Free Republic

There's nothing like the sight of Republicans and Democrats working together and scrambling to save big time government aid to super-rich corporations. Whether it's a bailout for major banks, tax credits for Big Oil, or big subsidies for large agriculture businesses, this kind of crony capitalism seems to anger almost everyone but nobody really does anything about it. Now, we're about to witness another scramble to provide our hard-earned taxpayer money into the pockets of an industry that's already raking in the big bucks. The Senate Health Committee is going to hold hearings in September to find ways to keep...

Trump is threatening to go after congressional health insurance and make them subject to their own legislation. Senator Chuck Schumer warned, “If the president refuses to make the cost-sharing reduction payments, every expert agrees that premiums will go up and health care will be more expensive for millions of Americans. The president ought to stop playing politics with people’s lives and health care, start leading and finally begin acting presidential. Once this is run through the Schumer Translation Device, or STD, which accurately decodes statements by the New York senator, we get the actual Schumer quote, “If the president refuses...

President Trump on Saturday threatened to end health care “bailouts” for insurers and lawmakers in Washington as he continues to push Congress to pass legislation repealing ObamaCare. “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!” Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon.

The very premise of Obamacare was flawed, and in fact, it was never even designed to work for an extended period of time. But now that Congress has failed to do away with it, the president is going “Full-Tilt” in his plans to make the “No” voters pay. On Saturday, he Tweeted: If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon! At first, it may just seem reactionary, but this is a major threat that will hit the Democrats right where it hurts: in the demographics!...

Repealing Congress’ special exemption from Obamacare regularly polls at the 90+ percent level, and for good reason — the illegal ruling by OPM once again allowed Members of Congress (and their staffs) to live by a different set of rules than those they imposed on the rest of America. Worse, by exempting the legislative branch from the pernicious effects of this particular law, it allows Members and their staffs to avoid the personal pain (financial and health) imposed by the monstrosity they imposed on the rest of us, and, by doing so, delays its inevitable repeal. The good news is,...

Judicial Watch requested the Trump administration stop members of Congress and their staff from unlawfully purchasing, with taxpayer subsidies, health insurance through the District of Columbia’s small business exchange. ... Because the ACA limits the purchase of insurance on a small business exchange to employees of small businesses – and Congress is not a small business – the ACA unequivocally requires that certain members of Congress and congressional employees purchase insurance on an individual exchange created either by their state of residence (or by the District, if they are a D.C. resident) or by the federal government for that state....

RUSH: Here’s Barbara, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Glad you waited. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s an honor. I’ve been a longtime listener, and we credit you for getting us through the Clinton years here in Arkansas. My husband is a doctor, and I’ve worked in his office in health insurance for years. And insurance companies — I don’t think people are aware of this — but they dictate the fees a doctor or a hospital can charge — RUSH: Oh, they know. They know. They have to go through the insurance company. They know it. CALLER:...

As we continue to debate the potential replacement of Obamacare and, in particular, the impact any pending changes may have on either Medicare or Medicaid, it’s important to recall some of the shortcomings of the existing system. This is particularly true when we look at the increased number of people who have been put on the Medicaid rolls under Obamacare. We can see some of the results rolling out on a smaller scale by looking at the state-run system in California, Medi-Cal. There’s an article out this week in the LA Times which covers the growing complaints of low...

Earlier this month we reported that California was in a bit of a quandary. They were bound and determined to have a single payer health plan for their citizens no matter what the Republicans wanted to do on the national level. And by golly, they got a plan put together in the state legislature and moved it out of committee, despite the fact that it was going to cost more than the total GDP of the state. Then it made it out onto the floor of the Assembly. As Leslie Eastman of Legal Insurrection tells us, the cold light of...

Some ACA critics—virtually all of them Republican—seem to delight at the prospect of Obamacare crumbling one county at a time, perhaps obviating the need to pass legislation that would formally repeal it. But this seems remarkably short-sighted. Trump’s attacks on the ACA, and the real prospect of repeal under Republican-controlled government, have pushed public approval of the law to the highest levels ever. Americans disapprove of Republican plans to roll back the ACA and particularly dislike proposed cuts to Medicaid. So Republicans are now threatening programs Americans more or less like.

The price tag is in: It would cost $400 billion to remake California’s health insurance marketplace and create a publicly funded universal heath care system, according to a state financial analysis released Monday. California would have to find an additional $200 billion per year, including in new tax revenues, to create a so-called “single-payer” system. The estimate assumes the state would retain the existing $200 billion in local, state and federal funding it currently receives to offset the total $400 billion price tag. Employers currently spend between $100 billion to $150 billion per year, which could be available to help...

Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night show after a week-long absence Monday, where he used his monologue to update his audience on the health of his newborn son and confront those who criticized his widely-watched monologue on the subject during a broadcast last week. The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host unloaded on Republican lawmakers in his first monologue back Monday, and called on Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La) to explain why “the vast majority of Republican politicians” are against Americans having health care coverage. But before that, Kimmel addressed the reaction he received after he made an emotional plea last week for...

People with epilepsy, cancer, depression, diabetes, sexual assault survivors, disabled veterans and mothers and fathers with sick children are among those who've taken to social media using the hashtag #IAmAPreexistingCondition to voice their concerns about the Republican health care bill.More than 150,000 posts with the tag have flooded Twitter over the last day. They're responding to a vote in the House for a Republican health care bill that could put medical benefits out of reach for millions of Americans and, in particular, jeopardize future coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.To health insurance companies, pre-existing conditions include a wide array of different medical issues,...

Repeal Obamacare now. Here's why it would work. House Republicans are reportedly ready to return any day now to health-insurance reform after the spectacular failure in late March of the American Health Care Act, the resoundingly unpopular bill to “replace” the long-unpopular and misnamed Affordable Care Act. This time, they need to deliver: After seven years of promises to repeal Obamacare root and branch, the party can’t go back to the voters with nothing more than a participation trophy. It won’t be easy, and it may be agonizingly slow, but the Democrats didn’t get Obamacare passed overnight: They spent 40...

The share of US companies that do not provide health insurance spiked this year, to nearly 55 percent. After next year, many New York firms may have to join them — or risk downsizing. Thanks to a 2012 state law, many mid-sized firms — those with between 51 and 100 insured employees — may have to drop their health plans, beginning in 2019. Wittingly or not, the state is pushing employers to purchase much more expensive and often less comprehensive insurance. Absent changes to the law, businesses and employees could collectively lose millions of dollars — and companies would have...

Complete Headline: Obamacare Implosion Now? Since Obama Siphoned GSE Dividends To Prop Up, Can Trump Simply Halt 1st Qtr Sweep? Earlier this month, Harvard Ph.D. Jerome Corsi of InfoWars (@jerome_corsi) and a CPA "who worked for two years for a major U.S. accounting firm as an outside auditor for Freddie Mac," confirmed a 2012 scheme hatched by the Obama administration to funnel hundreds of billions in dividends from Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prop up the failing Obamacare program - by paying subsidies to insurers to remain in the system. [Snip] The conclusion reached by...

How bout simple insurance? What is insurance? Insurance is protection against random events that exceed your ability to absorb the impact based on your current position, financial or otherwise. Insurance isn't health care. Insurance isn't a maintenance plan or payment plan. So why not have two types of insurance. 1. Insurance of a percentage of impact up to a certain maximum benefit. 2. Insurance of a maximum impact. Both Insurances could be purchased on the open market like life insurance. 1. Would work that after a low deductible would kick in a increasing scale coverage based on the total expense...

Should you be able to drive without car insurance? Yes, in some states you can. If you have a major car wreck — without insurance — should you be able to call the insurance company from the crash site to buy it then and there? GLENN: Look, the best way to explain this — the best way to explain what’s happening to our insurance companies is this: Would anyone think it’s fair to say to an auto insurance company, I’m not going to buy any auto insurance unless I’m in a wreck. PAT: Uh-huh. GLENN: So when the police comes...

I can understand a government case per the 16th amendment for a tax deduction (not a tax credit) extended to individuals and small business to offset the cost of health care premiums, however, I see no constitutional authority for the federal government to dictate to private insurance providers that they MUST cover preexisting conditions or that they MUST charge a 30% (or whatever) surcharge if a customer lets his policy lapse and then wants to sign up again later. Whether these are "good ideas" or not, where is the constitutional authority?

There are a lot of unpleasant numbers for Republicans in the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment of their health care bill. But congressional leadership found one to cheer: The report says that the bill will eventually cut the average insurance premiums for people who buy their own insurance by 10 percent. House Speaker Paul Ryan pressed that point in a series of appearances Monday night, suggesting that the budget office had found that the House bill would increase choice and competition and lead to lower prices. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, issued a statement saying, “The Congressional Budget Office agrees...