Free Republic

Conservatives are rumbling around the talk show circuit bellowing about the socialist threat to the (literal) American body politic. And, as usual, Canada is once again getting dragged into the fracas, shoved around by both sides as either an exemplar or a warning — and, along the way, getting coated with the obfuscating dust of so many willful misconceptions that the actual facts about How Canada Does It are completely lost in the melee. I’m both a health-care-card-carrying Canadian resident and an uninsured American citizen who regularly sees doctors on both sides of the border. As such, I’m in a...

Health Care: In the summer of 2014, President Obama promised swift changes to resolve chronic delays and cover-ups at the Veterans Health Administration. Today, veterans are still waiting months to see doctors and the VHA is still doctoring wait times, an audit finds.

The doctor is disappearing in America. And by most projections, it’s only going to get worse — the U.S. could lose as many as 1 million doctors by 2025, according to a Association of American Medical Colleges report. Primary-care physicians will account for as much as one-third of that shortage, meaning the doctor you likely interact with most often is also becoming much more difficult to see.

China has vowed to clamp down on 'scalpers' selling tickets for hospital appointments at hugely inflated prices. Most hospitals in the country require patients to purchase registration tickets to see a doctor or receive treatment but the system is widely abused. Scalpers buy up tickets for around £30 and can resell them for as much as £450, with those most in need of hospital treatment the biggest victims of the scandal. They mainly operate in the largest cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. ...

Either Donald Trump suffers from memory loss or he is completely lying about his healthcare plans. During Thursday night's debate Ted Cruz simply asked Trump, "True or false, you said the government should pay for everyone's healthcare?" Trump emphatically denied, claiming the accusation was completely false. To those watching who have been keeping up with this election cycle, the claim seemed dubious. After the debate, Cruz's campaign helped Trump and the rest of America understand the truth behind the spar: ...

Donald Trump attacked Republicans this morning for their opposition to government-provided health care. Appearing on Meet the Press, Trump told host Chuck Todd, "We're not going to let people die in squalor because we are Republicans, okay?" "That's part of the problem with the Republicans, somehow they got fed into this horrible position," Trump said. "We're going to take care of people." Trump also said he didn't mean to express support for Obamacare's individual mandate during Thursday night's CNN town hall when he told Anderson Cooper, "I like the mandate." "We had a situation where we were Anderson Cooper, who's...

Donald Trump: “I like the mandate.” Donald Trump has often promised to repeal the “disaster” that is Obamacare and he’s right, it is a disaster.But at Thursday night’s CNN Republican Presidential Town Hall in South Carolina, Donald Trump embraced what is easily the worst part of Obamacare, the anti-free market “individual mandate” which forces Americans to buy only government-approved health care insurance, whether they want to or not.To justify his support for the Obamacare mandate, Donald Trump uses leftist talking points of not wanting people to “die in the streets,” as if they has ever happened in America — before...

Is there anybody more "all over the map" on healthcare than Donald Trump?...

Nearly 3,000 operations have been canceled as junior doctors in England take part in a second 24-hour strike over pay and conditions. Checkups, appointments and tests are also set to be disrupted as a result of the walkout, which began at 08:00 GMT. Formal talks broke down in January and there is mounting speculation ministers may soon seek to impose a new contract, potentially inflaming the row further. The key sticking point appears to be payments for working on Saturdays. ...

A girl who died of leukemia was given a final send off after her friends signed her casket with loving messages on January 30. Laura Hillier got to experience a few normal childhood milestones like graduating high school and getting her senior year book signed before she died on January 20. Laura might have experienced a few more milestones if a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, hospital had been able to accommodate a bone marrow transplant for the young woman. Numerous donors were a match with Laura and ready to donate, but Hamilton's Juravinski Hospital didn't have enough beds in high-air-pressure rooms...

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, was enacted, Americans were promised a healthcare system in which insurance companies would be held accountable and patients would have access to affordable care. Six years later, however, the reality has proven to be quite different-a plan that was supposed to mend our nation's fractured healthcare system has driven up healthcare costs, decreased market competition, and ultimately harmed patients. Last week, UnitedHealth--the nation's largest health insurer--announced that it expects to lose more than $500 million through plans they offered under the ACA in 2016. Just yesterday, Anthem...

