Research & Advocacy
Health Policy Predictions
In this modified Delphi-method forecasting exercise, we ask a broad set of people who are knowledgeable about healthcare, medicine, and health policy to think about the future of health policy in the United States. On questions ranging from Medicare and Medicaid to medical licensing and artificial intelligence, we ask respondents to rate the likelihood that various policy changes will occur in the next five years. This survey is currently being fielded. Results will be published here in November or December.
Schools Should Set Their Own Smartphone Policies
Evidence is mounting that smartphones are harmful to the mental health, educational attainment, and overall well-being of adolescents. Some schools and school districts have gone "phone-free" by instituting bans on cell phone use during the school day, spurring state legislatures to propose (and in some cases pass) statutes enacting bans legislatively. Although the goal of phone-free schools is praiseworthy, there are good reasons to prefer that the details of school smartphone policy be left to schools and school districts rather than codified into law by state legislatures.
Flatten the Tax Treatment of Health Insurance
Preferential tax treatment for health insurance purchased through employers distorts consumer behavior and stunts the development of a competitive individual insurance market and other innovations. Congress should equalize the tax treatment of health insurance by making all health insurance taxable (or by making all health insurance excludable). Either approach would be better than the status quo, but making all health insurance purchased with after-tax dollars is preferable, assuming it is accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the general tax rate.
