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
How Congress Exacerbated Union Pension Crisis Under Guise of Coronavirus Relief
By the time this column appears in print, Congress will have passed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. And that’s a shame. As its many critics have pointed out, only 9% of the bill actually goes toward fighting COVID-19. One of the bill’s many non-COVID-related provisions is an $86 billion unconditional cash giveaway to a…Rachel Greszler -
- Opinion
Biden’s Coronavirus Stimulus Bill: A $1.9 Trillion Disaster
President Joe Biden has signed his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law. Though regularly billed as “the COVID-19 relief bill,” Democrats’ legislation is not focused on reducing the spread of the disease. Instead, it is stuffed with a wish list of progressive policies that have nothing to do with the pandemic. In fact, less…Matthew Dickerson -
- Opinion
Biden’s COVID-19 Plan: Force Taxpayers to Pay for Abortions
Back in 1994, a worried Delaware taxpayer sent a message to his senator. “Please don’t force me to pay for abortions against my conscience,” he said. Joe Biden sent an unambiguous response. “I will continue to abide by the same principle that has guided me throughout my 21 years in the Senate: those of us…Terence Jeffrey -
- News
Which States Do Better, Worse at Giving COVID-19 Shots
North Dakota and New Mexico have outperformed most other states in getting needles into arms, using about 96% of their allotments of COVID-19 vaccines for residents, The Daily Signal has learned. At the other extreme, Tennessee, the District of Columbia, and Alabama each is at or below 70% use of the vaccine doses received. Using data…Fred Lucas -
- News
WHO Won’t Release Interim Report on COVID-19 Origins Amid Growing Scientific Concerns Over Legitimacy of Its Investigation
The World Health Organization team that announced in February it was “extremely unlikely” that COVID-19 could have accidentally leaked from a Wuhan lab has scrapped previously announced plans to release an interim report on its findings. WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told The Daily Caller News Foundation Feb. 10 that the report would be released “in…Andrew Kerr -
- Opinion
Merrick Garland Approved Illegal Immigrant Teen’s US Abortion
Three-and-a-half years ago, two alien children were caught illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States. One of these children decided she wanted to terminate the life of the other. She was the 17-year-old mother. The other was the 7-week-old baby in that mother’s womb. The agency that arrested this pregnant teenager turned her…Terence Jeffrey -
- Opinion
Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Why $1.9 Trillion in COVID-19 ‘Relief’ Isn’t That
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., says Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill, among other things, has “only about 10%” that actually deals with the pandemic while providing “$350 billion to bail out the blue states.” Blackburn, today’s guest on “The Daily Signal Podcast,” also says that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “wants $112 million for the Bay Area…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
91% of COVID-19 Bill Just ‘Democrat Wish List,’ Rep. Ted Budd Says
Rachel del Guidice: I’m joined today on “The Daily Signal Podcast” by Congressman Ted Budd of North Carolina. Congressman Budd, it’s great to have you with us on “The Daily Signal Podcast.“ Rep. Ted Budd: Rachel, thanks for having me. >>> Listen to the interview with Rep. Budd: Del Guidice: Thanks for being with us….Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
It’s Not a COVID-19 Relief Bill. It’s Christmas for Democrats.
Republicans should stop referring to the Democrats’ newest ideological wish list as a COVID-19 “relief bill” or “rescue bill,” or any of the other euphemistic misnomers used by the media. Surely, there is some GOP spin doctor who can come up with a catchier, more precise name for President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion partisan monstrosity?…David Harsanyi -
- Opinion
Biden’s COVID-19 Bill Would Squander Hundreds of Billions on Bailouts of Pension Funds, Blue States
It’s increasingly clear that the Biden administration’s nearly $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package would appease special-interest groups rather than address the needs of those who actually need relief. While about $1 trillion still sits unspent from previous relief bills, Biden’s bailout legislation would fulfill Democrats far-left wish list. Among the many things that are unrelated…Rep. Ron Estes -
- Opinion
$1.9 Trillion ‘COVID-19’ Bill Would Pay for Abortions and Intersectional ‘Art’
Two years ago, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded a $25,000 grant to a group called Fresh Meat Productions, which is based in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco congressional district. This taxpayer-funded grant, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, went to “support a national tour of ‘Boys in Trouble,’” which it…Terence Jeffrey -
- Opinion
Will Catholic Schools Survive COVID-19?
With schools across the country now approaching a full year of state-mandated closures, it’s important to remember the long-term effects that the lockdown has had. Catholic schools in some parts of the country saw their enrollment figures drop dramatically, and at this point it’s not clear if they will ever bounce back. A new report…Hance Winingham -
- News
Senate Republicans Challenge HHS Nominee Xavier Becerra on Abortion Record
President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominee Xavier Becerra would not say Tuesday why he voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion. Republican senators pressed Becerra, the California attorney general, on his past record on abortion during Tuesday’s hearing. Pro-life advocates and lawmakers called on the Senate Monday to reject Becerra as the president’s choice for secretary of the U.S….Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
What We Know About Cuomo’s COVID-19 Cover-Up
The cover-up may be worse than the crime, Dr. Joel Zinberg, a medical doctor, professor, and contributor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal, says of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inaccurate reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in his state. Zinberg, also a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and former member of…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
Equality Act Is Trojan Horse for Abortion Lobby and More
If you search the text of the Equality Act for the term “abortion,” you won’t find it. And while that might be by design, should the act ever become law, it would be disastrous for all Americans who care about protecting innocent unborn life. The House of Representatives is set to vote on this dangerous…Melanie Israel -
- Opinion
8 Things You Must Know About Deeply Flawed COVID-19 Package
Later this week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider a massive legislative package that is being sold as another relief measure for the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the legislation is stuffed with provisions that have nothing to do with the disease or economic hardship, and in many cases would actually slow the economic rebound…David Ditch -
- Opinion
How the COVID-19 Censors Killed the Truth
Estimates are all over the place, but it’s now beyond dispute that Soviet policies in the 1930s led to the deaths of somewhere between 7 and 12 million Ukrainians (about the equivalent to killing every person in Michigan today). It’s one of the greatest horrors in world history. The world knew little about the Ukrainian…Neil Patel -
- Opinion
Forget Double-Masking. Here’s a Better Way to Curb COVID-19.
California-based Innova Medical Group produces millions of COVID-19 tests every day—tests that people can perform at home and that yield results in minutes. These tests could transform the pandemic response and move us beyond the public health policy stalemate. Yet not one of them is available to Americans. Innova is exporting them to other countries…Doug Badger -
- Opinion
Democrats Continue to Misuse Pandemic Relief to Push Pre-COVID-19 Wish List
For Congress, it is customary to misuse must-pass legislation as the vehicle for policies that would otherwise fail on their own. But to hide behind the veil of pandemic relief for a third round of aid while $1.1 trillion remains unspent from previous aid packages is insulting. That is what Democrats are now doing, taking…Scott Zipperle -
- Opinion
What You Need to Know About Coming Abortion Debates
President Joe Biden already has taken action to undo some of the pro-life policies set in place by his predecessor, Donald Trump. It appears likely that Biden and the Democrat-controlled Congress will continue to press a progressive abortion agenda that endangers the unborn, mothers, and American freedoms. Melanie Israel, a Heritage Foundation research associate in…Virginia Allen