a riot, one solution is greater use of reserve law enforcement officers in an emergency.
Saving the Medicare System With Medical Savings Accounts
Earlier this year, the National Center for Policy Analysis addressed the Medicare financing crisis with a proposal similar to the one now being considered by the Republican leadership in Congress.
Taxing The Poor
When people on welfare earn income, they face two types of penalties. Not only do they have to pay taxes on their earnings, but they have their welfare benefits reduced as well. This reduction in benefits is a de facto tax, because it reduces their net income the same way direct taxes do.
The Meat Inspection Debate
Government regulation prohibit measures that could make our food safer.
Why We're Gaining Wetlands
Over the last few years, a largely unnoticed transformation has taken place. Where once wetlands were being drained and filled, today they are being restored at such a rapid pace that the U.S. is now gaining wetlands.
Bob Dole's Welfare Reform Plan
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole has introduced a major welfare reform bill. The bill includes some important provisions, and takes the first steps toward general welfare reform.
Medical Savings Accounts and the States: Growth From the Grassroots
While health care reform apparently has been assigned a low priority on the congressional agenda this year, the states have been aggressively and successfully moving toward free-market reform. Legislation allowing Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) has been introduced or enacted in a majority of the states.
The Impact of ERISA
While it is clear that the ERISA exemption has led to distortions in the current health care system, giving states more control over the self-funded plans would only make matters worse.
Welfare Reform: Should There Be Strings Attached?
A debate has arisen among conservatives over how much freedom the states should have. Some argue for a "no-strings-attached" approach under which federal requirements on state use of block grant funds would be minimal. Others want the federal govermnet to impose what they see as a conservative version of welfare, replacing the current liberal one.
Solutions to the Problem of Health Insurance Portability
One of the biggest problems facing workers in job transition is that health insurance is not "portable." Although the average person will change jobs eight times during his working life, employees are limited in their ability to keep their health insurance during job changes and periods of unemployment.
The Endangered Species Act Debate
The political situation has changed since the ESA was first passed. As was true more than 20 years ago, the debate is being driven by a nationwide grassroots movement. However, this time the coalition is composed of small property owners and property rights advocates rather than animal rights groups or public land advocates. With the new Republican majority in Congress, they have found a receptive audience.
Republican Tax Cuts: Are They Fair?
Most taxes are paid by taxpayers with high incomes while the poor pay almost none, so tax cuts generally appear to benefit the wealthy more than the poor.