The state of Wyoming earmarks tobacco settlement funds to certain programs — and guess what. The programs cost more than the revenue they receive. As you might expect, the knee jerk reaction to this is to raise tobacco taxes to cover the shortfall. But let's take a closer look. The Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund was set up after a 1998 settlement be...

Charlie Katebi and Glenn Woods talk about Charlie's testimony on a program that could reduce healthcare costs in the state. 

Direct Primary Care can help make healthcare more affordable in Wyoming. Aug. 25, 2015 

by Charles Katebi Contrary to the claim of Obamacare's supporters, patients have too much access to healthcare. When insurers cover most of our bills, we're encouraged to take every test and procedure our doctors recommend, regardless of their value. Obamacare has made this problem even worse by banning out-of-pocket fees for many services. The pus...

by Charles Katebi When we walk into a hospital, we have access to a cornucopia of different tests, procedures, and specialists. What we will hardly ever see is how much all of this costs. When insurers pay most of the bill, patients have no incentive to find the best deal, and hospitals are more than happy to keep their cost hidden. Now a revolutio...

by Charles Katebi Governor Mead is by no stretch of the imagination a visionary government reformer. However, he took a big step towards expanding healthcare access in Wyoming by signing the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact into law. This will allow out-of-state physicians to practice medicine in Wyoming and lower healthcare costs for patients....

by Charles Katebi Progressives constantly frame the debate over healthcare reform as a false choice: should healthcare be financed through insurance companies or the government? Both options leave patients at the mercy of third parties. Now an alternative known as Direct Primary Care promises to put the patient back in the driver's seat. The patien...

by Charles Katebi Ever since Congress passed Obamacare in 2010, each April 15, the dreaded tax return filing day, brings ever more complexity to our federal tax code. This year's complexity is the employer mandate, the most harmful of the law's tax provisions because it spells trouble for businesses and workers alike. If the Supreme Court sides wit...

by Charles Katebi In March, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in King v. Burwell, a case that could decide the fate of Obamacare in Wyoming and around the country. The case centers on whether the federal government has the authority to issue tax credits to subsidize insurance on exchanges that it has established. If the chief justices rule aga...

by Charles Katebi If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. After the Wyoming legislature overwhelmingly rejected Medicaid expansion, its advocates returned to the drawing board to design another half-baked measure to help hospitals cope with the rising cost of uncompensated care. Senate File 145, otherwise known as the Uncompensated Care Bill...