Free Republic

Longtime nurse and union president, Cathy Glasson, is offering a clear vision of how bold, progressive policies can improve the lives of average Iowans. Glasson is exploring the run for governor in a swing state, which in 2016 voted in favor of Trump, but also Obama in 2008 and 2012. In the following Q&A, Glasson talks universal health care, raising the minimum wage, and how she can improve the life of the average Iowan. Q: Why are you considering a run for governor? I’m exploring a run for Governor because I’m tired of watching working people in this state get...

With the September deadline for insurers to decide whether they are in or out of the Obamacare exchanges fast approaching, some insurers are opting to get out now. Aetna announced it was getting out of the Obamacare business in May. Today, the company announced it was leaving the one exchange where it had considered staying because of a Medicaid contract. From the Washington Examiner: The company said during an earnings call that it was withdrawing from the exchange in Nevada, the last state it had considered staying in. Aetna was leaving the possibility open because it was applying for...

Another family in the UK is fighting to keep doctors from forcing their sick baby off of life support. From The Mirror story: Charlie Gard supporters are rallying round the family of a seriously ill little boy as his parents face a battle with medics to keep him alive. Tiny Alfie Evans in being treated at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool and suffers from a mystery condition staff are struggling to diagnose. The 14-month-old family are hoping to find pioneering treatment for their little boy abroad. Alfie has been in a coma in the hospital’s intensive care ward since...

Six month wait for 65-year-old skydiver's glaucoma appointment is 'unacceptable' By JoeBulmer  |  Posted: July 31, 2017 A 65-year-old Devon skydiver suffering with glaucoma has had to wait for months to have his condition looked at and the man's hospital has admitted "patients are waiting longer" to be seen. David Tylcoat, from Burrington near Chulmleigh, is meant to have a routine eye exam every six months to check how his condition is being managed. Two weeks ago David rang the Eye Clinic at North Devon District Hospital to find out why he had not received a notification to come in...

In a Republican-backed effort to single out where Democrats lie on a contentious policy debate, an amendment to create a single-payer health care system failed with no affirmative votes in the Senate Thursday, The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mon.), failed with zero yes votes. Four Democrats and one Independent voted against it, and the remainder of Democrats voted as “present,” to avoid taking a stance on the legislation. Independent Maine Senator Angus King, who voted against the bill, said he did not want to participate in what he thought was a “set up.” “The bill had way too...

When it comes to a Democrat Party that feeds off symbolism and emotion on behalf of the downtrodden, one would also think that here would be a golden opportunity to show their base just how committed they are to the alternative they've always wanted once Obamacare melted down leaving the American people no other alternative. Here was their golden opportunity to stand by their convictions, vote their conscience, act on their principles, etc. It didn't happen.

In a twist that exemplifies just how wild the healthcare debate has been, on Thursday the Senate voted on a single-payer healthcare plan. Introduced by a Republican. Who doesn't support it. The plan, proposed as an amendment to the House bill by Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, was called the Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act. It was overwhelmingly voted down, with the 57 voting "no" and many Democrats choosing to vote "present." There wasn't a single "yes" vote. The amendment was the third healthcare plan to face a key vote during the 20-hour Senate debate period. Votes on...

FULL TITLE: Charlie Gard’s Parents End Their Fight to Save His Life, Say It’s Too Late for Experimental Treatment The parents of the little boy Charlie Gard, who had been fighting a hospital to save his life say they are ending their legal battle to get him an experimental treatment. Chris Gard and Connie Yates wanted to take their son to the United States for an experimental treatment. They raised more than $1.5 million for his care. His parents said they know the chance of the experimental treatment working is slim, but they want to try anyway for Charlie’s sake....

The System raised its brutal fist for all to see in Britain today. But the System didn’t win because Baby Charlie’s earthly struggle completely illuminated all of its horror in 3-D. “The System” raised its brutal fist in the face of the world from Britain today. It conceded, not in words, but in action how the parents of Charlie Gard had run out of time to secure outside help in trying to keep their baby alive. The System proved its terrible might in demonstrating to a World On Watch how it is impossible for a vulnerable baby and his parents...

The Democratic Party will consider proposing a single-payer health insurance system, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said. “We’re going to look at broader things [for the nation’s health care system.] Single-payer is one of them,” Schumer said to ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday. The top Democrat in the Senate added that single-payer is among a number of health insurance options. “Many things are on the table,” Schumer said. “Medicare for people above 55 is on the table. A buy-in to Medicare is on the table. Buy-in to Medicaid is on the table.”

