• Capitol Hill Testimony/ Briefings/ Events

• Awards and Appointments

• New Book

• Other Events

• On the Speaker’s Circuit

• Other Publications

• NCPA on Television

• NCPA on Radio

• NCPA on the Internet

• NCPA in the Print Media

• NCPA Senior Fellow and Public Trustee of Social Security and Medicare Thomas R. Saving presented a plan for Social Security reform at a Capitol Hill briefing on December 9. Co-authored by Saving and NCPA Senior Fellow Andrew Rettenmaier, the reform plan is the only proposal that is fully funded and does not require borrowed money, maintains the progressivity of the current system and replaces today's pay-as-you-go system after one generation.
• Also at the briefing, NCPA Senior Fellow and World Bank Consultant Estelle James presented another NCPA study, showing that large accumulations in private retirement accounts would allow the nation's fledgling annuity industry to blossom into a prosperous competitive market.
• NCPA President John C. Goodman addressed the Consumer-Directed Healthcare Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C. on December 1. Both Goodman and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led special discussion sessions on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
• Mark McClellan, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Doug Badger, special assistant to the White House for economic policy, and Joel White, staff director of the House Ways & Means Committee's sub-committee on health, addressed the NCPA's Healthcare Advisory Group (HAG) at its semi-annual meeting in Washington D.C. on December 2.

• The NCPA's Board of Directors elected Pete du Pont Board Chairman and Mike Whalen Policy Chairman.
• NCPA President John C. Goodman accepted an invitation from Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to serve on the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. Goodman's term begins in 2005 and runs through 2008.

• Goodman and NCPA Senior Fellows Gerald Musgrave and Devon Herrick are authors of a new book on national health insurance in developed countries, Lives at Risk, The Right to Health Care Gone Wrong! How National Health Insurance Fails Patients. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/lives_risk.htm

• The NCPA sponsored a book signing for Club for Growth President Stephen Moore's new publication, Bullish on Bush, at the Park Cities Club in Dallas on December 9. Moore is also a contributing editor to National Review.
• The NCPA sponsored the Sumners Scholars Public Policy Seminar in Dallas, on November 12-13. Students from several universities attended the seminar, which featured experts on topics ranging from the Patriot Act to the Ownership Society and environmental myths.
• The NCPA and the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored an address by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers, who discussed the war in Iraq on October 29 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Dallas.
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry was the featured speaker at the October 12 Hatton W. Sumners Foundation Distinguished Lecture Series at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas.

• NCPA President John C. Goodman and NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick discussed healthcare reform at the Texas Legislature's Policy Primer Series on December 10 in Austin (TX). Herrick addressed a panel on "CHIP: More Choice for Parents," and Goodman addressed a panel on "Medicaid: the $28 Billion Problem."
• Goodman addressed the American Medical Association's House of Delegates' Forum for Medical Affairs in Atlanta on December 5 on HSAs.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Bruce Bartlett told separate Capitol Hill forums sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the New America Foundation on November 29 and 30 that the growing federal deficit may be enough to force reform of the tax code. His remarks appeared on C-Span.
• NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett addressed the Dallas Philosophers Forum on November 23 about a free-market approach to environmental protection.
• Goodman discussed the importance of HSAs at the California Medical Association’s annual meeting on November 19 in Palm Springs.
• Goodman addressed the Conference of Business Economists in Washington, D.C. on November 11.
• Goodman explained how HSAs work and why they are so popular with both employers and employees at a November 2 meeting of the Junior Chamber of Commerce in Dallas.
• Goodman addressed Lotter Actuarial Partners in New York City on October 27 about h ow national health insurance fails patients.
• Goodman spoke about his new book, Lives at Risk, at the Park Cities Club in Dallas on October 25. President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute Sally Pipes also discussed her new book, Medical Cure: How to Solve America's Health Care Crisis and Why Canada Isn't the Answer.
• NCPA Washington Representative Jack Strayer presented his legislative forecast to the annual convention of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons on October 16 in Portland, Oregon.
• On October 7, Goodman spoke to the DFW Business Group about Lives at Risk.
• Goodman addressed the National Association for Business Economics in Philadelphia on October 4 about h ow national health insurance fails patients.
• NCPA Senior Economist Barry Asmus spoke about the effects of global events on the U.S. economy in Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, San Antonio, San Diego, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Francisco, Irvine (CA) and Pleasantville (KY). He speaks about his book, The Best Is Yet to Come, in Scottsdale, New York City, Tempe (AZ), Huntington Beach (CA), Kansas City, Chicago, Reno, Jackson Hole (WY), Las Vegas, Phoenix and Beavercreek (CO).

