Michael F. Cannon (Author at The Cato Institute)

Michael D. Tanner & Michael F. Cannon dissect Obama's health care plans. (Weekly Video)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

President Obama on Wednesday answered questions on rising costs, taxing benefits, and many other issues during an ABC News special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America." Cato Institute scholars Michael D. Tanner and Michael F. Cannon respond to Obama's claims. Learn more about health care reform at http://healthcare.cato.org.

Health Care Reform: Questions for the President (Commentary)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Health care reform is on life support," says Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee. And he's a Democrat. President Obama has spent months building momentum for health care reform. But when the Congressional Budget Office put the price tag near $2 trillion, it stopped reform dead in its tracks. What Sen...

Competing with the Government (Daily Podcast)

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Is Universal Coverage Comparatively Effective? (Commentary)

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

As congressional Democrats prepare to deliver on President Barack Obama's goal of "expanding coverage to all Americans,"(.pdf) an important question remains unanswered: is universal coverage worth the money? Extending health insurance coverage to the estimated 46 million (.pdf) Americans without ...

Democrats Trying to Cook the Books? (Daily Podcast)

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Placebo - Why the Democrats' Proposals Will Not Work (Commentary)

Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The key congressional committees have yet to introduce the legislation that will carry Democrats' hopes for "universal coverage" — i.e., a government guarantee that all Americans will have health insurance, if not access to actual medical care. But the leading Democratic reform proposals &mdas...

Health Care Reform? Maybe Next Year (Commentary)

Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Did comprehensive health care reform just get a big boost? The health care industry says it's willing to trim $2 trillion off the nation's health care bill over the next 10 years. Could 2009 be the year we finally reform health care? Don't count on it. It's not that we don't need health care r...

It Begins: White House Unleashes the Health Care Tempest (Scholar Comments)

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The health care industry wants universal coverage, because that means more customers and more revenue. But universal coverage is expensive—on the order of $2 trillion—and coming up with the money will be tough. Sen. Baucus says he has reforms that will reduce health care spending over time, but the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t recognize those savings.

If you try to tax people, they revolt. If you try to “free up” the money by cutting payments to the industry, the industry revolts.

Meanwhile, health care spending grows by seven percent per year—faster than wages, inflation, or the economy. If health care spending grows at just six percent per year instead, that could mean wages will be higher and there will be fewer uninsured than there otherwise would be—but it could also mean less access to medical care.

Is Individual Insurance the Solution? (Speeches)

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Address to HBS Health/YPO-WPOHealth ConferenceHealth Reform at the Intersection of Government and Markets Washington, D.C.May 4, 2009 The leading Democratic health care reform proposals share a common feature. They all rely on greater regulation to make health insurance more accessible a...

Cutting Needless Health Care Spending (Daily Podcast)

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Is the Stimulus a Bad Investment? (Commentary)

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

President Obama says the $787 billion stimulus package he signed into law this week will provide "direct investment" that will "help our economy grow again, now and in the future." Put me down as skeptical. For one thing, only a third of that spending will occur this year. Two-thirds won't occur ...

A Better Way to Generate and Use Comparative-Effectiveness Research (Policy Analysis)

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

President Barack Obama, former U.S. Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, and others propose a new government agency that would evaluate the relative effectiveness of medical treatments. The need for "comparative-effectiveness research" is great. Evidence suggests Americans spend $700 billion annually...

Does SCHIP Work? (Commentary)

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Pres. Barack Obama proclaimed in his inaugural address, "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works." If he was serious, he should veto the $115 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program that is soon to reach his des...

Daschle Care (Commentary)

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

The $819 billion "stimulus bill" passed by the House includes $1.1 billion that has nothing to do with economic growth and everything to do with letting government control your medical decisions: House Democrats propose to spend taxpayer dollars researching which medical services work best. The need...

Avoiding a Health Care Disaster (Speeches)

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

The speech below was delivered at a Cato event on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2009. Introduction We are just two days into a new administration. I am pleased to report that I am still on a high over America having its first African-American president. Our new president, Barack Obama, has indic...

Does the Doctor Need a Boss? (Briefing Paper)

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

The traditional model of medical delivery, in which the doctor is trained, respected, and compensated as an independent craftsman, is anachronistic. When a patient has multiple ailments, there is no longer a simple doctor-patient or doctor-patient-specialist relationship. Instead, there are multiple...