Educating medical students on the importance of medical freedom through free market ideas. PRI President and CEO Sally C.
In 2008, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) created the Benjamin Rush Society (BRS), an organization with the goal of becoming one of the most important educational efforts in the fight against government-controlled medicine and the incremental emergence of a government monopoly over health care in the United States. From the first debate in 2009, the Benjamin Rush Society (BRS) has achieved ste
ady consistent growth, tripling the number of events since the 2010-2011 academic year. Starting off as a division of the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), BRS is now prepared to operate as a fully independent organization. Incorporated on Jan. 14th, BRS received official IRS recognition as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization on April 17th of this year. Adoption of our new name, the Benjamin Rush Institute (BRI) along with transfer of funds and complete formal separation from PRI is planned to occur mid-July. Modeled on the success of the Federalist Society, the BRI is an organization composed of medical doctors, residents, fellows, medical students, and other health care professionals who believe that the profession of medicine calls its practitioners to serve their patients, rather than the government. The Benjamin Rush Institute believes that the doctor-patient relationship is sacred and central to effective medical care. In order for this relationship to provide the greatest benefits both to patients and to society at large, physicians and patients must be free to choose whether to enter into, and maintain, this relationship or not. Furthermore, the decision-making authority must remain within the doctor-patient relationship, with minimal influence from bureaucracies. Benjamin Rush believed in these principles a, was a leading doctor in the American founding era, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He believed in the profession of medicine and in the founding principles of America, and he viewed them as complementary, not mutually exclusive. Pipes was the intellectual progenitor of the BRS, and laid the groundwork for establishing the organization with a founding exploratory conference on May 8, 2008 in Washington, D.C. Twenty leading free-market professors of medicine, physicians, health economists, and think tank executives—including Gene Meyer, president of the Federalist Society—were in attendance at the all-day meeting. Following the support and enthusiasm of this initial meeting, the BRS has solidified into a robust organization with chapters developing at nearly 20 universities across the nation. The BRS held four successful debates in 2009, at Columbia University, Harvard University, George Washington University, and Texas A&M.
04/27/2026
Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results. The solution to fixing health care is NOT to implement more of the same price controls and regulations that reduce choice, limit access, and ultimately make care less affordable.
Read the latest from BRI Founder & Chair Sally Pipes:
By trying to force more manufacturing onshore through tariffs, policymakers risk weakening the very innovation ecosystem that makes America indispensable to global health.
"If policymakers want to reduce the number of uninsured Americans, they should focus on expanding choice rather than piling on more subsidies or mandates." - Sally Pipes, BRI Founder & Chair
has strayed far from its original purpose. Reining in fraud and refocusing eligibility are commonsense steps toward preserving the program for those who genuinely need it.
It's sadly no surprise that medically-assisted deaths are on the rise across countries with government-run health care—deficient systems characterized by rationed resources and extreme waitlists.
HSAs put patients, not the system, in control of their own care. But they remain held back by strict federal rules that limit both their utility and their availability.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Between 2022 and 2024, biopharmaceutical manufacturers earned an average return on capital of about 10.3%. But health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and drug wholesalers posted returns of 41.4%.
If philanthropists and health systems are serious about addressing the physician shortage, they must aid in funding the creation of more residencies and ensure trained medical students can complete their education.
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