Free Republic

Medicare Advantage provides health coverage to more than half of the nation's seniors, but a growing number of hospitals and health systems nationwide are pushing back and dropping some or all contracts with the private plans altogether. Among the most commonly cited reasons are excessive prior authorization denial rates and slow payments from insurers. Some systems have noted that most MA carriers have faced allegations of billing fraud from the federal government and are being probed by lawmakers over their high denial rates. "It's become a game of delay, deny and not pay,'' Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of...

A San Diego family has learned the hard way why it’s important to know every detail about your car insurance and to keep it updated. Sergio Preciado got in a car accident back in July of 2022 when he was exiting Interstate 805. He admits it was his fault, adding that nobody was injured in the crash.

Mike Lindell said MyPillow was left crippled after American Express slashed their credit line. "No reason, no explanation, just dropped it down last Tuesday," he said on the "War Room" podcast. A Minnesota bank previously terminated Lindell as a client after calling him a "reputation risk." MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said that his company has been crippled by American Express's decision to slash its credit line. "Steve, we really need everybody's help right now. We have things going on I'm going to let you all know this week," Lindell told fellow Trump ally Steve Bannon on the latter's "War Room"...

During Donald Trump’s norm-shattering 2016 campaign, he famously promised to “drain the swamp,” referring to the concentration of power and the penchant for corruption among Washington’s political elite and bureaucratic class. The highlight of this effort was probably when Trump sacked FBI Director James Comey a few months after he became president, ostensibly for botching the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private server and leaked emails, though it was really an attempt by Trump—as he admitted—to quash the agency’s investigation into frivolous claims of Russian election interference. That decision was the tipping point in the events that led to the appointment...

Earlier this month, talk show host and former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage wrote an editorial in The Telegraph titled, “After my banking travails, I fear Britain is lost,” detailing his nightmare experiences with NatWest, one of Britain’s biggest banks. Farage told the tale of his accounts being deleted and his friends, family, and business associates being harassed for their political beliefs.PJ Media’s Athena Thorne covered Farage’s allegations.He goes on to detail his financial ostracization as bank after bank refused to accept his business, and he gives examples of other politicians — always conservative — to whom it has also...

Another country anthem about current events. Not bad.

The city of Berkeley has long been associated with leftism. Famed San Francisco columnist Herb Caen nicknamed the city Berserkeley as an homage to its radical politics. The extremism infects both the town and its famous campus, the University of California, Berkeley. Although most other college campuses have caught up with UC Berkeley, it’s still the grande dame of leftist extremism. That’s what makes it so lovely that Berkeley is wrestling with a bitter historic truth: The name “Berkeley” is an homage to a one-time Rhode Island-based slaveholder who was unimpressed by Native Americans.From the Bay Area News Group:The problematic...

Last month I wrote about a black professor’s experience teaching a seminar for a group of high school kids about race and the law. Professor Vincent Lloyd had taught a seminar like this before for the Telluride Association and it had been a good experience. But the second time around he found himself “trapped in anti-racist hell” thanks to “Keisha,” the person assigned to be his teaching assistant. Keisha quickly radicalized his students and turned them against one another (two students were voted out by the others) and against him. “The students had all of the dogma of anti-racism, but...

The reaction to Pastor Josh Butler’s article and his subsequent cancellation is deeply rooted in the pathologies of some American evangelicalism.Yes, the church is the bride of Christ, and Christ will be united to His bride. Consequently, Christian marriage, including its physical consummation, is an image of Christ and the church. But proclaiming these beautiful and profound biblical truths is now enough to get Christians mobbed by other (ostensible) Christians.Pastor Josh Butler was just canceled by The Gospel Coalition, which caved to an online backlash against him over an article he wrote. The offending essay was erased from the group’s...

Paul Pelosi’s alleged attacker David DePape was frequently homeless, “mentally ill” and frequently used drugs, according to his former girlfriend Oxane “Gypsy” Taub. “This person really does suffer from mental illness and that is probably why he was there at 2 a.m,” she said. “I don’t think he became a Trump supporter,” Taub said. “He was against the government, but if anything he was opposed to the shadow government, against the people who really run the government and use politicians as puppets. Like Trump was a puppet. David and I were against the shadow government.” Paul Pelosi’s accused assailant suffered...

