For over three decades, CEI has advocated health care reforms that put more power in the hands of consumers to choose their health providers, treatment protocols, and scope of insurance coverage. We have advocated reform of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug and device approval process to allow for greater flexibility and patient choice. And in 2013, CEI organized the court challenges to Obamacare’s exchange subsidies that concluded with the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision.
Healthcare Issue Areas
Featured Posts

Blog
The current state of pharmaceutical tariffs
Background Amid the Trump trade upheaval, pharmaceutical products receive different treatment than many other US imports. Pharmaceuticals are treated differently for reasons such as their…

DC Journal
Point: Medicaid Work Requirements Are a Common-Sense Reform
Medicaid is the government program that is supposed to help the poor afford health care. Its cost to taxpayers has skyrocketed in the last few…

Blog
Congress considers micromanaging PBM finances
With the first reconciliation bill behind it, Congress is now looking to reform other aspects of the health care system. Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM)…
Search Posts
Blog
FDA to Smokers: Drop Dead
The FDA is now moving towards banning a smoking alternative that could save many lives. Every year, millions of smokers like my wife try…
Op-Eds
Possible FDA Ban on E-Cigarettes is Wrong Move
The FDA is now moving towards banning a smoking alternative that could save many lives. Every year, millions of smokers like my wife try…
Op-Eds
Possible FDA Ban on E-Cigarettes is Wrong Move
The FDA is now moving towards banning a smoking alternative that could save many lives. Every year, millions of smokers like my wife try…
Blog
The Obama’s Administration’s Strange Double Standards on Hate Crimes, Terrorism, and Health Care: Soft on the Guilty, Cruel to the Innocent, Unfair to Taxpayers
When black panthers were caught on videotape menacing white voters in Philadelphia, using nightsticks and racial epithets to drive them away from the polls,…
Newsletter
The Microhoo Deal, Food Safety Bills and Free Trade with Korea
Analysts speculate about the future of the Microsoft’s rivalry with Google in the wake of a major new deal with Yahoo. Food safety bills move…
Blog
Food Safety Bills Moving Through Congress
With all out attention diverted to the government's attempted takeover of the half of US health care that isn't already nationalized, the attempted destruction of…
Blog
Where’s the Reality in Legislation?
In “Why Obamacare Is Sinking,” Charles Krauthammer argues that President Obama’s reliance on rhetoric is finally beginning to fail because “you can’t fake it…
Blog
VIDEO: Healthcare Reform Ideas from the Other Washington
John Barnes at the Washington Policy Center (motto: “Improving Lives Through Market Solutions”) passes on a 3-video series about the fight over healthcare “reform” we’re…
Blog
Obama Backs Imperial Presidency
Obama is backing an imperial presidency in Honduras. When Honduras removed its ex-president and would-be dictator, Obama demanded his reinstatement, even though he…
Newsletter
Microsoft & Yahoo, Smog Levels and CSPI’s Salt Suit
Microsoft and Yahoo agree to an online advertising partnership. Global warming is predicted to lead to higher levels of smog. The Center for Science in…
Blog
Food Police Attack Denny’s Over Salt
It seems that the food police at the unconscionably named Center for Science in the Public Interest are at it again. Last week, CSPI filed…
Newsletter
Heat Waves, UAW Arrogance and the Costs of Obesity
Locations across the nation see record-cold summer temperatures, confounding global warming predictions. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) chastises United Auto Workers chief Ron Gettelfinger for refusing…
Blog
Obama Health-Care Plan Will Harm People With Insurance, and Raise Taxes, Obama Adviser Says
Obama’s health-care plan is drawing criticism from one of his own advisers, Harvard University’s Martin Feldstein. In today’s Washington Post, Feldstein warns that…
Op-Eds
Now an Obama Adviser Criticizes Health Care Reform
Obama’s health-care plan is drawing criticism from one of his own advisers, Harvard University’s Martin Feldstein. In today’s Washington Post, Feldstein warns that “For…
