Brief Analyses / Health

Prescription Drugs and Medicare Reform

President Clinton and some on Capitol Hill are proposing a costly prescription drug benefit for the elderly that could create huge new burdens for taxpayers. Fortunately, there is a way to solve the problem without costing taxpayers a single dime.

Brief Analyses / Health

SPICE: Not the Right Prescription

About 65 percent of the people on Medicare also have some kind of prescription drug coverage. Some obtain it from a former employer. Some buy private supplemental (Medigap) insurance. Others are covered through Medicaid. But about 12 million have no coverage. Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have proposed a new federal program, the Seniors Prescription Insurance Coverage Equity (SPICE) Act, to subsidize prescription drugs for all Medicare beneficiaries.

Brief Analyses / Health

Prescription Drugs for Seniors: The Roth IRA Solution

Almost everyone agrees that the elderly need insurance coverage for prescription drugs. However, a growing number of health policy analysts believe that solving the problem of prescription drugs requires wholesale reform of Medicare. And fundamental Medicare reform may take a year or more to complete.

Pete du Pont

Focus Point – Ending the Earnings Limit

Stop the presses — Congress is about to do a very good thing. It looks like it's going to repeal the Social Security Earnings Test for those who retire at 65. Democrats have fought it for years with their class warfare rhetoric. But commonsense appears to have won the day.

Pete du Pont

In Defense of Bradley Smith

"He hates campaign finance reform, Bradley Smith does," Mr. Clinton said. No, Mr. President. Bradley Smith favors campaign finance reform. Real reform, that is, not just writing a new bunch of regulations that Democrats and Republicans alike will immediately find ways to get around.

Pete du Pont

Focus Point – Flunking History

Well, here's a happy bit of news. According to the Washington Times, a recent survey of seniors at the nation's top 55 universities showed four out of five were ignorant of even the most basic elements of American History. Most can go through four years of college without taking one history course. The soon-to-graduate-and-be-loosed-on-the-world students demonstrated what critics called "profound historical illiteracy".

Pete du Pont

Focus Point – Baseball

Someone once said that the most beautiful words in the English language were "Summer afternoon." I beg to differ. I think the most beautiful words in the English language are "Pitchers and catchers report to Florida in two weeks."

Pete du Pont

California on Super Tuesday

The media spin coming out of "Super Tuesday" was, of course, the performance of the presidential candidates. More interesting, though, were the fortunes of the many propositions that littered California's ballot.

Pete du Pont

Focus Point – Regulation killers

I've mentioned before the Washington post's Cindy Skruh-Zicki who covers the regulatory beat. She recently wrote about Congress's order, to the Office of Management and Budget, to figure out the cost of regulations.

Pete du Pont

Time to Stop Pitting One American Against Another

In modern campaigns, there are a few things you come to expect. Republicans will always be accused of endangering Social Security and Medicare, and giving tax breaks to the rich. Democrats conversely will be described as tax and spend liberals who care more about butterflies than jobs, and who are in bed with trial lawyers and union bosses.

Brief Analyses / Taxes

Expanding Education Savings Accounts

For the third time, Congress may pass a bill to expand educational opportunities for the children of middle- and lower-income families. The Affordable Education Act (S. 1134) being considered by Congress would expand Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in a number of ways, including allowing them to be used for expenses from kindergarten through the 12th grade.