• At year's end, hundreds of thousands of Americans will scramble to spend funds in Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs). But a brief analysis written by NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick shows that while FSAs are useful, there is room for improvement. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba496/
• Retiring baby boomers will strain the nation's private pension system, but according to a NCPA brief analysis co-authored by NCPA President John C. Goodman and Brookings Institution Fellow Peter Orszag, there is a solution upon which both conservatives and liberals can agree. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba495/
• NCPA Senior Fellow and Public Trustee of Social Security and Medicare Thomas R. Saving published a study on the NCPA plan to reform Social Security. The study is co-authored by Andrew Rettenmaier, NCPA Senior Fellow and executive associate director of the Private Enterprise Research Center at Texas A&M. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st272/
• Chile has the only developed annuity market in the world, and a study by World Bank consultant Estelle James finds that the U.S. could adopt many aspects of Chile's system in implementing Social Security reform. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st271/
• New proposed regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would be costly and would do nothing to reduce global warming, according to a brief analysis written by NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba494/
• The flu vaccine shortage is mostly due to the U.S. government being the biggest buyer, according to a brief analysis written by Herrick. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba493/
• Sen. John Kerry's energy plan has some laudable goals but, if enacted, it would have the opposite effects, according to a brief analysis written by Burnett and Research Assistant Todd Gabel. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba492/
• Membership in the European Union clearly is not what Eastern Europeans envisioned when they joined the coalition last year, according to a brief analysis by NCPA Research Assistant A. Wess Mitchell. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba491/
• Today's workers will either have to begin saving more or ask their children and grandchildren to pay higher taxes just to sustain Social Security, according to a NCPA brief analysis. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba490/
• Goodman and Senior Fellows Gerald Musgrave and Herrick have authored a new book, Lives at Risk, a definitive analysis of national health insurance in developed countries. The book concludes that single-payer systems do not live up to the promise of a right to healthcare. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/lives_risk.htm
• The NCPA released an updated version of Herrick's "Shopping for Drugs" study, which proves that patients need only to become smarter shoppers to save more money on prescription drugs than they can by importing drugs from Canada. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st270/
• Goodman asked in a brief analysis if Sen. John Kerry's health plan was worth the cost, concluding that it might be cheaper to give healthcare away than adopt the Kerry plan. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba489/
• In asking who will pay for the Kerry health plan, Goodman concluded that rescinding tax cuts on the rich will only pay for one-third to one-fifth of the Kerry plan; the rest will have to come from higher taxes. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba488/
• NCPA Senior Fellow Bruce Bartlett wrote in a recent brief analysis that Sen. Kerry's tax plan pits "us" versus "them," and Bartlett concludes that the claim that we'd somehow be better off if "them," the rich, were worse off probably isn't true. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba487/
• Senator John Kerry's healthcare plan would radically reform the U.S. healthcare system, according to a new study written by Goodman and Herrick. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st269/
• There has never been a clearer difference in healthcare between presidential candidates as this year, according to an NCPA brief analysis written by Goodman. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba486/

• NCPA President John C. Goodman told KDFW-TV (Dallas-Ft.Worth) on December 20 that while Social Security reform is necessary because the program is severely under-funded, Medicare presents an even greater problem.
• Goodman told MSNBC News Live program on December 16 that the NCPA plan to reform Social Security requires no government borrowing and replaces the current system with a fully funded one in just one generation. His remarks also appeared on Fox News Live and the Jerry Bowyer Show, a syndicated radio program.
• NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett told WFAA-TV (Dallas-Ft. Worth) that eco-terrorism harms the broader environmental movement. His remarks also appeared on TXCN, the Texas Cable Network.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Bruce Bartlett told forums sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the New America Foundation that the deficit will play a large role in tax reform. His remarks appeared on C-Span.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick told WFAA-TV (Dallas-Ft. Worth) on November 21 that smart consumers can save more money purchasing in the U.S. than by importing drugs from other countries, including Canada.
• Herrick told CNN’s Live Sunday program on November 15 that the difference between consumer-directed healthcare and managed care is the same as the difference between renting your own healthcare and owning it. His comments also appeared on CNNfn's Street Signs, The Money Gang and Flip Side programs and on WFXT-TV (Boston), KUSI-TV (San Diego), WMAR-TV (Baltimore), WITI-TV & WISN-TV (Milwaukee), WIVB-TV (Buffalo), KCRA-TV (Sacramento), KVUE-TV (Austin), WSPA-TV (Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville), KSLA-TV (Shreveport), KOLO-TV (Reno), WKRG-TV (Mobile/Pensacola), WJRT-TV (Flint/Saginaw/Bay City), KDEB-TV (Springfield, MO), WGGB-TV (Springfield/Holyoke, MA), WCSH-TV & WPXT-TV (Portland/Auburn, ME), KCRG-TV (Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, IA), KFVS-TV (Paducah/Cape Girardeau) and KELO-TV (Sioux Falls).
• NCPA Policy Chairman Gov. Pete du Pont also told the Fox News Channel on November 4 that Congress should be concerned with projected federal budget deficits.
• Bartlett told CBS MarketWatch on November 3 that the deficit may force higher taxes. His remarks also appeared in National Journal and the Fox News Channel.
• Bartlett also was a featured guest on the Fox News Channel on November 3 to analyze the results of the presidential election. His remarks also appeared in the Washington Post, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.
• Goodman told the McCuistion program (PBS-TV) that the Medicare bill and the prescription drug benefit are likely to change in the next congressional session.
• Herrick told KDFW-TV's (Dallas-Ft. Worth) Good Day program that patients can save more money shopping for drugs than by importing them from other countries.
• Bartlett told CNN Money on October 12 that he doesn't think anyone will propose controls to regulate high gasoline prices.
• Herrick told KEZI -TV9 ( Portland, OR) that limiting malpractice awards would save doctors money.
• Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) told C-Span that the NCPA's work on HSAs is groundbreaking research and the cornerstone of all consumer-directed healthcare plans.
• NCPA Senior Policy Analyst Matt Moore told CNBC's Wake Up Call on October 4 that Social Security reform must move forward no matter who wins the November election.

