• Goodman Debates Reischauer in Wall Street Journal

• Goodman Flat Tax Proposal

• NCPA Proposes Katrina, Rita Policies

• Briefings/Events

• Other Events

• On the Speaker's Circuit

• NCPA Scholars in the News

• NCPA Publications

• NCPA Online

• NCPA President John C. Goodman debated consumer-driven health care plans, such as Health Savings Accounts, in The Wall Street Journal online on December 13. Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute and vice chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, also participated.

• In a special column in the October 17 edition of Forbes magazine, Dr. Goodman outlined his proposal for a flat tax on consumption that would not only reform the current tax system but could also be progressive. The column can be accessed on Forbes.com.

• Alternative ways to deliver aid to hurricane Katrina's victims, such as enterprise programs, was the subject of a brief analysis written by Dr. Goodman. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba529/
• Families displaced by Katrina and Rita should have the opportunity to make their own decisions on how to rebuild their lives, including making their own health care choices, according to a new brief analysis written by NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick and Research Associate Pam Villarreal. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba532/
• Cost-increasing regulations have priced poor families out of the market for private housing, according to a brief analysis written by NCPA Director of Publications Joe Barnett and Research Associate Pam Villarreal. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba533/
• Children of hurricane evacuees might do better if they and their parents could become empowered consumers in the education marketplace, according to a brief analysis by Dr. Goodman. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba534/

• NCPA President John C. Goodman was keynote speaker at the World Congress Annual Leadership Summit on Consumer-Centric Healthcare Strategies for Employers, Payers and Providers in San Francisco on November 2.
• Goodman debated Uwe Reinhart, Princeton University healthcare economist, about “The Future of Consumer Driven Healthcare vs. a Single-Payer System” at the Consumer Driven Healthcare Conference in Washington , D.C. He also moderated conference break-out sessions on December 7 and 8 about “Reengineering the Healthcare Model,” and “ Are We on the Same Page on Healthcare for the Company? – The CEO/CFO/HR/Benefits Consultant Perspectives!"
• NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick also spoke at the CDHC conference in Washington , D.C. , about shopping for health care.
• The NCPA and the Retirement Security Project (RSP) sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing, “Filling Gaps in the Nation's Pension System: A Bipartisan Proposal,” on October 19 in Room SC-4 of the U.S. Capitol. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), NCPA President John Goodman and RSP Senior Advisor J. Mark Iwry spoke at the event. Peter Orszag, RSP Director and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution moderated the briefing. http://www.ncpa.org/evn/washington/20051019dc.html
• The NCPA released a study about how the high rate of death from hospital infections in the United States could have a dramatic impact in the event of the spread of avian flu or a bioterrorist attack at a Washington , D.C. news conference on December 7. The study was co-sponsored with the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, headed by former Lieutenant Governor of New York Betsy McCaughey. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/special/pdf/RIDBooklet_120605.pdf

• Former advisor to President Clinton and Fox News Commentator Dick Morris was the featured speaker at the October 25 edition of the NCPA/Hatton W. Sumners Foundation Distinguished Lecture Series. For more information: http://www.ncpa.org/evn/sumners/2004/d_morris.htm
• Hatton W. Sumners Foundation scholarship recipients from 8 universities attended a two-day seminar in Dallas , November 11-12. More than 60 students attended debates on contemporary issues in public policy and heard from Rep. Jeb Hensarling, State Senator Florence Shapiro and Texas Supreme Court Justice James Moseley.