Blog
Put it in quotes: health care “reform”
Robert J. Samuelson has a hard-hitting column in today’s Washington Post on the non-reform elements of the health care reform package. He points out…
Blog
Dems’ Health Care Bill Looking Weaker by the Day
For the Democrats still supporting the health care overhaul, the blows just keep coming. As if the financial problems I described in a previous…
Blog
Health Insurance Reform: look at what does and doesn’t work already
“One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and…
Blog
Obama Health-Care Plan Would Take Away 5 Important Freedoms, CNN Says; Obama Would Also Raise Taxes, End Affordable Plans, and Break Promises
CNN notes that there are “5 freedoms you’d lose in health care reform” as promoted by the Obama Administration: the freedom to choose your…
Newsletter
Cutting Back on Healthcare, Online Privacy and Front-Running on Wall Street
House Democrats debate how to cut healthcare costs as part of their effort to pass major new legislation. Online advertisers back voluntary industry guidelines for…
Blog
Getting the Health Care You Pay For
There was a good front page article in yesterday's Washington Post on the history of advances in medical science and technology. The conclusion: Although the…
Blog
Our Colleague Julie Called it “Subprime Healthcare”
I think that about sums it up.
Blog
Regulation of the Day 20: Anti-Flatulence Medication
The U.S. Code contains an entire section on over-the-counter anti-flatulence medication. There are rules for permitted active ingredients, maximum dosage, and label text.
Blog
Obama Health-Care Plan Destroys Cheap Health-Care Options, Raises Taxes, Breaks Promises
In 2008, Obama promised not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. But he is now breaking that promise by…
Newsletter
Broadband Plans, Saving Healthcare Dollars and Obama’s Diplomacy
The Federal Communications Commission drafts a “national plan” for broadband policy. The White House announces proposed healthcare cost-saving measures. President Obama continues to insist that…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 19: Fospropofol
The Drug Enforcement Administration, would like to schedule fospropofol, approved by the FDA last year for use as an anesthetic, as a Schedule IV controlled…
Blog
Democrats Inconsistent on Senior Death Discount
White House health care policy advisor Ezekiel Emanuel has explicitly endorsed adopting not only comparative-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis in the health care realm, but also…
News Release
Obama Adviser Urges Controversial “Senior Death Discount” In Health Care Reform
Obama Adviser Urges Controversial “Senior Death Discount” In Health Care Reform Democrats Flip-Flop on Disparate Treatment for the Elderly Washington,…
Blog
If you like FEMA, you’ll love federal health care, says Jindal
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal providing a succinct critique of the Democrats’ health care plan and offering…
Blog
Richard Rahn on “Washingtonosis” — The Most Destructive Disease
"Washingtonosis(n): a disease most often found in people working within three miles of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, ... Those infected tend to lose…
Citation
Now at Forbes.com: “Inside the Health Care Bill”
Blog
Obama Rejects Reality as “Politics of the Moment,” Embraces Politics of Fear
Listening to President Barack Obama and other top Democrats on the subject of health care, one could be forgiven for thinking commercial medicine itself is…
Newsletter
Chevron in Court, Health Care in Congress and California’s Budget in Crisis
Chevron continues to fight a lawsuit alleging environmental damage done in Ecuador. Republicans go on the offensive against President Obama’s proposed health care plan. Governor…
Newsletter
Paulson’s Testimony, Ken Burns on National Parks and Obama’s Surgeon General Nominee
Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson testifies before the House Government Reform Committee on his handling of the banking crisis. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns announces his…
Blog
House Dems Would Ban New Private Health Insurance
"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first…
Blog
Regulation of the Day: The Color of Stitches
The federal government regulates which colors may be used in surgical stitches.
