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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- News
McConnell Says 20-Week Abortion Ban Has Full Backing of the Senate
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the 20-week abortion ban has the Senate’s full support following Monday’s presser on tax reform. “It’s supported by virtually all of my members and we expect to have a vote on it at some point,” said McConnell, R-Ky. The bill, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, states that…Grace Carr -
- Opinion
To Prevent Painful Suffering for Children, Late-Term Abortion Should Be Banned
Five-year-old Micah Pickering made an appearance on Capitol Hill on Sept. 26 to put a face to the proposed Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The youngster came dressed for the occasion in a suit, vest, and tie. He held hands with his parents, Danielle and Clayton Pickering, from Iowa City, Iowa, as House Majority…Monica Burke -
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Tom Price Resigns as HHS Secretary
President Donald Trump accepted the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced late Friday afternoon. Price had been under fire for his use of private charter flights. “Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas Price offered his resignation earlier today and the…Fred Lucas -
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California’s Assault on Abortion Pill Reversal Is an Assault on Women’s Choice
If there was any doubt about California’s status as the nation’s standard-bearer for abortion, a recent letter sent by the state’s Board of Registered Nursing should clear that up in a jiffy. Acting at the behest of abortion activists in the state Legislature and online media, the board—which is overseen by California’s Department of Consumer…Jay Hobbs -
- Opinion
Down Syndrome in Iceland Is ‘Disappearing’ Because of Abortion
The headline is shocking: Down syndrome is virtually disappearing in Iceland. More accurately, people with Down syndrome are being eliminated in Iceland through abortion. As prenatal testing becomes more and more widespread across the world, the number of babies born with Down syndrome and other conditions has decreased because when parents opt for screening that…Melanie Israel -
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Sanders Casts Lone Vote Against FDA Bill
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., cast the only vote against a Food and Drug Administration user fee reauthorization bill that passed the Senate Thursday in an overwhelming majority of 94 to 1. Sanders voted against the bill, which facilitates the collection of fees from drug and medical device companies, because it “does nothing to lower drug…Jack Crowe -
- Opinion
Why Is HHS Contraception Order Still Standing?
After meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on May 4, I sat in the Rose Garden and listened as the president promised the Little Sisters of the Poor that their “long ordeal” with the government’s contraceptive mandate “would soon be over.” Yet here we are, nearly three months later, and the Health and Human…Cardinal Daniel DiNardo -
- Opinion
FDA Gets It Right by Embracing Tobacco Harm Reduction
In an apparent philosophical shift, the Food and Drug Administration is taking a new tack when it comes to tobacco regulation: It is embracing the strategy of tobacco harm reduction. New and innovative products, such as e-cigarettes, can deliver nicotine at far lower risk than combustible cigarettes. But these products had been threatened by FDA…Daren Bakst -
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In Video, Planned Parenthood Medical Chief Tells How to Get Around Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion
A new undercover video shows a top physician at a Planned Parenthood affiliate discussing how her organization routinely circumvents federal law regulating certain late-term abortions. In the latest hidden-camera video from the Center for Medical Progress, Dr. Suzie Prabhakaran, vice president of medical affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, talks about using…Christine Roe -
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We Hear You: The Minimum Wage, Welfare, Medicaid … and Walling Off the Eiffel Tower
Editor's note: Jarrett Stepman's commentaries for The Daily Signal ring bells with readers. See for yourself in this selection of responses.—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Jarrett Stepman writes in opposition to Seattle's having raised the minimum wage: "Lincoln saw the ‘opportunity society’ and reaping the fruits of one’s labor as fundamental to the growth and…Ken McIntyre -
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School-Based Health Services and Medicaid in Context: A Better Way to Pay
Congressional efforts to reform health care include capping federal funding and streamlining Medicaid to refocus it on its original, neediest recipients and slow the rate of growth for what has become an expensive, unrestricted entitlement threatening the future of the safety net for those in greatest need. Yet critics argue that such efforts would adversely…Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
Democrats’ Fearmongering Over Medicaid Ignores Just How Bad the Program Is
Die-hard Obamacare defenders are out in force to protest Republican repeal efforts. The protesters are falsely claiming the repeal will gut Medicaid, causing frail, indigent seniors to be evicted from nursing homes. It’s sheer demagoguery. But even these phony claims could have redeeming value if they get the public to take a closer look at…Betsy McCaughey -
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Obama Says Health Bill Will ‘Ruin’ Medicaid. Here’s Why the Program Needs Reform.
The much-anticipated Senate health care bill dropped Thursday morning, and the hot takes poured in. While analysts are scrambling to understand the details of the legislation, one of the biggest early criticisms is that it eviscerates Medicaid, which is a public health care program. Liberal pundits and legislators reacted by saying that the bill would…Jarrett Stepman -
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These Numbers From New Planned Parenthood Report Show Need to Defund Abortion Giant
Each year, Planned Parenthood Federation of America issues an annual report outlining the abortion giant’s medical service data, revenue and expenses, and advocacy and educational activity. This week, the 2015-2016 report went public. These reports are typically published in December or January, but this year’s highly anticipated report was inexplicably released several months later than…Melanie Israel -
- Opinion
Trump’s Budget Puts Medicaid on a Path to Long-Needed Reform
Medicaid, the huge government health program for the poor and the indigent, is broken. Both the Trump administration’s recent budget submission and the House-passed American Health Care Act, designed to partially repeal and replace Obamacare, propose Medicaid fixes. Dubious assumptions burden the Trump budget proposal, and the House health care reform bill labors under some…Robert Moffit -
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Horrifying Video From Abortion Conference Shows Utter Disregard for Human Life
Lawyers for Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden released a new video Thursday that exposes horrifying statements from leaders of the abortion industry during National Abortion Federation conventions in California in 2014 and 2015. The National Abortion Federation describes itself as “the professional association of abortion providers.” The group says it “exhibits and presents at numerous…Melanie Israel -
- News
Pro-Life Advocates Optimistic as One of Their Own Gets Key HHS Job
President Donald Trump’s appointment of a national pro-life leader to serve as the top communicator at the Department of Health and Human Services is great news for the pro-life cause, leaders at associated organizations say. Charmaine Yoest, longtime head of the group Americans United for Life, will assume the responsibilities of assistant secretary for public…Rachel del Guidice -
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FDA May Make Too Many Pizza Toppings a Crime
Jenny Craig can’t arrest you if you miscount your calories, but the federal government could if a new calorie-counting rule takes effect. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments” (79 FR 71155) rule was originally scheduled to take effect on May 5. The…David Rosenthal -
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Scott Gottlieb a Strong Pick to Head the FDA
A couple weeks ago, President Donald Trump nominated Dr. Scott Gottlieb to be commissioner of the powerful Food and Drug Administration. A prominent physician, Gottlieb is an assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine and a resident fellow specializing in health policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Gottlieb has long been a high-profile…Robert Moffit -
- Opinion
Work Requirements in Medicaid Won’t Work. Here’s a Serious Alternative.
Recent reports indicate that the Trump administration and House Republicans are considering “work requirements” in Medicaid as part of their overall health care reform package. Under the proposed policy, governors would be given the option of requiring able-bodied adults without dependent children enrolled in Medicaid to hold a job, perform community service, or undertake training…Robert Rector