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.
How ObamaCare Guts Medicare
Everyone should know by now that Medicare suffers dramatic long-term deficits and unfunded liabilities, and is in need of fundamental, structural reforms. But effectively refusing to pay the doctors and hospitals that provide the medical care the program promises to seniors is no way to solve that problem.
The Ethics of Health Care Reform
What does it mean for a health care system to be considered “ethical”? Some claim the most ethical is a government-run system that guarantees universal coverage. Others think the system must control costs, or eliminate profits, or ration care to those most in need. But a consumer driven health care system is the one that best meets the criteria Americans want from an ethical health care system.
Drug Importation and R & D Spending: The Economic Impact on Washington's Economy
Consumer groups and the media are putting pressure on public officials to allow U.S. citizens to reimport drugs from foreign countries like Canada. Using an economic simulation model, this report concludes reimportation or price controls would have a significant negative impact on the Washington economy, and its large biotech sector.
Drug Importation and R&D Spending: The Economic Impact on Maryland's Economy
Consumer groups and the media are putting pressure on public officials to allow U.S. citizens to reimport drugs from foreign countries like Canada. Using an economic simulation model, this report concludes reimportation or price controls would have a significant negative impact on the Maryland economy, and its large biotech sector.
Drugmakers Under Siege
Severe acute respiratory syndrome has receded since the epidemic of 2003, but it could one day come back with a vengeance. The world is relying on the pharmaceutical industry to develop a vaccine and effective treatment against SARS and other diseases. Yet drugmakers are being vilified and facing increasing difficulty doing business, hampering their efforts to find a cure for such diseases.
Drug Reimportation and R&D Spending: The Economic Impact on the Illinois Economy
Consumer groups and the media are putting pressure on public officials to allow U.S. citizens to reimport drugs from foreign countries like Canada. Using an economic simulation model, this report concludes reimportation or price controls would have a dramatic negative impact on the Illinois economy, and its large biotech sector.
Does America Have a Prescription Drug Problem?: The Perils of Ignoring the Economics of Pharmaceuticals
Critics claim the pharmaceutical industry is unique and therefore requires distinctive forms of regulation, such as price controls. But absent in this view is a systematic appraisal of the economics of the industry. Were their approach adopted, the consequences would be less innovation, fewer life-saving drugs, and a less-healthy citizenry than what could be possible.
Answering Critics of Pharmaceutical Patents
Of all the recent criticisms leveled at the prescription drug industry, the one that has resonated most is that drug companies are gaming the patent system. However, the Hatch-Waxman Act that governs the role between generics and brand name drugs is very complicated, and it has ultimately weakened intellectual property protections. It is naive to assume that branded companies are sidestepping the rules while generics always play fair.
From Inception to Ingestion:The Cost of Creating New Drugs
The pharmaceutical industry cites studies that suggest it costs more than $800 million to move a new drug through the 10-to-12 year discovery, development and approval process. However, critics claim those estimates are artificially inflated and that the actual costs are much lower. For example, Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen released a study last year claiming that the cost of creating a new drug is only about $110 million (in 2000 dollars). And that includes the cost of failures.
Is there a "Good" Monopoly?
Some forms of monopoly power are not the products of corporate giants trying to eliminate competition, but are granted by the federal government to achieve a social good for society as a whole. That is the case with patents, under which the federal government grants to inventors an exclusive right to make and sell a product or process as a reward to induce and encourage their creative efforts.
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