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.
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Blog
Missing the economists in FTC’s latest PBM study
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its not-so-objectively titled interim report on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs): Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Drug…
News Release
New FTC study on drug costs fails to conduct empirical analysis of market conditions
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) release a new study today claiming Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are responsible for higher drug costs. FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak…
Penn Live
Harrisburg is taking a wrong approach to drug pricing | PennLive letters
CEI’s Joel Zinberg was cited in a Penn Live article on Pharmacy Benefit Managers: Joel Zinberg from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) explains, “PBMs enhance…
Search Posts
Blog
Robert Reich Gets It
Some of the consequences of increasing government’s role in health care are easy predict.
Blog
New Version of Obama Health-Care Plan Relies on Imaginary Savings, Costs More Than $2 Trillion, and Will Explode Federal and State Budget Deficits
Health-care “reform” always costs more than predicted, as ObamaCare provisions have at the state level. So the claim that the new, cheaper version…
Newsletter
Big Screen Ban, U.S. Chamber Politics and Silencing Science
California poised to ban the sale of big-screen televisions. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launches a new initiative to defend free enterprise and create jobs.
Blog
Madison on National Health Care Reform
Here is the letter I wrote that appeared in the Los Angeles Times in response to Erwin Chemerinsky’s article on the constitutionality of…
Blog
Silencing Criticism through Libel Law
The physicist turned science journalist Simon Singh has been sued in a UK court and, this past summer, found liable for libel for an April…
Newsletter
Health Care, Climate Change and Nobel Economics
The Senate Finance Committee approves major new health care legislation. Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) write an op-ed for the New York…
Op-Eds
“Gifted Hands” Surgeon Rips into Obamacare
As the Senate Finance Committee completed its work on a bill that would greatly expand the government’s role in health care – requiring nearly…
New York Times
Identity Chip Planted Under Skin Approved for Use in Health Care
The New York Times discusses implantible chips used for medical reasons with Wayne Crews. ''The fact that we're engaged in such a deep,…
Blog
Senate Finance Passes Health Reform Bill
Earlier today, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Me.) announced that she would vote in favor of the health care reform bill authored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 59: Pharmacy Interns in Colorado
It is illegal to intern for a pharmacist in Colorado without a license.
Newsletter
Climate Negotiations, Senate Health Care and the Nobel Prize
Climate negotiators attempt to reach an agreement ahead of UN-sponsored talks in December. The Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote on health…
News Release
Moderates Should Be Cautious on Health Care Reform
The Senate Finance Committee today approved new health care legislation by a 14 to 9 vote and reported it out to the full Senate. All…
Blog
Markets vs. Special Interests
"It is precisely the fact that the market does not respect vested interests that makes the people concerned ask for government interference."…
Blog
New ObamaCare Version Claims Not to Increase Federal Deficit, But It Explodes State Deficits, and Relies on Mythical Savings and Unlikely Medicare Cuts
Democrats are cheering a Congressional Budget Office decision to “score” the Senate Finance Committee’s version of ObamaCare as not increasing the federal budget deficit. But…
Blog
CBO report: new taxes will balance Baucus health care bill
Those pushing the Senate health care bill were ecstatic when the Congressional Budget Office reported that the bill “would result in a net…
Newsletter
Billions for Health Care, Failing Detroit and a Supreme Court Review
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a leading Democratic health care proposal would cost $829 billion over ten years. Residents and observers debate the reputation…
Blog
Obamacare’s Provisions Have Already Been Tried, and Failed, at the State Level
The major provisions of ObamaCare already have been tried. They've led to increased costs and reduced access to care" for people who once had private…
Newsletter
Retail Prices, Utility Politics and Swine Flu
The Maryland legislature bans manufacturers from setting minimum retail prices for their products. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist plays hardball with the state’s public utilities. Doctors…
Study
FDA and Internet Advertising
The Medium is the Message…
Newsletter
Climate Science Destroyed, Online Drug Advertising and Opposing Net Neutrality
A government-funded research center destroys the original data behind its predictions of global warming. The Food and Drug Administrations seeks input about online advertising of…
Newsletter
A Swine Flu Vaccine, Rising Unemployment and Limits on Executive Pay
The federal government launches a swine flu vaccine campaign. Alan Greenspan predicts increased economic growth, but also rising unemployment. The White House moves to limit…
Blog
Video Response to Will Ferrell MoveOn.org: People Are Saying Mean Things About Big Government!
