Free Republic

Amazon has just took a surprising turn into the healthcare industry, teaming up with investing hero Warren Buffet and New York-based bank JPMorgan Chase, the Washington Post reports.

<p>Idaho officials said they will begin allowing insurers to sell new plans that don't meet requirements set by the Affordable Care Act, a move that will test the limits of states' ability to carve out their own health-insurance rules.</p> <p>Wednesday, the Idaho Department of Insurance said it would allow insurers in the state to begin offering "state-based plans" to consumers. These products could leave out some of the benefits mandated by the ACA for individual coverage. Insurers would be able to consider enrollees' medical history in setting their premiums, a practice known as underwriting, which isn't authorized under the ACA. The new state-based plans could also include dollar limits on total benefit payouts, which the ACA banned.</p>

The federal tax cut signed into law last week eliminates the federal penalty for not having health insurance, starting in 2019. That's good news for those who've been buying Obamacare to avoid the penalty, and even better news for those who've actually been paying the penalty. But don't start celebrating yet. In New York, California, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey and other deep blue strongholds, the insurance industry and left-wing activists are agitating to enact state penalties to replace the soon-to-be defunct federal one. Ouch! Six-and-a-half million filers paid the federal penalty last year, including approximately 400,000 right here in New...

As of Wednesday evening, as Nicholas Fondacaro at NewsBusters observed, the three broadcasting networks were not reporting the content of the most damning text messages exchanged between now-former Robert Mueller investigative team members Peter Strzok and his mistress Lisa Page. Meanwhile, coverage seen Wednesday evening at the Associated Press predictably treated the matter as a Republicans-attack dispute. Almost no one seems to be interested in hearing from what other veteran or former FBI officials think about the Mueller team's and Bureau leadership's conduct. One exception is Elizabeth MacDonald at the Fox Business network, who interviewed former FBI Assistant Director Jim...

Cara Pressman sobbed in the big red chair in her living room. The 15-year-old tried to absorb the devastating news relayed by her parents: that their insurance company, Aetna, denied her for a minimally invasive brain surgery that could end the seizures that have haunted her since she was 9 years old. “When my parents told me, I went kind of blank and started crying,” she said. “I cried for like an hour.” Her friends had been lined up to visit her in the hospital for the surgery three days away, on Monday, October 23. Between tears, she texted them...

The National Flood Insurance Program, designed to protect Americans from catastrophic floods, has failed in almost every way, encouraging people to buy and build in flood-prone areas while increasing the cost and magnitude of disasters. Congress' efforts to reform the program have failed just as thoroughly. Attempts to fix flood insurance have been derailed repeatedly by special interests, political expediency and powerful lobbies that have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into congressional campaigns, a three-month examination by the Houston Chronicle reveals. Banks, builders, insurers and real estate agents — supported by property owners and allies in Congress —have combined...

4 Hours Ago Pharmacy chain CVS will purchase insurance giant Aetna in a deal value at $69 billion, The Associated Press reported Sunday. The move will dramatically expand the drugstore juggernaut's health services; a historic amplification which could transform the health care industry. If approved by regulators, CVS' 9,700 locations could morph into health care centers, providing its consumers with primary care and other services and dramatically lowering the cost of health care. The unprecedented merging of retail and health care is likely to spark similar deals throughout the industry, experts said.

A Fresno State professor sued by students after interfering with their anti-abortion messages on campus says he did nothing wrong – and didn’t pay $17,000 in a settlement despite an announcement made by Alliance Defending Freedom on Thursday. “I admitted absolutely no wrongdoing, and I did not have to pay a dime,” public health professor Greg Thatcher said Friday. The costs were covered by his insurance company through the National Education Association, he said.

The latest weird failure of fact by proponents of a disarmed public is offset somewhat by a refreshing honesty of stated desire. The opinion piece is in a university paper, written by a student, so they deserve a gentler treatment than a professional journalist.Right or wrong, the differentiation between editorials and factual articles has been mostly destroyed in the last 20 years. The article is from the University Press at Lamar University. Lamar University is located near Houston, in Texas.From lamauniversitypress.com: Unfortunately, the conversation about gun control only arises after an incident where several people are killed at one time....

I remember when my patients used to pay me up front for my service, and then apply to their insurance company for reimbursement. Health insurance policies came in all shapes and sizes back then, some more comprehensive than others, depending on a patient’s needs. Patients understood that health insurance was not the same thing as health care, and that it was at best a promise that sometimes went unfulfilled. Over the years insurers gained more control of the health-care system, until I had to appeal to the insurance company to be reimbursed for a service I had already provided. Since...

