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
FDA can’t stomach fluoride and doesn’t want you to, either
On May 13, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would begin a process intended to exclude ingestible prescription fluoride products for…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Drug costs and benefits with Sally Pipes
In this week’s episode we cover reforms to the Endangered Species Act, attacks on US tech firms, nuclear power innovation,…
Blog
The MAHA Report is a missed opportunity
Less than six months into the new administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has produced its Make Our Children Healthy Again…
Search Posts
Legal Brief
Halbig v Sebelius – State of Virginia Amicus in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment
A group of small business owners (and individuals) in six states filed a lawsuit on May 2, 2013 against the federal government over an IRS…
Legal Brief
Halbig v Sebelius – Govt Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment
A group of small business owners (and individuals) in six states filed a lawsuit on May 2, 2013 against the federal government over an IRS…
Legal Brief
Halbig v Sebelius – Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Govt Cross-Motion
A group of small business owners (and individuals) in six states filed a lawsuit on May 2, 2013 against the federal government over an IRS…
Legal Brief
Halbig v Sebelius – Brief of the American Hospital Association
A group of small business owners (and individuals) in six states filed a lawsuit on May 2, 2013 against the federal government over an IRS…
Legal Brief
Halbig v Sebelius – Brief of Amicus Curiae Families USA
A group of small business owners (and individuals) in six states filed a lawsuit on May 2, 2013 against the federal government over an IRS…
Blog
Illegal Change to Obamacare Is Designed to Scapegoat Insurers, Not Restore Canceled Insurance Policies
If aliens from outer space read today's newspapers, they would assume that America is a dictatorship, not a republic, and that President Obama has the authority…
Study
Compound Fracture
Drug compounding involves reformulating or repackaging approved medicines to better tailor them to patients’ needs. Adding new federal regulations to further restrict compounding would do…
Blog
Under Obamacare, People Pay More for Inferior Health Plans, Lose Health Insurance They Liked
A Colorado woman who championed Obamacare lost her insurance plan. As a CBS TV station in Denver noted, "Millions of people are getting cancellation…
Citation
Hold the line! Conservative groups push Republicans to save sequester cuts
Eighteen organizations signed the letter to Republican…
News Release
Defeat Of Food Labeling Measure Was a ‘Mini Tax Revolt’ Analyst Says
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 – Defeat of a ballot initiative that would have required labeling of food with genetically engineered ingredients in Washington state can be…
Human Events
Game Almost Up for Obamacare
Remember Jenga? It’s a simple game, yet addictive. It involves an intertwined tower of small blocks. The players take turns removing and restacking pieces, until…
News Release
A Second Federal Court Green-Lights Lawsuit Against Obamacare
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 – A second federal judge Thursday has ruled a lawsuit that challenges a major IRS Obamacare regulation could proceed despite the government’s…
Blog
Racial Preferences in Obamacare, and Discrimination, Too, Based on Weird Ideology
The Daily Caller has an interesting story about race-conscious provisions and racial preferences contained in Obamacare. It's a subject that has received remarkably little…
Forbes
Why Obama’s Healthcare.gov Will Never Work As Specified
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Thus answered the HAL 9000 computer in the classic Stanley Kubrick movie 2001: A Space…
Human Events
Alarmism is Dangerous
I am a twisted father. When my children were in junior high, I would teasingly wake them with the question, “Hey, do you know what…
Legal Brief
King v. Sebelius – Defendants’ Memorandum in Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Full Document Available in PDF The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “Act”) includes a series of measures that will…
Blog
Glitches and Errors Widespread on Obamacare Health Insurance Website
In addition to the Obamacare web site glitches that left people unable to purchase insurance despite hours or days of trying, the website dramatically…
Washington Post
Letter to the Editor: Consumers have help in identifying non-bioengineered foods
In his Oct. 19 letter on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Tom Natan stated that “the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not allow foods…
