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
Little Sisters of the Poor Win Big in Obamacare Case
The Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling on Monday in the consolidated challenge to Obamacare’s requirement that nonprofit employers collaborate in the provision of employee health insurance coverage that includes abortion-inducing drugs and devices. This is a victory, not only for the Little Sisters, but for all individuals and organizations who step outside the four…Roger Severino -
- Opinion
New Obamacare Transgender Regulations Threaten Freedom of Physicians
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized new transgender regulations for Obamacare on Friday. These regulations threaten the religious liberty, freedom of conscience, and independent medical judgment of health care professionals. And, just as they did in the transgender school policy the Obama administration announced this morning, the administration has created these new Obamacare…Ryan T. Anderson -
- News
Why HHS Says It Doesn’t Want to Spend Anti-Ebola Funds to Fight Zika
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has unspent money left over from the fight in 2013 against the Ebola epidemic overseas. But HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell has not deployed that money to combat the coming Zika virus because of what she considers prior commitments. House Republicans want to repurpose old Ebola money for…Philip Wegmann -
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How November’s Elections Could Impact the House’s Obamacare Lawsuit
A federal judge delivered a blow to the Obama administration and the president’s signature health care law Thursday in a lawsuit mounted by the House of Representatives. But the lawsuit’s future could be impacted further by November’s elections. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer sided with the House in a case challenging how the Obama administration…Melissa Quinn -
- Opinion
Obama Administration Loses Key Obamacare Case
A federal district court in Washington, D.C., ruled Thursday in favor of the U.S. House of Representatives’ challenge to the Obama administration’s implementation of part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The act has been “revised” dozens of times by the administration since its passage in March 2010, leading the…Hans von Spakovsky -
- Opinion
How Congress Mysteriously Became a ‘Small Business’ to Qualify for Obamacare Subsidies
It seems that federal officials have worked overtime to undermine public trust. Benghazi, the IRS abuses, the “fast and furious” gun-running fiasco, the solar power boondoggles, and the seemingly endless implementation problems of the Affordable Care Act—all these scandals have common themes: arrogant and abusive bureaucracy, double dealing, lame excuses, and legal hairsplitting. All these…Robert Moffit -
- News
Obama Administration Paves Way for States to Bail Out Remaining Obamacare Co-Ops
The Obama administration is changing its rules for the remaining 11 co-ops started under Obamacare to now allow them to more easily attract outside investors, paving the way for states and large hospital systems to potentially inject cash into the struggling nonprofit insurers. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued an interim final rule…Melissa Quinn -
- News
NIH Spends Millions on Hopped-Up Honeybees and Sexy Goldfish, Then Asks for Zika Funding
What do honeybees on cocaine, drunken songbirds, and sexy goldfish have in common? Each was the subject of extensive, taxpayer-funded research and each features prominently in Sen. Jeff Flake’s most recent expose on government waste. The Arizona Republican’s oversight report—”Twenty Questions: Government Studies That Will Leave You Scratching Your Head“—highlights $35 million worth of federally…Philip Wegmann -
- News
Another Major Insurer May Leave Obamacare’s Exchanges
Another major insurer announced it is considering leaving some of Obamacare’s exchanges after losing money and customers. In financial reports released Monday, Humana said that it is likely to exit some exchanges in 2017 after reporting lower earnings and a drop in enrollment in its individual plans, including some sold under the Affordable Care Act….Melissa Quinn -
- Opinion
An Insurance Exodus From Obamacare Could Come in 2017
UnitedHealthcare’s decision to not offer Affordable Care Act exchange plans next year in “at least 26 of the 34 states where it sold 2016 coverage” may soon be followed by similar announcements from other health care insurers. At least that is one implication that can be drawn from the findings reported in a new paper…Jean Morrow -
- News
California Looks to Cover Illegal Immigrants Under Obamacare