As one toxic star after another was knocked off his pedestal, cynics predicted many would be back. But comebacks have been fizzling at best. How permanent is #MeToo’s punishment (so far)?Amid the torrent of accusations leveled against powerful Hollywood men in the frenzied first few months of the #MeToo era, industry observers often shared the same jaded expectation. Short of arrest or indictment, the thinking went, the accused would be back on their feet after a brief time-out and a few memory-cleansing news cycles, carrying on with their careers unaffected. The dollar is king; Hollywood always forgets; etc. This hasn’t...

Pacific Legal Foundation filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education to block its illegal move to cancel more than $500 billion in student loan debt. “Congress did not authorize the executive branch to unilaterally cancel student debt,” said Caleb Kruckenberg, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “It’s flagrantly illegal for the executive branch to create a $500 billion program by press release, and without statutory authority or even the basic notice and comment procedure for new regulations.” In August 2022, President Biden announced his plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt per person for more than...

"The South Carolina University women's basketball team canceled two games - one this year and one next - against BYU in response to the alleged incident. Duke's Rachel Robinson claimed that a fan subjected her and her Black teammates to racial slurs 'throughout the entirety of the match' against BYU. However, the claim has received pushback from witnesses who say they 'heard absolutely nothing'. Despite the conflicting reports, Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley is comfortable with her decision."

First, Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats successfully passed student loan “cancelation” legislation, ridiculously and purposely misnomered, “student debt forgiveness.” Next up, rent “cancelation”? As pandemic eviction moratoriums expire and rent payment relief programs end across the U.S., about 8.5 million people are behind on rent as of the end of August, according to Census Bureau data.Of those 8.5 million renters, nearly four million say they are somewhat or very likely to be evicted over the next two months. Hence, can demands for rent cancellation be the next big Democrat wealth-redistribution scam, demanded by people who have been programmed to believe...

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced his administration would cancel $10,000 in student debt for many borrowers, while extending a pause on monthly loan payments through the end of the year. For students and young people in Pittsburgh, it should have been a cause for celebration; but just hours after the announcement, reactions skewed negative as left-leaning activists argued the president should have honored his campaign commitment to cancel all student debt. Meanwhile, Republicans chided Mr. Biden for what they see as the president bowing to the progressive movement. “In my opinion, it’s not enough,” said Allie Holler, a University...

Oklahoma Sooners assistant football coach Cale Gundy has resigned from his position after he used a “shameful” word during a team meeting. SNIP “I owe it to Sooner Nation to be transparent about what led to this decision: Last week, during a film session, I instructed my players to take notes,” the statement read. “I noticed a player was distracted and picked up his iPad and read aloud the words that were written on his screen. The words displayed had nothing to do with football. One particular word that I should never — under any circumstance — have uttered was...

The Clinton campaign is postponing a fundraiser in North Carolina for unexplained reasons, while Hillary Clinton remains absent from the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton postponed a lunch fundraiser in Chapel Hill with some of the state’s wealthiest and most prominent Democrats. No reason was given for postponement of the Clinton event, according to CBS North Carolina. It was expected to take place at the home of Betty Craven and Michael Warner. The event was billed as “lunch with Hillary Rodham Clinton” and costs ranged from $2,700 to $100,000.

Joe Rogan was set to attend his long anticipated Vancouver show scheduled for April 20, which has long been sold out, but on Wednesday The Hill is reporting it's been canceled due to the Canadian government barring him from entry for the event. "Ticketmaster Wednesday on its website confirmed that Rogan’s Vancouver show had been canceled and ticket holders would receive a refund," The Hill reports. However, the event has been pushed to a much later date in 2022, though it's unclear whether Canada will relax its vaccine requirement to cross the border by that point (at the rate things...

In the days leading up to New Year’s Day, a growing number of cities and municipalities have decided to postpone festivities due to CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreaks despite milder symptoms and fewer hospitalizations than previously reported. The iconic New Year’s celebration in New York City will take place as planned but will be scaled back, said outgoing Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio last week. Masks will be required, as will proof of vaccination, and social distance measures will be enforced. Compared to last year, New Year’s Eve celebrations in New York City were much more subdued, with only...

As the holiday weekend draws to a close, it has been anything but merry for tens of thousands of stranded airline passengers who had their flight canceled due to a flare-up of the omicron variant that resulted in staffing shortages of pilots and crew for several major airline carriers. Data tracker FlightAware.com shows US flight cancellations exceeded 2,400 in just the past 48 hours.The situation has yet to ease on Sunday as total cancellations within, into, or out of the U.S. topped 754 flights as of 1300 ET. On Christmas day, U.S. cancellations topped nearly 1,000. Henry Harteveldt, president of...