Free Republic

The Senate’s “Gang of Eight” has released a new version of the immigration bill that contains 999 references to waivers, exemptions and political discretion. The revised 867-page bill contains multiple changes from the first 844-page version, released April 18, but Democrats have not announced any delay to the committee review of the complex bill that begins next week. The bill includes roughly 1.14 waivers or exemptions per page. By comparison, the 2,409-page Obamacare law includes 0.78 waivers and exemptions per page. The Obamacare law contains 1,882 mentions of “unless,” “notwithstanding,” “except,” “exempt,” “waivers,” “discretion” and “may.” “Waiver” is mentioned 209...

It may be hard to keep track of with the round-the-clock news cycle, but the continuing injustice of waivers to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act deserves careful scrutiny by the American citizenry. The list of granted waivers now stands at 733. A glance reveals that much of this favored class is made up of the law's biggest supporters: unions and health care providers. A more extensive analysis of the list would be a waste of time; the salient point is that it is a manifestation of privilege -- i.e., Americans are unequal under Obamacare. While some are given...

The Health and Human Services Department granted 39 new waivers last month from part of the healthcare law, bringing the total to just shy of 1,500.In September, HHS will stop the process of granting a new batch of one-year waivers at the end of each month. Companies have until Sept. 22 to file their initial application for a one-year reprieve and seek an extension to carry them through the next three years.Department officials said they decided on the September cutoff because, by then, every company that thinks it needs a waiver would have had time to apply.

(CNSNews.com) – The Department of Health and Human Services has granted a total of 1,372 waivers from ObamaCare insurance mandates since the law’s enactment, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. The waivers are for so-called mini-med plans that offer annual coverage limits. They were outlawed by ObamaCare and are scheduled to be regulated out of existence in 2014. However, such plans are often the only form of health insurance available to workers and without the waivers most would no longer be available.

If you knew a dangerous virus was about to hit America and that you could beg the government for a vaccine, you'd probably do it, wouldn't you? That's just what states and businesses alike are doing right now in preparation for Obamacare. But rather than seeking a vaccine, they're asking for waivers from the law's onerous requirements. To date, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has approved 1,372 Obamacare waivers, covering 3.1 million Americans. Yesterday, The Daily Caller reported that among HHS's most recent round of 204 Obamacare waivers, "38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent...

Karl Rove group sues administration over health reform waiversBy Julian Pecquet - 03/23/11 10:27 AM ET A conservative organization with ties to Karl Rove sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday to gain access to documents detailing how the department decides who can get waivers from the healthcare reform law. Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (Crossroads GPS) says the suit was prompted by the department's failure to respond to a Jan. 7 request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. The organization is seeking "any and all memoranda, guidance, directives, instructions and other documents … relating...