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

    This Health Care Nonprofit Gives Millions to Boost Obamacare and Far-Left Causes. What About the Public Interest?

    A radical California organization boasts of pouring millions into health care and education programs in the public interest, Obamacare among them, but pulls back the welcome mat from anyone who offers conservative or faith-based solutions to society's ills. Groups not in line with liberal causes apparently need not apply for grants from the flush health foundation, the California Endowment. That much is spelled out…
    Kevin Mooney
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    • News

    How Obamacare Could Limit Insurance Options for Americans in These 34 States

    More than 500,000 consumers who purchased plans from UnitedHealthcare on Obamacare’s exchanges may be forced to change insurers and select new coverage in 2017, despite the insurance giant’s decision to expand into 34 states this year. Last week, UnitedHealthcare, the largest insurer in the U.S., told shareholders it was considering pulling out of the state-…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • Opinion

    Government Forecasters Significantly Overestimated Obamacare Plan Profitability

    The CEO of UnitedHealth Group Inc. recently announced that the company was losing hundreds of millions of dollars by offering qualified health plans (QHPs) in the Obamacare exchanges. As 2015 comes to a close, the insurer will have lost $350 million, and it expects to lose another $500 million by offering health plans on the…
    Paul Winfree
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    • News

    Reuters Agrees to Correct Questionable Abortion Statistic

    A spokeswoman for Reuters told The Daily Signal that the news agency will issue a correction after distributing a misleading statistic on self-induced abortion in Texas. Reuters’ original report suggested that the rate of self-induced abortions has increased in Texas since the state passed a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. “We are issuing a correction on…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • News

    Nation’s Largest Health Insurer Evaluating Leaving Obamacare Exchanges in 2017

    UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, announced Thursday that it has reduced its earnings expectations for 2015 and projected a similar initial outlook for 2016. The company also indicated it is considering leaving Obamacare’s public exchange markets in 2017. The company expects a $0.26-per-share—or $425-million—reduction in its fourth-quarter earnings for 2015. UnitedHealth Group added that it…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • Opinion

    One Man’s Fight With Lou Gehrig’s Disease Highlights Why the FDA Needs to Be Reformed

    Dying patients simply don’t have the luxury of time, and many American patients with deadly diseases are being prevented from trying drugs that might extend their lives. David’s Story Take, for example, the story of David Huntly, an avid athlete, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS…
    Alden Abbott
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    • News

    Exclusive: Partial Repeal Keeps 82% of Obamacare Burden, Memo Says

    A House bill that some lawmakers insist would repeal Obamacare doesn’t touch the lion’s share of the tax burden imposed by the Affordable Care Act, according to a congressional report obtained by The Daily Signal. The report from the Congressional Research Service, dated Nov. 17, shows that 82 percent of the economic burden caused by Obamacare…
    Philip Wegmann
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    • News

    This Couple Is ‘Attempting Something Big’ to Stop Abortion

    A Kentucky couple has decided to “attempt something big” to stop abortion. After watching controversial videos of Planned Parenthood executives, Kevin and Nicole Cook decided they wanted to adopt a child whose biological mother considered abortion. Two years ago, the couple suffered a miscarriage. They have struggled with infertility ever since. In an interview with The…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • News

    GOP Senators Split on Adding Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare Reconciliation Bill

    Senate Republicans are continuing to work through the details of a bill to repeal Obamacare with just 51 votes, and some are calling for the legislation to include a provision rolling back the law’s Medicaid expansion. The House sent a reconciliation bill rolling back parts of Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood to the Senate last…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    Reconciliation Bill That Repeals Parts of Obamacare, Defunds Planned Parenthood Still May Face Significant Roadblocks

    Senate Republicans are about to consider a House bill defunding Planned Parenthood and portions of Obamacare after receiving a green light from the official who advises on proper procedure. But, experts caution, the bill may face significant roadblocks. A spokesman for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the parliamentarian—the officer overseeing Senate procedure—confirmed that…
    Philip Wegmann
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    • Opinion

    Supreme Court to Decide Major Abortion Case

    The Supreme Court will decide one of the most important cases on abortion policy in recent years by the end of June. Today, the justices announced that they will decide whether to uphold parts of a Texas law requiring abortion clinics to meet basic health and safety standards and abortion doctors to have admitting privileges…
    Elizabeth Slattery
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    • Opinion

    Is the GOP Giving Up on Repealing Obamacare?

