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
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… -
news
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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
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… -
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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
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… -
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… -
opinion
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… -
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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
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… -
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… -
opinion
New Planned Parenthood Ad Campaign Seeks to Defend Abortion Giant’s Government Funding
After spending over $30 million on the 2016 election, Planned Parenthood has a new project: a million-dollar ad campaign defending its government funding. The organization, which receives over half a billion dollars from taxpayers each year, stands to lose a significant portion of its government funding should Congress pass a reconciliation bill that includes the… -
news
Obamacare Replacement Plan Faces Key Test in Budget Committee
The Obamacare replacement plan offered by congressional Republicans will face its biggest test yet when the House Budget Committee gathers Thursday to review the bill. The 36-member panel will meet to vote on the proposal, called the American Health Care Act. At least three conservative lawmakers who have spoken out against the legislation hold seats… -
news
Debate on Obamacare Repeal Centers on Medicaid. Here’s How States That Expanded It Are Doing.
As lawmakers begin to debate a GOP bill to replace Obamacare, both Republicans and Democrats say they worry that Americans who gained insurance under the health care law will lose the coverage once Congress repeals it. For many, that worry stems from potential changes to Medicaid proposed by Republicans in their plan to replace the… -
opinion
Big Challenges Await Seema Verma, Trump’s Choice to Oversee Medicare, Medicaid
The Senate Finance Committee has completed nearly four hours of confirmation hearings for Seema Verma, President Donald Trump’s nominee for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A Senate hearing is always a challenge for a new administration, but the Hill got it right: Verma, the daughter of immigrants from India, “cruised” through the… -
news
Tom Price Clears Senate, Ready to Dismantle Obamacare as HHS Chief
The Senate voted 52-47 early Friday morning to confirm Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a surgeon who has fought to repeal Obamacare, as the 23rd secretary of health and human services. Not a single Democrat voted for Price, an outspoken critic of Obamacare who is expected to oversee the dismantling and replacement of the health care law… -
opinion
The Question the Left Won’t Answer on Abortion
If there weren’t, well, lives at stake, Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell’s dodging of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson’s questions about whether abortion was the taking of a human life would be comical. Just check out how often Swalwell (who is, of course, from California) dodged it in an appearance Tuesday night (transcript omits some cross chatter):… -
opinion
New Data Show Obamacare Insures Less Than 20 Million, Most on Medicaid
Many Obamacare supporters claim the law has expanded health coverage to upwards of 20 million Americans, but new data shows that isn’t accurate. As part of Congress’ continued push to repeal Obamacare, the House Budget Committee held a hearing this week titled “The Failures of Obamacare: Harmful Effects and Broken Promises.” Heritage Foundation expert Ed…