Pacific Research Institute Pres. & CEO Sally Pipes

Sally Pipes is President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute, a California-based think tank founded in 1979. She shapes the legislative process by regularly meeting with policymakers and legislators from Sacramento to Washington, DC, and has been invited to testify before Congress and state legislatures.

Under her leadership, PRI’s Center for Health Care has established itself as one of the leading voices in health care policy, articulating market-based solutions that provide better quality and access to health care while lowering costs. From the debate over “Hillarycare” in the 1990s to Obamacare to “Medicare for All” today, Pipes has worked tirelessly to demolish the myth that a government-run health care system is more effective than the free market.

In 2019, Pipes and her debate partner Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason magazine, were voted the winners of a nationally televised Intelligence Squared debate on the motion: “Replace private insurance with Medicare for All.” Pipes won a 2020 Soho Forum debate on single-payer health care against University of Massachusetts, Amherst professor Gerald Friedman. She has debated health care topics with some of the nation’s leading single-payer health care advocates, including New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and the late Uwe Reinhardt.

Pipes has published numerous books on health care policy. Her latest book, False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All, she effectively combats the push for single-payer with data and real-life experiences of patients from around the world who have suffered under single-payer health care systems.

She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. In April 2018, Pipes received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy for her work on health care reform. She received the Roe Award at the 2004 State Policy Network annual meeting, which honors an individual in the state public policy movement who has a passion for liberty, a willingness to work for it, and noteworthy achievement in turning dreams into realities. She has also been honored by the California Women’s Leadership Association and was recognized by Human Events as one of the top 10 women in the conservative movement in America.

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