Blog
Health care taxes — devastating effects for NYC
Lead headline on the Drudge Report today – “Terrifying 57% tax looms for biggest earners in NYC.” It links to a…
News Release
Obama Surgeon General Pick Challenged to Focus on Private Initiative, Not Government Controls
President Obama announced his pick for Surgeon General this week – Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, a family physician from Bayou La Batre, Ala. Competitive Enterprise…
Op-Eds
Obama Administration = Waste, Corruption, Corporate Welfare
Rapidly-rising Medicare spending already threatens “to crush the federal budget,” and much Medicare spending is wasteful, yet the Obama Administration claims it can somehow…
Newsletter
Chemical Safety, Global Warming Balance Sheets and Hybrid Smugness
Canadian officials find that the presence of bisphenol A, a chemical used in plastic food containers, poses “no health or safety concerns.” The Securities and…
Newsletter
Safe Bottled Water, a Second Stimulus and Keeping Government out of Insurance
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) questions the safety of the U.S. bottled water industry. Officials consider putting together a second stimulus package to follow the $787…
Blog
Government health care monopoly–not in consumers’ interests
Regina Herzlinger, chair of Harvard Business School, in National Review takes on health care and the Obama Administration’s arguments that a government-run plan…
Blog
Stepping Up the Class War
On both of the most salient issues of the day, health care reform and climate change, proponents of the corresponding legislation are setting their sights…
Blog
Washington Post Sells White House Access to Lobbyists, and Misreports Obama Health-Care Facts
Until it was publicly-exposed, the Washington Post was selling its access to the White House to lobbyists. As Politico reported, “For…
Op-Eds
Washington Post Sells White House Access to Lobbyists
Until it was publicly-exposed, the Washington Post was selling its access to the White House to lobbyists. As Politico reported, “For $25,000 to $250,000,…
Blog
“If you like public housing, you will love public health care”
Best line this week — should be a slogan for health care debate: “If you like public housing, you will love public health care.” Read…
Op-Eds
Why The Madoff Sentence is Too Long
Bernard Madoff is an evil con man. He should spend the nearly all the rest of his miserable life in prison. But the 150-year…
Blog
Hearings Open on Coercive and Counterproductively Costly Health Care Bill
Congressional Democrats are pushing hard to complete their health care bill before next week’s recess, but their hopes for a quick passage and the…
Blog
FDA Tobacco Regulation May Harm Public Health By Blocking Healthy Alternatives
FDA regulation may actually undermine public health by making it harder to market to smokers other tobacco products, like snus, that are not as lethal…
Op-Eds
Eliminating Prison Rape
It has been far too long in coming but, yesterday, the Federal Prison Rape Elimination commission released its report on elimination and prevention efforts…
Op-Eds
Obama Signs “Deceptive” FDA Tobacco Regulation Bill
Yesterday, Obama signed into law a deceptive FDA “tobacco regulation” bill that will undermine public health in the long run by protecting cigarette manufacturers…
Blog
The $60,000 Obama Health-Care Plan: It’s “Eye-Poppingly” Expensive on a Per-Person Basis
Obama’s health-care proposals will cost well over a trillion dollars, without providing universal coverage. They are so “eye-poppingly” expensive that even Congressional Democrats have…
Citation
Jimmy P’s Top Ten Blogs Posts of the Day
Blog
HHS Secretary: Health Insurance Industry Needs Competition… With Government
In an AP interview on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called for competition in the health insurance market. No, not between…
Op-Eds
FDA’s Bad Medicine
President Barack Obama promised to shake up the Food and Drug Administration, so it’s no surprise that his new FDA leadership team has made…
Blog
Obama’s Speech to AMA on Healthcare Misses the Point
In a speech before the American Medical Association on Monday, June 15, President Obama pitched his plan for heathcare reform. The main thrust of the…
Op-Eds
Will Americans (Literally) Be Dying For ObamaCare?