Cheap Over-the-Counter STD Test Turbocharges Casual Sex
Cheap Over-the-Counter STD Test Turbocharges Casual Sex
Imagine you’re a young Millennial prowling for a hookup. It looks like tonight might be your night. But when the magic moment arrives, instead of…
Forbes
A Miscarriage Of Science: BPA’s Unproven Pregnancy Risk
The headlines are out: Pregnant woman should fear the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) because a “new study” says it increase the risk of miscarriage. Fortunately,…
The Wall Street Journal
Latest Legal Challenges to the Health Law: A Guide
A fourth lawsuit is pending in Virginia. That case, as well as the one in Washington, is in the hands of Michael A. Carvin, a…
Daily Mail
Bombshell: Federal judge suddenly green-lights lawsuit that could stop Obamacare in its tracks
The Treasury Department, they contend, 'has reasonably interpreted the Act to provide for eligibility for the premium tax credits for individuals in every state, regardless…
Daily Mail
Obamacare’s Next Bout: More Legal Challenges
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) took the primary lead in finding funding and potential plaintiffs, as well as coordinating future…
Daily Mail
Health Law Faces New Legal Challenges
The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, is coordinating the suits and helping with their legal costs, a spokeswoman said…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – October 4 Reply Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction and/or Summary Judgment
Full Document Available in PDF At long last, the Government has filed a brief defending the IRS Rule on the merits. (Dkt.
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – October 4 Supplemental Declaration in Support of Preliminary Injunction
Full Document Available in PDF In my declaration of August 5, 2013, I attested that I did not wish to purchase comprehensive…
Washington Examiner
Obama White House closing private businesses to add pain to government shutdown
Obama administration officials are using the government shutdown as an excuse to shut down privately-run tourist attractions, even though doing so costs the government far…
Blog
Selfishness Underlies the Shutdown, At Home and Abroad
Americans aren’t the only ones talking about government shutdown this week. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi almost collapsed Italy’s government on Wednesday by threatening…
Blog
Obamacare Quadruples Rates for Some, Subsidizes Some Wealthy Who Retired Early
Due to Obamacare, North Carolina "will see individual-market" health insurance rates "triple for women, and quadruple for men." In Tennessee, Obamacare will…
Blog
Massive Marriage Penalties in Obamacare Health Insurance Exchanges
On the Obamacare health insurance exchanges, being married can cost you a lot. Get divorced (or avoid getting married, if you live together), and you…
CNS News
Obamacare Provides $7,200 ‘Divorce Incentive,’ $11,000 for Older Couples
In the Obamacare health insurance exchanges, being married can cost you a lot. Get divorced (or avoid getting married, if you live together), and you…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – September 10 Plaintiffs’ Suggestion of Reassignment
Full Document Available in PDF Plaintiffs respectfully suggest that the Court voluntarily reassign this matter to another district judge pursuant to Local…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – September 10 Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Full Document Available in PDF Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65, Plaintiffs respectfully move this Court for entry of an…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – September 3 Government Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss
Full Document Available in PDF The Affordable Care Act provides for premium tax credits that will assist millions of Americans in the…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – August 9 Plaintiffs’ Default Motion Re: Summary Judgment
Full Document Available in PDF Plaintiffs respectfully move this Court for entry of an Order granting default judgment in their favor, because…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – August 9 Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
Full Document Available in PDF The Government’s desperation is palpable. Throwing everything and the kitchen sink at this suit, the Government hopes…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – July 29 Government Motion to Dismiss
Full Document Available in PDF The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “Act”) includes a series of measures that will…
Blog
MoveOn admits: “[I]f younger, healthier people don’t participate, then costs will skyrocket and Obamacare will fail.”