In an unprecedented move, California legislators look to extend Obamacare health coverage to the state’s estimated 2.6 million illegal immigrant population. If passed and signed into law, California would be the first state in the nation to request illegal immigrants be covered through a state exchange, the Los Angeles Times reported. It is against the…Leah Jessen -
- News
How UnitedHealthcare’s Exit From Obamacare Exchanges Will Impact Consumers
In the wake of UnitedHealthcare’s decision to exit Obamacare’s marketplaces in 2017, consumers purchasing coverage on the exchanges may have fewer choices and less competition. UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley announced during an earnings call last week that the nation’s largest health provider would be exiting the majority of the exchanges after warning the marketplaces…Melissa Quinn -
- News
Health Care Giant Abandons ‘Higher-Risk’ Obamacare Exchanges
Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group opted out of most Obamacare health exchanges on Tuesday after a review of its first-quarter earnings suggested the exchanges would be a risky investment. According to The Washington Times, UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen J. Hemsley said on a first-quarter earnings call, that the small-market size and “shorter-term, higher-risk” profile of…Kristiana Mork -
- Opinion
Congress Needs to Stop FDA Attack on E-Cigarettes
Many innovative products that may help people quit smoking, such as e-cigarettes, may be forced off the market, courtesy of a looming Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule. The FDA’s new rule would require companies—if they can—to show that their e-cigarettes are “substantially equivalent” to a tobacco product that was on the market as of…Daren Bakst -
- News
‘Stop Cheating Taxpayers:’ Ben Sasse Introduces Bill Requiring Obamacare Program to Reimburse Treasury
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., introduced a bill Thursday that would force the Obama administration to deposit $5 billion in the Treasury by 2017 as required under Obamacare’s reinsurance program or face steep cuts to its departmental management fund this year and next year. Called the “Taxpayers Before Insurers Act,” Sasse’s legislation codifies penalties for the…Melissa Quinn -
- News
Beyond Obamacare: Colorado Considers Single-Payer Model
As Republican policymakers nationwide continue debating ways to replace Obamacare with patient-centered solutions, a Colorado group has landed a plan implementing a single-payer model of health care on November’s ballot. Coloradans are already bracing for its impact. In the general election, Colorado residents will not only head to the polls to cast their votes for…Melissa Quinn -
- Opinion
Obama Administration Doubles Down on Forcing Religious Groups to Accept Abortion Drug ‘Accommodation’
Two weeks ago the Supreme Court asked both sides in the Little Sisters’ case to file supplemental briefs. The Little Sisters’ case challenged Obamacare’s requirement that nonprofit employers must provide employee health insurance coverage that includes potentially life-ending drugs and devices. Now the briefs are in—and while the Little Sisters of the Poor and other…Elizabeth Slattery -
- News
New Study: ‘Sex-Selection Abortion Is a Global Problem,’ Including in US
In advance of a Thursday House hearing on a measure that would ban abortions based on gender, a pro-life group published new research, provided exclusively to The Daily Signal, that suggests that prenatal sex discrimination “occurs globally” and is a problem, “including here in the United States.” “As Anna Higgins eloquently demonstrates in this latest…Kelsey Bolar -
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Abortion Funding Slows Senate Support for Human Trafficking Bill
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., wants to build broad, bipartisan support for taxpayer funding of a nonprofit foundation with the audacious task of combating and ultimately eliminating the modern slave trade, known as human trafficking. Conservatives, however, argue that Corker’s bill would duplicate current government programs and not sufficiently guard against the use of funds to…Ken McIntyre -
- Opinion
4 Facts That Prove Obamacare Isn’t Aging Well
Millions of Americans are faced with rising healthcare costs and higher taxes, unstable and expensive health insurance exchanges, mountains of red tape, and arrogant bureaucratic attacks on personal and religious liberty. These and other mounting problems, as Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Robert E. Moffit shows in a comprehensive Heritage paper, plague the Affordable Care Act….Jean Morrow