Benjamin Rush Society
New York Leadership Development Reception, January 19, 2012
On January 19, 2012, the Benjamin Rush Society hosted a Leadership Development Reception at the historic 3 West Club in mid-town Manhattan. The goal of the reception was to introduce the Society to leading physicians in the nations' largest city, and to invite them to collaborate with us in establishing chapters at medical schools in New York City and the surrounding area.
Deroy Murdock, syndicated columnist, member of the Board of the Society, and long-time resident of New York, gathered a group of the city's leading physicians to meet with the Society's leadership. We were also joined by Felicia Horton, Executive Director of Doctors for Patient Care (D4PC), a physicians' membership organization that is collaborating with the Society across the country.
Sally C. Pipes, Chairman of the Board of the Society, and John R. Graham, Executive Director, joined Mr. Murdock and Mrs. Horton in explaining our goals and activities.
Still photos of the event are available at the Society's Facebook page. A short (and, we must confess, amateur) video of Mr. Murdock's, Ms. Pipes', and Mr. Graham's presentations explains the Society very effectively. Please share it with your colleagues who might be interested in getting involved in the Society.
The Society is very grateful to Deroy Murdock for volunteering his time and energy to make this event a success, as well as Mrs. Horton for her collaboration. Cindy Chin, events manager at the Pacific Research Institute, was not able to participate in the event, but she's the one who discovered the 3 West Club and arranged the reception, for which we are also grateful.
Expect big things from Benjamin Rush Society chapters in New York!
Can Benjamin Rush Society Bring Free-Market Ideas to Medical Schools?
Well, here at BRS, we think the answer is "Yes!" Avik Roy, of Forbes.com, has a feature article of that title, which profiles our growing Society. Read it online here.
Philanthropy Magazine Features Benjamin Rush Society
You may not have known that the Benjamin Rush Society was founded along the lines of The Federalist Society, a national society of law students.
Thirty years ago, enterprising laws students founded a society to counter "campus orthodoxies" about the role of government. The success of The Federalist Society inspired similar efforts amongst students of foreign affairs, business, and - of course - medicine! Students of all these professions, who were concerned about inappropriate government growth, have formed societies to develop ideas, energy, and fellowship. In the November 2011 issue of Philanthropy Magazine carries an exellent feature article, describing the founding of The Benjamin Rush Society and its sister (and mother) organizations. Read the online version here.
The views expressed in articles posted on this site are those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Benjamin Rush Society.
What Health Spending Would Look Like in 2014 Under ObamacareBy Jeffrey H. Anderson A new report from federal officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says that Obamacare will increase nationwide health care spending. Particularly interesting are the report’s findings for 2014, the year that’s slated for Obamacare’s grand opening (if the overhaul isn’t repealed first). The report predicts that the growth in health care spending in Obamacare’s real first year (2014) would be 8.3 percent, which is more than double the growth in health care spending (3.9 percent) in the year that Obamacare was passed into law (2010). Again, this is the verdict of government officials working within the Obama administration. The report breaks down what it predicts will be “a significant acceleration in the national health spending growth rate in 2014 (8.3 percent, compared to 5.5 percent in 2013)”: ObamaCare’s Imposition Will Lead To An Unhealthy State Of Wellbeing Piping Up The study focuses on a 2008 Oregon lottery that offered 90,000 people the opportunity to apply for 10,000 slots in the state’s Medicaid program. Economists compared two similar, randomly generated populations: one with access to Medicaid coverage and one without. The researchers concluded that those covered by Medicaid sought more care, had lower out-of-pocket expenses and medical debt, and felt better. The Democrats’ Fuzzy MathBy Jeffrey H. Anderson President Obama and the Democrats claim that the Medicare reforms proposed by Paul Ryan and the Republicans would shift the burden of health costs onto the backs of seniors. This has been the central—and essentially the only—argument the Democrats have made against the GOP plan. But the Democrats’ claim is contradicted by four decades’ worth of empirical evidence. Under Ryan’s proposal, the government would provide premium support to future seniors (who are now under 55) to help them purchase a private health plan of their choice. Participating insurers would have to cover all comers and couldn’t vary premiums based on health status. The poor would get additional help. The reforms are designed to facilitate competition and choice, without having government bureaucrats ration care. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), however, projects that increasing competition and choice would actually raise costs. While saying it “is hard to predict,” the CBO projects that spending under Ryan’s plan “would grow faster than such spending for the same beneficiary in traditional Medicare.” But experience suggests the opposite. |
