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
HeartLand Daily News
FDA Hid COVID Shot Side Effects—Congressional Report
Heartland Daily News cited CEI on COVID public health concerns Joel Zinberg, M.D., senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and director of the Public…
Op-Eds
Often Wrong, Never in Doubt
Times have changed. Two years ago, tennis great Novak Djokovic could not play in the U.S. Open tournament. It was not because he had Covid-19…
Blog
Can AI thrive in health care’s HIPAA-shaped box?
Innovation continues to transform health care, enabling us to live longer and healthier lives. And now artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to supercharge that…
Search Posts
Blog
Trump Administration Ends Homecare Providers Dues Skim
Since 2000, state governments have diverted $1.4 billion from homecare providers and handed it to labor unions, according to the Freedom Foundation. For over a…
News Release
McConnell Plan to Raise Nicotine Access to Age 21 Could Backfire
Citing health concerns about youth vaping, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) announced legislation to raise the nationwide minimum age to buy tobacco products from…
Medium
The FDA’s Runaway Trolley Problem
If you’ve ever participated in a thought experiment, you know how fun that can be. The most famous is the Trolley Problem, entertainingly portrayed by…
American Chemistry
IRIS: Bad Science, Real World Consequences
American Chemistry cited CEI’s publication by Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini on the IRIS. In February 2019 the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) provided some important…
Comment
CEI Comments to FDA on Modifications to Compliance Policy for Certain Deemed Tobacco Products
Dear Dr. Gottlieb: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) welcomes the opportunity to offer the following comments on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed modifications…
Real Clear Policy
Federal Pot Prohibition Nears its End
America has made up its mind on marijuana. Most Americans think it should be legal, and all but two states have decriminalized or legalized the drug in…
News Release
CEI Report Calls for Elimination of EPA’s Flawed Integrated Risk Information System
A new report released today by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) shows EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) has significant problems with methodology, relies on…
Study
EPA’s Flawed IRIS Program Is Far from Gold Standard
Environmental activists claim that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) represents the gold standard for risk assessment.[i] In…
Products
Free to Prosper: Food, Drugs, and Consumer Freedom
View the full chapter on food, drugs, and consumer freedom here Few matters are as important to consumers as the foods they eat, the…
Blog
Last-Minute Delay in CVS-Aetna Deal Could Threaten Consumer Benefits
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon surprised many on Monday when he announced he may halt the integration of CVS pharmacy’s assets with the nation’s…
Washington Examiner
Safety Advocates Try To Hit The Brakes On Driverless Cars
Washington Examiner cited CEI’s Senior Fellow Marc Scribner on Congressional action for driverless vehicles. “I understand there are important things that need to…
Blog
Health and Human Services Secretary Should Halt Grants to UN Cancer Agency
Yesterday, Congress passed an appropriations bill that kept funding intact for the United Nations body known as the International Agency for Research on Cancer…
Blog
One Year Later, Federal Plan on Tobacco Harm Reduction Needs Improvement
The Food and Drug Administration has failed to approve a single reduced-harm nicotine product in the past year, despite unveiling a new “roadmap” in…
Blog
Growing Human Organs for Fun and Profit
Our friends at Freethink Media have an excellent new video out about medical innovation—in this case, how a new company is developing…
Blog
Senate Should Pass on Joan Claybrook’s Advice and Pass AV START Act
Why are self-styled safety advocates opposing the first legislative step that could help usher in the greatest automotive safety improvements in history? This is a…
Blog
The Roundup on Monsanto’s Roundup: Six Facts You Should Know
Yesterday, I addressed why last week’s court order calling for a ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos was both dangerous and wrongheaded. Today, we look…
Blog
Six Things You Should Know about the Pesticide Chlorpyrifos
Last week was a bad one for farmers. Two legal decisions were released that promise to undermine access to valuable agrochemicals that farmers need to…
News Release
CEI: Court Decision against Weed Killer Based on Bad Evidence Could Raise Food Prices, Harm the Environment
Last week, a jury in California awarded $289 million to a former school groundskeeper who claimed glyphosate, an ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, caused…
Blog
End Union Medicaid Dues Skim
Every Medicaid dollar is statutorily required to directly fund care for the elderly or disabled. This requirement is known as the “direct payment requirement.” Congress,…
Comment
CEI Comments on Labor Union Dues – Skimming of Medicaid Benefits
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Notice…
Blog
Protect Home Healthcare Providers: End Dues Skimming
Our friends at the State Policy Network have produced a compelling new video about the plight of men and women who have been forced…
SCPR
AUDIO: Marc Scribner Discusses Driverless Cars and State Safety Regulations on AirTalk
CEI Senior Fellow Marc Scribner joined AirTalk on Southern California Public Radio to discuss driverless car technology and state safety regulations.