Remember Harry and Louise, the made-for-television couple whose advertisements helped scuttle the Clinton health care plan 16 years ago? President Barack Obama does. Every…
Blog
Senate Passes FDA Tobacco Regulation Bill; Obama Will Sign It
The Senate has just passed the FDA tobacco regulation bill by a 79-to-17 vote. The bill now goes to President Obama, who has…
Op-Eds
Senate Passes Bill to Give FDA Tobacco Regulation
The Senate has just passed the FDA tobacco regulation bill by a 79-to-17 vote. The bill now goes to President Obama, who has said…
Blog
FDA Poised to Regulate Tobacco, Which May Backfire
Congress is about to enact a bill to subject tobacco to FDA regulation. Mark Berlind notes one anomalous feature of the bill: it…
Blog
Regulation of the Day: Saving the Children
On June 26, the National Commission on Children and Disasters is having a meeting. They will be talking about another meeting from the day before.
Newsletter
Chrysler in the Supreme Court, Banning Plastic Bags and the Anniversary of “1984”
The Supreme Court blocks the bankruptcy reorganization of Chrysler. The director of the United Nations’ environmental program calls for a ban on plastic grocery bags.
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, GM’s Bankruptcy and BPA
Utilities worry about the costs associated with proposed “cap and trade” legislation for greenhouse gases. General Motors files for bankruptcy. Manufacturers fight off a proposed…
Newsletter
Chrysler’s Future, GMO Foods and the New Black Panter Party
A federal bankruptcy judge clears the way for Chrysler’s sale to Italian automaker Fiat. The government of Zimbabwe bans the sale of genetically modified foods,…
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, GM’s Bankruptcy and Whole Foods’ Woes
Democrats formally unveil a 932-page bill to restrict greenhouse gas emissions. General Motor Corp.’s proposed bankruptcy filing pits union retirees against GM investors. Profits for…
Newsletter
Europe Investigates Intel, Obama Explodes the Deficit and Minnesota Jumps on the Banned Wagon
European antitrust officials prepare to rule in an investigation of Intel’s microchip marketing practices. The White House estimates that the deficit will explode to $1.8…
Newsletter
The War on Cockroaches, Consumer Credit Shrinks and the Future of Internet Gambling
New York State officials move to limit sale of anti-insect “bug bombs” to consumers. Economists chart a record drop in consumer credit. Rep. Barney Frank…
News Release
Time to Start Paying Organ Donors
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Newsletter
Consumer Credit, Social Security and Swine Flu
The House of Representatives votes to limit credit card fees and interest rates. President Obama endorses raising Social Security taxes. Vice President Biden advises Americans…
News Release
Vice President Uses Swine Flu as Anti-Stimulus
The Competitive Enterprise Institute calls on Vice President Biden to repudiate remarks made this morning on “The Today Show” about air travel in the context…
Newsletter
Online Privacy, Credit Cards and Organ Donation
Members of the House Technology & Internet Subcommittee hear testimony on alleged abuses of consumer privacy by internet marketers. President Obama meets with credit card…
Citation
FDA Drug approval delays; new drug called Provenge
Newsletter
Healthy Eating, Big Labor Fights Itself and the War on Mining
A new Food and Drug Administration study sparks debate over the health benefits of eating fish. Factions of the labor union known as UNITE-HERE fight…
Study
The Case for Compensating Live Organ Donors
Full Document Available in PDF Conflicting opinions on the ethics of organ…
Newsletter
Celebrating Earth Day, the FDA Drags Its Feet and Health Scares Debunked
CEI releases a new video titled “Humans Make Earth Day Better.” Promising anti-cancer drug Provenge languishes in the federal approval process despite mounting evidence of…
Comment
CEI Comments on Draft FDA Risk-Benefit Assessment of Fish Consumption
CEI applauds the FDA's even-handed approach.