MoveOn.org yesterday sent me an appeal asking for $5 to help fund a $250,000 social media campaign supporting ObamaCare targeted to reach young adults. Here’s…
Blog
Let in More Foreign Doctors to Fix Looming Shortage of Physicians Aggravated by Obamacare
“Bring on the foreign doctors,” writes Slate’s Brian Palmer: If President Obama’s health care reform plan is implemented in its current form, the United…
Blog
More Economic Suffering Due to Obamacare
The Washington Post reports on the ever-growing number of people losing wages and facing pay cuts due to the 2010 healthcare law: For Kevin…
Blog
Unions Plead for Changes to Obamacare, Citing Lost Wages and Benefits
The Wall Street Journal reports today that the leaders of three major labor unions are asking Congress to make fundamental changes to Obamacare, saying that without such changes, it will…
Forbes
Why LeBron James Should Be Rooting Against ObamaCare
The sudden announcement of a one-year delay of the Obamacare employer mandate confirms the fear expressed even by the law’s supporters that implementation will be…
Blog
Obama Administration Discards Reporting Requirements in Obamacare
The Obama administration has illegally discarded the reporting requirements mandated by the 2010 healthcare law, which were designed to prevent countless billions of…
The Washington Times
EDITORIAL: Obamacare’s fatal flaw
Michael Carvin, who argued the Supreme Court’s Obamacare cases last year, is working with the Competitive Enterprise Institute to reverse the agency’s decision. “The…
Forbes
The Great Obamacare Intergenerational Swindle
In the sci-fi thriller The Hunger Games, a group of young people are made to compete against each other in a fight for survival. Post-Constitutional America…
Blog
Another Federal Appeals Court Rules against Obama Administration’s Contraceptive Mandate
Contraceptives are easy to obtain, and forcing employers to include a broad array of contraceptives in employee health insurance makes as little sense as forcing…
Blog
Obamacare and Activist State Courts Drive Up Health Plan Costs
The so-called rate shock from Obamacare has hit Ohio. The state’s Department of Insurance announced last Thursday that the average individual-market health insurance premium…
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment
Full Document Available in PDF Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and this Court’s Local Rule 7, Plaintiffs…
The Hill
State-based drug tracking puts Americans at risk
When consumers take prescription and over-the-counter drugs — as more than half of all Americans do each month — they expect those medicines to improve…
The Hill
A Legacy Litigated
Here’s the thinking behind the lawsuit, funded in part by the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute. The problem, apparently, is a drafting…
Blog
Does Austerity Really “Kill”?
Does austerity kill? In a recent New York Times op-ed, David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu claim that fiscal austerity leads to a worsening of health…
Blog
Possible Unintended Consequences in New Obamacare Regulation
The PCIP program gives health care providers an incentive to refuse treatment to people who desperately need it.
Investor's Business Daily
Environmental Fear-Mongering Isn’t Just Silly, It Kills People
Dr. Henry Miller, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Gregory Conko, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in a Forbes article "Rachel Carson's…
Orange County Register
Lost lives the real costs of regulator overreach
Every once in a while, one encounters the perfect example of the folly, naivete and hubris of an ivory-tower academic. A case in point was…
Blog
CEI Podcast For May 2, 2013: Small Business Owners Sue Over IRS Obamacare Power Grab
Small business owners and individuals in six states, with help from CEI, are suing the IRS over what General Counsel Sam Kazman calls a flagrantly…
Human Events
Business Owners Sue IRS Over Obamacare Mandate
“Agencies are bound by the laws enacted by Congress,” said Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). “Obamacare is already an incredibly massive…
The Hill
Lawsuit claims IRS illegally implementing key part of ObamaCare
“ObamaCare is already an incredibly massive program. For the IRS to expand it even more, without congressional authorization and in a manner aimed at undercutting…
Forbes
