Healthcare & Policy News

With Congress, the Supreme Court, sports leagues, schools, and many businesses and companies across America shutting down, only time will tell if we are being appropriately cautious or engaging in a hysterical overreaction to coronavirus.  But for those imaginative reporters who see a Russian lurking behind every tree and keep asking me if President Donald Trump can…

Today we’re interviewing Kevin Pham, a doctor and a contributor to The Daily Signal, about COVID-19. How real is this threat? How is it like and unlike seasonal flu and the swine flu? When do you need to call a doctor if you have symptoms? How soon can we expect a vaccine, and how likely…

“Hunger doesn’t take a break at times like this.” And neither does Second Harvest Heartland. For food bank workers like Allison O’Toole, coronavirus is only part of the country’s crisis. The other? Feeding struggling families and older people who don’t want to leave their homes. But as the need intensifies, so are a lot of churches’…

How are you and your family responding to the “new normal” in this, the time of coronavirus? How about your workplace or place of worship? Things have changed dramatically in America almost overnight because of the new coronavirus disease, which health officials call COVID-19. Here at The Daily Signal, we’d like to hear your stories…

Hardly anything that happens in this world is truly unprecedented. As Americans respond to the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, with canceled events, business closures, and aggressive social distancing, many are taking an interest in another great pandemic that took place a hundred years ago. “We have an invisible enemy. We have a problem that a…

Some commentators have ominously suggested that the United States is just a few days—maybe a week to 10 days—behind the crippling coronavirus crisis that is hammering Europe, especially Italy. If true, that’s troubling. That said, however, taking personal responsibility for doing the right thing with public hygiene and the new (to most of us) concept…

The coronavirus pandemic has renewed interest in telehealth—the practice of letting patients consult with doctors directly, via phone or video conferencing. This method of health care delivery offers obvious advantages, allowing patients to get personal medical advice quickly, without having to come to the doctor’s office first. President Donald Trump reiterated his commitment to clearing…

With schools, businesses, and many government offices closing in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus, state and federal courts are starting to follow suit. Courts across the country are grappling with how to respond to the outbreak while balancing the health and safety of court personnel and litigants against the need to handle…

The coronavirus pandemic demonstrates with crystal clarity how the federal government’s vast regulatory apparatus governing health care can be an obstacle to rapid response in a national emergency. We’ve seen this movie before. The law of unintended consequences is an ironclad rule of public policy, and in health policy, that law can go berserk. The…

History condemns generals who plan to fight the last war, rather than anticipate the challenges ahead. Effective leaders strive to get in front of the problem. In his Rose Garden news conference Friday outlining the federal government’s next steps to get in front of the advancing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump was much more forward-looking than his critics….

Even the threat of global pandemic apparently can’t slow the hysterical culture of modern political correctness. Apparently, according to some in the news media and even Congress, it’s racist to refer to coronavirus as “the Wuhan virus” or “Chinese coronavirus” or any other name that identifies the likely city, province, or country of origin. The fervor…

President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency Friday to deal with the coronavirus pandemic is anything but a sign to panic. Instead, it’s a reassurance to the American people that the federal government, state and local governments, nongovernmental organizations and American industry are working together to stop the spread of the virus. In many parts of…

One of the first rules of weathering a crisis is to remain calm. Freaking out never helps. It’s not yet clear how big of a crisis the new coronavirus will be, but panicking over even the most minor matters has become an American specialty these last few years. In our politics, we have jumped from…

As my fellow Heritage Foundation colleagues have laid out, any policy responses to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic should be targeted, temporary, and directed at aiding public health efforts. That includes both economic and social responses, such as those involving food security. Congress should follow those principles as well with any policy response that…