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
‘There Is Just So Much Confusion Out There’: How Obamacare Figures Into Your 2014 Taxes
In addition to the normal thrills and chills of the income tax filing season, this year consumers will have the added excitement of figuring out how the health law figures in their 2014 taxes. The good news is that for most people the only change to their normal tax filing routine will be to check… -
news
What’s the Alternative to Obamacare? This New Book Provides the Answer … and How to Make It Happen
Since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, supporters have called the legislation “the law of the land,” and the president says the health care debate is “over.” But in a new book, one journalist points out that laws can change. In “Overcoming Obamacare: Three Approaches to Reversing the Government Takeover… -
opinion
4 Key Upcoming Supreme Court Cases Involving Spider-Man, the Confederate Flag and Obamacare
Today the Supreme Court will be back in full swing, hearing oral arguments in a number of important cases. In addition to a case dealing with discrimination against Muslims and a few involving freedom of speech, here are other noteworthy cases coming up. 1. Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans: Do messages on… -
opinion
Fracking, Not Obamacare, Has Helped the Middle Class
Americans of all income levels would benefit from faster economic growth that raises wages. Unfortunately, wages are being held back by the very policies supported by those criticizing slow wage growth. Liberals across the country supported the misnamed Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). The law’s mandates have made health coverage more expensive for both individuals… -
news
What You Need to Know About the Fight to Make Members of Congress Enroll in Obamacare
Is Congress a “small” business? That’s the debate playing out in a Washington courthouse between the federal government’s personnel office, the District of Columbia’s health exchange and a local taxpayer who brought the case. For years, Republicans have made the case that members of Congress and their staffs are getting special treatment under Obamacare. Their… -
news
House Republicans Introduce Late-Term Abortion Ban
With majorities in the House and Senate, Republicans have renewed their push to ban late-term abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. On Wednesday, Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.” In a joint press release, Franks said that his bill would protect “innocent and defenseless children”… -
opinion
Chart of the Week: How Much Will Obamacare Fines Continue to Rise?
If you failed to purchase health insurance, expect tax penalties to double this year. And don't forget to report your health insurance status directly to the Internal Revenue Service — they're gearing up to collect. Check out the fines to come this year and in 2016 in the chart below. Thanks, Obamacare! >>Related: New Year… -
opinion
5 Reasons to Repeal the Entirety of Obamacare in 2015
The debate over Obamacare is as strong as ever, despite being passed into law nearly five years ago. Here are five of the biggest reasons Congress should repeal Obamacare in 2015: Obamacare creates $1.8 trillion in new health care spending and uses cuts to Medicare spending to help pay for some of it. The law’s exchange… -
news
How the White House Responded to Harvard Professors Complaining About Obamacare Costs
White House spokesman Josh Earnest was on the defensive Tuesday when Fox News’ Ed Henry pressed him on Harvard professors’ criticism of Obamacare amid rising health care costs. “Here are some of the same professors who were advisers to the president’s first campaign in 2008, advocated the Affordable Care Act,” Henry said, citing the New… -
news
John Kasich Defends Medicaid Expansion in Ohio
Gov. John Kasich demanded fiscal responsibility and defended his Obamacare Medicaid expansion during a recent speech before the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. “People, ya know, there’s all this thing about Republicans don’t wanna spend and Democrats do. Conservatives on the Republican side say, ‘We want smaller government.’ Well, go and talk to them about how… -
news
Harvard Professors, Once Champions of Obamacare, Take a Different Tack as Health Care Costs Rise
Despite its inconsistencies, Obamacare seems to have one consistent trend: Those who once supported the law now want immunity from it. The latest case study is Harvard University. The university’s faculty is fighting against rising health care costs largely driven by the Affordable Care Act—the very legislation professors at Harvard once supported. Members of the… -
news
Mia Love Vows to Do ‘Everything Humanly Possible to Stop Obamacare’
Rep.-elect Mia Love will join congressional Republicans in the fight against Obamacare tomorrow. Yesterday, on ABC News’ “This Week,” Love promised to do “everything humanly possible to stop” the health care law. Love told host Martha Raddatz that she plans to uphold her promise to Utah voters by backing Ted Cruz’s efforts to repeal and… -
news
New Year Brings New Obamacare Fines
Millions of Americans are facing new tax penalties in 2015 courtesy of the Affordable Care Act. Fines for failing to purchase health insurance are set to double, and for the first time, the Internal Revenue Service is gearing up to collect. If you don’t have coverage in 2015, you’ll pay either $325 or 2 percent… -
news
This Sheriff Wants More ‘Outrage’ Over Abortion of Black Babies
According to this sheriff, black lives matter—even the ones in the womb. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has been a vocal critic of anti-police demonstrations in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. So when Clarke saw New York Times reporter Mitch Smith covering a “die-in” protest on Twitter, he responded. Clarke… -
news
Minnesota Businesses Score Obamacare Exemptions
Do you believe in miracles? Ask Greg Hall, whose company supplied technology and know-how that helped rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for more than two months in 2010. Almost as miraculous, Hall’s American Manufacturing Co. just received a permanent federal exemption from provisions of the Affordable Care Act that contradict the Catholic deacon and businessman’s… -
news
Nicki Minaj: My Abortion Has ‘Haunted Me All My Life’
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, rapper Nicki Minaj openly discussed her decision to have an abortion, a choice that she says has “haunted me all my life.” While attending the prestigious LaGuardia Performing Arts High School in New York and dating an older man from Queens, Minaj discovered she was pregnant. “I was a… -
news
A New PAC Focusing on Obamacare Is Run By Doctors, Nurses
Beleaguered members of Congress who support Obamacare and squeaked by in the recent election now have a nemesis – a PAC of doctors, surgeons and nurses demanding they change their ways because the health-care law will only wreak more havoc in 2015. “A lot of the Democrats in Congress have gotten the message in this… -
news
Obama Administration Celebrates Medicaid Enrollment Explosion
President Obama’s administration began celebrating Christmas early by announcing 9.7 million Americans have enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in the past year. “As we approach the New Year, we take time to reflect on the many individuals and families who have been helped by the Affordable Care Act,” began the U.S. Department… -
news
Why Obamacare Is Prompting Small Businesses to Drop Coverage
For two decades Atlanta restaurant owner Jim Dunn offered a group health plan to his managers and helped pay for it. That ended Dec. 1, after the Affordable Care Act made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Health-law subsidies for workers to buy their own coverage combined with years of rising costs in the company… -
opinion
Here’s a Viable Replacement for Obamacare
In the wake of Republican mid-term electoral victories, and with support for the president’s health care law registering new lows in the Gallup survey, it is time to consider what a “repeal and replace” strategy for Obamacare might actually look like. While it is true that the politics and timing remain fluid, it is still…