Health Care
August 21, 2017 — John Hinderaker
American liberals have long yearned to follow the Europeans into the nirvana of socialized medicine. But they recognize that U.S. voters are not yet “ready” to go the full Monty. So they have taken incremental steps, taking over more and more of what once was a private health care system, while waiting for the inevitable dawn of socialized medicine. Nancy Pelosi claims that she doesn’t favor socialized medicine, and has
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July 26, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Obviously the future of health care policy rests on a knife edge. It is a political game of chicken between whether Republicans have the nerve to roll back the egregious features of Obamacare that will necessarily involve creating gaps in insurance coverage, and Democrats who think that they are in the catbird seat because either the eventual collapse of Obamacare or the defects of a Republican reform will set the
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July 15, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In the guise of a news story, the New York Times presents a screed against what it calls “junk insurance.” The occasion for the screed is Senator Ted Cruz’s proposal that insurers be allowed to sell plans that that don’t meet Obamacare standards, if they also sell policies that meet these standards. The idea is to give consumers choices. The Times’ Reed Abelson complains that under this proposal, insurance companies
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July 12, 2017 — John Hinderaker
At the moment, it appears that the Republican Congress will not be able to pass any meaningful health insurance reform legislation. I hope that assessment is too pessimistic, but in any event, President Trump doesn’t need to wait for Congress. There is a great deal he can do, administratively, to reverse the damage being caused by Obamacare and help to preserve private markets for health care. In response to a
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June 29, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I’ve commented before on the current Democratic talking point that “millions will die” if the Senate health care reform proposal is enacted, noting that I had missed this enormous mortality that must have been occurring just a few years ago before Obamacare was passed. There is actually fairly robust econometric literature that establishes the proposition that “wealthier is healthier,” and hence that economic growth is the best general policy for
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June 24, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Sadly for those of us hoping California would go full commie as an object lesson for the rest of the nation, the state legislature has shelved the proposed $400 billion single-payer health care bill. Democrats are naturally blaming Trump, because the scheme would require a bunch of waivers from the Administration to go into effect, but the real reason is that it’s a total lunatic idea, and there a just
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June 13, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Wall Street Journal editors ask: “If Democrats believe the lesson of ObamaCare is that the government should have even more control over health care, then why not show how it would work in the liberal paradise?” The question is prompted by the California Senate’s recent passage of a single-payer health care bill. The legislation guarantees free government-run health care for California’s 39 million residents — no co-pays, deductibles or
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June 3, 2017 — Scott Johnson
You may have heard that former baseball great Rod Carew needed a new heart after a massive heart attack in 2015. I was vaguely aware that he recently had a heart transplant. Listening to Rod talk in the booth during the broadcast of the Twins game against the Angels in Anaheim on Thursday night, I understood from Rod’s comments that the story behind the transplant had taken a few twists
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May 26, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The Lancet is a renowned medical journal headquartered in England. The current issue includes an article on Venezuela, titled “Data reveal state of Venezuelan health system”. The data in question come from the Venezuelan government, after two years in which it released no reports. No doubt the picture the government paints is, if anything, optimistic. Still, the facts are grim: Maternal and infant mortality have skyrocketed in Venezuela in the
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May 25, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis of the current version of the House health care bill that was trumpeted by Democrats because it projected that 23 million people would “lose” their health insurance if the law went into effect. However, as Guy Benson points out, this claim is false, since “the large bulk of those who are said to be ‘losing’ coverage do not currently have coverage.” Further,
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May 22, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Out here in California the latest Progressive cause—after high speed rail and solving climate change all by ourselves—is a state-based single-payer health care system. There is a bill (SB 562) that has passed out of one state Senate committee already, along with talk of a ballot initiative, and if those fail, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a certain candidate for governor next year, is talking about universal single-payer health care as
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May 15, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I hate to intrude on John’s beat, but he’s missed an important development in not covering the just-completed Miss USA competition, won by Kara McCullough, a scientist working at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. When asked if she thinks health care is a right or a privilege, she gets the right answer without hesitation: JOHN adds: I am late to the party here, but we should note that it wasn’t only
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May 7, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Democrats are pretending to be delighted that Obamacare appears on its way out, and the liberal media parrot their claim that Obamacare repeal will be a political disaster for Republicans. To take one of many instances, the Associated Press wrote last night: “Democrats see a winning issue in opposing GOP health bill.” Democrats aren’t happy about the House Republican health care bill, but they are upbeat about the prospect of
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May 4, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Today House Republicans passed an Obamacare repeal and replacement bill that was considerably improved over the one that failed some weeks ago. CNN’s report on the vote, true to form, featured an interview with Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy by a hostile reporter whose questions were along the lines of, “Do you think Republicans will pay a terrible price when voters learn sick people are thrown out in the streets?” McCarthy
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April 6, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Reports from Washington are frustratingly incomplete, but it appears that the Trump administration is renewing its effort to repeal Obamacare. Reuters strikes a remarkably optimistic note: The majority of House Freedom Caucus members will vote for a Republican healthcare bill if changes offered by the White House are included in the legislation, the head of the conservative group of House Republicans said on Thursday. U.S. Representative Mark Meadows said the
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March 25, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Pretty much everyone thinks the House’s failure to pass the GOP’s repeal-and-replace bill is a disaster for Republicans. The Democrats are giddy with glee, and Matt Drudge calls it a “catastrophe.” Perhaps they are right, but I doubt it. Obamacare is in a death spiral. It is rapidly collapsing, and steadily becoming more unpopular as it fails more and more Americans. Congress will now move on to other tasks, like
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March 24, 2017 — John Hinderaker
It became apparent this afternoon that the health care bill promoted by Republican leadership in the House did not have enough votes to pass, and the bill was pulled by Speaker Paul Ryan, despite President Trump’s earlier insistence that a vote be held. Based on the Washington Post’s account, it appears that Trump acquiesced in the decision. “‘We just pulled it,’ he said.” Inevitably, commentators will play the perceptions game:
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