Free Republic

So long as Republicans stick to their talking points and carefully selected allocutions, there's enough double talk, flimflam, and amphibology that a listener might think there's sense there. Or at least that the speakers think so. But then there are the unfiltered utterances. It is from these that real revelations come. Republican congressman Raul R Labrador, for example, declared: "Nobody dies because they don't have healthcare." Of course not. And no one gets cold because they don't have a coat, and cars don't crash when their brakes don't work. He later tried to walk his talk back toward reason-world. "I...

Well, the good news is that my wife and I have officially entered the 21st century today since our new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge phones arrived today. I also ordered a couple of glass screen protectors for them. I will also be getting cases. And I am also interested in getting insurance for them. Therefore I am asking for advice on the best/cheapest cell phone insurance plans. Here is what I need covered: 1. Damage to cell phone. 2. Loss of cell phone. 3. Theft of cell phone. I seem to remember Laura Ingraham about a year ago advertising for...

Part 2: “Health is a basic American right,” makes for nice rhetoric but lousy policy. In the first post in this series I took Ben Stein to task for suggesting on “Your World with Neil Cavuto” that single-payer health care protects people with preexisting conditions. During his appearance, Stein also let this gem drop: “It is a basic American right to have decent health care. That is a basic right. We live in a very rich country…and the idea that any parent who sees his child born with a serious defect will think, ‘My God, I might not be able...

Counter the narrative The left/media narrative on people with pre-existing conditions is one of the most dishonest I’ve ever heard. To listen to them, you’d think everyone who is sick will be tossed off their insurance by the AHCA. Here’s the truth: First, the concern about pre-existing conditions deals solely with people who don’t currently have insurance and want to get it. That is a very small subset of the overall population of people who have some sort of health issue. If you already have insurance, and you’re sick or you get sick, nothing changes for you. The problem is...

On April 1, my car was hit at the roadside , the driver of the accident take full responsibility, but his insurance company(Access) was too slow to repair my car for me, also do not provide rental services, I've been waiting for a month and a half，because my speaking English is so bad, I don't know how to do, please help me!

(The Trace) — First, the National Rifle Association worked to let gun owners carry firearms in public. Then it fought to pass laws that say gun carriers can open fire to stop a perceived threat, even when retreat is possible. Now that the NRA has expanded the legal right to armed self defense, it’s muscling into the niche industry that’s arisen to help Americans deal with the costly consequences of actually exercising it. This week, the group unveiled insurance plans that it says will help defray the legal costs that can arise from shooting another person. As the NRA prepares...

A liberal grassroots activist group claims to have raised more than $500,000 in 24 hours to challenge vulnerable Republicans who voted for the GOP's plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare. The group, Swing Left, has been touting its fundraising haul on Twitter as the donations pour in. And it noted in a release that $150,000 of that total was raised in the first hour after the Thursday afternoon vote. Donors gave $100,000 specifically for the eventual Democratic challenger to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a top Democratic target who voted for the ObamaCare repeal bill.

The Center for American Progress is a left-wing organization that is closely associated with the Obama administration. Its principal product is a web site called Think Progress. Think Progress is part of the internet cesspool that modern liberalism has become. Written by hack left-wing bloggers, it is bitterly hostile to free enterprise. It is a low-rent site that traffics in the most absurd smears and conspiracy theories. Many have wondered for some years who finances far-left web sites like Think Progress. As of today, we know at least part of the answer, as CAP released its corporate donor list for...

In an op-ed published in the Financial Times, John Reed says large banks like the one he used to run are now "inherently unstable and unworkable." The man who was one of the chief architects of the "Big Bank" model now says says the United States never should have repealed the Glass-Steagall banking act in 1999. That's exactly what Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley have been arguing on the campaign trail. They want the law reinstated. Hillary Clinton and the Republican candidates do not. As CEO of Citi from 1984 to 2000, Reed was one of the...