News Release
Good News, But Prostate Cancer Patients Still Waiting
Sunday’s meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research saw new hope for prostate cancer patients, as researchers announced very favorable results for the drug…
News Release
FDA Investigates Benefits, Dangers of Eating Fish
FDA Investigates Benefits, Dangers of Eating Fish “Consumers Should Not Be Scared Away from Health Benefits of Fish” Washington, D.C., April 21, 2009—The Competitive…
News Release
VIDEO: People Make Earth Day Better
This year, the Competitive Enterprise Institute urges those celebrating Earth Day to remember the challenges presented by living in the natural world, and the inspiring ways that human…
Tulsa Business
Latest Study, Again, Shows Small Car Safety Risk
Tulsa Business
Food Safety Law and Small Producers, Cont’d
Newsletter
Somali Pirates, GM Executives and FDA Regulators
The U.S. military considers attacking Somali pirate bases. Treasury officials instruct General Motors to plan for bankruptcy. The Food and Drug Administration reconsiders its ban…
Blog
Jack Dreyfus, FDA Reform Pioneer
My colleague John Berlau wrote a nice obituary of mutual fund pioneer Jack Dreyfus that was published in Investor’s Business Daily earlier this week.
News Release
Study Argues for Protection of Incremental Drug Advances
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Blog
Baptist-Bootlegger Alliance on Tobacco
In today’s Washington Examiner, Tim Carney has an excellent column on how the bill to place tobacco under FDA regulation would reduce competition in…
Tulsa Business
H.R. 875, Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
Study
Pharmaceutical Evolution
Albert I. Wertheimer and Thomas M. Santella explain the advantages of incremental innovation in drug development. Photo: CC <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joethorn/86495698/">Joe Thorn</a>.
Newsletter
Cancer Treatment, Global Warming Doublespeak and Counting All the Votes in NY
Shares of Dendreon Corp. rise as analysts look forward to new data on its experimental prostate cancer drug, Provenge. Public relations practitioners complain of scientists…
Newsletter
Cancer Drugs, Voting Rights and Cap and Trade Controversy
Author Virginia Postrel details her successful battle against breast cancer. The Justice Department re-considers whether the proposed D.C. voting rights bill is constitutional. States with…
Newsletter
Absurd Product Bans, Global Warming Legislation and Unsafe Organic Farming
Industry observers look to California to take the lead in ending the ban on online gambling. Reps. Henry Waxman and Ed Markey introduce sweeping new…
Blog
Virginia Postrel on Her Own Brush with Cost-Effective Drug Research
One letter writer argues that Herceptin was a poor example because "Multiple cost-effectiveness analyses have shown that, despite its high cost, Herceptin is both effective…
Tulsa Business
Supreme Court Botches Preemption Case
SUPREME COURT BOTCHES PREEMPTION CASE…
Newsletter
AIG’s Tarnished Brand, The White House Vegetable Garden and Global Warming Negotiations
The damage to AIG’s corporate brand may hinder its ability to repay bailout loans from taxpayers. First Lady Michelle Obama announces the creation of a…
Newsletter
Toxic Assets, NIMBYs and Fish Pedicures
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveils a plan to sell off “toxic assets” as part of the federal bank bailout. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launches…
Blog
Fishing for Rationality in the Beauty Salon
Thinking of getting one of those cool new “fish pedicures”? Well, you’d better act fast. 14 states have already banned the process. But a member…
Tulsa Business
Needle and the Damage Done
The Supreme Court botches a drug preemption case.
Blog
An Explosion of Litigation
Already burdened by $8 trillion in new federal spending commitments and the likelihood of higher taxes to pay for bailouts,…
Blog
Yes, “Botch” is the right word.
Alex is right. “This IS one of these questions about what to do in the real world, where first-best solutions just aren’t politically possible†(emphasis…
Blog
Did the Supreme Court “Botch” Wyeth v. Levine?
I was initially going to post this as a comment to Greg Conko’s recent post arguing against the Court’s recent decision in Wyeth…
Blog
Supreme Court Botches Preemption Case
Ms. Levine alleged not only that the warning on Phenergan's label wasn't strong enough, but that Phenergan was "not reasonably safe for intravenous administration," and…
Tulsa Business