The Washington Examiner
Trump Keeps His Promise, Dying Patients Get a Second Chance At Life
The Washington Examiner cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the direct toll to human life that regulations impose as a result of ever-increasing FDA clinical…
The Hill
‘Right to Try’ Is a Win for Patient Rights and President Trump
The Hill cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the overwhelming cost of compliance which taxes the American economy and in this case limits pharmaceutical ingenuity…
Blog
Congress Could Give Desperate Patients ‘Right to Try’ Experimental Medications
The House of Representatives will soon vote on a companion bill to S. 204, the Right to Try Act. This bill would prevent the…
Blog
Track How Humans Are Making Progress around the World
For several years now, HumanProgress has been an excellent source of data and scholarship on major demographic trends around the word. As longtime fans know,…
The Hill
Congress Must Stop Union Scheme Siphoning Funds From Medicaid
Congress created Medicaid to exclusively fund care to the elderly and disabled, not fund labor unions. But powerful labor unions like the Service Employee International…
The Washington Free Beacon
Partisan Fights Over Science Funding Likely to Reemerge on Capitol Hill
The Washington Free Beacon discusses the International Agency for Research on Cancer with Angela Logomasini. A long-simmering partisan feud over the role of science…
Blog
FDA Issues Commonsense Federal Guidance on Nutrition Labeling
While it might not be ideal, it’s an improvement on the former scenario—a sprinkling of common sense on an otherwise foolish regulation.
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Supporting Cutting-Edge Technologies for Less Harmful Tobacco Products
View Full Document as PDF Dear Commissioner Gottlieb, We the undersigned organizations dedicated to improving public health, increasing consumer choice, and reducing…
U.S. News & World Report
Don’t Blunt the Marijuana Revolution
U.S. News & World Report covers the coalition letter, led by CEI, advocating for the Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment. America is undergoing a somewhat…
HuffPost
Activists Use Faulty Claims to Push Flame Retardant Ban
“Look before you leap” has long been considered sage advice. But environmental activists today called on regulators at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to…
Blog
Ohio Drug Price Initiative Gives Taxpayer Money to Unnecessary Lawyers
Lawyers and allied interest groups have long enriched themselves at taxpayers’ expense. But usually, it has been by bringing lawsuits, not defending them.
