The number of anti-vaccine bills filed in Texas has risen, yet many Texans support vaccine policy. Fellow Kirstin R.W. Matthews and nonresident scholar Rekha Lakshmanan examine the stakes of legislative engagement in public health initiatives and provide a call to action for Texans to embrace public health as an act of freedom.
Two new bills introduced in the Texas Legislature could jeopardize the care received by Medicaid patients, writes Vivian Ho, the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics. She explains why the legislation would weaken county-owned insurance plans and raise Texans’ tax bills.
Drug companies that bypass distributors and offer generics directly to patients, like the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, could disrupt the pharmaceutical supply chain and ultimately save thousands of lives.
"Creating a global norm for PPA transparency is a zero-cost step to help provide energy for everyone and deliver on the low carbon future we all need," write the authors. Read their post about power purchase agreements on the Baker Institute Blog.
This article originally appeared in the Forbes blog on June 1, 2022.
"This is a moment to prioritise health over short-term political calculations," write fellow Peter Hotez, Rekha Lakshmanan and nine other experts in a Lancet commentary. Click here for their call for action against anti-vaccine rhetoric and COVID-19 misinformation, and five short-term recommendations.
Rekha Lakshmanan, Peter J. HotezSeptember 17, 2021
Texans served by regulated electricity markets, especially by electric cooperatives, were much more satisfied with their providers’ performance during Winter Storm Uri than those in deregulated markets. In this post for the Baker Institute Blog, the authors offer possible explanations for the contrast in favorability.
Mark P. Jones, Pablo M. Pinto, Renee Cross, Kirk P. WatsonMay 11, 2021
Scenes of insurrectionists rummaging through offices and computers in the Capitol highlight the urgent need for Congress to up its IT security game. The authors recommend steps to adopt modern IT management and cybersecurity processes that are already used throughout the federal government.
Fellow Vivian Ho discusses the sources she's following that shape her thoughts on how long the pandemic will last and what policy actions seem most promising. Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/3aRTDrF
The authors explain why $100 billion allocated by the CARES act to compensate health care providers for unreimbursed expenses and lost revenue from may be woefully inadequate.