Healthcare & Policy News
Reporting on health care policy, insurance coverage, and federal health programs. Includes news updates and conservative commentary from The Daily Signal.
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- News
Obamacare Can’t Handle the Truth: Data Not Adding Up for Enrollees
Obamacare prompts one huge headache right off the bat for Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the newly confirmed secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Vast discrepancies in data on Obamacare enrollees could put at least 2 million newly insured Americans at risk, according to a government report provided to Associated Press. Officials found data from…Marguerite Bowling -
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In ‘Obvious Child,’ Abortion as Comedy at a Theater Near You
The feature film “Obvious Child,” which hits the big screen June 13, is a feel-good romantic comedy about a 20-something’s “hilarious and totally unplanned” journey to self-discovery, empowerment, and … abortion. Some in the media are touting the summer movie as “the first successful abortion comedy ever made,” but pro-life advocates are skeptical. The plot…Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
Obamacare’s New Implementer-in-Chief
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. On Thursday, 78 Senators, including 24 Republicans, voted to confirm Sylvia Burwell to be Obamacare’s implementer-in-chief for the rest of his term. Burwell’s predecessor Kathleen Sebelius had become inextricably linked to the botched rollout, soaring premiums and a never-ending series of unilateral alterations of law, and conventional wisdom…Mike Needham -
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This Is Who Will Pay Fines Under the Obamacare Mandate
Fewer Americans will pay a fine in two years for failing to buy insurance as mandated by Obamacare, according to revised numbers this week from the Congressional Budget Office. That’s because about 2 million more uninsured Americans than previously estimated will be exempt from the requirement, CBO said. Even so, what of the estimated 4…Marguerite Bowling -
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Surprise! The Government Now Can’t Even Guess How Much Obamacare Ultimately Will Cost
It’s no secret Obamacare is unaffordable. But now we also know that even the Congressional Budget Office can’t predict how much more this disastrous law will cost. According to a footnote from a Congressional Budget Office report released in April but reported this week by Roll Call, the law’s true costs and long-term fiscal impact…Genevieve Wood -
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Senate Confirms Sylvia Burwell as New HHS Secretary, 78-17
The Senate today confirmed Sylvia Mathews Burwell as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services by a vote of 78 to 17, making her the nation’s new lead figure in implementing Obamacare. “Sylvia is a proven manager who knows how to deliver results, and over her career she has built relationships with Democrats…Josh Siegel -
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1 of Every 5 Americans Depend on Medicaid or CHIP
More than 65 million Americans—about one in five—are enrolled in Medicaid or a government health program for children, according to new federal data. About 1.1 million of them signed up in April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported. The agency oversees the federal-state Medicaid program and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP….Marguerite Bowling -
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This Family Has to Choose Between Paying Obamacare Mandate Penalty or Funding Abortions
It’s that time of year again. Temperatures are beginning to rise. School kids are itching for the freedom of summer. And all eyes are on the Supreme Court as the nine justices release decisions in important cases by the end of June. Among the headliner cases the Court will decide this term are the challenges…Sarah Torre -
- Opinion
What Will Obamacare’s Future Look Like?
Obamacare is dramatically reshaping health care markets, especially the individual insurance market. The first results of the law’s standardization of coverage and imposition of new government benefit mandates and regulations were increased premiums—quite substantial in many cases—and the loss of existing coverage for several million Americans. Obamacare’s longer-term consequences are still a topic of considerable…Alyene Senger -
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Sam Brownback Explains How Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion Hurts States
Many states are succumbing to pressure to expand their Medicaid programs with promises from the federal government under Obamacare to cover the initial costs. But Gov. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., says that is bad policy and ultimately will be a bad financial deal for states. In an interview with Daily Signal senior contributor Genevieve Wood, Brownback explains…Katrina Trinko