PPP Fraud Investigated in House Oversight Hearing
Nicholas AnthonyIn what was one of the first hearings of the new Congress, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability convenedto investigate the“rampant waste of taxpayer dollars in [COVID-19] relief programs.” Chief among the programs considered was the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. As I explained ina new briefing paper, there was a clear failure of federal oversight for the PPP during the pandemic and an evaluation of the issues has been long overdue.Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), set the hearing off on the right foot when he said th...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 3, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Nicholas Anthony Source Type: blogs
Comments to USTR Show the Real ‐World Harms of the Trump‐Biden China Tariffs
Clark Packard and Alfredo Carrillo ObregonIn recent weeks, about 1,500 comments were filed with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) concerning the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration —and maintained by the Biden administration—on imports from China as a result of the recent trade war. The majority of the comments paint a bleak picture: the tariffs have—contrary to unsupported assertions you may have read elsewhere—caused very real pain for domestic firms, their workers, and the U.S. economy. These facts, coupled with the fact that the tariffs have not forced Beijing to change its troublesome econo...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 2, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Clark Packard, Alfredo Carrillo Obregon Source Type: blogs
13 Year Old McAllen
BY IAN MORRISON
As a Scot, obviously I am a whisky fan, and although I prefer the smoky malts of Islay (where my grandfather was from and where I visit my friends there frequently), I am also a huge fan of McCallan 18-year-old whisky, the sticky toffee pudding of single malts.
But as all policy wonks know, McAllen Texas is not famous for whisky but for Atul Gawande’s “Cost Conundrum” article in the New Yorker, in 2009 which is still required reading in medical school and MPH classes and was arguably the cornerstone of Obama health policy and the ACO movement.
Dr. Atul Gawande described overutilization and hi...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 2, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: The Business of Health Care Affordable Care Act Atul Gawande Ian Morrison McAllen Texas Source Type: blogs
The Debt Limit and the High Costs of Debt
Romina Boccia and Dominik LettNews headlines are filled withspeculations about the U.S. debt limit. Most prevalently, whether Treasury could be forced to prioritize interest payments to bondholders while delaying other government obligations when the debt limit binds, potentially as early as June. If Congress failed to raise the debt limit in time, prioritization of interest on the debt, before other government payments, is one likely outcome.A more ominous speculation is whether the U.S. government would default on its debt. Treasury has the ability to prioritize interest payments and should be able to cover debt obligati...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 1, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Romina Boccia, Dominik Lett Source Type: blogs
Immigrants Use Less Welfare Than Native ‐Born Americans
ConclusionThe average immigrant consumed 27.3 percent less welfare than native-born Americans in 2020. Further reform should reduce that substantially by building a higher wall around the welfare state instead of around the country. Still better would be reducing or eliminating the welfare state for all but reducing or eliminating non-citizen access is a politically feasible first step. In the long-run, there are good reasons to think that immigrants won ’t increase the size of the welfare state and compelling evidence that they would reduce support for it. Still, the net-fiscal effects are most important – watch this ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 1, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Alex Nowrasteh Source Type: blogs
Arrive Health Creates First-of-Its-Kind Medication Access Solution with Acquisition of Pharmacy Technology from UPMC Enterprises
Arrive Health, the leading provider of real-time benefit tools and integrated solutions that improve patient affordability, today announced the acquisition of a suite of innovative patient engagement and automation technologies developed by UPMC Enterprises and the UPMC Pharmacy Network.
