Small businesses are on the front lines of the health care crisis. California's entrepreneurs need health care reform to make coverage more affordable.

Three hundred and forty-three small business owners and managers across the country made their views heard through a survey which investigated the impact of health care costs on their businesses.

As Congressional and public debate over health care reform grows more intense, comparative effectiveness research (CER) has emerged as an unlikely flashpoint of controversy. Opponents’ claims that CER results in the rationing of health care or a government takeover are belied by the true nature of such research: it is simply fundamental scientific research of medical treatments aimed at determining the most effective ways to treat sickness and injury.

The high cost of health care in California imposes an increasing burden on households, businesses, government, and the state’s economy—a burden made heavier by the current economic crisis. The money that insurance companies spend on inefficient administration, billing and marketing--instead of medical care for their enrollees--contributes to the high health care costs Californians must endure. To encourage efficiency and get costs under control, California should require health plans and insurers to spend at least 85 percent of revenue on health care.

How special interests could double health costs and how we can stop it.

Drug companies spend billions annually marketing their latest, most expensive drugs to doctors, through a barrage of gifts, expensive meals, and wine-and-dine events to gain access to doctors. This white paper examines the marketing rules the drug companies have set for themselves, and finds that they fail adequately to protect patients.

A white paper on the practice and problems of pharmaceutical detailing