Category Archives: policy

Elections 2018: What it means for healthcare

Healthcare, policy, Politics, United States

This is the second in a series of posts I’ll be doing on the elections and their aftermath here in the US. I wrote a post focused on what the elections mean for K-12 education in the US a couple of weeks ago. This one focuses on what the election means for the healthcare in the US.

When the Republican party took over all three branches of government in 2016, repeal  replace (or simply, repeal) became one of the the explicitly stated main goals of the administration and congress. By this they meant repealing the Affordable Care Act 2010 (aka Obamacare) and replacing it with something that met most of the policy objectives of the ACA, without being the ACA.

The GOP was particularly opposed to specific aspects of the ACA system; the mandate (and associated fine for not enrolling) and the protection for pre-existing conditions being the main ones. However, the most significant attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act was voted down in the Senate with three Republican senators: Collins (ME), McCain (AZ), Murkowski (AK) voting against repeal.  Sen. John McCain (AZ) dramatically voting no, as the last vote.

Continue reading Elections 2018: What it means for healthcare →

Opinion: Think tanks in Pakistan

Pakistan, policy

Feb 16, 2016: This blog (co-authored with my colleague, Mome Saleem) was published on the Think Tank Initiative’s website.

Pakistan has seen considerable growth in the number of think tanks operating in the country in the last decade. The 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report counts 19 such institutions. This is a significant increase from the two or three found in the early 1990s. Despite this increase over the last two decades, it is difficult to measure the successful impact of these institutions on evidence based policy making in the federal and provincial capitals.

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Opinion: 4 percent challenge

Development, Economy, Education, Pakistan, policy

June 4, 2015: This column was published in Dawn’s opinion pages prior to the PML-N ministry’s third federal budget being announced.

The budget season is here. Like every year we’ll be hearing calls to increase the education budget. By now we all know that the Pakistani state — the federation as well as the provinces — spends a paltry 2pc of GDP on education.

By comparison, Bhutan spends over 5pc of its GDP on education and India 3.8pc. Countries in the West spend over 5pc while Scandinavian countries, often ranked at the top of international literacy and numeracy tables, spend in excess of 6pc.

Continue reading Opinion: 4 percent challenge →

Op-ed: Summer of discontent

Pakistan, policy

May 4, 2010: This column was originally published in Dawn.

Things are about to get very rocky for the PPP-led governing coalition. That is remarkable considering the last two years have not exactly been smooth sailing.

Forget the judiciary, the media and the opposition. This summer the administration will face what may prove to be its nemesis the rolling power outrage. Continue reading Op-ed: Summer of discontent →