Blog
Conservatives & Libertarians to GOP: Time to Evolve on Marijuana Policy
A bill introduced by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will prevent the Department of Justice from using taxpayer dollars to prosecute medical marijuana…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging Support for Right to Try Act
View Full Document as PDF Dear Senators: As advocates for individual rights, human dignity, and limited government representing…
Blog
New Film ‘Food Evolution’ Confronts Confusion on GMO Crops
Genetic modification of food crops is a valuable scientific process that has already helped feed countless millions of people around the world and provided breathtaking humanitarian…
Washington Times
Federal Government Needs Major Overhaul to Cut Red Tape, Reduce Costs: Report
The Washington Times covers CEI’s latest publication Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. Shrinking the federal bureaucracy would spur economic growth and reduce costs to taxpayers,…
Washington Free Beacon
Report: Reducing Regulatory Agencies’ Authority Could Boost Economy, Increase Job Creation
The Washington Free Beacon covers CEI’s latest publication Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. Reducing some of government’s regulatory agencies’ authority could boost economic growth and…
VapingPost
In-Flight Vaping Ban Upheld
VapingPost covers CEI’s objection to a DOT vaping ban on airplanes. In another blow to American vapers, the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free…
The Hill
The FDA Shouldn’t Give Into Irrational E-Cigarette Fears
The Food and Drug Administration is now on the wrong side of a new anti-vaping campaign. Instead of helping teens reject using tobacco or e-cigarettes,…
Star Tribune
Menthol Limits: Ban Could Close Vaping Escape Hatch for Smokers
Almost half a million people in our country die from smoking-related illnesses every year. But instead of helping people quit, anti-smoking activists seem to prioritize…
The Fix
Vaping Ban Upheld By Federal Court
The Fix discusses the Department of Transportation e-cigarette ban with Sam Kazman. A federal court has stamped out a challenge to the Department of…
Bloomberg
‘No Smoking’ Also Applies to E-Cigarettes on Flights, Court Says
Bloomberg covers a lawsuit CEI filed against the Department of Transportation airplane e-cigarette ban. Vaping is smoking, a federal appeals court ruled, upholding…
The Hill
Court Upholds Obama Rule Banning Vaping on Airplanes
The Hill covers a lawsuit filed by CEI against the Department of Transportation’s airplane vaping ban. A federal appeals court Friday upheld an…
The Wall Street Journal
Courts Rule E-Cigarettes Should Be Regulated Like Tobacco Products
The Wall Street Journal covers a lawsuit filed by CEI challenging the Department of Transportation’s ban on vaping on airplanes. A federal court…
Tyler Morning Telegraph
Editorial: Vaping Saves Lives by Helping Smokers Quit
Tyler Morning Telegraph discusses regulations on vapes with Michelle Minton. Harm reduction is a vital component in public health decisions. That’s why the…
Inside Sources
Why the CBO Estimates for the GOP Health Care Bill Are Undoubtedly Wrong
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has forecast that 14 million more people will be uninsured in 2018 under the House of Representatives’ American Health Care…
Inside Sources
Health Departments Lobbying Against E-Cigs Are Robbing Taxpayers, Harming Public Health
Inside Sources covers CEI’s support of the FDA Deeming Authority Clarification Act of 2017. As if the Food and Drug Administration’s deeming regulations…
Blog
Trump Should Cut Government-Funded Junk Science
Congress should defund the anti-technology work of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, which threatens human well-being and public health.
Blog
Hans Rosling, Antidote to Pessimism, Dies at 68
Hans Rosling, the Swedish doctor and professor who saved countless lives in the world’s poorest countries (and gave TED talks), has died of pancreatic cancer.
Blog
Senate Should Disregard Spurious Public Health Charges against EPA Nominee Pruitt
The Senate should disregard accusations that EPA Administrator-designate Scott Pruitt is somehow responsible for asthma rates in his home state of Oklahoma.
Study
Shaking up the Conventional Wisdom on Salt
View Full Document as PDF The notion that if you eat too much salt you will have high blood pressure has been…
Blog
Tom Price Should Focus on Reversing ‘Mission Creep’ at HHS
If confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price should reverse decades of mission creep and refocus federal health agencies on their…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Opposing FDA Rule on E-Cigarettes
View Full Document as PDF We, the undersigned organizations dedicated to free markets and innovation, urge you to amend the Food and Drug…
Beverage Industry Today
Health Benefits of Alcohol Defended
Blog
Death Rate Rose and Life Expectancy Recently Fell in America
The death rate increased 1.2% last year, and life expectancy fell in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available.
Blog
A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress
At CEI, we believe a clear agenda is necessary to move America toward economic growth, prosperity, and liberty for individuals to chart their own paths…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Cancer Care, Chaos, and Climate
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Drs. Debra Patt and Kerry Emanuel discuss the politics of cancer care, chaos theory, and climate science.
