Healthcare & Policy News

In their lists of demands for the $1.- trillion omnibus spending bill, Republican lawmakers and leaders of conservative groups are calling on House and Senate leadership to stymie the federal government’s ability to use taxpayer dollars to pay insurance companies through Obamacare’s risk corridor program. But what exactly is the risk corridor program, and how…

Senate Democrats blocked GOP efforts Thursday to repeal Obamacare’s risk corridor program, which Republicans have referred to as a taxpayer-funded bailout of insurers. Now, conservatives are looking to the $1.1-trillion omnibus spending bill to continue restricting the use of taxpayer dollars for the program. As Congress begins to debate this year’s omnibus spending bill, Sen….

The Senate took a “step in the right direction” by bolstering a fast-tracked House bill to repeal Obamacare during the budget reconciliation process, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kans., told The Daily Signal. But rather than renew a push for what he calls “repeal lite,” Huelskamp said, conservatives should “start over” in 2017 and pursue “a fuller repeal” of the…

In a move that gets Republicans closer to landing a bill repealing Obamacare on President Barack Obama’s desk, the Senate passed a bill Thursday night rolling back key provisions of Obamacare and placing a one-year moratorium on funding for Planned Parenthood. Using a budget tool called reconciliation, which allows a bill to pass with 51…

A  pizza shop scrapped a surcharge of 3 percent on customers’ checks to cover Affordable Care Act fees for employees a day after adding it. On Tuesday, Brooklyn restaurant Franny’s put a note on its website saying the pizza shop would add the surcharge because of  Obamacare. The message—“a 3 percent surcharge will be added to all checks to contribute to…

Conservatives have waited more than five years to deliver an Obamacare repeal bill to President Barack Obama’s desk. And until this week, it appeared that Republicans were about to squander what many conservatives believed was their best shot since the law’s passage. Conservatives say it’s a lesson in staying true to their principles and forcing…

In a bid to win over conservatives, Senate Republicans intend to introduce an aggressive plan to repeal Obamacare that includes phasing out the expansion of Medicaid for low-income recipients. Last month, the House sent a fast-track reconciliation bill to the Senate that repeals parts of Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, and defunds Planned…

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…

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-…

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…

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…