If you're working in an office or eating in a restaurant and someone 30 feet away exhales tiny particles of coronavirus, those particles can drift across the room and infect you. Picture cigarette smoke wafting across a room. Same thing. The precautions agencies like the World Health Organization and the federal CDC are telling you to take against…

In a pandemic, government efficiency can make the difference between life and death. You'd expect our civil "servants" to rise to the occasion. Some are. But the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, is sounding the alarm that, for the most part, Washington bureaucrats are dithering. The GAO report released June 25 uncovers…

Well, that didn’t take long.  Just three months into the coronavirus lockdown, multiple vaccines are already set to enter final testing on an accelerated schedule next month, well ahead of the autumn timetable originally forecast.  Moderna Inc.’s vaccine will be tested first, followed by Johnson & Johnson’s in the…

In a letter to Congress, CFIF joined with a large coalition on a letter expressing “strong opposition to the idea several Democratic lawmakers are pushing:  To deny patents, exclusivity, and property rights to biomedical innovators, targeted specifically at those working furiously on vaccines, diagnostics, therapies, and cures for…

To better appreciate the towering leadership role that America’s pharmaceutical sector plays in the world, consider the following comparison metric.  In World War II, America earned the label “Arsenal of Democracy” by rapidly and massively mobilizing to lead the Allied victory through sheer scale of armament production and innovation…

Surprise medical billing was already a pressing policy matter in the months leading into the coronavirus pandemic.  The issue, however, has acquired significant new salience due to the increased uncertainty and financial concerns triggered by the pandemic and economic aftershocks.  As we battle the pandemic and pursue a lasting solution…

Governor Andrew Cuomo is allowing upstate construction and assembly line businesses to reopen May 15, but other businesses have to stay shut longer. How long? That depends on how "essential" they are, he said. Sorry, Governor, but any business is essential if it's how you earn your paycheck. People need to work, and new research indicates…

New York, New Jersey, Maryland and other states are requiring everyone to wear a mask or a substitute face covering to leave home. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suddenly flipped from urging the public not to wear masks to recommending that they wear something that covers their nose and mouth. New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio…

As revelations of China’s malfeasance amid the coronavirus pandemic proliferate, its calculating regime and ruthless economic model rightfully come under increasing attack.   Remember how for months preceding the pandemic, China sustained deserved condemnation for its efforts to suffocate Hong Kong politically?  It seems almost…

President Donald Trump is extending the nation's shutdown at least until the end of April. He's largely basing his decision on predictions from the University of Washington that even if the nation sticks to the shutdown, 83,967 Americans will die of coronavirus by early August, including 15,788 in New York state. Deaths will likely soar over the next…

New facts about coronavirus are pouring in from scientists around the globe. This information needs to guide our response. People infected are most contagious before they have symptoms, and some spread the infection widely but never get sick themselves, reports the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. That's why screening for fever and telling…

The Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”) today joined a coalition of 24 organizations, led by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, on a letter urging Congress "to reject any attempt to include any language that would seek to address surprise medical billing by creating a government-mandated benchmark (i.e. rate-setting) to determine…

Coronavirus is causing working-age people to worry about missing paychecks, caring for kids home from school, stockpiling groceries and canceling plans. But people in their 50s, 60s or older have bigger worries. Many are lying awake wondering if this is how they're going to die. At its most severe, coronavirus attacks the lungs, making it impossible…

Amid today’s coronavirus pandemic, there’s an astonishing – and potentially encouraging – number to consider.  The United States, with only 4% of the world’s population and 24% of the global economy, accounts for an outsized two-thirds of all new pharmaceuticals introduced worldwide.  That disproportionate…

Try this thought experiment. Envision the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, as a living, breathing enemy – which, of course, is exactly what it is. But imagine for a moment that we are in real war with a cognizant, thinking and clever enemy whose sole reason to live is to hurt, maim or kill as many of us as it can. COVID-19 may not…

There's good news and bad news about coronavirus. First, there's reason for optimism. The virus struck only four months ago, yet we already know its genetic features. It took scientists years to get that far with HIV/AIDS. Antiviral drugs are in development, and a vaccine could be available within 18 months. The pace of scientific progress is breathtaking…

The recent spread of the coronavirus is causing a global panic. Our shared terror arises not so much from the death toll of the new flu-like disease – more than 3,000 people have died worldwide – but from what we don't know about it. Experts at least agree that the virus originated in China. But Beijing's authoritarian government…

The first nine coronavirus deaths in the U.S. show the biggest risks are not traveling internationally, riding mass transit or attending a crowded event. The most dangerous place to be is in a rehab or nursing home. The second-most dangerous is a hospital. Five residents of the Life Care Center, a nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, have died…

With outbreaks raging in Italy, Iran, South Korea and other countries, U.S. authorities now predict coronavirus will strike Americans here, causing "significant disruptions to our lives." The warning came from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Nancy Messonnier at a Tuesday briefing. If the virus – now dubbed…

Federal health bureaucrats deserve an F grade for preparedness. Despite years of warnings about America's overdependence on China for medicines, masks and other equipment, these officials did nothing to remedy the situation. Now, these same officials tell us we're facing an "unprecedented public health threat" from coronavirus, now COVID-…

Chinese government officials and the World Health Organization are bad-mouthing the Trump administration for trying to stop the coronavirus from invading the United States. The Trump administration is barring foreigners who have been in China recently from entering the U.S. Americans returning from China are quarantined for 14 days. China accuses Trump…

Pssst…  Want to turn American healthcare into the equivalent of this week’s Iowa Democratic caucus fiasco?  Just import foreign drug price controls to the United States, and voila.  The same types of people who couldn’t manage to introduce a new app in a caucus involving a few thousand people on a single night in…

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Surprise medical billing – which occurs when patients suddenly receive unexpected bills from medical providers not covered by their insurance – remains an important issue demanding a Congressional solution.  According to numerous reports, it now appears that Congressional legislation addressing the issue will…

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's H.R. 3, the "Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019."  The Center for Individual Freedom ("CFIF") is urging all House Members to vote "No," as the legislation would, among other significant issues, stifle innovation,…

October 22, 2019   United States House of Representatives  Committee on Ways and Means  1102 Longworth House Office Building  Washington, D.C.  20515    Dear House Ways and Means Committee Members and Staff:    On behalf of the Center for Individual Freedom (hereinafter “CFIF”)…

As the 2020 presidential campaign accelerates, it increasingly resembles some leftist avant-garde circus of the absurd.   Apparently, no policy position appears too extreme as the candidates’ jostle for attention and radical chic street cred.  Door-to-door firearms confiscation?  Open borders?  “Free” college…

The Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”) today joined a coalition letter signed by more than 70 organizations and activists in opposition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing proposal (H.R. 3).  The letter, addressed to Congress and which was organized by Americans for Tax Reform, is pasted below or can be read here…

Whether you live in New York, California or the heartland in between, you depend on state government to ensure your hospital is safe. After all, when you're a patient, your life is on the line. But state health departments have become captives of the health care industry because of huge campaign contributions and lobbying. What's happening in New York…

Employer-provided health plans now cost a gigantic $20,576 a year for family coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Technically, the employer pays most of it, but labor costs are labor costs. The more that's spent on benefits the less can go to wages. In reality, it's $20,000 out of every worker's pocket — money that could…

ALEXANDRIA, VA – This week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D - California) introduced H.R. 3, her long-anticipated, hyper-partisan scheme to impose a socialized drug pricing system and reorder American medical care to her liking.  In response, Center for Individual Freedom ("CFIF") President Jeffrey Mazzella issued the following…