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
Remembering Kermit Gosnell’s Victims by Protecting Other Women and Children From Abortion Industry
Today marks the second anniversary of the conviction of Kermit Gosnell, the late-term abortionist who brutalized women and routinely killed living, breathing infants in his rundown West Philadelphia clinic. Later today the House is scheduled to vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, H.R. 36, which would limit late-term abortions after 20 weeks, include… -
news
Why This Family Struggled to Secure Health Insurance Under Obamacare for Their 4-Year-Old Son
When Lindsay Franks received a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services’ health insurance marketplace in January, she was certain it was a scam. “Important,” the letter read. “Respond within 60 days to keep your Marketplace health coverage.” The message, dated Jan. 13, 2015, looked official, with the federal marketplace’s logo pasted in… -
news
How This Congressional Maneuver Could Be Used to Repeal Obamacare
For the first time in five years, Congress has passed a budget. However, it does not repeal Obamacare. According to Paul Winfree, director of the Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation, Republicans could use reconciliation to keep their promises to voters to repeal the Affordable Care Act. >>> Key Facts About Congress’s Budget, Which Will Repeal… -
news
Emergency Room Visits Increase Under Obamacare
A majority of physicians report that they have seen an increase in emergency visits since Obamacare went into effect, according to a new poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians. According to the poll, 28 percent of respondents reported that the number of emergency room patients has “increased greatly,” and 47 percent responded that… -
news
After Expanding Under Obamacare, This 123-Year-Old Insurance Company Is Closing Its Doors
After expanding to do business on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges last year, a Wisconsin-based health insurance company founded in 1892 has announced it will close its doors. Assurant Inc. announced last week one of its subsidiaries, Assurant Health, an insurance company, will either be sold or shuttered after losing tens of millions of dollars… -
opinion
Judicial Activism on Marriage, Like Abortion, Can Cause Harms
Forty-two years ago, in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the Supreme Court tried to settle the abortion debate by declaring the Constitution somehow creates a right to abortion in all 50 states. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires abortion in all 50 states, and that’s why Roe is rightly viewed as an activist decision, as explained in this… -
opinion
Key Facts About Congress’s Budget, Which Will Repeal Obamacare Through Reconciliation
House and Senate negotiators reached a conference agreement on the fiscal year 2016 budget which is expected to be voted on in the House this week and in the Senate next week. Should the concurrent budget resolution pass, this would mark the first time in five years that Congress passed a budget. And it would… -
news
Carly Fiorina: ‘Nobody Agrees With’ Democrats’ Abortion Platform
Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and likely presidential candidate Carly Fiorina criticized the Democratic Party’s platform of abortion on demand during a recent speech. Serving as the mistress of ceremonies at the Susan B. Anthony List’s Campaign for Life Gala in Washington, D.C. last week, Fiorina praised the organization and its supporters for their contributions to… -
news
Insiders Detail Culture of Secrecy at California’s Obamacare Exchange
Aiden Hill’s introduction to the secretive culture at Covered California came in his first days on the job. He had just been hired to head up the agency’s $120 million call center effort when he emailed a superior April 18, 2013, and got a text message in reply: Please refrain from writing a lot of… -
news
How Schools Use Medicaid Money to Pay for Truancy Officers, Deans and Healthy-Eating Magnets
At a school board meeting in Henrico County, Va., two months ago, a panel of school district officials and board members had been left speechless. School district officials were in the midst of crafting the district’s budget for 2016, and the five-member board had just heard a presentation from Assistant Superintendent for Finance Terry Stone,… -
news
Incompetence, Mismanagement Plague California’s Obamacare Insurance Exchange
California’s health insurance exchange, established under the Affordable Care Act, has been held out as a national model for Obamacare. In some ways—not all of them good—it is. Whether it’s falling far short of 2015 enrollment goals or sending out 100,000 inaccurate tax forms, Covered California is struggling with its share of challenges. Now, several… -
opinion
The Greatest Setback for Cancer Research Is Obamacare
Nearly everyone is thinking about cancer these days thanks to the Ken Burns film on PBS, “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies.” All of us, including Burns himself, who as a child lost his mother to cancer, know a family member or a close friend who has died of the Killer C. The film tells… -
news
Abortion Procedure Extracting Unborn Child ‘One Piece at a Time’ Triggers Controversy in Kansas
Mary Spaulding Balch has been fighting against what she calls “dismemberment abortion” since she was 17 years old. Now, at 60, she’s breathing a sigh of relief. “It’s been a long time. Too long,” Balch told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “I was naïve enough to think back in the 70s, we would… -
opinion
Obamacare’s $800 Billion Tax Hike Explained in One Chart
April 15 is right around the corner, and millions of Americans will find themselves paying more in taxes than ever thanks to Obamacare. The law is more than a fundamental change to the country’s health care system. It also is a massive tax hike. As The Heritage Foundation’s Federal Budget in Pictures shows, according to… -
opinion
Obamacare Has Led to Higher Insurance Premiums
It’s been five years since the Affordable Care Act became law, but only two since most of its provisions went into effect. As its detractors predicted, Obamacare’s implementation led to a large, immediate rise in health insurance premiums. This is hardly surprising: The law required that a broad swath of treatments be fully insured, thus… -
news
Where Do GOP Presidential Prospects Stand on 20-Week Abortion Ban?
In a crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, is there room for agreement on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act? The legislation would prohibit abortion after five months—more than halfway through a pregnancy—except in cases where rape or incest were reported. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows 60 percent of Americans support pain-capable legislation. Do the… -
news
Ohio Bill Would Ban Abortion Based on a Fetal Down Syndrome Diagnosis
A bill has been introduced in the Ohio legislature that would prohibit abortion based on a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome. House Bill 135, titled “The Down Syndrome Non-Discrimination Act,” would prohibit abortion because of “a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome in an unborn child.” The legislation was introduced by Reps. Sarah LaTourette, R-Bainbridge, and… -
opinion
How This House-Passed Bill Could Help Fund Obamacare Enrollment
A House-passed bill to replace the payment formula for doctors in Medicare and extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program includes money that could be used to help consumers enroll in Obamacare’s exchange plans or any other government-sponsored health program. Obamacare created the Community Health Centers Fund and allotted $9 billion to it, along… -
opinion
How King v. Burwell Decision Could Affect Obamacare Enrollees
Obamacare has been confusing since day one. So it’s not surprising that conflicting claims and some misinformation are circulating about what the Supreme Court’s decision in King v. Burwell could mean for the several million Americans who may be directly affected. It’s important to realize that a loss in subsidies does not mean a loss… -
opinion
How Republicans Could Use Budget Maneuver to Repeal Obamacare
As the budget season heats up, congressional Republicans are focused on two key issues: how much defense spending should be and whether to use a budget maneuver to repeal Obamacare. Defense Disagreement By far the largest disagreement between the House and Senate regarding the fiscal year 2016 budget is the level and mechanism by which…