ALEXANDRIA, VA – The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's H.R. 3, the "Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019."  The Center for Individual Freedom ("CFIF") is urging all House Members to vote "No," as the legislation would, among other significant issues, stifle innovation,…

October 22, 2019   United States House of Representatives  Committee on Ways and Means  1102 Longworth House Office Building  Washington, D.C.  20515    Dear House Ways and Means Committee Members and Staff:    On behalf of the Center for Individual Freedom (hereinafter “CFIF”)…

As the 2020 presidential campaign accelerates, it increasingly resembles some leftist avant-garde circus of the absurd.   Apparently, no policy position appears too extreme as the candidates’ jostle for attention and radical chic street cred.  Door-to-door firearms confiscation?  Open borders?  “Free” college…

The Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”) today joined a coalition letter signed by more than 70 organizations and activists in opposition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing proposal (H.R. 3).  The letter, addressed to Congress and which was organized by Americans for Tax Reform, is pasted below or can be read here…

Whether you live in New York, California or the heartland in between, you depend on state government to ensure your hospital is safe. After all, when you're a patient, your life is on the line. But state health departments have become captives of the health care industry because of huge campaign contributions and lobbying. What's happening in New York…

Employer-provided health plans now cost a gigantic $20,576 a year for family coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Technically, the employer pays most of it, but labor costs are labor costs. The more that's spent on benefits the less can go to wages. In reality, it's $20,000 out of every worker's pocket — money that could…

ALEXANDRIA, VA – This week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D - California) introduced H.R. 3, her long-anticipated, hyper-partisan scheme to impose a socialized drug pricing system and reorder American medical care to her liking.  In response, Center for Individual Freedom ("CFIF") President Jeffrey Mazzella issued the following…

When it comes to health care, Democrats are selling snake oil. Americans are grappling with rising medical costs. But if they fall for the phony solutions the left is offering, they'll pay with exorbitant taxes and shorter lives. Whopper 1: Obamacare is affordable. Joe Biden's running a television ad in Iowa pledging to stand by Obamacare because &…

Michael Barone, the dean of American politics, has often observed that the omnipresent challenge facing the Democratic party throughout its long history has been the task of proverbially herding cats.  That is, Democrats have always been a tenuous amalgam of disparate and sometimes conflicting splinter groups and special interests.  As Barone…

When it comes to protecting yourself from cancer, don't take the government's word. Listen to the experts. The biggest cancer killer isn't smoking or a chemical in the environment or even an inherited gene. It's the failure to screen patients at high risk of the disease. Curing cancer is about detecting it early, while it's still treatable. Blame…

If you're already on Medicare or counting on it when you retire, you're in for a shock. Medicare Part A — the fund that pays hospital and nursing home bills — is running out of money. A mere seven years from now, it will no longer have enough funds to pay your providers' bills in full. Medicare trustees sounded the alarm in June…

Arming herself for Wednesday night's Democratic primary debate, contender Kamala Harris unveiled her latest health care position paper. Harris has flip-flopped over whether she supports eliminating all private insurance in favor of a single-payer government-run health system. Her new plan tries to have it both ways. Don't be fooled. Reacting to people…

As debate over healthcare policy accelerates, a small number of otherwise conservative and libertarian voices who should know better have begun floating destructive proposals that would only make matters worse.  As an initial matter, it’s worth highlighting an encouraging recent Gallup survey that may surprise some.  Namely, a remarkable…

The nation's biggest meeting of cancer specialists unveiled several breakthroughs on Saturday. The horrible news is what's not improving. Only a miniscule 4% of men and women at high risk of getting lung cancer from smoking go for a CT scan to detect it while it's curable. That 4% figure has barely budged in a decade. Lung cancer detected before there…

"If the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is out, we'll have a plan that is far better than Obamacare," President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday. Democrats and their media toadies attacked, claiming Trump will sucker-punch consumers with "junk" plans and abandon people with preexisting conditions — even cause about 20…