In the course of the hearing, British high court Justice Francis said their son cannot be moved to the United States for treatment without a court order, squashing hope that a move to grant him residency in the U.S. would help him, according to The Independent. Earlier this week, U.S. Congressional leaders approved a measure to grant Charlie and his parents permanent residency status in an effort to make it easier for him to receive an experimental treatment. Pro-life Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Washington, led the effort; her daughter also was diagnosed with a fatal condition but survived because of...

“We're in this room today to deliver on our promise to the American people to repeal Obamacare and to ensure that they have the health care that they need,” President Trump told Republican senators at a White House luncheon on Wednesday. “We have no choice. We have to repeal and replace Obamacare.” Trump said Republicans are “so close” to getting the job done, even without a single vote from Democrats: "The way I looked at it, we have no Democrat help. They're obstructionists. That's all they're good at is obstruction. They have no ideas. They've gone so far left, they're...

Liberals and leftists have spent the last few months fighting a rearguard battle to protect the Obamacare status quo against attacks from the right. But after the death of Republican efforts to overhaul the health care system, opposition forces should shift their focus to what’s next. Preserving Obamacare is not enough. The time has come for universal health care through a single public health insurer that covers everyone in the country. In the course of defending Obamacare, centrist pundits and institutions made a moral argument about the brutality of health uninsurance that also renders our current system totally indefensible. The...

Lingering uncertainty about the fate of the Affordable Care Act has spurred the California legislature to consider adoption of a statewide single-payer health care system. Sometimes described as Medicare for all, single-payer is a system in which a public agency handles health care financing while the delivery of care remains largely in private hands.

No, silly. Leftists don’t want $32 trillion in new taxes. They want around $15 trillion in new taxes over the next decade plus a cool $32 trillion or so in new debt to pay for single-payer, at least if Bernie Sanders’s platform last year is the template. CNN asks upstart Ryan opponent Randy Bryce about that here. You’re a single-payer proponent, they say. What do you think of $32 trillion to socialize medicine? Bryce: Well, ah, a lot of people aren’t paying their fair share of taxes, you know. That’s a sentiment a lot of Americans, including Steve Bannon, share....

Hillary Clinton had a plan for health care before one of her other plans went awry. The former Secretary of State responded to Republicans' defense of their plan to repeal Obamacare by saying they could use her blueprint if they can’t find a way to bring Americans affordable care. “‘We’ve got to fix what’s broken.’ Where's your plan, @HillaryClinton?” the GOP’s main Twitter accounted posted on Wednesday afternoon.

President Donald Trump struck a cautiously optimistic tone Wednesday, the day after Senate Republican leaders scuttled plans for a vote on health care reform this week in the face of stiff resistance from within the party's own ranks. "We're going to have a big surprise," Trump said during a brief photo opportunity with reporters as he welcomed the World Series-winning Chicago Cubs at the White House. "We're going to have a great, great surprise."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday that opposing the Republican health-care bill wasn't enough and the Democratic Party should start running on a new national single-payer plan. "President Obama tried to move us forward with health-care coverage by using a conservative model that came from one of the conservative think tanks that had been advanced by a Republican governor in Massachusetts," she told The Wall Street Journal. "Now it's time for the next step. And the next step is single payer." Polling has shown government-provided health care to be a very popular notion among Americans. Depending on whether it's described as...

"Back in the 1960s, (Claude) Castonguay chaired a Canadian government committee studying health reform and recommended that his home province of Quebec — then the largest and most affluent in the country — adopt government-administered health care, covering all citizens through tax levies "We thought we could resolve the system's problems by rationing services or injecting massive amounts of new money into it," says Castonguay. But now he prescribes a radical overhaul: "We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice."

There is so much winning for taxpayers, concerned citizens, and conservatives in general in the state of California. The slow but steady victories in this blue bastion of progressive insanity should raise hope for all of us. After all, the Left loves to gloat that what happens in California is most likely to pop up all over the United States. They might want to change their minds. First, an assemblyman in Commie East Bay Alameda County attempted to allow Communists to serve openly in our government. The South Vietnamese Community in Orange County and veterans throughout the state hammered this...