Family doctors have criticized the Government for seeking to "nationalize" general practice with plans to extend free GP care to all children. Speakers at the National Association of GPs conference called for a campaign of resistance to plans for a progressive extension of GP medical cards to all children. The Government plans to extend the scheme to children aged under 12 years later this year and to all children shortly after. Limerick GP Charlie Gavin said he signed the contract out of fear. "My fear was my practice would not continue, I had a letter from the Government saying they...

Donald Trump is calling for Medicare to be able to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices, a policy long backed by Democrats and opposed by Republicans. The Republican presidential candidate told a crowd in Farmington, N.H., Monday night that the policy would save billions of dollars, but then took a shot at pharmaceutical companies, which strongly oppose the proposal. "We don't do it. Why? Because of the drug companies," Trump said, according to The Associated Press. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, as well as President Obama, have called for the same policy of letting Medicare negotiate...

New Hampshire Democrats have an important choice to make on Feb. 9. And the choice is clear: Donald Trump for President. For decades, Trump has consistently supported bigger government, and ridiculed conservative principles.During his first - run for the Presidency in 1999, Trump told Larry King, “I believe in universal health care.” He repeated that support in his 2000 book, backing a system like Canada’s single-payer system. And Trump has been consistent, praising Scotland’s single-payer health care system this year. Trump can carry the Democrat’s banner as a longtime advocate for government takeover of health care.Trump has a long history...

Bernie Sanders likely wants to raise everyone's taxes to pay for universal health care, but promises it will be worth it. The Democratic presidential contender has long promoted a single payer health care system, which would eliminate the private insurance market in favor of a government-run program. He calls it 'Medicare for All. Sanders' plan for health insurance is now in the spotlight, with rival Hillary Clinton demanding that he reveal how he'd pay for it. Her campaign contends it would require raising taxes on the middle class by 9%. Sanders has waffled on whether he'd unveil details before the...

The Obama administration is sending a new message to people on the Obamacare e-mail list. Sign up for health insurance by December 15 or face big fines. “Important,” the new email warns subscribers. “The penalty for not having health insurance is increasing. If you don’t sign up for coverage, you’ll risk having to pay $695 per person or more for the year.” Since the new enrollment period is in session, email messages from the Obamacare website have increased urging more people to sign up for coverage or face fines. When asked about the fines faced by Americans without insurance, White...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-decline-of-obamacare-1445807092 ObamaCare will almost inevitably be reopened in 2017, whoever wins the election. The good news is the emerging consensus among Republican candidates about a credible, pragmatic and optimistic alternative. Jeb Bush was the latest to release a plan two weeks ago—and this is a debate that has always deserved to be litigated at the presidential level to create a mandate for reform.

There is no such thing as free care. Someone else must pay for it either through higher taxes, non-use of services, confiscatory premiums, writing-off costs, government subsidies, or denial of needed services, rationing When the government promises too much free medical care to too many people without making a significant investment in the medical infrastructure, its staff, and its professional delivery, innocent victims of a shortchanged, diluted, and inefficient service are likely to emerge. And the victims will suffer in silence physically or financially, paying for much reduced or unaffordable healthcare. Add to the poorly planned mix an enormously expensive...

When the nuns first hit the road in 2012, their mission was to collect stories of economic oppression in protest of the Paul Ryan budget — in defiant response to Pope Benedict XVI's startling decision to launch an investigation into the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella group that represents more than 80 percent of religious sisters in the United States. The investigation was an outright attack on women's role in the Church and was referred to as "a crackdown on American nuns." Their alleged transgression was spending too much time on social justice issues, and promoting "certain radical...

For decades, liberal activists yearned for a European-style, single-payer health system that they argued would lead to more affordable, efficient, and comprehensive medical coverage for all citizens. When Vermont four years ago enacted a landmark bill to establish the nation’s first single-payer health care system, they saw their long-sought dream about to be fulfilled. But reality hit last month. Governor Peter Shumlin released a financial report that showed the cost of the program would nearly double the size of the state’s budget in the first year alone and require large tax increases for residents and businesses. Shumlin, a Democrat and...