• NCPA President John C. Goodman addressed the Managed Healthcare Industry Forum on “Soaring Profits from Consumer-Directed Healthcare” on October 14 in New York City .
• Goodman participated in a California Health Care Foundation roundtable discussion about coordinated care in a consumer-driven health care system in Oakland on October 28.
• NCPA Board Chairman Pete du Pont was the featured speaker at the Economic Club's monthly luncheon in Indianapolis on December 6.
• NCPA Senior Fellow and Public Trustee of Social Security and Medicare Thomas R. Saving spoke to the 2005 Society of Actuaries annual meeting in New York City about “Social Security: What Are the Facts?” on November 16.
• NCPA Senior Policy Analyst Wess Mitchell attended the Second Annual European Resource Bank Meeting sponsored by the Lithuania Free Market Institute on October 14 in Vilnius .
• Goodman spoke about “Health, Education and Welfare” at the October 8 meeting of the Philadelphia Society in Milwaukee .
• Saving spoke to the Economic Club of Tallahassee about Social Security reform on October 12.
• NCPA Senior Policy Analyst Matt Moore spoke about Social Security reform to the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors meeting in Dallas on October 13.
• Moore spoke about Social Security reform at a meeting of the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors in Dallas on October 12.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick spoke about patient self-management at the Chicago Northeast Association of Health Underwriters on October 18.
• Moore spoke about Social Security reform to the Arlington (TX) Republican Club on October 27.
• Herrick spoke about “Predictions for Medicare and Medicaid Reform” at the Texas Association for Home Care's annual planning retreat in Galveston on November 2.
• Herrick told the October 24 meeting of the Northwood Republican Women's Club that the way to reform health care is patient power.
• NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett spoke before the Oklahoma House Bipartisan Rural Economic Development Initiative on November 29-30 about water rights and water markets.
• NCPA Senior Economist Barry Asmus spoke during October, November and December about the effects of global events on the U.S. economy in Rancho Mirage (CA), Atlanta , Las Vegas and Ogden (UT). He also spoke about his book, The Best Is Yet to Come, in Phoenix , Kissimmee and Amelia Island (FL), Washington , D.C. , and Scottsdale .

