States Don't Need Federal Health Care Regulation
Sep 14, 2018
Americans know all too well the crippling costs of healthcare today. On top of the daily struggles of ordinary families to put food on the table, skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs are getting harder and harder to meet.
And pharmacist “gag rules” are only making it worse.
These contract clauses between pharmacies on one side and insurers and pharmacy benefit managers on the other, prevent pharmacists from telling customers they could save money on prescriptions by paying with cash instead of using insurance. Pharmacists are actually prohibited from helping their customers get the best price for their medications.
According to a recent study, about 23% of all drug claims in 2013 involved overpayments, amounting to more than $135 million.
And who pockets those extra dollars? The insurers or benefit managers – in other words, the pharma middlemen.
This is undoubtedly a problem. It is only further evidence of our broken drug pricing system unnecessarily hurting the American people.
And we can all agree that this problem must be fixed. What I believe we must consider, however, is how to best address the problem, who is best equipped to do so, and whether it has already been fixed.
Senator Collins recently introduced a bill which mandates that gag clauses be prohibited under all health insurance plans, including individual and group plans that are administered by states.
The federal government can and should prohibit gag clauses in the plans that it administers. But it cannot and should not intervene in plans that it does not.
Many states have already made great progress on this issue. 26 states have already passed laws banning gag rules, and another 11 states are currently in the process of trying to pass them.
And we ought to leave space for them to do so.
Some have suggested that this state action and increased attention to the cost of prescription drugs has more or less solved this problem and greatly limited the use of gag clauses already. It’s notable that the previously referenced study – the only data we have on this issue – looked at practices from five years ago. The states more directly witnessed this problem, and since then were able to nimbly and capably fix it.
However, even if gag clauses are still in use, we must recognize that it is not the role of the federal government to regulate entities under the jurisdiction of the states. However well-intentioned, when Congress oversteps its authority like this, we usually end up doing more harm than good.
This Monday Congress will vote on a bill that would ban gag rule contracts nationwide. This is a step too far. States are already solving this problem on their own. That is why I will offer an amendment that would narrow the scope of the legislation to its proper scope. Instead of the bill applying to all health plans, my amendment would limit its application to only self-insured group plans, which Congress previously exempted from state regulation. This would close a loophole where states are unable to reach to provide Americans additional transparency surrounding the cost of their prescription drugs.
While the overall goal of the underlying bill is laudable, we must remember that it is neither the role nor the duty of the federal government to regulate all aspects of commerce and Americans’ everyday lives.
The way to help ordinary Americans with high drug costs is not to further cede power to Washington. The federal government’s intervention in healthcare has already caused huge distortions in the market, for which Americans pay a steeper price every year.
If we truly want to protect the American people from abuses like gag rules, we should fight to preserve federalism and the vision of our Constitution – so that states are empowered to directly and efficiently protect their citizens from the injustices they face.
Standards of Identity
Sep 14, 2018
The American food industry has seen incredible innovation over the last several decades. Not only is healthier, safer food more accessible and affordable than ever, but whole new foods are being offered. Safe, tasty alternatives to meat, dairy, gluten, and eggs are now ubiquitous, especially plant-based dairy alternatives like almond, soy, and coconut milks.
This should be the kind of story Americans celebrate, an example of American entrepreneurship and innovation at its best. It should be – but isn’t. Consumers may like milk alternatives, but politicians seem opposed.
According to a proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration, these products don’t “count” as milk and must either be renamed or pulled from grocery store shelves.
Under an antiquated 1938 law, the FDA has the power to set “standards of identity,” rules defining what does and does not qualify as a particular food product. And according to the FDA, the word “milk” can only describe “lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.”
And so, the FDA wants to crack down on milk alternatives. They say it’s for consumer safety. The facts suggest otherwise.
First, standards of identity have a history of non-enforcement. To start picking and choosing which of the 280 outdated definitions to enforce now would seem arbitrary, or worse.
Part of the reason these rules haven’t been fully enforced is that the regulations themselves haven’t kept pace with many of the modern food innovations over the years. Furthermore, today food products are required to include ingredients on the label. Consumers know what they’re buying and eating.
So what is the real reason for the sudden crackdown? As with so many things in Washington, follow the money.
Dairy sales have been falling since the 1970s and dramatically over the past seven years, while the market for plant-based alternatives has only grown. Between 2011 and 2015, the total milk market shrunk by more than $1 billion; and almond milk sales alone grew by 250%.
Proponents of the FDA’s proposed rule call these products an “attack” on dairy farmers. And therein lies the real motive: to stifle competition and prop up the dairy industry.
The FDA crackdown is just a classic example of cronyism – big business conspiring with big government to rig the economy for them and against their customers.
A few weeks ago, I introduced legislation that would protect standards of identity regulations from this kind of abuse. My amendment to the farm bill would have prevented the FDA from enforcing these rules against products simply because of their use of a common compound name, and so protect everything from “almond milk” to “cashew butter” and “gluten-free bread” from silly accusations of illegal labeling.
Unfortunately, 84 Senators voted against this common-sense reform – Republicans who preach fealty to the free market, and Democrats who insist they fight for the “little guy” against Big Business. In a few months, when the Feds yank soy milk from the shelves, or force you to buy a delicious quart or “liquid legume excretion,” you’ll have them to thank.
Desperate Democrats Fail to Derail Kavanaugh Confirmation
Sep 7, 2018
By the end of this month, DC Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh is going to be Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Senate Democrats are not happy about this fact and they did everything they could to stop Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation process this week.
