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- Dec 3, 2022
- 4 min
Public Policy & the Growing Life Expectancy Gap Between Red States and Blue States
On average, Americans living in blue states with more progressive state legislatures can expect to live quite a bit longer than those born in red states, especially those in the Southeast. And that divide seems to be growing. Consider this. A child born in Mississippi has a life expectancy of 71.9 years. But one born in Hawaii, Washington state, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, or New Hampshire can expect to live 79 years or more. And, of the 10 states with the shortest
- Nov 9, 2021
- 2 min
Biden's "Build Back Better" Plan Would Allow Medicare to Negotiate for Lower Drug Prices
With the infrastructure bill finalized, congressional Democrats will now try to pass President Joe Biden's Build Back Better initiative which includes provisions to lower prescription drug prices. Americans pay far more for them than patients in other developed nations. VOX: "The facts on the ground had become impossible to ignore. The United States accounts for between 64 and 78 percent of the drug industry’s profits across the world. Americans pay about 3.5 times more on av
- May 19, 2021
- 2 min
Missouri Republicans Won't Expand Medicaid Despite Voter Referendum
The whole democracy thing seems lost on Republicans these days. Last week Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced that the state wouldn't expand the Medicaid health care program under Obamacare to provide thousands of low-income adults access to healthcare insurance. Missouri voters had approved Medicaid expansion 53-47% in a referendum which amended the state constitution last year. Despite the wishes of voters, the state's Republican controlled legislature refused to fund the e
- Jan 29, 2021
- 1 min
Research: Prescription Drug Prices are 2.56 Times Higher in the United States
The prestigious Rand Corporation released a study this week comparing prescription drug prices in the United States to other nations. On average Americans pay more, lots more. They found that we pay 2.56 times more than patients in other nations. The gap was especially high for brand-name [non-generic] drugs. Rand: "Prices in the United States are higher than those in all comparison countries U.S. prices were 256 percent of those in the 32 comparison countries combined. In co
- Aug 6, 2020
- 1 min
Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion has Become Quite Popular with Voters, Even in Red States
Even as Donald Trump tries to convince the US Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] including its Medicaid expansion provisions, the law continues to become more popular, even in conservative states. This week Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion, 53% to 47%. It joins Virginia and Maine and four other red states that have rejected Republican opposition and approved Medicaid expansion during the Trump years including Idaho, Nebraska, Oklahoma and
- May 7, 2020
- 2 min
Trump Again Promises to Destroy the Affordable Care Act & Strip Health Care Insurance from Millions
Yesterday, Donald Trump again promised to destroy the Affordable Care Act [ACA, Obamacare], taking away access to care for millions of Americans on Medicaid and making healthcare insurance unaffordable for millions more. Washington Post: “We want to terminate health care under Obamacare,” Trump told reporters Wednesday, the last day for his administration to change its position in a Supreme Court case challenging the law." And, showing that he has no empathy whatsoever for wo