Gay Marriage, Polygamy, Bestiality, Abortion, Infanticide, Pot, Foie Gras, Plastic Bags, Big Gulps and Democracy
Consider the following list: 1) Marry someone of your same gender, 2) join a harem, 3) have sex with your donkey, 4) kill your baby the…
Blog
The Train Wreck That Is Obamacare
At least one union that supported passage of Obamacare, is now calling for its repeal. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the United…
Blog
Obamacare Strangles Job Creation, Stifles Medical Innovation
Earlier, I wrote about the dismal March jobs report and how high unemployment has been masked by rising numbers of discouraged workers and people…
Bloomberg
Ignore Hysteria Over New ‘Monsanto’ Bill
Greg Conko, who studies biotech issues for the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, points out that this fear is overblown, since organic standards require farmers to…
News Release
Greens Falsely Sow Seeds of Doubt on Farmer Assurance Provision
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 28, 2013 — During negotiations on the continuing budget resolution last weekend, farm state senators inserted a rider they call the “Farmer Assurance…
Forbes
FTC Drug Meddling Would Needlessly Push Pharmaceutical Costs Higher
Four of every five pharmaceutical prescriptions today are filled with a generic drug. That sounds like a big number, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)…
Blog
Obamacare Harms Colleges And Their Employees
The University of Virginia is expecting a roughly $7-million bill for Obamacare's new employer penalties, said Susan Carkeek, the University's vice president and…
Blog
Lobbying Can Be A Great Investment
Not only did health insurers convince the government to require everyone in the country to buy their products, now their premiums will go up sharply,…
Blog
Washington Examiner: “Congress: Obamacare To Boost Premiums To $7,186 — A Year”
Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner reports on massive premium increases due to Obamacare: Health insurance companies, facing new and costly rules and…
Letters
21 Limited-Government Organizations Agree: House Should Repeal Dangerous IPAB
Full Document Available in PDF We, the undersigned organizations, representing millions of Americans who seek limited government and economic freedom, urge you…
Forbes
Doctor Shortage? Let Idled Postal Workers Fill In! (Satire)
Rejoice, one of Obamacare’s great mysteries has been solved: Namely, the question of how we are going to provide free medical care to 30 million…
Blog
Obamacare: More Cost, Less Coverage
Seven million fewer people than predicted will have health care coverage a decade after Obamacare’s passage, admits the Congressional Budget Office. One reason “is that…
Heartlander
GMO Labeling to Appear on Washington Ballot
Gregory Conko, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says consumers have a right to know if products they purchase have negative health consequences.
Blog
Economic Freedom Declines Again; Government Control Is Bad For Your Health
Economic freedom has declined under the Obama administration, and America's rank has repeatedly fallen on the Index of Economic Freedom and other rankings issued…
Blog
Obamacare Increases Unnecessary Medical Tests, Wastes Doctors’ Time, Drives Up Billings And Costs
President Obama claimed Obamacare would cut healthcare costs, but it actually increased them in many ways, some of which are chronicled here. Here are yet…
Blog
Obamacare Imposes New Fees, Cost Increases On The Public
Obamacare was sold to the public based on the fallacy that it would cut healthcare costs, but each month brings additional evidence that it…
Cato
The Ripple Effects of Flawed Agbiotech Regulation
The modern techniques of genetic engineering—also known as biotechnology, recombinant DNA technology, or genetic modification (GM)—offer plant breeders the tools to make old crop plants…
Blog
Appeals Court Overturns Dismissal Of Challenge To Obamacare Contraception Mandate By Religious Colleges
According to law professor Jonathan Adler, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit effectively overturned a district court’s dismissal of a challenge…
Blog
PolitiFact Is The Liar Of The Year
PolitiFact falsely depicted Michael Cannon, the director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, as suggesting that state law overrides federal law, erroneously…
Point of Law
Will lawmakers slip disparate impact, punitive damages into Title VI?