Texting while driving is so dangerous that it's outlawed. But doctors and nurses are expected to care for patients while keeping their eyes glued to a computer screen, following prompts and clicking boxes. Some electronic health record systems require 62 clicks just to order Tylenol, and a full emergency room shift involves 4,000 computer clicks. No…

Among the Trump Administration’s most important but underappreciated achievements is the way it managed to strengthen American intellectual property (IP) protections while renegotiating the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into the new United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA) last year.  That includes…

In a crowded field of Democrats vying for the presidency in 2020, one thing stands out. "Medicare-for-all" tops their campaign promises. On Sunday, the latest to announce, former Obama cabinet official Julian Castro, pledged to make Medicare-for-All a reality. But these candidates would rather walk on hot coals than tell you what "Medicare…

A federal district judge struck down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional on Friday, in a lawsuit brought by Republican officials from 20 states. They want their residents to have more insurance choices and lower premiums. Though technically the suing states won in Texas v. Azar, their victory won't help consumers reeling from Obamacare sticker…

Is there a more dreaded or dreadful disease than Alzheimer's?  According to a Marist Institute survey, it now maintains a 44% to 31% lead over cancer as the most feared disease among Americans.  Heart disease, cancer, accidents, respiratory disease and strokes exceed Alzheimer's as a cause of death in the United States.  But its increasing…

When you think of government price controls, what images immediately come to mind?  For Americans of Generation X or older, it might be depressingly long lines of cars snaking down public streets attempting to buy gas during the 1970s.  For others, it might be contemporary Venezuelan grocery store shelves, emptied of even such basic staples…

Senator Bernie Sanders says that because Medicare is "the most popular, successful and cost-effective health insurance in the country" everyone should have it, regardless of age. But watch out for the bait and switch. Truth is, Sanders' "Medicare-for-All" legislation actually abolishes Medicare and Medicare Advantage, as well as…

Across the U.S., Democratic campaign ads are telling voters a big lie. Dems are falsely claiming they're protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions and warning that Republicans will take that protection away. The ads would have you believe Obamacare is the only way to protect people with pre-existing conditions. That's false, and the outcome…

President Barack Obama made a stunning policy shift on Friday, endorsing "Medicare-for-all" — a single-payer health system — for the nation. Most Democrats contending for the 2020 presidential nomination, and many Dems vying for Congressional seats this fall, are backing it, too. But beware. They're pulling a bait-and…

Last week, the horrific facts behind baby Melanie Sanders' death finally came to light. Just 16 weeks old, she died after contracting a virus that raged through the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, according to a lawsuit filed by her family. Medical staff members who examined newborns' eyes failed to put on clean…

Democrats are trying to ban low-cost health insurance that will cover less than Obamacare. They claim they're protecting the public from what Senator Chuck Schumer calls "junk insurance." Don't believe it. In truth, they're sabotaging middle-class consumers who've been priced out of Obamacare and dread being uninsured. Somebody needs to…

Would you rather show up at work on time or stretch out on the sofa and watch TV? Stupid question. Most people punch a clock out of necessity. But progressive Democrats want to make work optional, and to guarantee a slew of benefits to everyone, whether they get off the couch or not. It's a slap in the face to America's workforce. Some 70 Democrats…

Democrats are so desperate to torpedo Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court that they're resorting to scare tactics, telling Americans that his confirmation would put 130 million people at risk of losing their health insurance. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says Democrats can sink Kavanaugh by showing how his appointment…

Tens of thousands of Vietnam vets, now in their sixties and early seventies, are carrying a dangerous parasite picked up in Asia called liver fluke. Many don't know it, but it's a ticking time bomb likely to kill them. President Donald Trump just signed the VA Mission Act, which is supposed to help ailing vets get prompt care, including seeing a civilian…

If you haven't had a colonoscopy, you're not missing much, except a chance to save your life. Colon and rectal cancer rates are soaring among young and middle-aged adults. In response to the alarming data, last week the American Cancer Society called for screening beginning at age 45, instead of waiting to 50. And they recommend getting tested even…