Read @lawsonmansell.bsky.social in The Argument: www.theargumentmag.com/p/rfk-jr-dr-...

Read more from Lawson Mansell here: www.niskanencenter.org/cms-rules-si...

Medicare reimburses hospitals more than freestanding clinics for the same routine procedures, so they acquire physician practices where patients could otherwise receive the same care at a lower cost. Newly proposed rules attempt to address this.

Conrad 30 lets international physicians who train in the U.S. practice in underserved communities. But last year, 330 of the program’s slots were unused. Congress should fix this.

Medicaid work requirements could cost the government - and taxpayers - a lot of money. Georgia found this out the hard way.

More from @lawsonmansell.bsky.social‬: www.niskanencenter.org/house-reconc...

NEW: The House reconciliation bill finds healthcare savings in the wrong places. Many Medicaid beneficiaries will unnecessarily lose coverage due to administrative burden and small, rural hospitals will be hit with higher uncompensated care costs as a result. www.niskanencenter.org/house-reconc...

Families with private insurance can pay up to $10,000 for childbirth. A new bill would eliminate those costs, raising annual premiums by just $30–$60. It's a worthwhile tradeoff.

NEW: A bipartisan group of senators just released a bill to make childbirth effectively free for those on commercial insurance. I modeled the impact on premiums, finding a likely modest increase - a worthwhile tradeoff to insulate parents from high and unpredictable costs. (🧵)

You're invited! Join Monica Popp, Maya MacGuineas, Brian Miller, and I at the Capitol Visitor Center on May 15th at 2pm to discuss healthcare win-wins. We'll be diving into the federal budget and where we can find healthcare savings that also benefit patients. RSVP here! t.co/S9u96x7jHQ

Will Raderman and @lawsonmansell.bsky.social have done a ton of research on why this is the case and how to fix it. Dive in here: www.niskanencenter.org/stuck-in-the...

Today, we talked about a powerful solution to America’s physician shortage: removing unnecessary barriers to practice for internationally trained physicians. Thanks to our panelists and everyone who came out!

In addition to better transparency (and adequate coverage), I'd argue the underlying supply needs to be improved as well. @lawsonmansell.bsky.social has written on this extensively and argues this is fundamental to other improvements: www.niskanencenter.org/healthcare-a...

If we want healthcare abundance, we need better pathways to allow internationally trained physicians to practice in the US, say @lawsonmansell.bsky.social and Cecilia Esterline of @niskanencenter.bsky.social Despite some progress more reforms are needed. www.niskanencenter.org/unlocking-po...

Fact check: Social Security has been under a hiring freeze & had overtime restrictions for months. This isn't DOGE saving money. It's Congress not being able to pass a budget. And it accounts for over 2/3 of the "savings" the acting commissioner claimed today. www.govexec.com/management/2...

Nearly 40% of the state’s physicians practice in the greater Boston area. And yet, Bostonians have to wait 40+ days to see a primary care physician. We whole-heartedly applaud this new licensing pathway.

NEW: Earlier this year, Massachusetts became the 9th state to create an alternative, permanent licensing pathway for internationally-trained physicians. Eric Lu explains how this innovative approach will address the primary care physician shortage: www.niskanencenter.org/massachusett...

Brutal top of this story on Georgia’s Medicaid program with work requirements: www.propublica.org/article/geor...

Addressing the physician shortage will require state efforts like Washington's SB 5185, where qualified international medical graduates can earn full licensure without getting caught in the residency bottleneck. You can read my testimony from Friday here: www.niskanencenter.org/testimony-cr...

🚨 Today, @lawsonmansell.bsky.social is testifying before the WA Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee in support of SB 5185. This bill would create a full license pathway for international medical graduates (IMGs).

Anything to address America's doctor crisis is a step forward. But instead of one-off increases, Congress should fully modernize how we fund physician training to match supply with demand.

NEW: A group of Senators have offered fixes to how Medicare funds residencies, including 5,000 additional slots. The proposal is an important step to address the doctor shortage, but more structural reforms are needed. From Jared Rhoads and I for @niskanencenter.bsky.social:

Science-based discussion about potential implications of cutting #Medicaid from the @tradeoffs.org team. Evidence suggests physical health may not be impacted but financial and mental health ⬇️. Might reduce overspending ⬇️ #healthcare costs. Excellent reporting. pca.st/episode/3c93... #healthpolicy

"Medicare pays more for services provided in outpatient centers at hospitals than the very same services provided by physicians. As the Niskanen Center's Lawson Mansell has written, switching to so-called “site-neutral” payments could save $126.8B over [10 years]." www.deseret.com/opinion/2025...

Outdated policies limiting the number of doctors the U.S. can produce threaten the lives of Americans - especially rural Americans.

"Swift and substantial GME reform is urgently needed." Excellent piece from former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and Nicole McCann that cites a @niskanencenter.bsky.social report highlighting residency as the primary bottleneck in physician supply: www.statnews.com/2025/01/15/p...

