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
Accountability Not Clear for Cuomo in New York’s COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is celebrating the U.S. Justice Department decision to drop an investigation into his policy that sent COVID-19 patients into nursing homes. But with several other probes ongoing, the Democratic governor's legal situation is still unclear. The Justice Department announced July 17 that it would not investigate Cuomo’s March 2020 order…Ailan Evans -
- Opinion
Government’s Ham-Handed COVID-19 Messaging Hits New Low
The U.S. government’s inconsistent public messaging on the coronavirus came to a crescendo this week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly reversed course on the use of masks by vaccinated people. The sudden backtracking follows a pattern of misleading and incoherent government health guidance that has led to a general erosion of…Neil Patel -
- News
Pelosi’s Office Silent on Action to Determine Origins of COVID-19
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office would not say whether the House plans to take up a bipartisan bill that would declassify any information regarding the origin of COVID-19. The bill, titled the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2021, passed the Senate through unanimous consent in May. It would require the Office of the Director of National Intelligence…Andrew Trunsky -
- News
Delta Variant of COVID-19 Soon Will Be Gone, Former FDA Chief Predicts
Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, predicts that the surge of the Delta variant of COVID-19 across the U.S. will last just a few more weeks. Speaking on CNBC, Gottlieb questioned whether new masking guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was the right call, and reminded viewers that…Andrew Trunsky -
- News
Amid Union Pushback, Biden’s COVID-19 Vaccine Rules Face Legal Challenge Over Coercion
President Joe Biden touts the support of the business community for his COVID-19 vaccine policy, but leaders of organized labor, which the president identifies as his political base, aren’t happy. Requirements that both federal employees and the employees of federal contractors “attest” to their vaccination status and regularly submit to testing if not vaccinated could…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Biden Administration Set to Ignore Abortion Transparency Requirement
The public comment period closed on Wednesday for a rule proposed by the Biden administration that would reverse a Trump administration rule regarding program integrity for certain health insurance plans that cover elective abortions. At issue is Section 1303 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. This section of the…Melanie Israel -
- News
NIH Gave Millions to Chinese Entities to Study Infectious Diseases
The National Institutes of Health has doled out nearly $46 million in taxpayer funds to 100 Chinese institutions in the form of subgrants since 2011 to conduct research into infectious diseases, drug addiction, mental health, and other scientific fields, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis of federal spending data. The National Institutes of…Andrew Kerr -
- News
De Blasio Warns ‘Voluntary Phase Over’ for COVID-19 Shots
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told MSNBC that the “voluntary phase is over” for COVID-19 vaccinations. “We’ve got to shake people at this point and say, ‘Come on now.’ We tried voluntary. We could not have been more kind and compassionate,” de Blasio said on MSNBC. “Free testing, everywhere you turn, incentives, friendly,…Steven Hall -
- Opinion
What the Pandemic Can Teach Us About Vulnerabilities in Our Defense Supply Chain
You only have to go back to March 2020, when grocery store shelves were stripped bare and toilet paper became a scarce commodity, to understand how vulnerable people are when supply doesn’t meet demand. Unfortunately, the U.S. military can easily be put in the same position. America’s defense supply chain—that is, the large network of…Walker Venable -
- News
5 American Athletes Whose Olympic Dreams Got Dashed by COVID-19
Five U.S. athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, crushing their dreams of competing in the world’s largest sporting event. U.S. men’s basketball player Bradley Beal tested positive July 15, which made him unable to travel to Tokyo, the USA team announced in a tweet. U.S women’s tennis star…Harry Wilmerding -
- News
Pelosi’s Archbishop Rebukes Her for Saying She Supports Abortion as ‘Devout Catholic’
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone rebuked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Thursday for calling herself a “devout Catholic” in her defense of taxpayer-funded abortion. “Let me repeat,” the San Francisco archbishop said in a statement. “No one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
How This Pastor Resisted Government to Keep His Church Open During COVID-19
Churches, synagogues, and other places of worship faced extraordinary challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in liberal states such as California. Rob McCoy, senior pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel of Thousand Oaks in California, joins a bonus episode of “The Daily Signal Podcast” to talk about how he kept his church open during COVID-19 amid…Rachel del Guidice -
- News
COVID-19 Cases Jump by 55% in Week
Coronavirus cases are spiking in nearly every state, fueled by the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The overwhelming majority of cases are appearing in Americans who are not vaccinated against the virus, with many of the highest increases coming in states where vaccination rates are the lowest. Cases nationwide are up 55% in…Andrew Trunsky -
- News
Fauci v. Paul and 3 Other Takeaways From Senate COVID-19 Hearing
Another heated exchange between Sen. Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci stole the show Tuesday at a Senate hearing on COVID-19, although participants also raised other key points. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, clashed publicly with the Kentucky Republican for at least the third time in recent months. “Sen….Fred Lucas -
- News
De Blasio to Keep Masks in Schools Despite CDC Guidelines
Masks will be required in New York City grade schools this fall, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday at a press briefing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance Friday that vaccinated students and teachers could go maskless and stressed “the importance of offering in-person learning, regardless of whether all of the prevention strategies…Kendall Tietz -
- Opinion
Tested by COVID-19, Doctors’ Direct Primary Care Model Demonstrates Resilience
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be one of the most chaotic and destructive global events in history. Beyond the obvious direct human toll of illness and death, COVID-19 has led to massive upheaval in nearly all sectors of the economy. Yet, one sector proved to be surprisingly resilient; namely, direct primary care. These low-cost…Chad Savage -
- News
Scalise Calls on Pelosi to Hold Hearings on Origins of COVID-19
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of not being honest about China over the origins of the coronavirus. “Today, we are here with the [GOP] Doctors Caucus to talk about something we’ve been calling on for a long time, and that is demanding actual accountability and demanding that Speaker Pelosi…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
Economic Freedom Would Be Fastest Route to COVID-19 Recovery for Spain
Spain has been on an economic roller-coaster ride throughout the past decade. Economic freedom for the European Union’s fourth-largest economy has improved remarkably over the past few years. Now, however, in trying to spur economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Spain may be pushing economic freedom to the sidelines. As documented by The Heritage Foundation’s…Patrick Tyrrell -
- News
McCarthy Offers ‘8-Pillar’ Plan to Hold China Accountable for COVID-19 Pandemic
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has introduced a plan comprising “eight pillars” for “holding China accountable” for the coronavirus pandemic. “The unfortunate reality is that countless friends and family members could have been saved, had it not been for the deception of the Chinese Communist Party,” McCarthy said in a letter posted Sunday on his…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
Mysterious Origins of COVID-19 Raise Alarming Possibilities
For over a year, the American establishment and media have ostracized anyone who dared to connect the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Then, suddenly and without apologies for their past demagoguery, “journalists” and “experts” conceded that the Wuhan lab may well have been the most likely genesis. Why the…Victor Davis Hanson