    Some Republican senators are no longer committed to full repeal of Obamacare. That’s the takeaway from recent statements made by GOP senators about the Medicaid expansion, and whether or not repealing it will be included in the partial Obamacare repeal the Senate votes on via reconciliation (which means they need only 51 senators to vote…
    Katrina Trinko
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    • News

    Planned Parenthood Paid $3 for Birth Control but Billed Medicaid $35, Former Manager Says

    A little-known whistleblower lawsuit accuses Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa of wrongly siphoning millions of American taxpayer dollars with a series of complicated billing schemes aimed at increasing profits. Among other dishonest practices, a former manager of the clinics alleges, Planned Parenthood staffers routinely purchased birth control pills for just under $3, billed Medicaid $35…
    Kelsey Bolar
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    • News

    Like Obamacare Co-Ops, Government Small Business Insurance Exchange Underperforming

    After nearly two years in operation and millions of dollars spent in development, the small business health insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act is struggling to catch on. Nationally, about 85,000 people, from 11,000 small businesses, have coverage through the online marketplace known as the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, according to…
    Phil Galewitz
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    • News

    After Receiving $71.5 Million in Taxpayer-Funded Loans, 12th Obamacare Co-Op Closes

    A 12th Obamacare co-op has decided to close its doors after receiving more than $71 million in taxpayer-funded loans and enrolling more than 25,000 consumers in health insurance. Consumers Mutual Insurance of Michigan and the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services announced their decision to wind down the co-op’s operations last week, bringing the…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    It’s Obamacare Enrollment Season. Find Out If Your State Exchange Sells Plans That Don’t Cover Elective Abortions

    It’s open enrollment season for Obamacare, and two pro-life groups want to make sure consumers seeking health insurance know which plans cover elective abortion. ObamacareAbortion.com, a joint project of the Family Research Council and the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the Susan B. Anthony List, was launched in November of 2014 to help consumers…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • News

    Top Officials With Failed Obamacare Co-Ops Made an Average of $245,000

    Before 11 of the 23 nonprofit insurers created under Obamacare announced they would be closing their doors, the top executives running their operations raked in large sums of money. According to 2013 tax filings accessed through Guidestar.org, the top executives at the 11 co-ops that have announced they will be winding down operations made an…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    Ben Sasse Demands ‘Full Accounting’ on Failure of Obamacare Co-Ops

    Federal health officials need to “provide a complete accounting” of what led to the failures of a dozen Obamacare co-operatives,  Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebr., said today in testimony before a House subcommittee. The co-ops, nonprofit insurance companies, were created under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, to sell insurance plans to consumers seeking health coverage….
    Kate Scanlon
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    • Opinion

    Why Abortion Survivors’ Stories Should Be Heard

    The national frenzy over Planned Parenthood has died down somewhat since the House Oversight Committee hearing that occurred more than a month ago. News headlines have shifted from the testimony of Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards to the latest developments in the race for president. However, as the media spotlight has shifted, I am still…
    Hope Steffensen
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    • News

    Elections Have Consequences: Democrat Governor’s Obamacare Plan ‘Isn’t Going Anywhere’

    Republicans retained control of the Virginia Senate in a closely watched election Tuesday, preventing the Democrat governor from pursuing an expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. “We had a great night,” Bill McCollum, chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee, said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday, citing the party’s victories in Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and…
    Kate Scanlon
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