The National Rifle Association is reportedly being investigated by New York regulators. No, it’s not that the state has finally figured out a way to undermine the organization’s strong Second Amendment stance or its effectiveness throughout the nation in blocking infringements on our right to keep and bear arms. No, it’s something far more insidious. They’re concerned the NRA is selling their Carry Guard insurance without a license. New York regulators launched an investigation into the National Rifle Association’s role in the self-defense insurance program that bears its name. The probe by the state’s Department of Financial Services will focus...

Allstate Insurance Company will create 2,250 jobs in a Charlotte expansion project spanning three years, officials announced Wednesday – the second major local expansion by an insurance company in three months. The insurer is expected to invest more than $22 million in the Charlotte area through the expansion of its operations center, officials said at the announcement at the Charlotte Chamber uptown. The move will add to the roughly 1,400 employees the insurer already has in Charlotte. Earlier Wednesday, the state approved a roughly $23.7 million incentives package in exchange for the project. Prospective local matching incentives total almost $1.5...

President Trump is throwing a bomb into the insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act, choosing to end critical payments to health insurers that help millions of lower-income Americans afford coverage. The decision follows an executive order on Thursday to allow alternative health plans that skirt the law’s requirements. The White House confirmed late Thursday that it would halt federal payments for cost-sharing reductions, although a statement did not specify when. According to two people briefed on the decision, the cutoff will be as of November. The subsidies total about $7 billion this year. Trump has threatened for months...

President Trump will today legalize and allow individuals to form Health Associations and purchase insurance across state lines. This is what real free market replacement looks like. Millions of Americans will be eligible to band together to demand less-expensive insurance. The 28 million individuals left behind by Obamacare will now be eligible for inexpensive insurance. The cost to the taxpayer? ZERO! As opposed to the trillion-dollar, “fake” replacements we voted on, this replacement simply legalizes choice. I’ve been working with President Trump and his Cabinet for months to get this done. How will it work? Well, nationwide associations like the...

In an op-ed penned for Breitbart, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) explained that President Donald Trump's upcoming executive order--which would legalize the sale of health insurance across state lines--would come at zero cost for the taxpayer and would enable 28 million people "left behind" by Obamacare to purchase insurance cheaply. According to Paul, the executive order will create "Health Associations," which would allow people to create groups similar to large corporations in order to get lower premiums on their plans. Paul said that these Association Health Plans will "be among the biggest-free market reforms" of the healthcare industry in decades, and is...

WASHINGTON — Stymied in his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump is poised to issue an order that could ease some federal rules governing health insurance and make it easier for people to band together and buy coverage on their own, administration officials said Saturday. One official said the directive could move the president a step closer to one of his longstanding goals: allowing consumers to buy health insurance across state lines. Conservatives say that interstate sales could expand options for consumers, increase competition in the insurance market and perhaps lower costs. The order, which the administration...

President Trump is preparing an executive order to allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines, a reform conservatives have long championed as a way to bring costs down and stir greater competition in the national marketplace. The executive action gives the White House a chance to follow through on at least one promise related to healthcare reform after Senate Republicans' second attempt to overhaul Obamacare failed this week. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul "I think there's going to be big news from the White House in the next week or two, something they can do on their own," Paul...

BRUSSELS — The European Union and the United States are signing a major agreement on insurance and reinsurance, capping off 20 years of discussions and a year of negotiations. The EU Commission said Friday that the deal will let reinsurers boost their investment capacity, and that the accord offers more regulatory certainty without watering down consumer protection. A big advantage for EU reinsurers is that the agreement does away with the need for around $40 billion that they have paid as collateral to sign reinsurance contracts in the United States.....

This summary describes key provisions of a proposal by Senators Graham, Cassidy, Heller, and Johnson. drafted as an amendment in the nature of a substitute to HR 1628, the House-passed bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Senate faces a September 30, 2017, deadline to use budget reconciliation to repeal Obamacare this year. In the wake of the Senate’s recent failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, Senators Lindsey Graham (R–SC) and Bill Cassidy (R–LA) have released an updated version of their bill in a renewed effort to take advantage of this expiring legislative vehicle. Like others considered this year, Graham–Cassidy falls short of fully repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a new patient-centered system, but it does include significant improvements over current law by repealing the individual and employer mandate tax penalties, providing Medicaid reform, and...