News & Blogs

Could U.S. policy clinch China’s grip on biotech?

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 Insurance Company Accountability in Health Care Reform

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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2025: Big Insurance’s $1.7 Trillion Year

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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Insurance Companies Bear the Blame

The cost of health insurance premiums is by far the biggest concern of voters when it comes to health care, both when specifically asked about health care costs and the state of health care in the United States overall. Out-of-pocket costs, waste, fraud, and abuse, prescription drug costs, and surprise bills rank as second-tier concerns. Most voters say insurers are more responsible for premiums and out-of-pocket costs, while voters more often blame the entire system…

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Big government and big insurance win while patients lose

Congress finally hauled the nation’s insurance giants to Capitol Hill to explain why their profits have skyrocketed at taxpayer expense while their approval ratings with the American people have plummeted. The hearings were a necessary first step, but asking CEOs tough questions is a lot easier than passing policy reforms that would diminish their power and ability to capture vast sums of taxpayer dollars — that will take hard work. For the better part of two decades now, Democrats who once wanted…

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A Bipartisan Fix for the Prescription Drug Market

It is no secret that health care policy is a frustrating topic on Capitol Hill.  That frustration reflects the worry felt by Americans searching for affordable health insurance and pharmaceutical options amid an opaque, complex and costly system.  While Republicans and Democrats agree our health care system is broken, we often have very different ideas about what reforms will sustainably reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. One thing we have long agreed on, however, is…

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Healthcare Costs: What Voters Really Want Changed

Healthcare costs rank #2 among voters’ economic concerns, with 76% saying they are on the wrong track. Recently proposed reforms receive broad support. 84% support strengthening price transparency laws by requiring healthcare providers to post clear, upfront prices, including fees not covered by a patient’s insurance, and 70% support giving every American access to a Health Savings Account (HSA), putting healthcare dollars directly in patients’ hands.

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Affordability Requires Supply, Not Price Controls

With the 2026 midterms approaching, there is an understandable desire on Capitol Hill to “do something.” But lawmakers should resist the temptation to reach for easy answers such as government-imposed price controls. Price controls are not market reforms. They are administrative attempts to override prices rather than address the conditions that make goods and services unaffordable in the first place. History shows that when government tries to control prices instead of expanding supply, the results…

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