As Senate Finance Committee Convenes on Healthcare Costs, First Do No Harm
As the United States Senate Finance Committee convenes today for a meeting entitled "The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for All Americans," the enduring adage of medical care applies: Do no harm.
Specifically, as we've detailed at CFIF, we must especially avoid potentially catastrophic ideas like drug price controls (whether through so-called "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) programs or any other) and violations of patent and intellectual property (IP) protections in which the United States leads the world. Indeed, our more free-market approach explains why America leads the world in lifesaving healthcare innovation, accounting for an astonishing two-thirds of all new drugs introduced to the world each year:
The reasons that MFN schemes would only exacerbate…[more]
It is, simply put, fatiguing to be a part of the loyal opposition. With more than a year now passed since Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States – the final piece of the liberal hat trick that brought Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to the leadership of the Congress – conservatives are beginning to learn that lesson.
In a year when the right’s outrages have ranged from the specious (the birther movement) to the truly disquieting (hemophiliac spending, the public option, civilian trials for terrorists), indignation has become…