Free Republic

The Obama administration has been bragging that nine million more Americans now have health insurance, thanks to Obamacare. But just like with most numbers cited to support the government takeover of health care in America, that “9 million” figure is deceptive.We were told that 48 million Americans lacked affordable health insurance and something had to be done, but even five years after the passage of Obamacare, 33 million Americans are still uninsured.If you dig deeper into the actual numbers and realize what really happened with those 9 million “newly insured”, there’s little reason to cheer.The number of Americans with...

So far, there are two Republicans I will NOT vote for under any circumstances if they are the nominee in 2016. One is Jeb Bush. The other is this jackass John Kasich. While pandering to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, John Kasich said: Ohio RINO John Kasich compares enemies of ObamaCARE to ISIS I mean, look at Medicaid expansion. You know how many people are yelling at me? I’ve gone to events where people yell at me. You know what? You know what I tell ‘em? I mean, God bless ‘em, I’m telling them a little bit better at...

The White House is promoting the expansion of Medicaid through Obamacare as one way to prevent more gun violence, and urging Republicans to join forces with the president. “For those who say they want to work with the administration in limiting gun violence, we would welcome the support for the Affordable Care Act and expanding Medicaid,” spokesman Josh Earnest explained to reporters during the White House press briefing.

The state approved a 27.3 percent rate hike for Hawaii Medical Service Association members and 34.4 percent increase for Kaiser members in Obamacare plans for 2016. HMSA, the state's largest health insurer, had proposed an average 49.1 percent rate hike -- the highest it has ever requested -- for 20,935 members in Obamacare plans next year. . . .

Health insurance provider Colorado Access is going to cut Medicare coverage for the coming year. As a result of the move around 5,500 senior and disabled customers will have to look for alternatives. Chief operating officer of Colorado Access, Matt Case has said that the Denver-based nonprofit will also let go 83 employees who were a part of Colorado Access Medicare and its subsidiary Access Health Colorado. Besides this, extra 40 openings will remain unfilled. Case said that Colorado Access has also drawn down administrative expenses, cutting down the salaries of its executive teams. Case said, “While it's never easy...

South Dakota may join 30 other states in expanding its Medicaid program if federal officials approve a plan Gov. Dennis Daugaard is set to outline to the nation’s top health and human services administrator in Washington on Tuesday. The Republican governor is meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell to explain the plan, and the federal government has so far been more open to discussions than in the past, said Tony Venhuizen, chief of staff to Daugaard. The proposal, which is in its early stages, would make about 48,500 South Dakota residents newly eligible for the program. It’s...

Powerful and well funded, 1199 SEIU has unprecedented reach into city and state government. ... Medicaid is one of the primary sources of funding for the hospitals employing workers from 1199 SEIU, the powerful hospital and nursing-home employees’ union. ... The union’s clout can be assessed by several measures: the sheer size of its membership, its spending on campaigns and lobbying, and the depth and breadth of its connections with New York’s ruling elite. With well over 300,000 members in Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York (where over half of that total resides), 1199SEIU is the largest union...

Kick the federal government out of their State in regards to Planned Parenthood, abortion, any and all health services, health programs, health care, or health insurance intrusions Radio Host Dave Levine, a host on KMET 1490 AM on Monday, wrote on his blog, “Arkansas is the fourth state to terminate such contracts with the Feds—New Hampshire, Alabama and Louisiana are the others. By this time next year, 30-plus states will have stopped funding the baby killer company.” Mr. Levine was referring to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson’s decision to order his State’s Department of Human Services to terminate the Medicaid contract...

Yes, you read the headline correctly. Michigan’s Medicaid expansion program includes $50 Wal-Mart gift cards for Medicaid enrollees that “follow the doctor’s orders.” It seems that although, “the state doesn’t itself purchase or give out any Wal-Mart gift cards, their cost is baked into the Medicaid managed care contracts.” In essence, the taxpayers of Michigan are paying for $50 Wal-Mart gift cards for people on Medicaid whether they know it or not. And getting one of these gift cards is pretty easy.

Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare—a move that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was optional and up to state discretion—is a sore subject for fiscal conservatives and led to him being, not just left out of an event held in his backyard, but attacked by several of the event’s speakers, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and AFP President Tim Phillips. Obamacare critics do not like how the law allows Medicaid, originally enacted as a safety net to provide health coverage for poor mothers and children, to be expanded to cover able-bodied, working-age adults. Federal funds cover the costs...

