Free Republic

The economy is starting to bounce back from the coronavirus, but a full recovery will take years. About 30 million Americans remain unemployed. And the Federal Reserve expects the jobless rate — which currently exceeds 13 percent — to remain above 9 percent through the end of the year, far above the historic low of 3.5 percent we recorded in February. Simply put, Americans are struggling. Through no fault of their own, millions have lost their jobs — and with it, their health insurance. Many are signing up for Medicaid or Obamacare. Conservatives like me cringe to see so many...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Special donations will soon cover monthly health insurance premiums for nearly 900 MUSC Health care team members who were temporarily laid. MUSC Health is in the process of notifying affected employees that their insurance premiums will be paid through June 30 thanks to donations from two benefactors. According to a press release Friday, MUSC Health said it had already committed to continue paying the employer health insurance contribution during the layoff period. “We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of these two amazing people and for what they have tangibly done to make a difference in...

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas is agreeing to pay a $10 million fine and issue refunds to consumers after a state review found billing mistakes in the insurer’s handling of out-of-network emergency claims. The Texas Department of Insurance announced the fine and restitution agreement Friday. Richardson-based Blue Cross will begin sending out notices to affected consumers by May 1. The state said its review found: Incorrect information about how to resolve bill balances on explanation of benefits forms sent to HMO members receiving out-of network emergency care. Delays in processing out-of-network claims that went through a review process Blue...

Private health insurance companies routinely deny legitimate medical claims. Most denied claims for doctors are for in-network (so-called “contracted”) services. In these cases, patients never see a bill, and the doctor must separately try to resolve the dispute with the insurance company. For out-of-network (“non-contracted”) claims, however, the doctor is required by law to send the patient a bill while trying to resolve the billing dispute. Most of these denied claims are for legitimate emergency services. They are simply routine claims, not exorbitant or outlier charges as some folks lobbying for the insurance industry would have you believe.  Don’t take...

According to a PBS health report about a retiree on a Medicare Advantage plan, Z. Ming Ma was issued a prescription from her physician that cost $285 for a 90-day supply. “A month later,” the article says, “Ma and his wife were about to leave on another trip, and Ma needed to stock up on her medication.” But her 90 days weren’t up, so Anthem wouldn’t cover it. “Ma asked the pharmacist how much it would cost if she got the prescription there and paid out of pocket,” the article says. The total cash price was about $40. This is...

Editor's note: This column was authored by Chris Medrano. Americans from every walk of life have good reason to dread the rising cost of medical care. Thankfully, in 2018 the Trump administration gave people more options by loosening restrictions on a less expensive plan type, called short-term plans. These plans aren’t required to follow the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) mandates, which is why Obama heavily restricted them in 2016 — to force more people into the ACA. But thanks to Trump’s deregulation, the CBO predicts that 2 million people will enroll in these plans by 2023. Unfortunately, though, some politicians would...

As a conservative, you might want to stay mad at the insurance companies, because they are still gaming the system to make even more money off of Obamacare.  Right now, they are supporting legislation that will help health insurance companies to make even more money while harming doctors, patients and service providers. The lead trade group for health insurers, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), were critical in helping to get Obamacare passed. They loved the idea of the federal government mandating that all Americans be forced to purchase their product. Healthcare Finance reported on March 23, 2012, “in March 2009,...

My wife needs a knee replacement operation. We are stuck in a glitch between our NYC primary HMO that won't pay for an out of state knee replacement, Medicare and a hospital in Florida where we live in the winter, that since we do have health insurance won't even let us pay for the whole operation out of pocket. Crazy situation. We were just bumped off the schedule for Monday morning. We need prayers to get a new date and have someone apply some common sense to this situation. Need prayers to get out of this web. HELP Please!

Eight-year-old Blake Collie was at the swimming pool when he got a frightening headache. His parents rushed him to the emergency room only to learn he had a brain aneurysm. Blake spent nearly two months in the hospital. His family did not have traditional health insurance. “We could not afford it,” said his father, Mark Collie, a freelance photographer in Washington, N.C. Instead, they pay about $530 a month through a Christian health care sharing organization to pay members’ medical bills. But the group capped payments for members at $250,000, almost certainly far less than the final tally of Blake’s...

With the current third-party payment structure, you doctor does not practice as much medicine on you as insurance executives and federal bureaucrats do. Americans, who practices medicine on you? The answer may seem self-evident, but it is not. In our current health-care system, millions of nameless, faceless government or private insurance bureaucrats practice medicine on you without a license for medicine.You may think your life is in your doctor’s hands, but it is not. The bureaucrats, not you or your doctor, make your medical and financial decisions. Consider these health-care decisions: DiagnosisTreatment: what, when, where, by whomMedicationsPaying for care Your...