But Judge Kavanaugh is so well qualified (he received the American Bar Association’s top for the Court) and he has such a clear track record of judicial independence (he ruled against the Bush administration 8 times in the first two years after President Bush appointed him to the DC Circuit) that desperate Democrats had little real ammunition. So, they made stuff up.
In her opening statement, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) claimed that “deaths from illegal abortions in this country ran between 200,000 and 1.2 million” a year. But that is just false. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which is where Feinstein claimed she got her facts, there were under 200 deaths from illegal abortions in 1965. The 1.2 million number was the total number of illegal abortions. Quite a big difference.
Despite missing her abortion death number by a factor of 1000, Feinstein wasn’t done fumbling the truth. She then asserted that “hundreds” of school shootings had taken place with assault weapons. As The Washington Post later noted, this is completely false. Only a few school shootings have been conducted with so-called “assault weapons” – most have been committed using common shotguns, hunting rifles, and hand guns.
Neither of these policy points should have anything to do with how Judge Kavanaugh approaches the legal issues presented to a court, but Democrats could at least try and get their facts right when arguing that courts should be setting social policy for the nation.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) did not land any of the punches he threw at Kavanaugh either. His main line of attack stemmed from the Democrats unprecedented request for all documents Kavanaugh touched while serving as President Bush’s White House Staff Secretary. When President Obama nominated Justice Elena Kagan to the Court, Senate Republicans did request all documents from her time as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to President Clinton. And the Clinton Presidential Library did give those documents to the Senate.
But Republicans did not request any of the documents from Kagan’s time as President Obama’s Solicitor General. They knew those documents were privileged. Democrats, however, asked for all of Kavanaugh’s documents from President Bush’s White House and, pursuant to the Presidential Records Act, President Bush did assert executive privilege over many of those documents. President Bush’s appointed lawyer ended up marking some of the documents as “confidential” which meant senators could see them but the documents could not be made public.
Sen. Booker then claimed he had a confidential email from Judge Kavanaugh titled “racial profiling” and asked, “It seems that you are O.K. with using race to single out some Americans for extra security measures because they look different, but you’re not O.K. with using race to help promote diversity.”
But when President Bush’s lawyer later said the Judiciary Committee could make that email public, it turned out that Judge Kavanaugh had been arguing against using racial profiling against Muslims in the wake of 9/11. Turns out Kavanaugh was against using race to single out some Americans all along!
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) also played a little game of hide the ball, asking Kavanaugh if he had ever had a conversation about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation with anybody at the law firm of Kasowitz Benson & Torres. When Kavanaugh admitted he did know everyone at the firm and asked her to identify which specific lawyer she was talking about, Harris declined, demanding, “I'm asking you a very direct question. Yes or no?” Kavanaugh then admitted he couldn’t answer since he didn’t know everyone at the firm.
Harris later told reporters that “I have good reason to believe there was a conversation,” and that, “information that I’ve received is reliable and I asked him a clear question and he couldn’t give a clear answer.” But Harris then completely failed to provide any such information or evidence. She had nothing all along.
Why would Democrats go through such embarrassing lengths to stop Kavanaugh?
Because too many judges have become far too willing to interpret the law based on their policy preferences, not what the law actually says. We need judges that respect the founding principles of federalism and separation of powers. Because if judges were to rediscover these principles, then the Supreme Court would not be as powerful as it is today, and out nation would be less divisive.
Judge Kavanaugh has a proven track record of upholding these principles and that is why he will soon be Justice Kavanaugh.
Opting In to Better Airport Security
Sep 7, 2018
In the 17 years since its inception, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has managed to incorporate itself into the American way of life, both as a topic of news coverage and as a punch line for comedians.
Now that an entire generation of Americans can’t remember the pre-TSA era, most people who fly can recall a personal experience with the agency.
Sen. Lee Offers Opening Statements on Day 1 of Kavanaugh Hearings
Sep 4, 2018
Today, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) participated in the first day of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. His opening remarks, in part and as prepared, were as follows:
“Over the next few days, Senators will ask you questions about Supreme Court cases, your record, and your qualifications. Some of these questions will be fair. Many others will be unfair. And some of these unfair questions will ask you to promise to vote a certain way in particular cases that are likely to come before the Court…
September 5, 2018 – Mobile Office Visit to Utah County
Sep 4, 2018
What: Mobile Office Visit to Vineyard
When: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 @ 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Where: 125 S Main Street, Vineyard, UT 84058
Confirmation hearing on the nomination of Hon. Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Sep 4, 2018
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Judge Kavanaugh, welcome, and welcome to your family and guests.
This is the third time you’ve had the quote-unquote privilege of appearing before this Committee. So you’re seeing some familiar faces on this side of the dais. You’re also seeing some new faces, but I think you’ll find that in a lot of ways, nothing has really changed since you were last here 12 years ago.
August 29, 2018 – Mobile Office Visit to Duchesne County
Aug 28, 2018
What: Mobile Office Visit to Myton
When: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Where: 125 E Main Street, Myton, UT 84052
A Big Step Forward for Criminal Justice Reform
Aug 24, 2018
We’ve known for months that criminal justice reform has the votes to become President Trump’s first major bipartisan accomplishment. All it needs is time on the Senate floor for amendments and a final vote.
And this week we got word that that floor time will come. We just have to wait until this November’s midterm elections.
Land and Water Conservation Fund
Aug 24, 2018
Our nation boasts an abundance of beautiful topography. Sweeping plains, rolling hills and valleys, rugged deserts, glassy lakes, and cascading waterfalls are all found across our various states. And Americans should indeed enjoy the benefits of these natural features.