A proposal considered by California lawmakers would substantially remake the health care system of the nation’s most populous state by eliminating insurance companies and guaranteeing coverage for everyone. The idea known as single-payer health care has long been popular on the left and is getting a new look in California as President Donald Trump struggles to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law. The proposal, promoted by the state’s powerful nursing union and two Democratic senators, is a longshot. But supporters hope the time is right to persuade lawmakers in California, where Democrats like to push the...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.app.com/story/money/business/main-street/2017/04/12/guardian-bring-several-hundred-jobs-bell-works/100368164/

Need help from my Freeper friends with business and legal expertise. Have recently had my all of my insurance policies with State Farm go up with no explanation.

If we get into a discussion about healthcare or insurance, it seems that emotions get in the way of understanding — especially when the immense costs are considered. So, let’s discuss something else — eating. Now, you decide how often you want to eat, where you will go for your meal and what you will eat. You judge the quality of your meal and whether the meal is priced fairly. All these decisions are yours because, whether it comes from the grocer or from a restaurant, you are the one paying for the food. The grocer and the restaurant manager...

This is absolutely stupid. These long drawn out debates within the GOP struggling to settle on the nitty gritty about what and who should be covered and at what price is ridiculous. It's NOT your job, gentlemen. All you are doing is playing into the socialist democrats hands. Please consult your pocket constitutions and discover that the power to make these decisions regarding health care and insurance, etc, is not an enumerated power and is not delegated by the constitution to the congress or the federal government. It's reserved to the states and the people. Get OUT of it!! Conservatives...

"Customers in healthcare ask a different question than customers in most markets. Whether hospitals (as customers of suppliers) or individuals needing an operation, healthcare customers mostly don’t ask, “Can we afford it?” Or even, “What’s the best value for the money?” They ask, “Is it covered? Can we get reimbursed for this?” And the reimbursement or coverage is set by complex non-market mechanisms that in most parts of the market are themselves opaque to the customer. So there is no real customer and no real price signal in most relationships throughout the market."

President Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to deliver legislation that “fully repeals Obamacare.” By forcing the House to a vote on a bill that does not repeal the health insurance regulations that are the driving force behind the Affordable Care Act’s skyrocketing premiums and low-quality coverage, Republican leaders are abandoning the president’s pledge. The leadership bill would only modify those regulations. As a result, the Congressional Budget Office projects, it would increase premiums 15-20 percent above their already-high levels and leave more people uninsured than full repeal would. House leaders claim Senate rules require a 60-vote supermajority to repeal...

The rich eat better, drive better vehicles, and live in better homes in better neighborhoods, but purchasing better health care is somehow a sin to those who think you shouldn't have it An article in the March 18 issue of the Toronto Star, a left-leaning publication, got my blood boiling! It is titled “Buying their way to the front of the health-care line.” That is followed, in large bold lettering, by the question, “Should the wealthy be allowed to buy their way to faster health care at private clinics?” My question to the authors is: Who the hell are you...

SNIP As a result of this thinking, most of us have become part of a large system that is so complex that we don’t have any idea how much something costs or why it costs that much—and often don’t even bother to ask! So many things occur to me to ask, but there are few good answers. Should an ankle x-ray cost $700? Why? I know the machine is initially expensive, but so is my car. After driving my car for ten years, the three years of payments are a distant memory. Surely after the 10,000th x-ray the machine should be...

An estimated 14 million more people would lose insurance coverage in 2018 under the new Republican healthcare plan, according to a budget analysis. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan group of budget analysts and economists, released its assessment on the long-awaited Republican bill. It said the number of extra uninsured would jump to 24 million by 2026. The bill would also reduce the federal deficits by $337bn (£275bn) over the 10-year period, according to the CBO. Those savings could help House Republicans sell the legislation to some conservatives who remain sceptical about costs. President Donald Trump has backed the...

America will always have a safety net for the genuinely needy--unless we bankrupt the nation catering to those who embrace personal irresponsibility Nothing about America’s ever-expanding welfare state has been more egregious than its unflinching cultivation of personal irresponsibility. From able-bodied people getting welfare or disability payments, to single women having illegitimate children, much of what we used to consider unacceptable or immoral behavior has been de-stigmatized. Our shame-free society must be kept in mind during the GOP’s effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare. That’s because the Left’s greatest weapon—one also embraced by several weak-kneed Republicans—is the idea that if...