• NCPA President John C. Goodman's Wall Street Journal debate with the Urban Institute's Robert Reischauer appeared in the December 14 edition of American Health Line.
• NCPA Board Chairman Pete du Pont told the Fox News Channel on November 30 that President Bush's speech about the war in Iraq was a good one, but what's important is how Congress will respond.
• Goodman told the New York Times on September 20 that a new study concluding that a new generation of anti-psychotic drugs are far more expensive yet offer few additional benefits could cost state Medicaid programs millions of dollars.
• NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett told the Power Lunch (CNBC) on November 9 that Congress, not oil companies, is partly to blame for today's high oil and gas prices. His comments also appeared on the John Gambling Show, WABC-AM ( New York City ), and the Terry Lowry Show , a syndicated radio program.
• In a special column in the October 17 edition of Forbes magazine, Goodman outlined his proposal for a flat tax on consumption that would not only reform the current tax system but could also be progressive.
• NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick told the Washington Post on October 18 that consumer-driven health insurance plans empower consumers. His comments also appeared in American Health Line.
• Goodman told the December 19 edition (published Dec. 9) of The New Republic that Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) reward doctors who provide higher-quality care.
• On December 14, Burnett told The Wall Street Journal that adapting to global warming is more cost effective than trying to prevent it. His comments also appeared in the Seattle Times and the Anchorage Daily News.
• Goodman told the October 23 edition of the Chicago Tribune that consumer-driven health insurance has revolutionized the health care industry.
• Burnett told Scripps Howard News Service on December 16 that if solar power were a practical energy solution, the market would already have driven construction of solar homes.
• The NCPA study showing that if the avian flu spread to the United States or a bioterrorist pathogen were released the mortality rate from hospital infections would be dramatic appeared in the December 8 edition of The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, on ABC Radio, Voice of America radio and TV, and on several National Public Radio affiliates, including WNPR-FM (Hartford) , WUSF-FM (Tampa), WFAE-FM (Charlotte) , KWMU-FM (St. Louis) , KENW-FM (Portales), and WNCW-FM (Charlotte) .
• Goodman told the October 13 edition of The Wall Street Journal that retiring Fraser Institute President Mike Walker will be missed.
• Burnett told the Washington Post on September 24 that many native Alaskans support oil and gas production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR.).
• Gov. du Pont said in his latest syndicated column for OpinionJournal.com that it would be a mistake to allow the United Nations to control the Internet.
• Burnett told the October 9 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle that adapting to global warming is less costly and more efficient than trying to prevent it.
• In a special commentary for the Washington Times on November 8, Publications director Joe Burnett and Research Associate Christy Black said that enacting a windfall profits tax would be bad economics and poor legislation.
• Goodman told the December 19 edition of the Contra Costa (CA) Times that consumers actually save more than national figures show. His comments also appeared in The Dallas Morning News and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.
• Gov. du Pont told the Fox News Channel on November 11 that because of the bombings in Amman , Jordan , President Bush will gain more cooperation worldwide in fighting Al Qaeda.
• Burnett told the Christian Science Monitor on September 20 that there has been very little done to maintain the nation's energy grid. His remarks also appeared in USA Today.
• Goodman said in a special commentary in the December 6 edition of The Wall Street Journal that prescription drug benefit legislation needs to be changed. His comments also appeared in American Health Line. 
• A new NCPA study concluding that adapting to global warming is better economic and social policy than trying to prevent it, appeared in the September 15 edition of The White House Bulletin and in CNS News, E&E News , Human Events and Canadian Statistics.
• Burnett told the October edition of Environmental and Climate News that hurricanes and global warming cannot be linked. His remarks also appeared on the Fox News Channel's Big Story, WFAA-TV (Dallas-Ft. Worth) and TXCN (Texas Cable News Network), in the Washington Post, the Miami Herald, Bergen (NJ) Record, Human Events and on Hannity & Colmes (Fox News Channel), KTEK-AM (Houston), the Jim Bohannon Show and Janet Parshall's America, both nationally syndicated radio programs . 
• Goodman told the November 5 edition of National Journal that Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) should be strengthened and made more widely available, especially for the chronically ill.
• The October 28 edition of CNN.com featured NCPA research showing that lung cancer is the deadliest one for women.
• Gov. du Pont appeared on the Fox News Channel on November 4 to discuss the investigation by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.
• NCPA Senior Fellow William Conerly told the December 14 edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the economies of Northwestern states are rebounding, except for Washington .
• Gov. du Pont said in his latest syndicated column for OpinionJournal.com that it's time to write budgetary discipline into the Constitution by amending rather than spending.
• Burnett told the December 4 edition of The Dallas Morning News that consumers should be careful in asking for price controls on oil and gas because they may not like the way government rations them.
• Gov. du Pont told the Fox News Channel on September 15 that officials in both New Orleans and the State of Louisiana are the first line of defense in a catastrophe, not the federal government or the Bush Administration.
• In the December edition of Environment and Climate News Burnett said that high energy prices are making shale oil and oil from tar sands worth developing.
• Herrick told Business Economics that in his new book, A Call to Action, Hank McKinnell is correct that individual patients, not bureaucracies, hold the key to reforming health care.
• Burnett told the December 2 edition of the Anniston ( AL ) Star that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias's offer to provide heating oil below cost to the poor in New York and Massachusetts was a political move against President Bush but also could pressure domestic firms to try and control prices.
• Herrick told KXYZ-AM Biz Radio (Houston) on November 18 that the way to reform the health care industry is to move towards a free market.
• On the November 13 edition of the McCuistion (PBS) program, Goodman said that HSAs are revolutionizing the U.S. health care and health insurance industries.
• NCPA Senior Policy Analyst Matt Moore told Biz Radio KXYZ-AM ( Houston ) on November 29 that doing nothing and hoping economic growth cures Social Security's ills is poor policy.
• Herrick told WFAA-TV (Dallas-Ft. Worth) on November 7 that Congress needs to keep consumers and state budgets in mind when cutting Medicare. He also appeared on KTEK-AM ( Houston ) on November 10 to discuss the new Medicare prescription drug program.
• Burnett told the Terry Lowry Show , a syndicated radio program, on November 5 that Congress, not oil companies, is partly to blame for today's high oil and gas prices.
• Burnett told the Anniston ( AL ) Star on November 4 that we should not forget that the U.S. competes in a global oil market.
• Burnett told Diplomat and International Canada magazine on November 1, that we are not running out of oil.
• Herrick told the November 2005 edition of Health Care News why the employer-based healthcare system is unraveling.
• Burnett told the December 16 edition of Natural Gas Week's Daily Price Snapshot that because government caused problems in the natural gas market over a number of years, it's going to take a number of years to fix it.
• Economist Walter Williams noted in his syndicated column on November 3 NCPA research showing that Social Security and Medicare will require $75 trillion in reserves now to fund future liabilities. The column appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the Augusta (GA) Chronicle and the Myrtle Beach Sun News.
• NCPA Graduate Student Fellow Pam Villarreal told the October 23 edition of The Dallas Morning News that Portland 's smart-growth planning has increased traffic congestion and dramatically reduced housing affordability and the market share of mass transit.
• Herrick told Business Economics that if done right, health coverage should not raise the cost of Starbucks coffee or GM cars, it's merely a way to compensate workers with a non-taxable benefit.
• NCPA Senior Fellow William Conerly told the October 19 edition of the Augusta (GA) Chronicle that there is no national savings crisis in America .
• Burnett told the October 14 edition of the Sacramento Bee that we need to open up regions other than the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas production. His comments also appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Duluth News-Tribune.
• In a special commentary for KERA-FM (Dallas-Ft. Worth) Burnett said that we should not subsidize destruction in rebuilding in the wake of hurricane Katrina. His comments also appeared on KXYZ-AM BizRadio and KWWJ-AM ( Houston ) and on the TalkStar Radio Network.
• Gov. du Pont said in his latest syndicated column for OpinionJournal.com that America needs stronger economic growth and the flat tax will provide it.
• Herrick told the October 2005 edition of Health Care News that South Carolina 's attempts to reign in Medicare spending will improve services to its enrollees.
• Moore told the October 8 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that cost of living should be considered when evaluating teachers' salaries.
• Goodman told WCCO-AM (Minneapolis-St. Paul) on October 7 that consumer-driven health insurance is the answer to most health care industry problems.
• Conerly told the Knight-Ridder Newswire on October 11 that there is no national savings crisis in America .
• Herrick told Health Day on October 3 that health economists tend to favor free market health care reform, whereas public health advocates want a centralized health care system that they can control.
• Herrick told Bloomberg News on September 29 that Medicaid may reduce the amount the program spends on schizophrenia drugs by as much as $5.5 billion.