For anybody interested in the recent @niskanencenter.bsky.social @septaphilly.bsky.social Regional Rail and population density report, I’ll be hosting @awjustus.bsky.social this Friday for an informal policy lunch discussion about that from 12-1:30pm in Center City. DM me to get on the list!

NEW with Will Raderman: The SSA takes 100 days longer to process disability claims than it did a decade ago. One of the reasons is the cumbersome way the agency works with medical examiners. New FOIA evidence shows that SSA isn't tracking the data needed to address the issue. (1/2)

NEW from Will Raderman and @lawsonmansell.bsky.social: “It’s time to put sufficient guardrails in place to ensure the SSA offers applicants a quality and efficient process.” www.niskanencenter.org/how-to-impro...

NEW STUDY: Building housing near rail stations around Chestnut Hill will help Philadelphia: — Grow its population — Expand access to jobs — Fix its mass transit system’s fiscal problem www.niskanencenter.org/philadelphia...

Site-based billing and facility fees not only needlessly increase Medicare payments, they also directly hurt patients. "It turns out the facility where a Newton college student got PT... is an outpatient department which charges ‘hospital visit’ rates." www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/07/b...

Really cool job alert! Come work with me @niskanencenter.bsky.social to advocate for effective transportation policy. www.niskanencenter.org/senior-polic...

(🧵) My @niskanencenter.bsky.social colleague Cassandra Zimmer-Wong just put out an excellent paper on immigration solutions to our healthcare workforce shortages. A few points policymakers should consider: www.niskanencenter.org/immigration-...

🧵: 3 notable and important items included in yesterday's health CR: 1. Patent Reform A bill from Senators Cornyn and Blumenthal will limit "patent thickets," a tool used by incumbent drug manufacturers to stymie competition from lower-cost drugs. More here: www.niskanencenter.org/reforms-targ...

We commend the joint leadership of Senator Marsha Blackburn & Senator Mark Kelly as they introduce the Medicaid Primary Care Improvement Act. This bill passed the House earlier this year with overwhelming bipartisan support and seeks to provide Americans innovative access to medical care!

As @awgaffney.bsky.social has noted in the past, "It's the prices" is a mostly correct but imperfect summation of health spending drivers. It's the way we finance our health system, both the perverse incentives that distort the market and the unnecessary admin burden created by the fragmentation.

Health insurance administrative costs are much higher in the U.S. than in other countries. But, the biggest reason we spend so much more on health care is higher medical care prices. www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/what-d...

USDA should have implemented this more than a year ago, when the human health experts first started to call for it. “USDA Announces New Federal Order, Begins National Milk Testing Strategy to Address H5N1 in Dairy Herds”

What’s direct primary care, and why is it a good option for patients? Read @lawsonmansell.bsky.social: www.niskanencenter.org/innovations-...

Really glad to see this bipartisan bill, which already passed the House earlier this year, get introduced in the Senate. Making it easier for states to partner with Direct Primary Care clinics is potentially transformative for primary care access in underserved areas.

So you want to Make America Healthy Again? One great idea from my @niskanencenter.bsky.social colleague Andrew Justus: Include the benefits of physical activity in transit funding decisions! Let's make "active transportation" an easier choice: www.niskanencenter.org/housing-heal...

The US PTO just withdrew a good rule that would have educed the barriers to market entry for generic drugs and incentivize drug makers to focus on quality and novelty in their patenting decisions. They cited "resource constraints" due to the 300+ comments: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

From Chris Whaley and Jared Perkins on the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act: "[Site-neutral payments provision] could be a start to help reduce unnecessary costs, prevent incentives that drive care to more expensive settings." www.statnews.com/2024/12/02/l...

There’s a lot Congress can do to expand access to life-saving primary care. Read @lawsonmansell.bsky.social's agenda for abundant health care to find out how. https://buff.ly/3Upoftz

Our health outcomes indicate that we aren’t doing enough to address our above-average population health needs in America. Solutions have to start with improving our supply of primary care physicians. ⬇️

"In recent months, the state health agency had received a deluge of public comments from residents and the Federal Trade Commission opposed to the deal between Union Health... and the 278-bed Terre Haute Regional Hospital." Good news from @kffhealthnews.bsky.social: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

2/2 This recent white paper by @lawsonmansell.bsky.social of @niskanencenter.bsky.social stresses the need to reform the perverse incentives that plague American healthcare, leading, among other problems, to weakness of primary care provision. niskanencenter.org/healthcare-a...

It's the prices (negotiated rates). Insurers and providers do not have sufficient incentive to negotiate lower rates and profits ensue. We need a healthier, more aligned market if we want to bring costs down. New from @bakerinstitute.bsky.social: www.bakerinstitute.org/research/pri...

A scoop from @rachelcohrs.bsky.social: RFK, the potential new HHS secretary, is exploring a plan that would upend the American Medical Association's grip on how doctors are paid by the government: via @statnews.bsky.social #medsky #healthpolicy 🩺 www.statnews.com/2024/11/20/r...

I got to talk with Tom Church and Danny Heil about the various policy decisions that led to our current primary care physician shortage, including residency funding caps and financing quirks that perpetuate regional and specialty shortages. You can listen here: church.substack.com/p/what-expla...