For all of the quality care it delivers, the U.S. health care system is one of the most dysfunctional sectors of the U.S. economy. The government spends nearly 50 cents of every dollar spent on health care, most consumers are almost entirely insulated from the cost of their decisions, and employers decide what kind of health insurance their employees get.
But while the U.S. health care system begs for reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act only exacerbates all of the current problems, promising to devolve into a price-controlled system rationed and micromanaged by bureaucrats.
IPI believes there are much better options: reform the tax treatment of health insurance; remove the state and federal mandates and regulations that make coverage more expensive; pass medical liability reform; and promote policies that create value-conscious shoppers in the health care marketplace.
Seven Things (Still) Wrong with ObamaCare
The U.S. Supreme Court may have upheld most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but that won’t fix the law’s many flaws. Here are seven problems that riddle ObamaCare.
Is ObamaCare the Largest Tax Increase in History?
If both the mandate to buy health coverage and the penalty for not having it are considered a tax, ObamaCare becomes the largest tax increase in U.S. history.
What to Expect Post-ObamaCare Ruling
Dr. Merrill Matthews, IPI resident scholar, tells OneNewsNow that John Roberts saved the president's "bacon" by siding with the four liberal justices and upholding most of ObamaCare, including the individual mandate, as constitutional under Congress' taxing powers.
Matthews: Chief Justice Roberts Went Out of His Way to Hand President Obama a Victory
“It’s as if Chief Justice John Roberts went out of his way to hand President Obama a victory,” said IPI's Merrill Matthews. "And now that the Supreme Court has upheld Obamacare, let’s see if the public also upholds it come November."
The irony of the individual mandate
There are many ironies in the furor around the individual mandate, writes Ezra Klein in the Washington Post. One is that there is no better deal in the legislation — and there has perhaps never been a better deal in the individual health-care market — than to go without insurance and pay the mandate’s penalty.
Health apps under the microscope
Mobile apps, with their extraordinary reach, have the power to transform health care. IPI's Merrill Matthews is cited by reporter Dina ElBoghdady in the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune on the classic showdown occuring between
The Supreme Court's Decision Won't Affect the Real Health Care Revolution
Real health care reform is happening, not in Congress or the Supreme Court, but in the eHealth explosion.
How ObamaCare Increases Income Inequality
Income inequality appears to be growing in the United States. And while President Obama didn’t initiate the trend, his health care legislation will dramatically exacerbate it.
Matthews Available for Coverage of Supreme Court Health Care Law Decision
Dr. Merrill Matthews, IPI health care expert, is available for interview to offer analysis throughout ongoing coverage of the historic Supreme Court decision regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, expected next week.