Free Republic

During another grueling hearing on the ObamaCare rollout, the head of the Internal Revenue Service tried to offer lawmakers an assurance about the soon-to-open enrollment period. “Whenever we can, we follow the law,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health on Wednesday. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who leads the subcommittee, immediately expressed his concern with the remarks. “I encourage you to follow the law in all instances,” Brady said. Koskinen, who was confirmed as head of IRS last December, has repeatedly faced lawmakers' ire over the agency's targeting of conservative groups. Lawmakers spent a...

Ironically, liberal college professors are now feeling the increasing weight and burden that is from ObamaCare, or its official name “The Affordable Care Act.” A study released by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that an increasing number of college and university professors are paying more for their health insurance. obamacare forum The study, “2014 Employee Healthcare and Other Benefits in Higher Education Survey,” covered health benefits, four types of healthcare plans (HMO, PPO, POS and high deductible plans), “formal wellness programs,” dental plans and other healthcare basics. The questionnaire itself can be viewed here. The...

The Obama administration announced today it will continue its legal battle against the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order of nuns dedicated to serving the neediest elderly in society. This comes despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby and another company in their bid to stop the HHS mandate

Planned Parenthood will receive more than half-a-million dollars in U.S. taxpayer funds to help sign people up for ObamaCare health insurance plans during a three month period in 2014-15. For the second year in a row, the Department of Health and Human Services will award two Planned Parenthood chapters in Iowa and Montana federal grants to act as “navigators” for those uninsured or otherwise unable to navigate the labyrinth of new insurance regulations ushered in by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Planned Parenthood of the Heartland will receive an “anticipated grant” of $218,940 (slightly more than its $214,427 grant last...

Obamacare, as its advocates increasingly point out, has succeeded in expanding the number of Americans with insurance. Even though this achievement came at enormous cost, still leaves millions of Americans uninsured, and dumped millions more into Medicaid, this is still one of the few “successes” that the health-care law can claim. However, health insurance and access to health care are not the same thing. And evidence is growing that Obamacare is likely to make it harder for us to see a doctor or otherwise obtain care. Of course, we already know that the limited network of physicians available through most...

Health Wars: As ObamaCare's failures mount, the giant health care companies are busy attacking each other instead of the misbegotten health law. Democrats must be delighted. Earlier this month, the New Hampshire insurance department decided not to force Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to include Frisbie Memorial Hospital in its ObamaCare network. Frisbie CEO Al Felgar had blasted Anthem for excluding the hospital, griping that it was "all about profit." Welcome to health care ObamaCare style, where the hospitals attack the insurance companies, the insurance companies attack drug companies, the drug industry attacks hospitals, and doctors attack all of...

In the summer of 2013, with the Affordable Care Act about to begin enrolling its first customers in the new health-care exchanges, Ted Cruz warned Republicans that they were facing one final chance to kill the law. Once Americans had grown accustomed to the sweet comfort of affordable health insurance, Cruz foresaw, they would never give it up: “[Obama’s] strategy is to get as many Americans as possible hooked on the subsidies, addicted to the sugar. If we get to Jan. 1, this thing is here forever.” Cruz may have been completely misguided in his belief that this logic dictated...

Congressional Republicans keep saying they oppose Obamacare. Yet they’re refusing to take the simplest and easiest action against it. The way the law is designed, insurance companies get taxpayer subsidies if they incur big losses on the exchanges. That guarantee has encouraged them to participate in the exchanges. It has also enabled them to charge lower premiums, since they do not have to cover their risks. Republicans could force supporters of Obamacare to defend these taxpayer subsidies by advancing legislation to stop them, as Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Representative Tim Griffin (R., Ark.) have proposed. But their colleagues...

The bill is coming due for ObamaCare and it’s a whopper. According to Medicare Care’s own actuaries U.S. health care spending is about to rocket. Federal meddling in what was once the finest and cost-effective health care system on the planet is nothing new. Back in the 1960s, many Americans paid for doctor and hospital services out of pocket or through modestly priced private insurance. Health care spending was about 6 percent of GDP. Enter President Johnson and Medicare. He bought millions of votes by giving seniors free health care that they never paid for through payroll taxes during their...

Because health care can become a life or death matter, there never seems to be a shortage of crises. For example, the launching pad for approval of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was the insurance coverage crisis. Tens of millions of Americans did not have health insurance, and the sheer numbers involved, combined with potential financial devastation, pushed this crisis to the forefront. Although it is not normally called a “crisis,” the widespread use of so-called Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) does not reflect well on mainstream medicine in the US. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative...

