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…
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.
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, with senior writer Stephen F. Hayes on why the Obamacare jobs numbers are trouble for Democrats.
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with executive editor Fred Barnes on Obamacare and why more speeches by the president will not save it.
Congressional Republicans have Obamacare right where they want it. The idea of a one-year delay of the law, always far-fetched as long as the Democrats controlled the Senate, is suddenly looking plausible.
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer John McCormack on Bill Clinton's recent Obamacare comments, and the preliminary Obamacare exchange enrollment numbers.
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on Obamacare suffering from the one-two punch of 'misstatements' and failing policies.
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.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with executive editor Fred Barnes on the battle over Obamacare and how to extend the soon-to-expire continuing resolution that funds the federal government.
Nancy Pelosi waxed rhapsodic in 2010 as she imagined the benefits of Obamacare: “Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance.”
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?
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with James C. Capretta, a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, on his recent editorial and the vulnerability of the individual mandate.
Is Obama lawless? House Republicans certainly think so. The issue involves the Affordable Care Act, under which employers with 50 or more full-time workers must provide health insurance in terms defined by the statute or pay a $2,000 penalty per employee. Known as the “employer mandate,” it was to…
On Wednesday, July 17, Senator Mike Lee strode onto the Senate floor and called for Republicans to defund Obamacare. His case was simple. If the White House is calling for a yearlong delay in the implementation of two key elements of the law—the employer mandate and verification of eligibility for…
I have been dismayed, but unsurprised, to see that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is already spinning the launch of its federal health insurance exchange this October. The federal and state “exchanges”—HHS recently rebranded them “marketplaces”—are a linchpin of the…
On April 17, 2013, Senator Max Baucus committed a classic Washington gaffe: He spoke the truth. Baucus, along with every other Democratic senator, had voted for Obamacare in 2010. Now, at a Senate hearing, he told HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius that when he looks at its implementation, “I just see…
Let me stipulate that I do not condone fraud in any form. Moreover, I assume all Weekly Standard readers are law-abiding citizens who would neither commit fraud themselves nor encourage others to do so. My purpose is to inform such readers just how tempting fraud on the Obamacare health insurance…
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer Jay Cost on President Obama's plunging poll numbers.
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.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on the opportunity for House Republicans to highlight how President Obama gives big businesses -- not individuals -- a partial delay from the mandates in his onerous healthcare law.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with senior writer Stephen F. Hayes on his recent story in the magazine, Lipstick on the Obamacare Pig.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with the Becket Fund's Adele Keim on the Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius case.
President Obama has one thing right: Obamacare will end the process by which insured patients, or those capable of paying from their own pockets (e.g., the rich Saudi princes who inhabit the best suites in our hospitals), subsidize patients who show up in the emergency room, are treated, and then…
As is abundantly demonstrated by the commentary on the June 28 decision upholding Obamacare, the drama of constitutional decision-making by the Supreme Court is irresistible. Such a significant issue decided, in effect, by one man! And that man, Chief Justice John Roberts—is he a lawless sellout to…