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
Costly, Ineffective Climate Mandate for Airlines Rightly Left at Gate in COVID-19 Bill
Only in Washington would it make sense to “help” an industry and its consumers by imposing a new regulation. The House of Representatives’ coronavirus relief bill would have imposed new requirements for each airline to reduce its climate footprint if the airline received financial assistance through the package signed into law by the president last…Nicolas Loris -
- Opinion
A Bigger Government Wouldn’t Have Prevented Coronavirus. It Would Have Made Things Worse.
Liberal news and politics outlets are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to lobby for their pet big-government proposals. Whether Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” proposals, laudatory essays on authoritarian China’s response to the crisis, or appeals for new federal agencies and debt-financed universal basic income policies, “big government” as a term and potential savior in…Kenny Xu -
- Opinion
5 Extraordinary Measures We Should Take to Help Health Workers Fight COVID-19
As a professor of nursing who runs an international nurse consulting company, I have a unique perspective on the startling global pandemic of COVID-19. The disease is severely affecting the men and women of the health professions who are on the front lines battling the new coronavirus, which causes the disease. Medical professionals are…Amy Anderson -
- Opinion
How Many Americans Could Die From COVID-19? What the Latest Data, Projections Show
When President Donald Trump announced the “15 Days to Slow the Spread” initiative, it was premised on the idea that 15 days would give the country enough time to collect data and consult models to determine next steps for the country. Now that we have more data, what do we know? There have been several…Kevin Pham -
- Opinion
New Border Pacts With Canada, Mexico Crucial to COVID-19 Response
The U.S. government on March 20 finalized agreements with our neighbors to the north and south to put into place the toughest travel restrictions we’ve ever had on our shared borders. That was done while acknowledging that Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. are all each other’s critical trade partners and that hindering the massive amount…Steven Bucci -
- News
Abortion Providers in 3 States Sue Over Coronavirus Restrictions
Abortion providers in Ohio, Alabama, and Iowa are suing over coronavirus abortion restrictions. The American Civil Liberties Union announced lawsuits against government entities in Ohio, Alabama, and Iowa on Monday afternoon, in coordination with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and abortion providers in each of these states. The ACLU’s lawsuits in Ohio and Iowa seek to “allow the…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- News
Anti-Malaria Drugs Receive Emergency Authorization for Coronavirus Patients
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for donated anti-malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate as doctors say the drugs are showing positive results for coronavirus patients. The agency issued the authorization to allow doctors to distribute and prescribe the anti-malaria drugs to hospitalized teen and adult patients who have…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- News
1 Million Americans Tested for Coronavirus; Rate Now 100,000 Per Day
A total of 1 million tests for the coronavirus now have been administered, President Donald Trump announced Monday evening during a Rose Garden press conference. On a table outside the White House, Trump demonstrated two COVID-19 tests that can be completed within five to 15 minutes. “Today we reached a historic milestone in our war…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Here’s an Old Doctor’s Advice as We Battle COVID-19
As a physician, I have observed the nature of many epidemics since the early 1960s, when I entered medical school. As a child, I witnessed my parents’ fear of dreadful diseases such as polio and scarlet fever. The sheer horror of those diseases—especially the polio virus, which condemned children to an immobile life and death…Daniel H. Johnson Jr. -
- Opinion
Why Must Abortions Continue During a Pandemic?
With COVID-19 spreading through the United States, state and federal officials took extra precautions and shut down nonessential services to preserve medical equipment necessary to combat the disease. In some states, this shutdown includes abortion clinics, since they use personal protective equipment needed by health workers confronting the new coronavirus. As of this writing, government…Nicole Russell -
- News
Trench Warfare in the Time of Coronavirus
KYIV, Ukraine—Last week Ukraine announced plans to extend until April 24 a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region has not let up in intensity, raising concerns among some Ukrainian experts and officials about how the pandemic might impact the country’s front-line combat forces. “I…Nolan Peterson -
- News
De Blasio, NYC Officials Downplayed COVID-19 Threat After Trump Restricted Travel to China. Here Are 5 Examples.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his top health official were telling citizens to take the subway and attend parades months after President Donald Trump restricted travel to coronavirus-plagued China. De Blasio and New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot took turns telling citizens in February and March that the virus was not…Chris White -
- News
Dr. Anthony Fauci Predicts How Many Will Die From Coronavirus in America
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top expert on infectious diseases, predicted Sunday that the United States will end up with “millions” of cases of the coronavirus and up to 200,000 deaths by the time the pandemic ends, though he cautioned that any projection of mortality statistics could “easily” end up being wrong. “Looking at what…Chuck Ross -
- Opinion
An American in China Tells What Life Has Been Like Since COVID-19 Struck
It is challenging to know the reality of how the coronavirus has and will affect China. COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has claimed a reported 3,298 lives in China as of Friday afternoon and infected over 81,000. Although America and the rest of the world now face rampant outbreaks, China already has…Virginia Allen -
- News
Trump Predicts Coronavirus Deaths to Peak in 2 Weeks, Extends Distancing Guidelines to End of April
President Donald Trump announced fatalities from coronavirus are likely to reach the highest point in two weeks, then begin to decline. He also said he’s extending the guidelines to slow the spread–that were set to lapse on Monday–to the end of April. “The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
15 Religious Leaders Share How to Hope During the Pandemic
The coronavirus has drastically changed our world. But the uniqueness of this situation is that we are all facing the same thing together, while being apart. The physical distance we are experiencing can be a great challenge. Schools, business, and churches have closed their doors for an indefinite period of time. But faith leaders from…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
COVID-19 Underscores Need to Preserve Economic Freedom in a Crisis
The Heritage Foundation’s newly released 2020 Index of Economic Freedom provides plenty of evidence of the value of economic freedom. People in freer societies live longer, have much higher levels of income and overall prosperity, and enjoy better health care, cleaner environments, and greater educational opportunities than those societies that are less free. Not all…Terry Miller -
- News
Trump Compels GM to Build More Ventilators for Coronavirus Response
President Donald Trump is applying the Defense Production Act to require General Motors to manufacture more ventilators to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. “Ventilators are a big deal,” the president said at the Friday press briefing. “This invocation of the DPA should indicate to all that we will not hesitate to use the full authority…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
COVID-19 Shut Down the SAT and ACT, but Not the Classic Learning Test
COVID-19 has disrupted student life across the nation, closing schools and leading to major questions about what’s in store for high school juniors and seniors as they take their next steps toward college. The virus canceled many college placement exams that had been slated over the next few months. The ACT has postponed its April…Jude Schwalbach -
- Opinion
Iran’s Coronavirus Propaganda Scapegoats America
The embrace of coronavirus conspiracy theories by Iran’s Islamist regime in recent days has exposed the cynicism and desperation of a beleaguered dictatorship focused on retaining power while sacrificing the health of its own people. The Iranian regime has accused the United States of being behind the coronavirus outbreak, to shift blame for the questionable…James Phillips