CEI Joins Coalition Letter on Fixed Drug Pricing

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Dear Republican Members of the House and Senate,

We represent fiscal conservatives and free market activists from across the country, and we are concerned about the direction the health care policy debate is moving.

There is no doubt that left-of-center politicians have as one of their central goals a “Medicare for All” style socialized healthcare scheme that will raise our taxes, limit our choices, and ration our care.

However, what is troubling is how often otherwise right-of-center policymakers are resorting to one of the key pillars of the Medicare for All playbook–government imposed price controls. Whether it is called price fixing, rate setting, subsidy capping, or

inflation capping, government price controls have wormed their way into the healthcare reform plans of too many of our friends in Washington.

Government price controls have always been opposed by fiscal conservatives, and for good reason. They lead directly to scarcity of a product, since the government is forcing the provider to sell below the market price. This scarcity then means the government gets to ration who gets the product. Before long, the government is telling one person they get to have the price controlled good or service that day, and tells another person they cannot.

This was a bad idea a half century ago with gasoline line rationing, and it’s a bad idea today in health care. Something can only be affordable if it’s available to buy in the first place.

 

Sincerely,

Charles Sauer

President

Market Institute

 

Ryan Ellis

President

Center for a Free Economy

 

Brent Wm. Gardner

Chief Government Affairs Officer

Americans for Prosperity

 

Iain Murray

Vice President for Strategy

Competitive Enterprise Institute

 

Grover Norquist

President

Americans for Tax Reform

 

Norm Singleton

Vice President

Campaign for Liberty

 

Frank Lasée

President

The Heartland Institute

 

Josh Umbehr

Board Member

DPC Action

 

Jason Pye

Vice President Legislative Affairs

Freedomworks

 

James L. Martin

Chairman/Founder

60 Plus Association

 

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis

President

60 Plus Association

 

Pete Sepp

President

National Taxpayers Union

 

Dean Clancy

President

HSAs For All

 

David Williams

President

Taxpayers Protection Alliance

 

Mario Lopez

President

HISPANIC LEADERSHIP FUND

 

Dr. Keith Smith

Founder

Free Market Medical Association

 

Dr. Kris Held

Chairman

Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

 

George Landrith

President

Frontiers of Freedom

 

James Edwards

Executive Director

Conservatives for Property Rights

 

Colin A. Hanna

President

Let Freedom Ring, Inc.

 

Andrew Langer

President

Institute for Liberty

 

Dee Stewart

President

Americans for a Balanced Budget

 

Ginevra Joyce-Meyers

President

Center for Innovation and Free Enterprise

 

Tom Giovanetti

President

Institute for Policy Innovation

 

Jeffrey Mazzella

President

Center for Individual Freedom

 

Sara Croom

President

Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity

 

Larry Ward

Chairman

Constitutional Rights PAC

 

David Covey

Chairman

Orange County Republican Party

 

Autry Pruitt

CEO

New Journey PAC

 

Colonel Rob Maness

Founer/Chairman

Gator PAC

 

Andrew F. Quinlan

President

Center for Freedom and Prosperity

 

Matthew Kandrach

President

Consumer Action for a Strong Economy

 

Seton Motley

President

Less Government

 

Fred Grube

Chairman

Polk County, Texas Republican Party

 

Amanda Head

Co-Chair

The Alliance to Undoctrinate

 

Ryan Daniel

Chairman

Liberty County Republican Party

 

Jeff Leblanc

Chairman

Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas

 

Krisztina Pusok, Ph. D.

Director of Policy and Research

The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research

 

Paul Caprio

Director

Family PAC Federal

 

Morton Blackwell

Chairman

Conservative Leadership PAC

 

Richard A. Viguerie

Chairman

ConservativeHQ.com

 

Eunie Smith

President

Eagle Forum

 

Mat Staver

Chairman

Liberty Counsel Action

 

Hon. Bob McEwen

US House of Representatives Member, Ohio

 

Kelly Shackelford

Board Chairman

CNP Action, Inc.

 

Joshua Delano

President

Southeast Texans for Liberty

 

Steven J. Buri

President

Discovery Institute

 

Kevin Roberts, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Texas Public Policy Foundation

 

Hon. John Hostettler

Vice President, Federal Affairs

States Trust

 

David Ridenour

President

National Center for Public Policy Research

 

Preston Noell

President

Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

 

Star Parker

President

Center for Urban Renewal and Education (C.U.R.E.)

 

Kevin L Kearns

President

US Business and Industry Council

 

Judson Phillips

Founder

Tea Party Nation

 

Dave Wallace, II

President

FAIR Energy Foundation

 

Jim Backlin

Vice President of Legislative Affairs

Christian Coalition of America

 

Ron Pearson

Executive Director

Conservative Victory Fund

 

Dee Hodges

President

Maryland Taxpayers Association

 

Craig DiSesa

President

The Middle Resolution

 

Annette Meeks

CEO

Freedom Foundation of Minnesota

 

Jon L. Pritchett

CEO

Mississippi Center for Public Policy

 

Joshua A. Putnam

President

Palmetto Family

 

Bethany Marcum

Executive Director

Alaska Policy Forum

 

Fred Birnbaum

Vice President

Idaho Freedom Foundation and Idaho Freedom Action

 

John Stapleford

Chair

Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI)

 

Dr. Chris Casscells

Director of Health Care Sector

Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI)

 

Robert Roper

President

Ethan Allen Institute

 

Bette Grande

CEO

Roughrider Policy Center

 

Lynn Taylor

President

Virginia Institute for Public Policy

 

Jack Boyle

Executive Director

Ohioans for Tax Reform

 

Andresen Blom

President

Hawaiian Values

 

Gerrye Johnston

Founder/President

Men and Women for a Representative Democracy in America

 

Richard C. W. Falknor

Blueridgeforum.com

 

Maureen Blum

President

Strategic Coalitions & Initiatives, LLC

 

William H. Shaker

CEO

Washington Marketing Group