David Gratzer is a physician and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who specializes in health care policy. He contributed extensively to The Weekly Standard between 2004 and 2011, writing about health care reform, Medicaid, FDA regulation, and the risks of socialized medicine. He is the author of several books advocating for market-based health care solutions.
What if you passed a regulation, and nobody cared? Obesity is quickly emerging as a major policy issue, with related health costs consuming 10 cents on every health dollar – and rising. Policymakers, then, are eager for ideas. Top of the list: regulations to force chain restaurants to post calorie…
The Democrats have a new message to justify a massive government intrusion into health care: "consumer protection."
Michael Moore has just finished a documentary on the problems of American health care. But it turns out Michael Moore is the problem with the U.S. system. Well, not exactly Moore, but people like him, if you follow the logic of Senator Hillary Clinton. Americans are obese, costing the system…
When asked by a reporter why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton famously replied: "Because that's where the money is." In the State of the Union address, President George W. Bush focused on domestic policy and, in particular, health care by talking about, not Medicare or Medicaid or health savings…
ASK BROOKE G. ABOUT her job, and she enthuses about her salary, health benefits, and her office with a view. There's only one catch: She hates the work. She'd like to quit, but she worries about getting health insurance. "It's very expensive in New York," she explains. Brooke, a self-described…
GOVERNMENT HEALTH-CARE ENTHUSIASTS in the United States have long looked to Canada as a leading light of health care fairness and equity. From a distance, Canada may seem to have it all: modern medicine and universal insurance. Up close, the story is quite different. On June 9, the Supreme Court of…
PAUL KRUGMAN HAS BEEN USING his space on the New York Times op-ed page for weeks now to discuss America's "real crisis"--not Social Security but health care. Krugman deplores the horrid state of American medicine, the large number of uninsured, and the high cost of it all. He claims that "the…
"YOU DON'T PULL FEEDING tubes from people," exclaims a governor, objecting to Medicaid changes floated by the White House. At a December press conference, he continues: "You don't pull the wheelchair out from under the child with muscular dystrophy."
SENATOR JOHN KERRY hasn't done much to distinguish himself on health care policy. A look at his voting record shows him to be hesitant on medical savings accounts, although not on tort lawyers' trashing HMOs, concerned about the long-term sustainability of Medicare, yet delighted to expand the…
HOWARD DEAN'S campaign wants you to know that he used to be a practicing physician. Campaign literature refers to him as "Gov. Howard Dean, M.D." At public events, his supporters wave signs proclaiming "The Doctor Is In." Dean often addresses issues--mainly non-health care issues--by referring to…