Blog
Reflecting on the Obamacare Disaster and Chief Justice Roberts
on their vows to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), now is a good time to examine “what might have been” in light…
Blog
Obamacare Policies Are Costly and Unpopular
Obamacare policies are unpopular, and people often dump them months later.
Blog
Obamacare Punishes Hard Work
It’s perverse to drive up the costs of someone’s health insurance—and then punish them for working two jobs to pay for that health insurance. But…
Blog
Obamacare Increases Premiums, Reduces Employment
Health care insurance premiums will increase significantly next year as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and many consumers will be left with access…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Big Science with Jeremy Berg and Daniel Sarewitz
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Drs. Jeremy Berg and Daniel Sarewitz discuss the politics and culture of Big Science.
Blog
Senate Democrats Block Zika Bill, for the Fourth Time
Three times in the past, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have provided funding to fight Zika, and suspended certain regulations (it would have…
Blog
Senate Democrats Block Anti-Zika Bill Yet Again
Democrats in the Senate have blocked a bill that would have provided federal funds to combat the spread of the Zika virus, reports The Hill.
Blog
New Drug Price Proposal Light on Competition, Heavy on Bureaucracy
Last Friday, Hillary Clinton announced a new plan to “respond to unjustified price hikes” on certain pharmaceutical drugs.
Blog
Obamacare Shrinks Economy through Medicaid Expansion and Tax Credit Cliffs
Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid reduced employment in those states that participated in it by a statistically significant extent, according to a recent study by Georgetown’s…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: American Indian, EpiPen, and Free Speech Fiascos
In this episode of RealClear Radio Hour, we discuss the fiascos of government overreach and overregulation—on American Indian reservations, in the EpiPen saga, and with…
Blog
CEI Files Opening Brief in “Vapes on a Plane” Lawsuit
Today, CEI filed its opening brief against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Secretary of Transportation’s March final rule prohibiting electronic cigarette…
Blog
Q&A on the FDA’s New E-Cigarette Rules
After years of waiting and fighting, the new rules put forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on electronic cigarettes and other non-cigarette…
Blog
Don’t Fear DEET-Based Insect Repellents
With the Zika virus now reportedly being transmitted by mosquitos here in the United States, consumers—expecting moms, kids, and everyone else--should be sure to use…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: War on Cancer
In this week’s episode of RealClear Radio Hour, we tackle the war on cancer. Disruptive innovators, Stephen Bonner and Paul Davies, confront bureaucracy and big…
Blog
Food Safety Experts Critical of GMO Labeling Bill
In an open letter released today, several food safety experts warned of the problems with a new Senate bill that would regulate the labeling of…
Blog
Nobel Prize Winners Denounce Greenpeace Opposition to GMOs
For decades, the environmental activist group Greenpeace has been among the most vocal, and oftentimes vicious, opponents of biotechnology and genetically engineered crops.
Blog
Are Anti-Science Obama Administration Policies Fostering Zika?
