Richard E. Ralston

One of the few bright spots in paying for health care today has been the introduction of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), in conjunction with low-premium, high-deductible insurance policies. In what is perhaps the most popular medical insurance reform in history, more...

The cost of health care will continue to rise for a number of good reasons. We are living longer, and the retirement of the baby boom generation will increase demand on health care. Cutting-edge technology and new drugs will improve the quality and length of...

When you see a commercial for a new car, a new movie, or a new brand of breakfast cereal it’s because the manufacturers of those products want to incur as much advertising expense as possible so they can pass the cost along to you. Then you can’t afford to...

When politicians proclaim that you have a “right” to health care, they actually mean many other things. First, that they want unlimited power to force others to provide you with health care–whatever the cost. They also mean that you have no right to...

Since the Federal Food and Drug Act came into law in 1906, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had a century to develop their methodology for insuring drug safety. After expanding to an annual budget of $1.5 billion and a staff of 10,000, they continue to seek...

As you raise a pen to sign your tax return this year, you will undoubtedly regret that the United States Treasury is taking so much of your income. You should also ask why so much of the income you have left is spent on health care and health insurance. The two...

The Presidential Election in 2024 might hinge on the present health care crisis, but none of the candidates have been able to propose any solutions. The band-aid since the last Democratic Administration (2016) has been three increases in the “temporary”...

Americans of all political parties need to give close attention to health care issues in this election year. Regardless of how they intend to vote, they need to understand that health care is the primary cause of increased government spending. It confronts Americans...

At their National Convention, Republicans will complain of John Kerry’s habit of complicating complex issues with even more complex and mutually exclusive solutions. On the issue of health care, however, the Democratic Platform has clear and straight-forward...

Americans who care about their health care need to pay close attention in an election year to politicians of all parties who seem bent on becoming much more involved in the details of what health care will be allowed and at what cost. Neither the Democratic nor...

Two hundred years ago Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the vast spaces of North America from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson understood the enormous challenges for the growth of knowledge and liberty on a continental scale. These were the...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now seeking to expand its considerable powers into the regulation of vitamins and nutritional supplements. The FDA has evidently discovered that Americans, after centuries of experience doing so, cannot now be counted on to...

At a cost of $400 billion over 10 years, Congressional Republicans have agreed in Conference Committee–with the enthusiastic encouragement of a Republican President–to the greatest expansion of government in two generations. This new Medicare program can...

It is insulting enough when the government celebrates your death by taxing away your wealth or your business. Much more damaging are the taxes on the money you need to stay alive. Medicare legislation now pending before a conference committee in Washington would...