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
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 -
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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 -
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‘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 -
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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 -
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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 -
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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 -
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Competition in Obamacare Exchanges Declined in 2016
On Oct. 1, 2013, President Barack Obama lauded the opening of the Affordable Care Act’s new health insurance exchanges and claimed, “You’ll find more choices, more competition, and in many cases, lower prices.” In his latest paper tracking choice and insurer competition in the exchanges, Heritage Foundation senior fellow Ed Haislmaier reports that fewer insurers are…Jean Morrow -
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3 Ways Obamacare’s Insurance Regulations Could Cost You
The price tag for the Affordable Care Act includes not only the additional tax dollars spent on expanding Medicaid and providing new subsidies for exchange coverage, but also the costs imposed, in the form of higher health insurance premiums, by the law’s new regulations. While sound health care policy would have focused on finding ways…Drew Gonshorowski -
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A Legacy of Broken Promises: Obamacare Turns 6
Obamacare, a partisan product full of broken promises, is six years old. Burdened by mounting problems, it’s not mellowing with age. Notwithstanding the president’s notorious promise, millions of Americans have lost their health care plans, and, for those faced with narrowing provider networks, their choice of doctors is also shrinking. If you were eagerly awaiting…Robert Moffit -
- Opinion
Why the Little Sisters of the Poor Believe Obamacare Mandate Violates Their Religious Liberty
The Little Sisters of the Poor is a group of Catholic nuns who typically lead a quiet, dignified existence caring for the elderly poor. In the last few years, that quiet existence has been troubled by the constant court battles the group has been fighting over the Affordable Care Act’s so-called “contraceptive mandate,” which requires…Grace Stark -
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In 5 Charts, How Obamacare Has Worked the Past 6 Years
Six years ago Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. Since then, Americans have seen their premiums increase, a dozen nonprofit insurers have closed their doors and the number of people on the Medicaid rolls has expanded. Americans nationwide have both praised and cursed the law since the…Melissa Quinn -
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Obamacare Mandate Would Make ‘Hypocrites’ of Catholic University, Its President Says
The head of one of the nation’s most prominent Catholic universities said in an interview with The Daily Signal that Obamacare is at odds with the institution’s mission by mandating coverage of contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs in health plans. Requiring such insurance coverage in violation of deeply held religious beliefs “makes hypocrites of us,” John…Mariana Barillas -
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6 Broken Obamacare Promises
The Affordable Care Act is six years old today, but there is little reason to celebrate. Here are six broken promises and lies made by President Barack Obama and his ally, Rep. Nancy Pelosi. D-Calif., about the law—which are six good reasons Congress should blow out the birthday candles and repeal it once and for…Genevieve Wood -
- Opinion
Obamacare Was Going to Lower Health Care Costs. What Actually Happened.
Hawking the Affordable Care Act (ACA) six years ago, President Barack Obama said, “Every single good idea to bend the cost curve and start actually reducing health care costs [is] in this bill.” Team Obama projected that their version of health care reform—replete with the bells and whistles of “investments” in health information technology, health…Robert Moffit -
- Opinion
Why Obamacare Premiums Are Climbing All Over US
On the third year of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, it is becoming more apparent that the promises of cost-saving and premium reduction may be reserved only for people who are able to capture the most subsidies. Plans increased rates by 25.1 percent in Kentucky, 14 percent in Ohio, and nearly 11 percent in Michigan. Exchange…Drew Gonshorowski -
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Obamacare Insurers Could Get Billions From Controversial Government Fund
A $5 billion lawsuit filed by a nonprofit insurer against the Obama administration for a program implemented under Obamacare is raising questions about the use of a fund available for settlements with the government and whether Congress can, and should, intervene. According to legal experts, if the Obama administration decided to settle its class action…Melissa Quinn -
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She Survived an Abortion. Now She’s Telling Lawmakers Her Story.
Late-term abortion survivor Melissa Ohden sees Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing as an opportunity to let the American public know “what late-term abortion looks like.” “As somebody who has lived to see the effects of abortion, I think it’s incredibly important for the public to pay attention to this hearing, to hear the stories of people…Mariana Barillas -
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Will Failed Obamacare Co-Ops Repay Taxpayers’ Money? Senate Panel Seeks Answers
Top Obamacare officials told a Senate panel Thursday that they can’t guarantee that the government ever will recover billions of taxpayer dollars loaned to health insurance “co-ops.” “Today’s hearing is about the families who lost their health care plans, it’s about the taxpayers who were swindled, it’s about the bureaucrats who mismanaged this program, and…Leah Jessen