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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- Opinion
Biden’s Vaccine Mandates Needlessly Polarize, Impede Private Sector Labor Market
The Biden administration is impeding the private sector through its federal vaccine mandates. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday forwarded a vaccine rule to the Office of Management and Budget that requires vaccination of workers at businesses with 100 or more employees. Employees who refuse vaccination would have compulsory weekly…Elizabeth Hanke -
- Opinion
Vaccine Mandates Aren’t Biden’s Only Job-Killing Scheme
Despite $9 trillion in fiscal and monetary stimulus from the federal government, America has an employment problem. The Labor Department estimates that 10.4 million jobs remained unfilled in August, the most recent month for which figures are available, including 1.5 million in health care and social services. That same month, a record-high 4.3 million people…Doug Badger -
- Opinion
‘Build Back Better’ Plan Would Make Medicaid Bigger With Less Flexibility, Accountability
A lot of transformative health care policy is embedded in Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social spending bill, including continuation of the Biden administration’s campaign to strip away state flexibility and consolidate greater federal control over Medicaid. Medicaid, the joint federal-state program to provide health care services to certain low-income Americans, has seen an explosion in…Nina Owcharenko Schaefer -
- News
Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Depends on OSHA Emergency Regulation. Here’s How That’s Fared in Court.
President Joe Biden is using what one court opinion called “the most dramatic weapon in OSHA’s enforcement arsenal” to back up his COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more workers. But relying on this bureaucratic weapon could be a risky strategy in the face of litigation threats, since courts have struck down all…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
This Group Is Suing Biden Administration Over Vaccine Mandates
Small businesses around the country are attempting to bounce back from the devastating effects of the pandemic. But vaccine mandates imposed by the Biden administration, critics say, threaten to crater the progress made by small companies just as they’re starting to get back on their feet. Alfredo Ortiz is president and CEO of Job Creators…Douglas Blair -
- Opinion
American Liberty Must Not Become Coronavirus Casualty
When announcing his nationwide vaccine mandate, President Joe Biden declared, “This is not about freedom.” But for Americans who live outside the Beltway, it is absolutely about freedom, because America is about freedom. Yes, the coronavirus is still with us. Yes, it is still potentially dangerous, particularly to vulnerable Americans. But the need long since…Mike Pence -
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Vaccine Mandates Will Worsen Police Shortage as Crime Spikes, Missouri Attorney General Warns
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican, warned that vaccine mandates nationwide could lead to a greater police officer shortage even as crime surges. Schmitt, Missouri’s chief law enforcement officer, said he is worried that mandates will only worsen the wave of police officer retirement triggered by the “defund the police” movement last year. “You’ve got police…Thomas Catenacci -
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House Democrats Pass Bill Aiming to Codify Roe v. Wade, Massively Expand Abortion
House Democrats passed a bill Friday that would codify Roe v. Wade and massively expand abortions in the United States. The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021, first introduced in 2013, passed the House by a vote of 218 to 211. The 2021 House version was sponsored by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., while the 2021 Senate version was sponsored…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
I Protested My University’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate. Here’s What Happened.
Bowling Green State University, where I am a graduate student, instituted a COVID-19 vaccination mandate on Sept. 2. A professor had briefly mentioned in class that Bowling Green State University would likely mandate the vaccine since the university usually follows the actions of Ohio State University. Ohio State instituted a requirement that students receive the…Emily Smith -
- News
As Vaccine Mandates Increase, Religious Exemptions Come Under Fire
Columbia University’s Robert Klitzman shared a tragic story with CNN Saturday of a woman riddled with cancer who reportedly refused to undergo medical procedures, relied on the power of prayer, and ultimately died. “Her religious belief contributed to her death, unfortunately,” he said. Klitzman, who directs Columbia’s bioethics master's program, stressed that employees should not be able…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
The Democrats’ War on Blacks Keeps Growing in Pandemic
One of the key reasons I left the Democratic Party years ago was the atrocious way it treated black people. I’m not just talking about Jim Crow or former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s well-known patriarchal and racist use of the N-word to celebrate blacks voting Democratic forever in gratitude for his ultimately useless early virtue…Roger Simon -
- Opinion
We Hear You: Vaccine Mandates and Power Grabs
Editor's note: President Biden's mandate that larger employers force employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 hit a nerve, judging from the mailbag at [email protected]. Here's a sampling.—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Regarding Fred Lucas' reporting on President Biden's vaccine mandates, whether you are pro-vax or anti-vax, people should be allowed to choose whether they want…Ken McIntyre -
- Opinion
COVID-19 and the Death of Science
The scientific method used to govern much of popular American thinking. In empirical fashion, scientists advised us to examine evidence and data, and then by induction come to rational hypotheses. The enemies of “science” were politics, superstition, bias, and deduction. Yet, we are now returning to our version of medieval alchemy and astrology in rejecting…Victor Davis Hanson -
- Opinion
Biden’s Reckless Vaccine Mandate Risks Severe Economic Dislocation, Higher Prices
President Joe Biden’s recent vaccine mandate risks handicapping supply chains, shuttering hospitals, driving inflation higher, and leading to yet more empty grocery shelves. Biden on Sept. 9 announced new mandates to force Americans wary of the COVID-19 vaccine to get their jab, threatening that his “patience is wearing thin”—thin enough that he’s willing to threaten…Peter St. Onge -
- Opinion
Is Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Legal? Constitutional Expert Explains
After President Joe Biden finished his speech last Thursday evening announcing new COVID-19 vaccine mandates, a reporter called out, “Is this constitutional?” Biden, leaving the room, did not stop to answer. The president’s new vaccine mandate directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the Labor Department, to require all organizations with 100 employees…Virginia Allen -
- News
CDC Says Unvaccinated Americans 11 Times More Likely to Die From COVID-19
Unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. The study, which examined 600,000 COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in 13 states from April 4 to June 19 and from June 20 to July 17, “found further evidence…Harry Wilmerding -
- Opinion
Biden’s Divisive COVID-19 Vaccination Plan Favors Coercion Over Persuasion
“Look, we’re the United States of America,” President Joe Biden said, concluding his speech announcing his latest COVID-19 vaccination plan. “There’s nothing—not a single thing—we’re unable to do if we do it together. So, let’s stay together.” Those comments came at the end of a 26-minute speech Thursday in which Biden demonized nearly 80 million unvaccinated…Doug Badger -
- News
4 Things to Know as Employers, States Ponder Legal Challenges to Biden’s Vaccine Mandates
President Joe Biden’s mandate for employers with more than 99 employees to require COVID-19 vaccinations likely will face legal challenges from employers and perhaps from states, knowledgeable observers say. In remarks at the White House, Biden said Thursday evening that he had directed the Labor Department to develop an emergency regulation giving the Occupational Safety…Fred Lucas -
- News
Wealthy School District Diverts $79M in COVID-19 Relief to ‘Equity’ Programs
One of the wealthiest school systems in America has unveiled plans to reallocate COVID-19 relief money to promote “equity” programs and a “welcoming” and “culturally responsive” student learning environment, according to the school district’s website. Virginia's Fairfax County School Board voted to approve the plan Aug. 26, saying it would use $78.8 million, originally allocated for COVID-19…Kendall Tietz -
- News
Jen Psaki Blocks Question on Fauci and US Funding of Deadly Coronavirus Research in China
White House press secretary Jen Psaki denied during a briefing Thursday that White House COVID-19 czar Dr. Anthony Fauci lied to Congress about funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China. “[The National Institutes of Health] has refuted that reporting,” Psaki said in response to a question from Fox News Channel’s Peter Doocy. “NIH has never approved any research…Sebastian Hughes