Arrive Health will add AI-driven virtual assistant technology and a robust patient management system to its affordability offerings, expanding support for more than 200 million patients on their journey to fill and refill their medications. The combined assets will – for the first time – empower providers, care teams, and patients wi...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - January 30, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT AI AI Virtual Assistant Arrive Health Artificial Intelligence Brenton Burns Health IT Acquisitions Healthcare M&A Kyle Kiser Medication Adherence Patient Affordability patient engagement Patient-Sp Source Type: blogs
Friday Feature: School Choice Milestones
Colleen HroncichAs we wrap up our National School Choice Week look at the history of school choice, I ’m going to explore some notable milestones in the U.S. over the years. For more in‐depth coverage, be sure to check out our newSchool Choice Timeline.When we talk about school choice, we generally mean a program where public funding follows students to nonpublic schools. This becomes particularly important after the mid ‐1800s, when state governments began to mandate taxpayers fund and children attend specific schools established and run by local government entities. Prior to that, education was typically...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colleen Hroncich Source Type: blogs
School Choice and the Courts
Colleen HroncichAs Neal McCluskeyexplored yesterday, education involves “developing the minds —and for many, the souls— of human beings. ” This basic truth has resulted in education being a common battleground since the early days of state involvement. Not surprisingly, most of these battles have been around religion, which is a primary way morals and values are taught and upheld.Many early public schools were at least loosely Protestant —including prayer and Bible reading as part of the school day—precisely because a strong moral upbringing was considered so essential. This resulted in court cas...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 26, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colleen Hroncich Source Type: blogs
A Multi ‐State Wealth Tax Carries Budgetary Risks
Marc JoffeHaving been thwarted at the federal level, Progressives are now turning to states to implement a wealth tax, with California taking the lead. But whether Progressives can repeat their success with state and local level $15 minimum wage laws remains to be seen.During the 2020 Presidential primary campaign, SenatorsBernie Sanders andElizabeth Warren both proposed federal taxes on the assets of high ‐net‐worth individuals. Sanders and Warren bowed out of the primaries in favor of now‐President Biden, who did not propose a wealth taxper se, but insteadoffered a minimum income tax on hous...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 25, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Marc Joffe Source Type: blogs
Why Religion and School Choice Seem So Tightly Connected: Human Minds and Souls
Neal McCluskey“If I’m not happy with my public park, should I get a voucher for a country club?”“If I don’t like the highways, should I get money for private roads?”“What if I don’t like the fire department? Should I get taxpayer dollars for my own fire service?”If you ’ve been involved in the school choice debate for very long, you’ve almost certainly seen these objections to choice. Basically, we would never “voucherize” these things – that would be crazy! – so why should we let people use public funding for private education?The obvious answer, as I ’veexplained before, is that edu...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 25, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Neal McCluskey Source Type: blogs
More Industrial Policy Won ’t Solve the Jones Act’s Many Problems
Colin Grabow andScott LincicomeWe at Cato have been happy to see a growing list of public officials, policy analysts, and everyday Americans join us in recognizing the Jones Act’s many problems. Among these new critics is the Niskanen Center, which last week publishedan essay characterizing theJones Act—a 1920 law restricting domestic waterborne transport to vessels that are U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built and mostly U.S.-owned and crewed—as “outdated industrial policy”. The Jones Act, the Niskanen piece added, is out of touch with economic reality, does not support the U.S. maritime industry, an d fails to advance na...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 25, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colin Grabow, Scott Lincicome Source Type: blogs
IRS and the Tax Filing Season
Joseph Bishop-HenchmanMonday marked the beginning of income tax filing season, with every American now facing a deadline to get their papers together and submit forms to the IRS. Biden Administration officialspromised in theNew York Times that the recent $80 billion in added IRS funding will improve performance from the agency ’s appalling service of recent years:As the filing season begins, the I.R.S. is racing to prepare 5,000 recently hired agents to answer the telephones and respond to questions from taxpayers. It is also rolling out new automated systems and staffing up its brick ‐and‐mortar taxpayer ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 25, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Joseph Bishop-Henchman Source Type: blogs
Can Missouri Pass The Muster
BY MIKE MAGEE
A case has been made that a logical approach to reforming America’s violent and racist leanings would be to adopt the values and practices of Health Care for All. These include a commitment to compassion, understanding, and partnership; extending the linkages between individual, family, community and society; addressing fear and worry for individuals and populations; and promoting an optimistic and equitable future for all Americans.
Nurses and doctors and pharmacists and other health professionals pledge oaths and spend years training to exhibit and practice these values in the course of providing ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 24, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Ann Kelley Ashley une Dobbs HB 1462 Healthcare for All Missouri State Legislature Rachel Proud Source Type: blogs
New School Choice Timeline: Equality for Diverse People
Neal McCluskeyIt seems like no matter where you live, you don ’t have to look far to see your fellow Americans fighting over whose values, histories, and more will be taught in public schools. They’re fighting over Advanced Placement African American Studiesin Florida. Gender identityin Texas. Sex educationin New Jersey. Merit and equityin Virginia. Native American historyin South Dakota. Ethnic studiesin California. Andon it goes.The institution that was supposed to foster unity among diverse people – public schooling – is instead a constant battleground. Why? Because it leaves people with opposed values little o...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 23, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Neal McCluskey Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 23rd 2023
This study explored the association between tap drinking water and longevity in Cilento, Italy, to understand whether trace elements in local drinking water may have an influence on old, nonagenarian, and centenarian people and promote their health and longevity.
Data on population and water sources were collected through the National Demographic Statistics, the Cilento Municipal Archives, and the Cilento Integrated Water Service. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and a geographically weight regression (GWR) model were used to study the spatial relationship between the explanatory and outcome variables of long...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 22, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
