Day: March 16, 2017

Gerald Friedman, economics, comments on the plan presented by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Friedman, an expert on the economics of health care, finds numerous serious flaws with the Ryan proposal, is quoted as saying that the plan does not offer “meaningful access through meaningful insurance,” and ultimately declares “I can’t figure this thing out.” His past research on the economic viability of single-payer plans is also referenced in a separate syndicated opinion piece. (Republican, 3/16/17; The Market Oracle, Dissident Voice, 3/15/17)

From A Matter of Life and Death:
“This week Republicans in Congress introduced a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Since then, debate in Washington has centered on the costs of the Republicans’ plan. But while money will move around if this plan is passed, it is really about life and death.
The core of the Republican plan is an end to a tax on investment income, a tax that has been used for the last seven years to pay for health insurance for about 20 million Americans (one in 12 of us).
No health insurance program — public or private — is perfect. But people who have health insurance are more likely to get the preventive care, screenings and medical care they need.” READ MORE….

“Over the last decade, Latin American countries have enacted some of the most ambitious environmental and social protections in the world. But these hard-won protections faced their first serious test in the recent China-led commodities boom, as growth exploded in intrinsically-risky sectors like mining and oil.”  Read more…

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price says a Republican proposal now before Congress will provide greater access to health care.  But that is not accurate, said Gerald Friedman, a University of Massachusetts Amherst economics professor and expert on the economics of health care (Diane Lederman, MassLive, 3-15-17)