More Americans are going without health coverage and the pace of spending on health care nationally is rising in part because of an Affordable Care Act tax on insurers, Trump administration officials said Thursday. A federal report from actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services documented trends that are likely to further fuel the battle between Republicans and Democrats over how to slow health-care spending growth that has already put the U.S. far ahead of most comparable wealthy countries. Overall, national health-care spending rose to $3.65 trillion in 2018, up 4.6% from 2017. The U.S. spent $11,172 per...

... A public option would be less disruptive than a plan that instantly eliminated private insurance. But a public option that is inexpensive and attractive could shake up the private market and also wind up erasing some current insurance arrangements. Conversely, a public option that is expensive and unattractive might not do much good at all. “The political appeal of the public option is it preserves the choice of private insurance,” said Larry Levitt, a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “But the better it works, then the less likely it is to actually preserve a private insurance market.”...

arlier this month, the Trump administration signed a proclamation requiring individuals seeking immigrant visas to show proof of health insurance coverage or the financial means of paying for healthcare before entering the United States. The rule was scheduled to take effect on Sunday, but activists are always able to find a judge willing to block the president. On Sunday, they found him. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon granted a preliminary injunction preventing the rule from taking effect. The federal lawsuit was filed in Portland, Oregon, and claims the healthcare requirement prevents foreign family members of Americans from moving to the...

When the Census Bureau reported an increase in the number of people without health insurance in America, it sent political partisans reaching for talking points on the Obama-era health law and its travails. But the new numbers suggest that fears of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown may be a more significant factor in the slippage. Overall, the number of uninsured in the U.S. rose by 1.9 million people in 2018, the agency report this past week. It was the first jump in nearly a decade. An estimated 27.5 million people, or 8.5% of the population, lacked coverage the entire year....

Rep. Joe Cunningham's wife says therapy and marriage counseling are 'basic well-known needs' Democratic congressman Joe Cunningham's wife is furious that their taxpayer-subsidized healthcare plan declined to pay for therapy sessions, according to a rant on an insurance bill she posted on Instagram. The South Carolina Democrat is currently serving his first term in Congress, where members are given access to Obamacare "gold" plans from Blue Cross Blue Shield and are responsible for paying about a quarter of the premiums. The plan is apparently not good enough for his wife, Amanda Cunningham, who told her Instagram followers she would be...

Deepak Bhargava, a former ACORN lobbyist has been hired by President Obama to run a contest promoting Obamacare through videos. Bhargava was the manager in charge of advancing ACORN's legislative agenda until he resigned in 2002. He faces the daunting task of convincing huge numbers of young Americans to purchase health insurance, they will probably never use, instead of paying the $95 dollar tax. Bhargava is currently the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Community Change, a left leaning partisan group, which is funded by George Soros. They are especially interested in immigration reform and support open borders....

"The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, and to protect patients with preexisting conditions." President Donald J. Trump OFFERING WORKERS BETTER COVERAGE: President Donald J. Trump is expanding Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), opening new coverage options for American workers. The Trump Administration has finalized a rule to expand HRAs, giving businesses a better way to offer health insurance coverage. Under the rule, employers will be able to provide their workers with tax-preferred funds to pay for the cost of health insurance coverage that workers purchase...

Rising support for socialism in the United States comes at a time when politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., promise a great many “free” services, to be provided or guaranteed by the government. Supporters often point to nations with large social programs, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Scandinavian states, particularly when it comes to health care. Never mind that these are not true socialist countries, but highly taxed market economies with large welfare states. That aside, they do offer a government-guaranteed health service that many in America wish to emulate. The problem for their argument is that,...

I just tried to buy some health insurance and gee whiz, I am not allowed! How about that? It seems in New York you can only buy it in November due to the Obamacare enrollment mandate. I just got off the phone with a broker who told me. What kind of insanity is this? So if I get some disease or severely injured from now till November I'm basically screwed. Isn't government intervention wonderful?

Washington is set to become the first state to enter the private health insurance market with a universally available public option. A set of tiered public plans will cover standard services and are expected to be up to 10% cheaper than comparable private insurance, thanks in part to savings from a cap on rates paid to providers. But unlike existing government-managed plans, Washington’s public plans are set to be available to all residents regardless of income by 2021. The Legislature approved the plan last month, and Gov. Jay Inslee is scheduled to sign it into law Monday. The move thrusts...