Former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey, who chairs the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, says the Obama administration is fostering Zika’s spread through anti-science…
Blog
Proposed Soda Tax a Bad Deal for Philadelphia Residents
This Thursday, Philadelphia’s city council is set to approve a 1.5 cent per ounce tax on soda. The goal of the tax is to raise…
Blog
Obama Illegally Diverts Money Needed to Fight Zika to UN
President Obama raided $500 million needed to fight the Zika virus, and instead illegally gave it to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund. Sen. James…
Blog
Deflate Drug Prices by Reforming the FDA
This Wednesday, the Senate Select Committee on Aging will hold a hearing on “sudden price spikes” among certain off-patent drugs. The most widely publicized of these…
Washington Examiner
Taxpayer-Funded Anti-BPA Activism is the Real Danger
Alarmist claims about the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) have reached an absurd level. According to the website Treehugger.com, a new study shows that…
Blog
More Punishment for Thrifty Seniors from Federal Medicare Laws
If two couples make almost the same amount of money, should one of them be charged $2,000 more in Medicare Part B premiums? Logically, no,…
Blog
Long Mass Transit Commutes Are Horrible for Your Health
Joseph Stromberg at Vox.com has an article up arguing that “commuting alone by car” is “associated with obesity, high blood pressure, sleeplessness, and general unhappiness” relative…
Study
No Spoof
Several states had serious doubts about the validity of tax credits for individuals purchasing insurance on Obamacare's federally facilitated exchange as early as 2011. Questions still remain,…
News Release
New Report Shows States Had Serious Questions about Obamacare Tax Credits in 2011
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a report by finance expert Scot Vorse that shows many states knew as early as 2011 that they might not receive…
Study
Free to Prosper
With the start of the 114th Congress comes a fresh opportunity to address the challenges created by a broken government. To kick off this new…
Blog
Free to Prosper: Top Priorities for the 114th Congress
With the start of the 114th Congress comes a fresh opportunity to address the challenges created by a broken government. To kick off this new congressional…
Forbes
Obamacare Has Been A Boon For The Insurance Industry
This year could mean big changes for Obamacare, given the latest challenge accepted by the Supreme Court, King vs. Burwell. The Court is slated to…
Blog
Gruber Testifies Before Congress on Obamacare Transparency Issues
Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and MIT economist Jonathan Gruber are testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform…
Blog
A Big Payoff for Patient Investors
There’s a fascinating story in The New York Times this week about pharmaceutical companies and the process of discovering new drugs. Fifteen years ago, the…
Blog
How the “Stupid” American Public Pays for Gruber’s Deception
The Washington Times points out that Jonathan Gruber, our nation’s most famous sufferer of foot-in-mouth-disease, has profited greatly from the “stupid” American public to whom he…
Blog
Gruber’s “Speakola” Virus and Pelosi’s Selective Memory
Obamacare supporters say that when deciding King v. Burwell and the related Halbig v. Burwell, challenges to the law that the Competitive Enterprise Institute helped fund and coordinate,…
Blog
Obamacare: Cert Granted on Friday, and Gruber III on Saturday
It was very good news, delivered in a very surprising way. Shortly after noon last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it would review our…
News Release
The Supreme Court Should Review CEI’s Obamacare Subsidy Case
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 — The plaintiffs in King v. Burwell filed their final brief this week at the Supreme Court level, responding to the government’s opposition…
Breitbart
Government Omits Any Mention of Jonathan Gruber in Most Recent Court Filing
Gruber and the amicus brief he signed were cited in nearly every government court filing in both the King v. Burwell case and the Halbig…
Blog
Where in the World is Jonathan Gruber?
The Obamacare insurance exchange rule is being challenged in four cases, and each one of them has been active over the last two weeks. The IRS…
Blog
Federal Obamacare Officials Once Recognized the Falsity of Their Current Argument about Tax Credits
The Obama administration has claimed that despite recurring language in the Obamacare law limiting tax credits to people who buy insurance on an “exchange established…
Legal Brief
Appellants’ Opposition to Government Petition for En Banc Reconsideration
Read Full Brief Here From the brief: "There is no doubt that this case is of great national importance. Not due…
Legal Brief
Supreme Court Review Sought in King v. Burwell
On July 31, 2014, attorneys in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal’s Obamacare case, King v. Burwell, requested Supreme Court review of the ruling handed down…
LA Times
Lawyers Challenging Health Subsidies Seek Quick Supreme Court Ruling
Lawyers challenging President Obama's healthcare law filed a quick appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday, urging justices to take up the issue this fall…
News Release
Supreme Court Review Sought in Obamacare Exchange Case
Washington, July 31 — Today, attorneys in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit's Obamacare case, King v. Burwell, requested Supreme Court review of the…
National Review
Obamacare’s Architect Agreed That Only State Exchanges Could Offer Subsidies
Tonight, Reason’s Peter Suderman published an interesting revelation about the history of the decision reached this week by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, that Obamacare subsidies couldn’t…
