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]
Last April, our total corporate tax rate became the world’s highest after Japan reduced its rate several points to 36.8%. Two years from now, Japan’s rate is scheduled to decline even further, to 34.5%.
Other nations have similarly recognized the destructive economic effect of high corporate taxes, and conversely the beneficial effect of lower rates. In the Pacific region alone, South Korea reduced its rate to 22%, Thailand to 20%, Taiwan and Singapore to 17% and Hong Kong to 16.5%. Worldwide, the average corporate tax rate for industrialized countries is 25%…