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Former United Nations ambassador Susan Rice, slated to become the Domestic Policy Council chief if Joe Biden assumes the White House next month, is warning that COVID-19 outbreak “is not the big one” and that a future pandemic could be worse. “In the Obama administration, as I said, we had the 2009 swine flu; we had the Ebola epidemic that could have been a global pandemic; we had the Zika virus, as you'll remember, so we were very prime to this risk. We knew that we hadn't had the big one,” Rice said during a virtual event organized by Stevenson...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I don't know, folks. Some days I just feel swamped. I just feel overwhelmed. I feel smothered by the left. I mean, look. Here we are almost at 2015, and this is the day that Jonathan Gruber is testifying before a House committee on all the things he said about the American people and Obamacare, and what's happening instead? The Democrats are blaming the Bush administration. The Democrats, the main story, the lead story today, by design, is the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, dumping on the Bush administration on "Jonathan Gruber...

If you have health insurance on your job, you probably don't give much thought to each year's renewal. But make the same assumption in one of the new health law plans, and it could lead to costly surprises. Insurance exchange customers who opt for convenience by automatically renewing their coverage for 2015 are likely to receive dated and inaccurate financial aid amounts from the government, say industry officials, advocates and other experts. If those amounts are too low, consumers could get sticker shock over their new premiums. Too high, and they'll owe the tax man later. Automatic renewal was supposed...

As Obamacare, beset with calamities, enters its fourth year, the cerulean-blue state of Vermont is well into its fourth year of preparing to astonish America by installing Canadian-style single-payer health care. To understand the political dynamics of this plan, it’s necessary to go back to the 2010 election for governor. After eight able years at the helm, much of it spent deflecting left-wing (known locally as “Sanderista,” after socialist senator Bernie Sanders) legislative initiatives, popular Republican governor Jim Douglas stepped down. Five Democrats leaped into the race to succeed him. To win a contested Democratic primary in Vermont, a candidate...

Since 2013, complaints to the Department of Health and Human Services have risen regarding Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations. The number of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violation complaints received by the Department of Health and Human Services spiraled upward in 2013. Complaints are on a similar high-speed trajectory for 2014, according to analysis by TrueVault. "The number of complaints through May 2014 is up 20.6% over the number received through May in 2013, so we believe that we will continue to see complaints surge through 2014," Morgan Brown, vice president of growth at TrueVault, said...

Two left-leaning judges on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals showed on Monday what the Obama administration should do regarding the many remaining cases involving the HHS abortifacients mandate: Give up. It does not take much to read between the lines in the injunction that a unanimous three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit granted Monday afternoon in favor of Eternal Word Television Network, which runs Catholic-themed programming. In the case of EWTN v. Secretary of HHS, it looks to me as if two of the three judges were not eager to grant the injunction but felt compelled to that action...

A federal court has ruled that the Catholic Benefits Association and its hundreds of employer members are exempt from a federal mandate requiring coverage of contraceptives and abortifacient drugs. “We are grateful for the ruling, but continue to pray that our leaders recognize that Catholics, whether bishops or businessmen, cannot in good conscience provide insurance that covers drugs and procedures that undermine the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life,” Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, the benefit association’s vice-president, said June 5. “Religious freedom entails more than the right to worship and any contrary legislation...

More than 2 million people who got health insurance under President Barack Obama's law have data discrepancies that could jeopardize coverage for some, a government document shows. About 1 in 4 people who signed up have discrepancies, creating a huge paperwork jam for the feds and exposing some consumers to repayment demands, or possibly even loss of coverage, if they got too generous a subsidy. The 7-page slide presentation from the Health and Human Services department was provided to The Associated Press as several congressional committees are actively investigating the discrepancies, most of which involve important details on income, citizenship...

The Republican party's worst fears about Obamacare are coming true, according to a Politico article published Monday. Thanks to "intransigent Republicans" who opted out of forming exchanges in their own states and "ambitious Democrats" who botched the creation of them in theirs, 36 states now rely on the federal HealthCare.gov exchange. With two more states joining next year, the article reminds readers that, back when Congress needed to pass the bill in order to find out what was in it, a large federal exchange wasn't supposed to be part of the new health care law: The federal option was supposed...

As we behold the continued wonders of ObamaCare, we receive another reminder of the president’s empty promise, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”  The New York Times, late to the party as usual, observed this week, “No matter what kind of health plan consumers choose, they will find fewer doctors and hospitals in their network – or pay much more for the privilege of going to any provider they want.”  What a surprise – stop the presses! Insurance networks are common features of many plans.  The network represents a group of physicians, hospitals, and other...

