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
Report: Ineligible Labor Unions Received Over $36 Million in Federal COVID-19 Relief Loans
Up to 226 forgivable loans totaling more than $36 million were given to labor unions and related organizations that weren’t eligible to receive the loans, according to a new report by the Freedom Foundation, a free market conservative think tank. The loans were administered by the Small Business Administration through the Paycheck Protection Program, which…Maggie Hroncich -
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Big Tech Censored Dozens of Doctors, More Than 800 Accounts for COVID-19 ‘Misinformation,’ Study Finds
Major technology companies and social media platforms have removed, suppressed or flagged the accounts of more than 800 prominent individuals and organizations, including medical doctors, for COVID-19 "misinformation," according to a new study from the Media Research Center. The study focused on acts of censorship on major social media platforms and online services, including Facebook,…Ailan Evans -
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Lockdowns Did Little or Nothing to Stop Deaths From COVID-19, Study Shows
A Johns Hopkins University meta-analysis released in January found that lockdowns across Europe and the U.S. reduced the COVID-19 mortality by 0.2%. The researchers’ analysis of “lockdown measures” included school closures, business closures, bans on international travel and internal movement, and other nonpharmaceutical government mandates such as mask mandates. The study also found that shelter-in-place orders were ineffective,…Laurel Duggan -
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‘This Place Is Supposed to Be Open’: Bar Owner Emotionally Shares Why He’s Defying DC’s Vaccine Mandate
The Big Board was pretty packed Tuesday night for a bar without a liquor license in a city that loves its booze. Multiple Republican members of Congress and a slew of their staffers showed up to support the D.C. bar and restaurant, located at 421 H St. NE, mere hours after the city’s Health Department…Mary Margaret Olohan -
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Read the Powerful Words of Bar Owner Risking It All to Stand Up to DC Vaccine Mandate
Eric Flannery, a military veteran, is on the cusp of losing his business. In his Washington, D.C., bar, The Big Board, Flannery has a strict “everybody is welcome” policy. He’s not demanding to see vaccination cards, as the District of Columbia now requires bars to do, and he’s not forcing his team to wear masks….Daily Signal Staff -
- Opinion
10 COVID-19 ‘Truths’ That Weren’t True
The media, health officials, and Big Tech have been quick to condemn COVID-19 “misinformation” or conspiracy theories. They’ve censored social media posts and banned users, from high-profile lawmakers to your grandmother. They’ve locked down the country, shuttered businesses and churches, arrested pastors, ordered the masking of children for years, and fired essential workers over resisting…Mary Margaret Olohan -
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Men Play Large Role in Women’s Abortion Decision, Study Finds
Men play a critical role in determining whether a woman chooses to have an abortion, according to a Care Net survey released last week. “You can’t be serious about ending abortion unless you are serious about engaging men on the issue,” said Roland Warren, president and CEO of Care Net, a network of Christian crisis-pregnancy…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
We Hear You: Tracking Religious Objectors to Vaccine Mandates and Protecting the Unborn
Editor's note: The Daily Signal's audience continues to respond to our reporting on the Biden administration's tracking of federal employees who apply for an exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Here's a sampling from the mailbag at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: We as Americans should all be disturbed by this trend reported by Sarah…Ken McIntyre -
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Vaccine Mandate ‘Feels Like Coercion,’ Says Boston Teacher Who Fears Being Fired
Special needs teacher Angela Jones could be fired from her job with the Boston school system. Why? Because she is unvaccinated. Jones teaches elementary students in Boston Public Schools, where she has taught for nearly 20 years. She says she is one of more than 400 teachers there who have declined to take a COVID-19…Virginia Allen -
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Pension Agency Latest to Track Exemptions From COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
The federal agency overseeing government pensions on Friday became the latest agency to create a rule for keeping records on employees who seek medical exemptions from the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. placed a proposed rule on the Federal Register about keeping records of staff who request medical exemptions to…Fred Lucas -
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House Conservative Leader Slams Biden for Plan to Track Medical Exemptions From Vaccine Mandate
The head of the House’s conservative caucus is the latest Republican lawmaker to criticize the Biden administration for expanded tracking of federal employees who seek an exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. “President [Joe] Biden must rescind his unconstitutional COVID-19 vaccine mandates,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told The Daily Signal in a…Fred Lucas -
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Grappling With DC Vaccine Mandate, Capitol Hill Restaurant Owner Pleads for Decency
Vaccine mandate culture wars rage on, and Noe Landini and his staff are caught in the middle. Torn between desires to respect all customers, to comply with Washington, D.C.’s vaccine mandate, and to keep his restaurants afloat, he pleads for patience and the understanding that “mandates are not as simple as they seem.” “We know…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
COVID-19’s Impact of Expressive Individualism
Philosopher Robert Bellah once posited that modern Western human beings identify themselves in a peculiar way: as emotional cores, surrounded by baser material. According to Bellah, we are expressive individualists—meaning that “each person has a unique core of feeling and intuition that should unfold or be expressed if individuality is to be realized.” This mode…Ben Shapiro -
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COVID-19 Policies Are Hurting Kids More Than Virus Itself
COVID-19 itself has not been killing kids in droves. According to figures cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics, among the 46 states that reported, “children were 0.00-0.26 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, and four states reported zero child deaths.” But you’d never know that from the policies many states have instituted, including remote schooling,…Nicole Russell -
- Opinion
Amid COVID-19’s Toll on Schools, Now More Than Ever, Students Need More Education Options
Editor’s note: Jan. 23-29 is National School Choice Week. This is the third in a five-part series of commentaries exploring the successes and challenges of educational choice and the people fighting to make it available to all American schoolchildren. By the end of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic made us wonder whether the virus would ever…Jonathan Butcher -
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Biden’s COVID-19 Tests Plan: Too Little, Too Late
President Joe Biden has a new plan on rapid, at-home COVID-19 testing, but as with much of his administration’s pandemic policy, the plan is convoluted, costly, and late. Making affordable, rapid at-home tests widely available empowers people to learn their COVID-19 status. Instead of relying on mandates and compulsion, this approach equips people to make…Doug Badger -
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Why These Women Marched for Life, Against Vaccine Mandates
Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of the nation’s capital on Friday and again on Sunday to stand for life and protest government overreach. Despite temperatures being well below freezing Friday, busloads of students, church groups, and other Americans from across the county poured into Washington for the 49th annual March for Life. …Virginia Allen -
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How the Feds Handcuff States to Medicaid
During the pandemic, the number of Americans enrolled in Medicaid skyrocketed from 75 million to 90 million. The issue? Not everyone currently enrolled in Medicaid is eligible. And the federal government is trying to prevent states from removing ineligible Americans from their rolls. This costs the taxpayer serious money, explains Hayden DuBlois, deputy research director…Douglas Blair -
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Doctors Diagnose Problems With Nation’s COVID-19 Response
Dr. Robert Malone became widely known recently for being banned on Twitter and for an interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast diverging from the prevailing view on COVID-19. “I’m speaking to you not only as a physician and scientist, but also as a father and grandfather. I’m also a COVID survivor. In my opinion,…Fred Lucas -
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EXCLUSIVE: Republican Lawmakers Accuse Biden Administration of Targeting Federal Employees Seeking Religious Exemptions From COVID-19 Vaccine
Republican members of Congress are accusing President Joe Biden of targeting Americans seeking religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine. “Your administration’s attempt to use the power of the federal government to single out Americans who object to the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds is inexcusable and must be withdrawn,” reads the letter, first obtained by…Mary Margaret Olohan