Sally Pipes

Contributor|Policy

On January 1, a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services went into effect requiring hospitals to publish the prices they negotiate with insurers for various medical procedures. This rule will inject some sorely needed transparency into the U.S. healthcare system.

Medicaid was created to help the needy, not those who should be able to take care of themselves. Requiring able-bodied adults to seek employment in exchange for taxpayer-funded health insurance shouldn't be controversial. It should be common sense.

COVID has come roaring back. In the United States, over 1,000 hospitals are critically short-staffed; about three-quarters of all hospital beds are full. But North of the border, in Canada, it doesn't take a pandemic to overwhelm the healthcare system. It's a routine occurrence.

Medical progress depends on strong protections for intellectual property. Unfortunately, a few members of Congress are proposing to slow that progress by launching a broadside against intellectual property protections. And they're trying to use the COVID-19 pandemic to justify their actions.

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. It may seem hard to believe, but even in this year unlike any other, there's still plenty to be thankful for—including some notable developments in healthcare policy.