• President Bush's tax advisory commission reported two recommendations to simplify the U.S. tax code, but NCPA President John C. Goodman wrote in a recent brief analysis that a progressive flat tax would provide tax reform, simplicity and reduce the impact on low-income workers. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba537/
• Even if Social Security is reformed, Medicare's problem looms larger, and doing nothing about these entitlement programs only transfers the problems to the next generation, according to a new study written by NCPA Senior Fellows Thomas R. Saving and Andrew Rettenmaier. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st280/
• NCPA Senior Fellow Larry Kotlikoff gives the President's bipartisan tax reform panel's report a B+. In a new NCPA brief analysis, Kotlikoff explains that the proposed reforms are good, but they could have been better. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba538/
• We need to insulate policy-making and decisions on individual prescription drugs from politics to the greatest extent possible, according to a new brief analysis written by NCPA Senior Fellow Henry I. Miller, who also is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a former Food and Drug Administration official. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba536/
• Historical data and ongoing hurricane research reveal scant evidence linking human-caused warming to more frequent or powerful hurricanes, according to a new brief analysis written by NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett . http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba530/
• A benefit rate for personal retirement accounts (PRAs) that tracks the realized rate of return on government bonds will increase the likelihood that workers' returns will outpace the amount invested, according to a new study written by NCPA Senior Fellow Andrew Rettenmaier and Zijun Wang, assistant research scientist at the Private Enterprise Research Center at Texas A&M University . http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st281/
• By using private contractors who specialize in technology and data management and outsourcing administrative duties, Texas's welfare system will be more efficient and cost less, and state employees will be able to focus on people, not paper, according to a new brief analysis written by NCPA Director of Publications Joe Barnett and Research Associate Christy Black. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba539/
• Charter schools are beneficial for urban renewal and neighborhood development, according to a new brief analysis written by NCPA Research Associate Danielle Georgiou. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba531/

• Team NCPA, an all-volunteer educational initiative for Social Security reform, has added an information blog, The Filing Cabinet, to its new, revised Web site – http://www.teamncpa.org/ . The site continues to provide the latest information in the public policy debate about reform and retains the NCPA's unique Social Security calculator.
• The NCPA's redesigned Web site devoted to consumer-driven health insurance has the latest, most comprehensive information about choice and control in health care. The NCPA developed the site due to the surging popularity of consumer-driven health insurance plans and the need for health care professionals to understand how they work. The NCPA's Weekly Health Policy Digest also is featured on the new site. http://cdhc.ncpa.org .

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