The Obama administration has renewed its attempt to force a Catholic religious order, the Little Sisters of the Poor, to comply with the HHS abortion mandate. The mandate compels religious groups to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions.The Obama administration announced today it will continue its legal battle against the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order of nuns dedicated to serving the neediest elderly in society. This comes despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby and another company in their bid to stop the HHS mandate.The government is...

How often have we heard our elderly brothers and sisters say they don’t want to be “a burden.” Who made them think such a thing? We did!A great column in the Daily Mail by Stephen Glover indicts the UK culture for its blatant ageism–a condemnation that applies equally to the USA. From, “Why Today’s Elderly are Old Age Pariahs:” It can scarcely be disputed that people in their 70s, 80s and 90s are increasingly made to feel they are part of a burdensome minority which is more or less surplus to requirement. What is particularly disturbing is that the kind...

President Barack Obama’s top health adviser on Monday called for an end to partisan bickering over Obamacare, saying the public and businesses are sending a clear message to Washington that it is time to move on with implementing the law. “The Affordable Care Act is clearly working,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell told a university audience in remarks that unveiled a new administration message about the successes of the healthcare reform law just as the midterm election campaign debate about its future intensifies. “What I’ve been hearing over and over … (is) enough already with the back...

Two Planned Parenthood chapters, two United Way organizations, a food bank association and a Catholic hospital system are among 90 nonprofit groups that will receive a total of $60 million to help people sign up for health insurance, the Department of Health and Human Services announced today. Planned Parenthood chapters in Montana and Iowa received grants totaling about $500,000. Ascension Health, the nation’s largest Catholic hospital system, won a $241,000 grant to help people in Kansas. The Ohio Association of Food Banks will receive a $2.1 million grant. Florida Covering Kids & Families, based at the University of South Florida,...

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell insisted Monday that Obamacare is “clearly working,” trying to move past the rocky rollout of President Obama's signature health law by insisting that her agency was not concerned with fighting “last year's battles.” Burwell in a speech at George Washington University said that the verdict was in on Obama's signature domestic initiative. “The Affordable Care Act is clearly working,” the HHS chief said. “Healthcare is more affordable for families, businesses and for our economy as [a] whole. Coverage and services are more widely available to more people. Doctors and hospitals are delivering...

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who rose to prominence after her filibuster of Texas’ anti-abortion legislation, reveals in a new campaign memoir that she terminated two pregnancies for medical reasons in the 1990s, including one in which the fetus had developed a severe brain abnormality. In the book, “Forgetting to Be Afraid,” Davis writes that she had an abortion in 1996 after an exam revealed that the brain of the fetus had developed in complete separation on the right and left sides. She also describes ending an earlier ectopic pregnancy, in which an embryo implants outside the uterus. It...

Click all photos to enlarge… The Catholic Globe reported on an interesting competition in Iowa: Location was a huge factor for Mary’s Choice, a pro-life pregnancy resource center in Sioux City as it is next to Planned Parenthood, because it could be seen by those entering the facility. According to Sherill Glassmaker, director of Mary’s Choice, when Planned Parenthood erected a tall wooden wall, visibility of the pro-life center was impacted. “We had a sign on the side of our building and people would pull into Planned Parenthood. A lot of times people would call from the parking lot and...

Fox News is reporting that employer-provided health care plans may be a thing of the past. Former Obama health adviser Zeke Emanuel predicted that Obamacare will replace 80 percent of employer-provided health plans will disappear in 10 years. “It’s going to actually be better for people. They’ll have more choice,” Emanuel said. “Most people who work for an employer and get their coverage through an employer do not have choice.” …

Here are some numbers, straight from my own checkbook register. In October 2011, before the start of Obamacare, I was paying $386 a month. Yes, fairly reasonable, but less so when you factor in my $10,000 deductible (and two teenage children who keep falling off things). The following October, the premiums rose 23 percent to $474. In October 2013, my monthly rate rose again, nearly 32 percent, to $623. Same exact coverage, just more money. Then, this year, come Sept. 30, my new premiums will be $1,097. That’s a 76 percent increase from the previous year, and, all told, my...

Consumers may soon find a surprise in their mailbox: a notice that their health plan is being canceled. Insurers are required to give policyholders 90 days notice if they’re discontinuing their plans. That means consumers whose plans will be cancelled this December should be receiving notices now. If your plan is being canceled, you have a number of options. By law, your insurer has to let you buy another of its plans if you want. You can also shop on the state health insurance marketplace for coverage, where many people qualify for subsidies that reduce the cost, or you can...