For decades, we’ve known Medicare’s financial challenges were coming. The math hasn’t changed. The program continues to spend more than it brings in, and the demographic reality is unavoidable: more retirees, fewer workers, and escalating healthcare costs.

When most people think about the cost of healthcare, they look at billing, drug prices, or insurance premiums. What they don’t see is the hidden cost that providers shoulder to comply with the rules. Every regulation comes with a price, not just in dollars, but also in terms of time, infrastructure, staffing, and attention. And when policymakers underestimate that cost, it distorts everything from reimbursement to patient access...

There’s a habit in healthcare policy circles to treat hospitals as if they’re just another line item in the system. A vendor. A cost center. Something to cut, cap, or streamline. But hospitals are a lot more than that. They’re not just healthcare providers. They’re employers. Infrastructure anchors. Economic drivers. And in many communities, they’re the largest single source of jobs, stability, and social services. That’s not an argument for protecting the status quo. It’s a

When most people think of the FDA, they think of safety and efficacy. And that makes sense. The agency’s job is to make sure drugs and medical devices work and that they won’t cause harm. But there’s one factor that doesn’t enter the equation, even though it affects every patient, every provider, and every payer: cost. In the United States, a drug can be approved based on clinical performance alone. If it’s shown to be safe and effective, it gets the green light. What the FD