Healthcare & Policy News
Reporting on health care policy, insurance coverage, and federal health programs. Includes news updates and conservative commentary from The Daily Signal.
-
news
Senate’s No. 1 Republican Explains Why a GOP-Controlled Senate Doesn’t Mean Repeal of Obamacare
Hopes for repeal of Obamacare by a Republican-controlled Senate dimmed a week before the crucial midterm elections with surprising words from the man who likely would lead that new Senate. In an interview Tuesday with Fox’s Neil Cavuto, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said it’s unlikely a Republican-controlled Senate would repeal the Affordable Care Act,… -
opinion
Here’s Who Got Obamacare Coverage, Explained in Just 1 Minute
Get ready to be inundated with a fresh round of Obamacare propaganda. President Obama’s health care law will be back in the news next month when open enrollment begins Nov. 15. The government is already gearing up to recruit more enrollees. But based on what we know already, the Affordable Care Act isn’t panning out… -
opinion
Clinton Judge Gives Catholic University Temporary Pass on Abortion Drug Mandate
On Tuesday, a federal court in Tampa, Fla. stopped the Obama administration from enforcing the new and improved version of the Obamacare mandate that employers provide healthcare coverage of abortion-inducing drugs. Ave Maria University, a Catholic school based in Florida, challenged the so-called “accommodation” that allows it to avoid directly providing or paying for coverage… -
news
NIH Director Warns of Unintended Consequences from Mandatory Quarantines in New York, New Jersey
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced mandatory quarantines for health workers returning from West Africa. However, such a policy could have negative, unintended consequences, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned today. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Fauci said that… -
opinion
This Infographic Shows How Obamacare Might Be Just One Big Expansion of Medicaid
Spoiler alert! When it comes to covering the uninsured, Obamacare has proven itself to be one giant expansion of Medicaid. A new report released Wednesday reveals the total coverage increase for the first half of 2014. While total coverage increased by 8,538,327 individuals, enrollment in Medicaid accounted for 71 percent of that growth. Check out the infographic… -
news
Those Ebola Vaccines in Testing Now? You Can Thank Dick Cheney for That
Democrats looking to blame Republicans for the lack of an Ebola vaccine may owe Dick Cheney an apology. It turns out that as vice president, Cheney was the driving force behind more funding for the National Institutes of Health that helped lead to the development of Ebola vaccines being tested today. From the time scientists first discovered… -
news
Tenn. Congressman Warns of Ebola Epidemic Unless Republicans Expand Obamacare
NASHVILLE — U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., is at it again. Cohen, known for his sometimes provocative remarks on his Twitter page, is now seemingly trying to rile his constituents with tweets about the Ebola virus mutating into a Biblical-style plague that will devastate Tennessee — unless, of course, state Republicans comply fully with Obamacare…. -
opinion
The Real Story on How Much Obamacare Increased Coverage
We now have the Medicaid and private-market health insurance enrollment data for the second quarter of 2014 needed to complete the picture of how Obamacare’s rollout affected coverage. What we’ve learned is that the Obamacare gains in coverage were largely a result of the Medicaid expansion and that most of the gain in private coverage… -
news
71% of Obamacare Signups Traced to Government’s Expansion of Medicaid
The vast majority of Americans gaining health coverage under Obamacare actually qualified for Medicaid because of loosened eligibility —and that's what boosted enrollment among those previously uninsured, according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation. The Obama administration has boasted that the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, would allow those previously uninsured to… -
opinion
Why Didn’t the Government Prioritize an Ebola Vaccine? Lack of Money Wasn’t the Issue
Francis Collins, chief of the National Institute of Health, recently blamed the lack of any cure for, or vaccine against, Ebola on budget cuts, stating, “Frankly, if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this that would’ve gone through clinical trials… -
news
California Politician Claims Obamacare Contracts Went to Agency Director’s Cronies
California’s beleaguered Obamacare exchange is once again in the crosshairs of a state senator who is demanding answers following reports that millions in contracts never went out to bid and instead were awarded to friends of the agency’s director. Sen. Ted Gaines, who also is the GOP candidate for state insurance commissioner on the November… -
news
Here’s Why Budget Cuts Have Nothing to Do With Developing an Ebola Vaccine
Some government health officials have joined Democrats in blaming the lack of an Ebola vaccine on budget cuts orchestrated by Republicans. However, more federal funding likely would not have led to creation of a vaccine to combat the deadly disease, since pharmaceutical companies had little incentive to do so. In addition, a review of federal budget figures… -
opinion
Supreme Court Blocks Part of Texas Abortion Law. But That Doesn’t Mean the Court Would Strike Down Law Itself.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an application to block parts of H.B. 2, Texas’s abortion law made famous by State Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour filibuster from going into effect while the case is pending. In Whole Women’s Health v. Lakey, a federal district court struck down as unconstitutional H.B. 2’s requirements that doctors… -
opinion
Report: Obamacare Will Add $131 Billion to Federal Deficits in Next Decade
Among President Obama’s many high-profile health care promises, there is this gem from his 2009 address to Congress: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits–either now or in the future.” But according to Republican staff on Senate Budget Committee, those dimes are starting to pile up. The Senate staff… -
news
Senate Housing Finance Bill Decried as ‘Residential Obamacare’
NASHVILLE — U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is pushing for legislation to create a federal entity to regulate the housing market, six years after the government’s subprime loans nearly tanked the U.S. economy. Is it a good idea? Two experts—one a Franklin, Tenn.-based financial adviser, the other a Heritage Foundation research fellow—oppose housing finance legislation… -
opinion
Thanks to Obamacare, Health Costs Soared This Year
On November 15, open enrollment in the Obamacare exchanges begins again. Before the second act of our national healthcare drama commences, let’s review what we’ve learned in Act I. For starters, everyone now knows that federal officials are challenged when it comes to setting up a website. But they’ve demonstrated the ability to dole out… -
news
CDC Director ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Second Ebola Patient in US
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this morning said he is “deeply concerned” about a second person in the United States testing positive for the deadly Ebola virus. The patient, an unidentified health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, was among those who had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the man visiting the… -
opinion
28,476 Pages Relating to Obamacare in the Federal Register So Far
Since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, 28,476 pages of notices, proposed rules, and finalized rules containing the phrase, “Affordable Care Act” have been written in the Federal Register. This includes 843 notices, 222 proposed rules, and 234 final rules. Then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had it right when she famously said,… -
news
Obamacare Navigator: Groups Misused Taxpayer Money to Recruit Union Members
HOUSTON—A federal lawsuit filed by an organizer for Battleground Texas accuses a labor group established by ACORN founder Wade Rathke of instructing an Obamacare navigator to spend time recruiting union members. The complaint echoes decades-old criticisms of Rathke and ACORN that they use federal money meant for services in pursuit of their own labor organizing… -
news
Gallup: US Uninsured Rate Holds at 13.4 Percent—but More Americans Say Obamacare Has Hurt Them
Releasing a pair of polls on the Affordable Care Act, Gallup noted Wednesday that the nation’s uninsured rate remained steady at 13.4 percent for the third quarter. On the same day, the national polling company found the health law—known as Obamacare—is still unpopular, with more Americans directly impacted saying the law hurt them (27 percent)…