At Unleash Prosperity, our favorite word is “profit.” Profits make the world go round and are the best antidote to poverty. But when the business makes most of its profits off of government and taxpayer dollars, we’re not so excited. That’s the case with the $1.7 trillion health industrial complex, which is financed mostly through government subsidies. This chart shows that hospital earnings have doubled since 2015 (not adjusted for inflation). Profits are down in…
Learn MoreDonald Trump will soon meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Near the top of the agenda should be an effort to secure a pledge from her to ease Japan’s price controls on US-made brand drugs. UP senior fellow Tomas Philipson makes a compelling case in the Washington Examiner: For decades, Japan, the world’s fifth-largest economy, has artificially suppressed its spending on innovative medicines, effectively freeriding on U.S. rewards for innovation… That free-riding is unfair. But…
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President Donald Trump will soon host Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House, where the two leaders will seek to strengthen the United States-Japan alliance and boost both countries’ economies. The president can advance these goals simultaneously in healthcare by urging Takaichi to reform how her aging nation’s healthcare system pays for prescription drugs. For decades, Japan, the world’s fifth-largest economy, has artificially suppressed its spending on innovative medicines, effectively freeriding on U.S. rewards for innovation. The country’s government-run health system conducts annual pricing reviews and…
Learn MoreCongressional enactment of the “most favored nation” drug pricing policy urged by President Donald Trump in his State of the Union message would gravely harm American innovation, competitiveness, and national security in the emerging pharmaceutical technology race with China by crippling the market incentive system that has reliably propelled U.S. global leadership in this vital sector for decades. MFN policies are price-control schemes that establish caps on the costs of prescription drugs sold in the United States based on…
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The average American senior’s Medicare premiums last year were about 10% higher, or more than $200 annually, because of alleged overpayments to private Medicare Advantage plans, congressional investigators found. Medicare Part B premiums that most seniors pay were partly pushed up by controversial health-insurer practices such as adding diagnoses to trigger higher payments, according to the Joint Economic Committee, a bipartisan group of lawmakers that advises Congress on financial matters.
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Health care policy often carries unintended consequences. The Inflation Reduction Act’s “pill penalty,” for example, gave small-molecule drugs — which often take the form of pills — a shorter window of exemption from Medicare price-setting than biologics, which investors say disincentivizes innovation in small-molecule medicines that have the potential to treat cancer, neurological diseases, and more. Another IRA provision limited price-negotiation exemptions only to orphan drugs approved to treat a single rare disease, discouraging follow-on…
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Voters prioritize reforms targeting insurance companies — especially proposals that curb insurer steering, guarantee savings flow directly to patients, and increase upfront transparency on total and out-of-pocket costs. Reflecting these priorities, among four center-right positioning statements tested, the message emphasizing insurance company and middleman accountability performed best. Most voters also believe vertical integration in health care — particularly insurer ownership of providers — raises patient costs.
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In 2025, the seven biggest health insurance conglomerates: Collected almost $1.7 trillion in total revenues, $175 billion more than in 2024; Made more than $54 billion in profits; Covered 10 million fewer people than in 2024; Ramped up their self-dealing by steering more of their health plan enrollees to physician practices, clinics, pharmacy operations and other clinical businesses they now own
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