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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Those Ebola Vaccines in Testing Now? You Can Thank Dick Cheney for That
Democrats looking to blame Republicans for the lack of an Ebola vaccine may owe Dick Cheney an apology. It turns out that as vice president, Cheney was the driving force behind more funding for the National Institutes of Health that helped lead to the development of Ebola vaccines being tested today. From the time scientists first discovered…Melissa Quinn -
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Tenn. Congressman Warns of Ebola Epidemic Unless Republicans Expand Obamacare
NASHVILLE — U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., is at it again. Cohen, known for his sometimes provocative remarks on his Twitter page, is now seemingly trying to rile his constituents with tweets about the Ebola virus mutating into a Biblical-style plague that will devastate Tennessee — unless, of course, state Republicans comply fully with Obamacare….Chris Butler -
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The Real Story on How Much Obamacare Increased Coverage
We now have the Medicaid and private-market health insurance enrollment data for the second quarter of 2014 needed to complete the picture of how Obamacare’s rollout affected coverage. What we’ve learned is that the Obamacare gains in coverage were largely a result of the Medicaid expansion and that most of the gain in private coverage…Edmund Haislmaier -
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71% of Obamacare Signups Traced to Government’s Expansion of Medicaid
The vast majority of Americans gaining health coverage under Obamacare actually qualified for Medicaid because of loosened eligibility —and that's what boosted enrollment among those previously uninsured, according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation. The Obama administration has boasted that the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, would allow those previously uninsured to…Melissa Quinn -
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Why Didn’t the Government Prioritize an Ebola Vaccine? Lack of Money Wasn’t the Issue
Francis Collins, chief of the National Institute of Health, recently blamed the lack of any cure for, or vaccine against, Ebola on budget cuts, stating, “Frankly, if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this that would’ve gone through clinical trials…Paul J. Larkin -
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California Politician Claims Obamacare Contracts Went to Agency Director’s Cronies
California’s beleaguered Obamacare exchange is once again in the crosshairs of a state senator who is demanding answers following reports that millions in contracts never went out to bid and instead were awarded to friends of the agency’s director. Sen. Ted Gaines, who also is the GOP candidate for state insurance commissioner on the November…Tori Richards -
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Here’s Why Budget Cuts Have Nothing to Do With Developing an Ebola Vaccine
Some government health officials have joined Democrats in blaming the lack of an Ebola vaccine on budget cuts orchestrated by Republicans. However, more federal funding likely would not have led to creation of a vaccine to combat the deadly disease, since pharmaceutical companies had little incentive to do so. In addition, a review of federal budget figures…Melissa Quinn -
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Supreme Court Blocks Part of Texas Abortion Law. But That Doesn’t Mean the Court Would Strike Down Law Itself.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an application to block parts of H.B. 2, Texas’s abortion law made famous by State Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour filibuster from going into effect while the case is pending. In Whole Women’s Health v. Lakey, a federal district court struck down as unconstitutional H.B. 2’s requirements that doctors…Elizabeth Slattery -
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Report: Obamacare Will Add $131 Billion to Federal Deficits in Next Decade
Among President Obama’s many high-profile health care promises, there is this gem from his 2009 address to Congress: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits–either now or in the future.” But according to Republican staff on Senate Budget Committee, those dimes are starting to pile up. The Senate staff…Robert Moffit -
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Senate Housing Finance Bill Decried as ‘Residential Obamacare’
NASHVILLE — U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is pushing for legislation to create a federal entity to regulate the housing market, six years after the government’s subprime loans nearly tanked the U.S. economy. Is it a good idea? Two experts—one a Franklin, Tenn.-based financial adviser, the other a Heritage Foundation research fellow—oppose housing finance legislation…Chris Butler -
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Thanks to Obamacare, Health Costs Soared This Year
On November 15, open enrollment in the Obamacare exchanges begins again. Before the second act of our national healthcare drama commences, let’s review what we’ve learned in Act I. For starters, everyone now knows that federal officials are challenged when it comes to setting up a website. But they’ve demonstrated the ability to dole out…Robert Moffit -
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CDC Director ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Second Ebola Patient in US
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this morning said he is “deeply concerned” about a second person in the United States testing positive for the deadly Ebola virus. The patient, an unidentified health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, was among those who had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the man visiting the…Kelsey Bolar -
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28,476 Pages Relating to Obamacare in the Federal Register So Far
Since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, 28,476 pages of notices, proposed rules, and finalized rules containing the phrase, “Affordable Care Act” have been written in the Federal Register. This includes 843 notices, 222 proposed rules, and 234 final rules. Then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had it right when she famously said,…Kenneth Manyari-Magro -
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Obamacare Navigator: Groups Misused Taxpayer Money to Recruit Union Members
HOUSTON—A federal lawsuit filed by an organizer for Battleground Texas accuses a labor group established by ACORN founder Wade Rathke of instructing an Obamacare navigator to spend time recruiting union members. The complaint echoes decades-old criticisms of Rathke and ACORN that they use federal money meant for services in pursuit of their own labor organizing…Jon Cassidy -
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Gallup: US Uninsured Rate Holds at 13.4 Percent—but More Americans Say Obamacare Has Hurt Them
Releasing a pair of polls on the Affordable Care Act, Gallup noted Wednesday that the nation’s uninsured rate remained steady at 13.4 percent for the third quarter. On the same day, the national polling company found the health law—known as Obamacare—is still unpopular, with more Americans directly impacted saying the law hurt them (27 percent)…Marguerite Bowling -
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Senate Republicans Urge House to Stop Taxpayer Bailout of Obamacare Insurance Companies
More than a dozen Senate Republicans today asked House Speaker John Boehner to stop the Obama administration from bailing out health insurance companies that participate in Obamacare. In a letter to the top House Republican, 13 fellow Republicans joined Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to preempt unlawful spending by the administration using a provision of the…Melissa Quinn -
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CDC Director: The U.S. Won’t Suffer an Ebola Outbreak
News of a man in Dallas confirmed to have Ebola sounded the alarm in the United States last week. But Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control, reassured the American people today that he was “quite confident” the United States wouldn’t suffer an outbreak. Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Frieden said the…Melissa Quinn -
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Corporations That ‘Sponsor Climate Lies’ Should Get ‘Death Penalty’
In an op-ed published earlier this week for EcoWatch, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called for all organizations that “deliberately, purposefully, maliciously and systematically sponsor climate lies” to undergo the corporate equivalent of the death penalty. “This can be accomplished through an existing legal proceeding known as ‘charter revocation,’” Kennedy wrote. “State Attorneys General can invoke this remedy…Katie Nielsen -
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More Insurance Plans That Don’t Meet Obamacare Standards Are Being Discontinued
Thousands of consumers who were granted a reprieve to keep insurance plans that don’t meet the federal health law’s standards are now learning those plans will be discontinued at year’s end, and they’ll have to choose a new policy, which may cost more. Cancellations are in the mail to customers from Texas to Alaska in…Julie Appleby -
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Obamacare’s Exchange Plans Have Access to Fewer Hospitals, Doctors and Drugs
Rules and regulations Obamacare imposes on insurance plans sold in the individual market make narrow networks and drug formularies all but certain, as plans curtail these coverage aspects to keep their premiums lower. This is because the law’s standardization of the benefits package not only increases costs, but also leaves little for plans to compete…Alyene Senger