• NCPA Senior Fellow Thomas R. Saving told the To the Point nationally syndicated radio program (PRI) on December 22 that Social Security reform is urgent.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Matt Moore told Bloomberg Radio's Simply Put program on December 15 that Social Security reform is necessary because of a projected financial shortfall of more than $11 trillion by 2018.
• NCPA Senior Fellow William Conerly told KVI-AM’s ( Seattle) Sound Investing program that growth in national and regional economies will be good but not spectacular in the near-term.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick told the Greg Corombos syndicated radio program on October 13 that most uninsured Americans do not choose to have insurance.
• Herrick told KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh that the Kerry health plan is very expensive and may not reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
• NCPA Washington Representative Jack Strayer told KLIF-AM (Dallas-Ft. Worth) that the Medicare drug discount card can save seniors money, especially if they access pricing data via computer. His remarks also appeared on several other stations.

• NCPA President John C. Goodman told The Street.com on December 8 that most employers and employees will soon choose consumer-directed healthcare plans over employer-provided managed care plans.
• NCPA Policy Chairman Gov. Pete du Pont said in his regular column for OpinionJournal.com that Democrats lost big in the recent election because the Democratic Party doesn't trust average Americans to make decisions for themselves. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pdupont/?id=110005941
• NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick told CNSNews.com that more Americans have health insurance now than ever before. His remarks also appeared in the Tucson Citizen.
• Research presented in Lives at Risk was cited in the October edition of NewsMax.com.
• du Pont said in his regular column for OpinionJournal.com that President Bush could become a great president if he pushes Social Security reform and a doctrine of pre-emption during his second term. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pdupont/