Remember that Will Ferrell, celebrity-packed video on Obamacare last month? The one from MoveOn.org? One of those “we’re from Hollywood, and we’re here to…
News Release
FDA Urged to Reconsider Internet Drug Advertising Rules
FDA Urged to Reconsider Internet Drug Advertising Rules Agency Harms Consumers With ‘1960s Approach’ to Online Ads Washington, D.C., October 6, 2009—A new…
Washington Examiner
Media’s Homers Yawn as Obama Cons
Blog
Big Labor’s Big Prize in Health Care “Reform”
In his Wall Street Journal column today, Holman Jenkins highlights one of the prizes at stake for organized labor in the current health care…
Blog
Senate Finance Committee Rejects Public Option
Liberal Democrats are fuming. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) and House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Cal.) remain committed to a "public option". President Obama…
Blog
Cutting Off Funds to ACORN Is Constitutional, and Would Protect Against Voter and Financial Fraud
Earlier, ACORN was caught in a scandal, promoting child prostitution. Both Houses of Congress voted to cut off federal funds to ACORN. Rep. Barney…
Blog
Weekly Flu Watch – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing This Week
Every Friday the CDC website publishes a situation update on swine flu with figures updated through the previous week, though some of the data…
Washington Examiner
Meryl’s Mad Green Meanderings about Julia
In the new movie "Julie & Julia," Meryl Streep does well portraying the late Julia Child, but one can say Streep also benefits from…
Blog
Obama Slaps Unconstitutional Gag Order on Critic of His Health Care Plan
While Obama ally ACORN attempts to gag whistleblowers who exposed its role in a recent scandal, the Obama administration is trying to gag…
Blog
Obama Losing Youth on Health Care
The National Journal had an interesting article this week describing the difficulty Democrats have been having getting young adults interested in the health care debate.
Blog
ACORN Sues Whistleblowers for Exposing Its Wrongdoing in Scandal
ACORN is now suing the whistleblowers who allegedly filmed it promoting illegal sexual activities for $2 million! And not just them, but…
Blog
Hard-Left Obama Policies Draw Criticism for Undermining Democracy, Security, and the Rule of Law
In his 2008 campaign, Barack Obama talked a lot about “bipartisanship,” but in office, he has governed from the far left, on both domestic and…
Blog
Yet Another ACORN Scandal
ACORN, which had its housing funds cut-off by Congress over a recent scandal, is now embroiled in a tax-evasion scandal, reports the…
Blog
Slate’s William Saletan vs. the Food Cops
Slate’s William Saletan has had it with the growing overreach of the food police, a reaction which he acknowledges puts him in unusual company.
Newsletter
Obama at the UN, the Healthcare Tax and the Costs of Cap and Trade
President Obama call for a “new era of global engagement” in addressing climate change and other issues. Economists debate the financial impact that a healthcare…
Blog
ACORN’s Empire Will Expand Under Obama’s Health-Care Plan and Financial Rules
Congress recently voted to cut off federal housing funds to controversial group ACORN. But since most federal money goes to ACORN-related…
Blog
AP: Obama Health-Care Plan Raises Taxes, Breaks Campaign Promises
The Associated Press is now chiding President Obama for falsely claiming that his proposed tax on uninsured people is not a tax. It is…
Blog
ObamaCare’s Smoke and Mirrors: Huge Costs Paid for by Imaginary Savings
Obama’s health care plan uses imaginary savings to finance massive new spending. His claim that it will not increase the deficit is based on the…
Washington Examiner
It’s All About Cost In Health Care Debate
Opposing Views
Obama Wants to Extend Patriot Act – Just Like Bush
People are often surprised to hear how similar President Obama’s policies are to President Bush’s. They shouldn’t be. One may be a Republican and the…
Blog
Democratic Governor Criticizes Deficit-Exploding Obama Health-Care Plan; Middle Class Faces Huge Health and Global-Warming Tax Hikes
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen (D) is criticizing Obama’s health-care plan as “the mother of all unfunded mandates,” saying it will force states to spend…
Newsletter
Cap and Trade Debate, FDA’s Record on Cancer Drugs and Taxing Soda
The release of Treasury Department memos on the cost of a cap and trade system for greenhouse gas emissions creates a furor. Critics assail Richard…
Blog
Public Option Is Not The Worst Aspect Of ObamaCare
"If liberal health-care reform is going to make people better off, why does it require "a very harsh, stiff penalty" to make everyone buy it?…
Blog
Big Health and Energy Tax Increases for the Middle Class from Obama and Liberal Congressmen
Even the trimmed-down version of Obama's health-care plan recently announced by a ranking Senator contains lots of tax increases for the middle class.
Blog
NYT Love Letter to FDA
New York Times reporter Gardiner Harris has a front page article in today's paper on the head of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of…
Newsletter
The Costs of Cap and Trade, Deadly Auto Regulations and Rockefeller on Health Care
The U.S. Treasury Department admits that a “cap and trade” system for regulating greenhouse gas emissions could cost every household $1,761 a year. New fuel…
Newsletter
Obama on Wall Street, EPA Backlash and Health Care Roadblocks
President Obama gives a major speech in New York on the future of Wall Street. The Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to censor data on global…
Newsletter
Norman Borlaug’s Legacy, Junk Food Science and ACORN’s Shame
Plant scientist Norman Borlaug – Nobel Prize winner and father of the “Green Revolution” – dies at age 95. The Environmental Working Group issues a…
Opposing Views
9/11 Ignored-Obama Undermines Airline and Train Security
In the aftermath of 9/11, Congress foolishly shifted airline security screening to the inept Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has failed to detect explosive…