<p>Incredible - after the scathing auditors report, they are able to do this - read the excuses given.</p>

The quickest and surest way to make things more expensive for most of us is for someone in our government to attempt to make such things “free” for some. As I noted earlier this year, the largest “charity” in the U.S. is government (which, of course, brags about it!). Americans gave a total of approximately $3.4 billion (about $2.4 billion from individuals) to private charities in 2013. In the same year, Americans received over $600 billion from means-tested (recipients required to be below a certain income level) government programs (housing, food stamps, WIC, Medicaid, and the like). When non means-tested...

Recently, while most of the media obsessed over the antics of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the nation passed a significant milestone. Medicaid, the federal-state program meant to provide a medical safety net for the poor, turned 50. This anniversary was celebrated by progressives as proof that government-run health care really works. Few of these cheerleaders noted, however, that this once modest program has morphed into a budget-busting behemoth most of whose expenditures go to the middle class. They also neglected to mention the difficulties Medicaid patients face accessing care or that they experience worse health outcomes than the uninsured....

The actual rates for Part B (which covers the costs of doctor visits and outpatient care) will be announced in October and take effect Jan. 1. The boost may be 15% for all participants [$105/month to $121] or a whopping 52% for some [$105/month to $159], depending on whether Social Security recipients see a cost-of-living raise for 2016.

Cecile Richards, President of Planned Butcherhood Parenthood, has visited the Obama White House 39 times, which is more than some cabinet members. This current Head of State would never defund the abortion giant because they campaign for the Left and contribute far too many dollars towards pushing the liberal agenda. It’s sick that anyone would willingly defend this organization, but such is the Democrat lifestyle. Now, if states go forward with defunding PP, the Obama administration is threatening them with a potential violation of federal law, and cutting off Medicaid funds. If you go against me, you will pay –...

DERRY, N.H. – It was the last question at Gov. John R. Kasich’s town-hall-style meeting here on Wednesday, and it also was perhaps the bluntest. “Governor Kasich, how do you feel about amnesty for the illegals?” asked a voter near the back of a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall here. Mr. Kasich, an Ohio Republican, started off sounding like a border hawk, saying he wanted to “finish the wall” along the border with Mexico. But when he answered the question at hand, he sounded a far more pragmatic note. “If they’ve been law-abiding, then I think they should stay,” he...

The Obama administration is threatening two states after they made the decision to cut funding to the Planned Parenthood abortion business in the wake of a series of videos exposing how Planned Parenthood sells aborted babies and their body parts. Alabama became the third state to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business in the wake of five videos exposing how the abortion giant sells the body parts of aborted babies for research. The state followed Louisiana, which is revoking a contract with Planned Parenthood using state Medicaid dollars, and New Hampshire, which zapped $650,000 in state taxpayer funding. In Alabama,...

Ms. Dehabey, resettlement coordinator for US Together in Toledo, is also the primary facilitator for their adjustment to the area. The organization has been quietly and steadily resettling refugees in the Toledo area for a little more than a year, the only agency in the Toledo area doing so. The refugee community is a small but growing regional population, Ms. Dehabey said. She has placed 11 families in the Toledo area, including two before US Together opened its Toledo office in May, 2014. ... Ms. Dehabey opens an average of one case a month, she said, though arrivals can be...

During Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, Megyn Kelly of Fox News asked Ohio Gov. John Kasich a question about his decision to accept on behalf of his state an option under the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) to expand the number of people eligible for Medicaid by increasing the income threshold below which people qualify. Kasich responded that President Ronald Reagan had expanded Medicaid three times and then discussed some of the things Ohio is doing with Medicaid money. “Everybody has a right to their God-given purpose,” he said.Snip Megyn Kelly: Governor Kasich, you chose to expand...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R) Thursday terminated the state’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood after the legitimacy of using any taxpayer dollars to fund the abortion provider was once again called into question following the release of several videos describing its harvest and sale of aborted baby organs and body parts. “The deplorable practices at Planned Parenthood have been exposed to Americans, and I have decided to stop any association with the organization in Alabama,” said Governor Bentley. “As a doctor and Alabama’s Governor, the issue of human life, from conception to birth and beyond, is extremely...