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
Biden’s HHS Pushes ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility’ Agenda to Racialize Government
President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services is creating a “strategic plan” to advance goals for “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” in the federal workforce, according to an internal document obtained by The Daily Signal. The strategic plan at HHS, implemented in response to Biden’s executive order in June 2021, will build on…Kevin Mooney -
- Opinion
After 2 Years, We Don’t Need Nationwide Travel Mandates to Control COVID-19
Although we’ve seen significant progress in preventing and treating severe cases of COVID-19, thanks to vaccines and therapeutics, we still face a raging debate over remaining governmental restrictions, including those on personal travel. The Biden administration has regularly imposed or extended heavy-handed mandates. Courts have struck down or blocked some of these, including a vaccine…David Ditch -
- Opinion
This Navy Veteran Defied COVID-19 Mandates, Then DC Bureaucrats Closed His Pub
Government mandates and authoritarian COVID-19 rules have crushed small businesses in America. In the nation’s capital alone, hundreds of restaurants are now closed. Others are struggling to make ends meet. Despite all the happy talk from President Joe Biden in last week’s State of the Union address, some businesses will never recover. For every Democrat…Rob Bluey -
- Opinion
What We Learn From Democrats’ Failure to Pass an Extreme Abortion Bill
It’s always a relief when a bill expanding abortion “rights” fails to pass—especially when a Democrat is president. However, that’s not exactly the case when it comes to the most recent abortion bill that Democrats failed to pass in the Senate. This time, the story isn’t the fact that an abortion bill failed, but the…Nicole Russell -
- Opinion
Gov. Ron DeSantis Closes the Curtain on COVID-19 Theater
“You do not have to wear those masks,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a group of high school students participating in an event Wednesday at the University of South Florida. “Please take them off.” “Honestly, it’s not doing anything,” the Republican governor said. “We’ve got to stop with this COVID theater. So, if you want…David Harsanyi -
- News
Surgeon General Demands Tech Companies Hand Over Data on COVID-19 ‘Misinformation’
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy sent a formal request for information Thursday to major tech companies demanding data on “misinformation” related to the COVID-19 vaccine and the virus itself, The New York Times reported. The request demanded the companies provide data on “exactly how many users saw or may have been exposed to instances of…Ailan Evans -
- Opinion
Early COVID-19 Treatment Sacrificed to Promote Vaccine, Dr. Peter McCullough Says
Early treatment for COVID-19 was not prioritized. Why? Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough says he believes health officials did not pursue early treatment options because they did not want to discourage Americans from being vaccinated. “There was a belief, and I think there’s still a belief today among many stakeholders, is that the only way a…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
COVID-19 Data Shows It’s Time for America to Return to Normal
President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1 offers a unique opportunity to break with past pandemic policies and announce that we are moving on from COVID-19. The public policy response to the pandemic has so far depended on nonpharmaceutical interventions and vaccines. These policies appear to have reached the limits of…Doug Badger -
- Opinion
Victims vs. Vectors? The Ethics of Giving COVID-19 Vaccines to Children
Fifty years ago, I began medical school. Through this half-century, I have provided, prescribed, promoted, and supported vaccine use. As a physician in retirement, I am fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19, as are my grown sons and three of my young adult grandchildren. Vaccine development has a proud history that has prevented millions of…Alma Golden -
- Opinion
How to Determine What You Actually Believe About Abortion
Does life really begin at conception? Is there a moment in the womb when a fetus becomes human? Are there times when abortion is necessary? Many of us have found ourselves asking these questions, but the answers can feel challenging to find. On today’s episode of “Problematic Women,” we explain what resources and tools we…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
New Zealand’s COVID-19-Related Crackdown on Economic Freedom Lingers On
New Zealand has long been considered an economically free country. The government’s stringent, almost straightjacket-like COVID-19 restrictions, however, run counter to New Zealand’s multidecade history of strong and robust economic freedom. New Zealand fell two ranks in The Heritage Foundation’s 2022 Index of Economic Freedom released last week, from No. 2 down to No. 4…Patrick Tyrrell -
- Opinion
Federal Government’s Long, Shameful Record of Failures in Battling COVID-19
If you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ve received the Biden administration’s “free” COVID-19 home test in the mail, the first batch of 1 billion “free” tests promised to all Americans. Nice, but a bit late. Amid the raging omicron variant hitting friends and relatives hard during the holiday season, you might have tried to…Robert Moffit -
- Opinion
3 Ways to Restore US Economy to Pre-Pandemic Highs
Less than three years ago, Americans were living in one of the best economic times in our nation’s history, certainly the best in the 21st century. Fast-forward just three short years, and according to The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom, the United States has fallen from 12th in the world in economic freedom…Joshua Loucks -
- Opinion
Natural Immunity Denialism Responsible for Needless COVID-19 Discrimination, Job Losses
In a superb opinion piece in The Hill on Feb. 3, Drs. Jeffrey Klausner and Noah Kojima lauded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for finally recognizing that naturally acquired immunity to COVID-19 is superior to that induced through vaccination. That was the undeniable conclusion of a study conducted in California and New York. …Jenin Younes -
- News
Big Board, DC Restaurant Closed by City Over Vaccine Mandate, Fights to Reopen
Eric Flannery, co-owner of The Big Board restaurant in Washington, D.C., is threatening to sue the city government for forcing his restaurant to close two weeks ago. The Big Board also had its liquor license revoked on Jan. 28 for repeated noncompliance with the city’s now-rescinded vaccine mandate requirements for restaurants. A few days later,…Douglas Blair -
- Opinion
The End of COVID-19
We don’t want Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists shutting down cities with riots, and we shouldn’t want truckers blockading roads either. In each case, as the rule of law is upheld, it is incumbent on those in power to also look at the root causes driving the unrest. American authorities seemed inclined to look…Neil Patel -
- News
Democrats Lose Trust as Pandemic Fatigue Seeps Into Culture Wars, Poll Finds
Democrats are losing the culture wars in key areas, a Politico-Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found, due in part to pandemic fatigue and distrust in the federal government’s COVID-19 response. Although Democratic voters are still divided on the issue, the majority of voters are in favor of lifting mask mandates, the polling data shows. “Democratic…Maggie Hroncich -
- Opinion
COVID-19 and the Failure of America’s Major Religions
For two years, Americans have been partially or entirely deprived of fundamental freedoms—of assembly, speech, religious liberty, making a living, a child’s right to an education, access to early treatment for a potentially deadly virus, and more—for the first time in American history. That half of America, especially its elites, has either made peace with…Dennis Prager -
- Opinion
What Corporate Media, Health ‘Experts’ Don’t Want You to Know About COVID-19 Mask Mandates
Masks have become a flashpoint in the global response to COVID-19. But what the corporate media doesn’t want you to know is: They don’t work. “I think it’s one of the most consistent things we can see across locations, is that there’s been really no impact from masking,” Ian Miller, the author of the new…Douglas Blair -
- News
CDC Struggles to Maintain Public Trust, Leader of House Doctors Caucus Says
Amid new information on its inner workings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is facing a credibility problem for its COVID-19 response, a leader of the House’s GOP Doctors Caucus told The Daily Signal. “The American people don’t do well with being told ‘Because I told you so,’ which has, unfortunately, been the Biden…Fred Lucas