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination by recipients of federal education spending and other programs, does not currently allow…
Blog
More Lawsuits Against Doctors, Hospitals Due To Senate Amendment 3215 To NDAA
Earlier, I wrote about a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013, which would dramatically increase lawsuits against schools and…
News Release
Institute Welcomes Court Ruling on Commercial Free Speech
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 4, 2012 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute applauded the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision yesterday, concluding that the…
Op-Eds
Senator Durbin is wrong on energy drinks ban
Several lawmakers have called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “do something” to protect the public from the alleged threat of energy…
Hoover Institution
Free Speech for Big Pharma
One of the most important elements of medicine is also among the least well known: the ability of physicians to prescribe approved medicines for purposes…
Blog
Obamacare Will Increase Health Insurance Costs In California, Washington, D.C., And Elsewhere
California officials concede that their state’s Obamacare exchange will hike premiums for policyholders by up to 25 percent. In the District of Columbia, small…
Hoover Institution
A Lack of Government Transparency: The Devil In The Detailing
Cowritten by Jeff Stier. A House Appropriations subcommittee has voted to move forward legislation that would cut $1.3 billion from the Department of Health and…
Orange County Register
A Losing Proposition on Food Labeling
California's initiative process – which allows "propositions" to be placed on the ballot quite easily – can lead to laws that are muddled, intentionally misleading…
Forbes
“Genetically Engineered” In California: A Food Label We Don’t Need
From “food miles” to farmers’ markets, it seems that consumers have never been more interested in the ways their food is grown. That’s one motivation…
Forbes
A Conservative Case for Obamacare?
From Thomas P. Miller’s column in National Review: The response of roughly half of the Senate Republicans was to co-sponsor an alternative bill…
Forbes
Labeling Of Genetically Engineered Foods Is A Losing Proposition
As Joe Six-pack munches Fritos and popcorn during the opening games of the NFL season, does he care what variety of corn was used to…
Boston Herald
Mass. biotech reaps Monsanto deal
From Ira Kantor's article in The Boston Herald: Gregory Conko, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and co-author of…
USA Today
FDA rules won’t do much good
Food-borne illnesses kill as many as 3,000 Americans each year, but consumers should not expect new Food and Drug Administration regulations to help. These rules,…
Real Clear Policy
More FDA Control Does Not Mean More Safety
News outlets are reporting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cited an alarmingly high number of alleged safety and regulatory violations by…
Blog
FDA Delay Likely Killed Thousands, Imposed Billions In Costs
The FDA didn’t approve a home test for HIV until 24 years after it first received an application. According to an FDA advisory committee,…
Blog
Dietitian Licensing Board Attempts To Limit Free Speech, Silence Bloggers
Have you ever given someone advice on how to lose weight through dietary changes? Have you ever recommended that certain foods could be consumed or…
Real Clear Policy
The American Revolution Comes to a Pitiful Close
June 2012 – and especially its last week – was ripe with ominous metaphor, all revolving around the Supreme Court’s decision on June 28th to…
Blog
Court’s Obamacare Decision — What Would John Locke Say?
Richard Epstein of the Hoover Institution and the University of Chicago Law School gives the Chief Justice some tough love in “What Was Roberts…
Blog
The Good, the Bad, and the Broccoli
Most people thought that the health care decision would hinge on the Court’s interpretation of the Commerce Clause. That’s why I wrote the first three…
Blog
Obamacare Lives. So, Now What?
Former CEI scholar Tom Miller (now with AEI) has some thoughts on the Obamacare decision in today's…
Blog
CEI Podcast: June 28, 2012: The Obamacare Decision
General Counsel Sam Kazman shares his thoughts on the Supreme Court's health care decision, the Commerce Clause, Congress' taxation power, and more.
Blog
Supreme Court Concocts New “Rational (Tax) Basis” Test in Upholding Health Law
In a move that seems to have surprised many observers, the Supreme Court today upheld nearly all of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act…
Blog
Obamacare Upheld, 5-to-4: A Perverse Decision That Undermines Political Accountability
Today, in a really perverse ruling, the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare's individual mandate as a tax in a 5-to-4 decision, even though Obamacare's supporters…
Blog
Quick Thoughts on the Health Care Ruling
The Supreme Court upheld the health care bill, as you've no doubt heard by now. Over at the Daily Caller, I offer a few quick…