White House officials sought valuable primetime air for a rare, impromptu Tuesday night address to tout the accomplishment of signing up more than 7 million people under the Affordable Care Act. But network officials refused to make the kind of accommodation they did previously for the announcement that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, for instance, and Obama was left instead cutting into the much smaller audiences of Ellen and other daytime shows. Three sources familiar with the request confirmed the White House asked for the primetime slot in their effort both to emphasize a bright moment following the challenging...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin praised conservative talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh for fiercely defending new-media pioneer Matt Drudge Monday after the White House and mainstream journalists attacked and mocked Drudge for honestly saying that he had paid a penalty for not signing up for Obamacare in his quarterly tax filing. "From one Dittohead to all you others, aren´t you thankful Rush defends truth, and as importantly, he defends those speaking truth!" Palin wrote on Facebook Monday. "Rush is consistently loyal to the cause of justice, walking the walk as he does here in defense of Drudge calling out Obamascare.

Obamacare was marketed to voters as a health-care overhaul that would allow Americans to benefit from lower costs and more options, and keep their current insurance and stay with their existing doctors if they wanted to. Well, for millions of Americans, none of that is true. As the truth about Obamacare reveals itself, President Obama has admitted that he will have to “remarket and rebrand” his plan. How does the White House think they will “remarket” Obamacare to voters? Telling the truth could not possibly achieve good results. The truth reveals that under Obamacare, you can’t keep your current insurance...

... The Democrats' sappy pleas that they understand they have to win back consumers by "fixing" what's wrong with Obamacare are bogus. Consumers don't have a choice. Americans won't be using the Obamacare exchanges because they find the Obamacare branding and marketing pitches informative and appealing, they will use the exchanges because if they don't, Obama’s IRS will fine them. The gentle appeals that we will be hearing as a result of all the “rebranding” and “remarketing” are just cynical, doe-eyed scams. The truth is, if you don’t sign up for Obamacare, the IRS is coming after you. Now that’s...

House Democrats downplayed the significance of problems facing ObamaCare's enrollment system after their first post-rollout meeting with administration officials. Democratic lawmakers appeared upbeat after leaving a presentation from Gary Cohen, a key figure in ObamaCare's implementation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). "We didn't work our hearts out for a website," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), quoting House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "The route in, that's a technical issue that we think is being solved," Schakowsky said. There was also no discussion of delaying ObamaCare's individual mandate, according to members — a possibility that's been floated...

A New York Times investigative article based on two dozen interviews with industry insiders and confidential Obama Administration documents reveals that the catastrophic $500 million Obamacare rollout "has deeply embarrassed the White House" and has the technology companies involved "publicly distancing themselves" from the Obamacare fiasco. "These are not glitches. The extent of the problems is pretty enormous," an insurance executive who participated in Obamacare conference calls told the Times. "At the end of our calls, people say, 'It's awful, just awful.'"

In the current fight over the government shutdown, Republicans are simply representing the views of the American people. Americans didn't ask for Obamacare, they don't want it, but now their insurance premiums are going through the roof, their doctors aren't accepting it, and their employers are moving them into part-time work -- or firing them -- to avoid the law's mandates. Contrary to Obama's promises, it turns out: You can't keep your doctor, you can't keep your insurance -- you can't even keep your job. In other words, it's a typical government program, but this one wrecks your health care....

The IRS's share of ObamaCare implementation is "going fine," the director of the tax agency's implementation office said Wednesday. Implementing the healthcare law falls mainly to the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and the IRS. Technical problems have plagued HHS's rollout of new insurance exchanges. But Sarah Hall Ingram, the director of the IRS's Affordable Care Act office, told a House panel Wednesday that the IRS hasn't experienced similar problems. "The portion of the responsibilities the IRS is in charge of is going fine," Hall Ingram said. Hall Ingram previously led the IRS office that has been accused of...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Many people signing up for health care in Florida through the Affordable Care Act have been shocked when they have to give proof of their credit score before they finish the process. Anne Packham, one of many people licensed by the state to help people navigate the government's website, said on Tuesday that the credit check occurs so providers can make an educated decision about who to insure.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Many people signing up for health care in Florida through the Affordable Care Act have been shocked when they have to give proof of their credit score before they finish the process. Anne Packham, one of many people licensed by the state to help people navigate the government's website, said on Tuesday that the credit check occurs so providers can make an educated decision about who to insure.