• NCPA Senior Fellow Bruce Bartlett told The Dallas Morning News on December 15 that reforming the U.S. tax system is a complicated balancing act and very hard to accomplish.
• Bartlett wrote syndicated columns appearing in theWashington Times, the Florida Times-Union, the New York Sun and other media outlets, concerning media bias, rising interest rates, eco-terrorism, the economy, Bush tax cuts, Bush’s second-term agenda, the Democrats’ election loss, Ukraine’s election, outsourcing, Contract with America in 1994, John Kerry's Senate career and polling data.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick told the December edition of Health Care News that trial lawyers are taking away choices for patients in cases like the recall of Vioxx. His remarks also appeared in the Madison County Reporter and on NewsMax.
• NCPA Washington Representative Jack Strayer told the Akron Beacon Journal on December 13 that safety should be a major issue when Congress considers drug importation legislation. His remarks also appeared in the Monterey (CA) Herald and the Myrtle Beach Sun News.
• Burnett told the Miami Herald on December 11 that the best energy option for America's future is environmentally sensitive exploration. His remarks also appeared in the Duluth News Tribune, the Augusta Chronicle and the Lexington (KY) Herald Leader.
• Bartlett told the San Francisco Chronicle that President Bush's current economic summit is not a dog-and-pony show, pointing out that his summit two years ago led to abolition of a tax on dividends.
• Goodman and NCPA Senior Fellow and Public Trustee for Social Security and Medicare Thomas R. Saving unveiled the NCPA's Social Security reform plan at an NCPA Capitol Hill briefing on December 9. Their remarks were broadcast live on C-Span. Saving's remarks also appeared on the CBS Evening News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and on the Cox News Service.
• Herrick told The Dallas Morning News on December 7 that Flexible Spending Accounts should be improved so that employees don't have to find ways to exhaust their accounts before the end of the year. His remarks also appeared in the Sun-Herald ( Gulfport-Pascagoula, MS), the Contra Costa (CA) Times and the Indianapolis Star.
• Burnett told the Sacramento Bee on December 3 that America can safely seek new oil. His comments also appeared in the Contra Costa Times and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
• NCPA Senior Fellow William Conerly told the Associated Press on December 6 that the Northwest region's economy has lagged behind the rest of the country during the recession, but the bounce-back will be strongest there. His remarks also appeared in the Seattle Times.
• Bartlett told the Los Angeles Times for December 5 that it will be difficult for tax reformers to eliminate the state and local income tax deduction.
• Burnett told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on December 3 that America can safely seek new oil.
• Burnett told Investor’s Business Daily on December 2 that widespread gun ownership provides a net benefit to society.
• Goodman and NCPA Senior Fellow and University of South Florida Professor Philip K. Porter authored a scholarly article, “Political Equilibrium and Provision of Public Goods,” for the economics journal, Public Choice, which was released in November.
• The Hill identified NCPA Board Chairman Pete du Pont as a potential member of President Bush's bipartisan commission on tax reform.
• Conerly said in a special column for the November 16 edition of the Washington Times that Labor Secy. Elaine Chao's 7-state pilot program for personal reemployment accounts will help jobless workers obtain work faster and provide better support.
• Bartlett said in a special column for the Washington Times, New York Sun and Florida Times-Union that a segment of the Frontline program (PBS-TV) about Wal-Mart and its effect on the economy was one-sided and biased, and neglected the many beneficial effects the company has on consumers and the economy.
• Moore told the Providence Journal on November 22 that personal retirement accounts are the key to reforming Social Security.
• HSAs will benefit all Texans including state employees, according to a policy perspective authored by Herrick for the Texas Public Policy Foundation on November 22.
• Moore said in a special column for the Washington Times on November 7 that last week’s election results have set the stage for Social Security reform.
• Burnett told the Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph that President Bush’s energy policy, especially drilling in ANWR, holds up well under scrutiny.
• Burnett told the October 30 edition of the Miami Herald that there are critical differences between the Bush and Kerry energy plans.
• Goodman said in a special column for the October 28 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer that while President Bush's first term has been devoted to foreign policy, he's also forged an enviable domestic agenda.
• Burnett told the October 26 edition of the Wichita Eagle that Sen. John Kerry's energy plan has laudable goals, but will be costly and may not be effective. His remarks also appeared in the Myrtle Beach Sun-News.
• Bartlett told the October 24 edition of the Bergen (NJ) Record that deficit reduction will be an important post-election issue.
• Strayer told the October 19 edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that politicians should tone down the rhetoric and look for common sense, marketplace solutions to insuring the uninsured.
• Goodman told the October 13 edition of the Los Angeles Times that government will be involved in healthcare in a big way if Sen. John Kerry gets elected and people will not like the consequences. His remarks also appeared in American Health Line and on CBS MarketWatch and KOA-AM's Mike Rosen Show ( Denver).
• The October 13 edition of The Dallas Morning News quoted Gov. Rick Perry saying that he didn't want to spend any more money on education until he got more education for the money. Perry made his remarks at the latest edition of the NCPA/Hatton W. Sumners Foundation Distinguished Lecture Series.
• Goodman told the October 11 edition of the Washington Times that HSAs and Association Health Plans will revolutionize the healthcare industry in the United States.
• Moore said in a special column about Social Security on October 10 that investment-based reform advocated by President Bush is preferable to Sen. John Kerry's policy of ignoring the program's financial crisis. His remarks appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Columbus (OH) Dispatch, the Milwaukee Sunday Journal-Sentinel, the St. Louis Sunday Post-Dispatch, the Tallahassee Democrat, the Passaic (NJ) Sunday Herald News and the Duluth (MN) News-Tribune.
• NCPA Senior Manager of Special Projects Sean Tuffnell told the October 8 edition of The Washington Post that the Russian cabinet's endorsement of the Kyoto Protocol carried a whiff of horse-trading.
• Goodman said in a special column for the Washington Times on October 6 that on the tenth anniversary of the "Contract with America" members of Congress and the executive branch should rededicate themselves to aggressive pro-growth policies.
• Moore told the Philadelphia Inquirer on October 4 that personal retirement accounts won't be a windfall for Wall Street as the Kerry campaign predicts.
• Burnett told the Grand Forks (NE) Herald on October 4 that recommendations by a group of Princeton University scientists to prevent global warming are costly and not supported by science.
• A special column for the September 29 edition of the Washington Times by Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, cited NCPA research that concludes that America's private healthcare system performs better than Great Britain's at a far lower cost. The research is the subject of a new book, Lives at Risk, written by Goodman and Senior Fellows Gerald R. Musgrave and Herrick.
• Burnett told the Watertown (NY) Times that global warming legislation would devastate the economy.

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