The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate’s health committee have struck a deal to fund reimbursements to insurers that discount prices for low-income individuals, just days after the Trump administration determined the payments were illegal without an appropriation from Congress.
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order that, among other things, stops cost-sharing payments to insurance companies. The purpose of these payments is to lower the deductibles and co-pays for lower- and middle-income Americans purchasing health plans on the Obamacare insurance…
It may be the administration’s signature piece of legislation and the foundation upon which its legacy will be built, but there are plenty of people who are not happy with the Affordable Cave Act. For instance, there are the members of the faculty of Harvard University who, as Robert Pear of…
On the topic of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the contraceptive mandate case decided on the last day of the recent Supreme Court term, the Democrats are fighting mad. They don’t like the decision. No, they despise it. Indeed, their rhetoric on Hobby Lobby has become so misleading, even strange, that the…
It's a question often asked these days in conservative circles: Do you really think Obamacare can be repealed? Usually uttered behind closed doors, the question reveals both an un-Reagan-like pessimism and something of a disconnect from political reality.
When the government provides medical care, it normally delegates the task. Under Medicare, Washington doesn’t employ doctors, nurses, and hospitals to treat the elderly. It has to coax them to participate. Similarly, Obamacare functions only if big insurance companies are willing to play ball with…
Despite the Obama administration's insistence that everyone -- the government, insurance companies, doctors, medical providers, and consumers -- will reap benefits from Obamacare, a recent grant proposal by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suggests that the agency does have…
Perhaps the most unpleasant aspect of my otherwise quite enjoyable job as a college professor has been the requirement to assign grades to students. Given that we’re now about halfway through implementation of the Affordable Care Act—which even President Obama is happy to call “Obamacare”—it seems…
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, with executive editor Terry Eastland on whether the courts will weigh in against President Obama's tendency to change the rules without the input of Congress.
Obamacare is no longer a theoretical proposition. It is now being implemented, if with some notable exceptions for the portions of the law the Obama administration finds particularly inconvenient. Millions of Americans are experiencing its consequences directly, and millions more are forming their…
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, with executive editor Fred Barnes on Obamacare and how it will impact the midterm elections in November.
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with James Capretta from the Ethics and Public Policy Center on all the last minute changes to Obamacare and what that spells for the law's future.
On a recent trip to Miami, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted that, yes, some people will be paying more for health insurance under Obamacare:
Over the spring and summer of 2013, perhaps still sunning in his November 2012 victory and ideologically extrapolating from this win, President Obama attempted to press the case that skeptics about federal power were outré paranoiacs. At the Ohio State University commencement in May, the president…
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with executive editor Fred Barnes on Obamacare and why more speeches by the president will not save it.
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on his recent piece with John McCormack about the struggle of Senate Democrats to defend the promises made about Obamacare.
Breaking Bad is the story of a seemingly well-intended but very misguided man who turned to cooking meth in order to amass enough wealth to provide for his family once he dies of cancer. The consequences of that unfortunate decision—not to mention the lies and deceptions to keep it on track—pyramid…
In the continuing debate over Obamacare, both the law’s champions and its critics are now focused largely on the mechanics of implementation. This is understandable. The insurance exchanges are supposed to launch October 1, most of the law’s other major provisions take effect January 1, and every…
One question, more than any other, will determine the shape of the national political discussion over the next several months: Will Republican leaders make Obamacare a central part of the coming negotiations over funding the government and raising the debt ceiling?
In just a few years, Washington Post wunderkind Ezra Klein has made himself the go-to journalist whenever the NPR-totebag set wants to understand a complicated policy issue. In particular, he’s established himself as arguably the leading health care pundit, thanks to his tireless efforts blogging…
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with James C. Capretta on his recent stories about the Obamacare employer mandate delay and the revelation that HHS will rely on self-reporting for Obamacare subsidy eligibility.
From the middle of 2009 onward, those opposed to President Obama’s attempted overhaul of American medicine have enjoyed a distinct, if underappreciated, rhetorical advantage. Taking a page out of the playbook that led to the defeat of Hillarycare in 1994, advocates of limited government and…
Of all the scandals in his administration that President Obama knows nothing about, the one Americans find most appalling is the decision by the Internal Revenue Service to target the president’s political adversaries. What’s more, as subsequent congressional testimony has made clear, the IRS isn’t…
With the Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama’s health care law last summer and his reelection in November, liberals are triumphant, convinced that Obamacare is here to stay. When pressed on this matter, they point to the political success of Medicare to show how quickly new…