“The dangers of insolvency are real, but just as with the exploding federal debt, too much focus has been put on the possibility of a single disaster and too little on the more obvious cost: deepening decline.”

My latest for Wall Street Journal Opinion explains how deep Chicago has put itself into debt, and how hard it would be to get out. wsj.com/articles/chica…

POLITICO Playbook on how the Biden Admin is rushing to spend hundreds of billions of $ before next year.

Economic Policy Innovation Center found that the Biden Admin has manipulated the definition of an obligation to protect tens of billions in Covid funds from ARPA from being clawed back.

There isn’t an “insolvency date” for the rest of the program. But that’s because it is eating up a bigger share of general revenues (I.e., diverting tax dollars from other govt programs and federal borrowing).

Medicare now spends more than the entire military.

My latest in National Review on the Medicare trustees report released yesterday.

Most of the attention is on the 2036 insolvency date for Part A. But that’s a shrinking portion of the program. 61% of Medicare spending goes to outpatient and drug benefits.

nationalreview.com/2024/05/we-can…

We continue to devote a larger and larger share of our money to health care.

If this were accompanied by a commensurate increase in good health, that would be one thing.

But instead, its too often paying more for what we already had.

wsj.com/articles/gover… via Wall Street Journal Opinion

There is means-testing in Medicare, but it is very limited. Only about 7% of Medicare enrollees pay more for Part B coverage than the standard amount. Under the standard amount, ~75% of the cost is paid by taxpayers and ~25% by the enrollee.

Joe Albanese Paragon Health Institute…

President Biden, U.S. Department of Labor, and CMSGov continue to restrict health options in ways that harm people who get sick & that favor large companies over small ones. Today's #AHP rule harms small employers and their workers by removing a way for them to get health coverage they want.…

I talked to 𝙿𝚊𝚞𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 Economic Policy Innovation Center about why 2025 is a big year for the federal budget for the new episode of American Institute for Economic Research Econception.

I also discuss how trade policy can better respond to China, and why devaluing the dollar is a bad idea.

Listen here: flow.page/econception

The portion of Medicare paid for by debt or income taxes is enormous and only growing.

The impact on the rest of the federal budget, tax burdens, and economic growth cannot be overstated. Brian Blase Brian Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 Chris Pope Joe Albanese Paragon Health Institute 𝙿𝚊𝚞𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 Economic Policy Innovation Center

📈 #Medicare 's spending is outpacing its dedicated funding sources, and costs for every component are rising rapidly.

#PartB spending soared by 82% from 2013 to 2022--predominantly driven by outpatient hospital services and drugs, which saw increases of 90% and 113%.

#ParagonPIC

To modestly increase ACA enrollees, Biden admin has thrown billions of extra $$ at insurers, given away millions of plans for free, and reduced eligibility enforcement.

ACA private market reforms are still underperforming badly.

statnews.com/2024/04/23/tru… STAT Paragon Health Institute

Georgia has rolled back anti-competitive 'certificate of need' laws to allow more substance abuse centers, psychiatric facilities, and free-standing birth centers to open. reason.com/2024/04/23/new…

The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, 'Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.'

Facts about U.S. Internet access since 2017 (via Brendan Carr): speeds are up and real prices are down. docs.fcc.gov/public/attachm…