Sound Off for December 9, 2016
If I were a senior citizen, the government taking away Medicare or Social Security would be far scarier than taking away guns. God has a sense of humor.
Category Archives: Health
Woman battling cancer ‘humiliated,’ ‘violated’ during TSA search
The woman posted a video of the search to Facebook in hopes no one else would have to go through she went through. NEW YORK CITY A woman who has been battling breast cancer says an aggressive pre-flight screening, including a public body cavity search, left her feeling humiliated and violated.
Ohio ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill heads to governor’s desk
An Ohio bill that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected is headed to the governor's desk. Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled state House voted to approve the so-called "heartbeat bill" Tuesday night after it passed in the Senate earlier in the day, clearing the way for what would be one of the nation's most stringent abortion restrictions.
Five Key Things Healthcare Consumers Must Know
With the costs of healthcare rising under Obamacare, consumers need to keep a few things in mind when navigating the complexities of the healthcare system. Robin Gelburd, president of FAIR Health , a national, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance, provides five key things for consumers to keep in mind when considering healthcare plans.
This Trump Appointment Likely Spells Imminent Doom for Obamacare
The ACA, which is more commonly known as Obamacare, transformed the entire process of purchasing health insurance and receiving medical care for tens of millions of Americans. Despite pushing the uninsured rate below 9%, a better than 7% drop since Obamacare was first implemented in full as of Jan. 1, 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Obamacare has drawn a laundry list of criticisms.
Paul Ryan isn’t ruling out Medicare privatization, and it isn’t just Democrats who are wary
Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan speaks during a weekly news briefing December 1, 2016 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. During the briefing, Ryan repeated comments indicating that changes to Medicare would have to accompany any effort to repeal and replace President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan speaks during a weekly news briefing December 1, 2016 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. During the briefing, Ryan repeated comments indicating that changes to Medicare would have to accompany any effort to repeal and replace President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The New Obamacare Term You Need to Become Familiar With
The Affordable Care Act, which is better known by its shorthand Obamacare, has presented as a mixed bag since its passage. In one corner, it's reduced the uninsured rate in America to its lowest levels on record, and it's allowed consumers who were previously shut out of the healthcare system because of their low income or pre-existing medical conditions the chance to get health insurance.
Insure Oklahoma Funded For Another Year
The federal government will continue for another year to fund an Oklahoma program that uses a combination of state tobacco tax revenue and federal Medicaid money to help provide health insurance coverage for nearly 20,000 low-income Oklahoma workers. Governor Mary Fallin announced that a one-year extension has been approved by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the Insure Oklahoma program.
Paul Krugman: Seduced and betrayed
Donald Trump won the Electoral College on the strength of overwhelming support from working-class whites, who feel left behind by a changing economy and society. And they're about to get their reward - the same reward that, throughout Mr. Trump's career, has come to everyone who trusted his good intentions.
Texas to Require Burials After Many Abortions
Texas health officials have adopted a new rule that would require burials after many abortions conducted in the state - a decision that could have a profound effect on providers there. The rule, which was submitted to the Texas secretary of state by the Texas Department of Health Services last Monday, changes the manner in which fetal tissue can be disposed of following an abortion at a clinic, hospital or other medical setting.
Key House chairman: GOP will change Medicare, to ‘save’ it
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas., speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas., speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.
Senate GOP shies from fight over Medicare
In this June 7, 2016, file photo, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressional Democrats are warning that Speaker Paul Ryan and President-elect Donald Trump are gunning for Medicare _ and they are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of an epic political battle over the government's flagship health program that covers 57 million Americans.
EDITORIAL: Is Trump’s vow to refrain from meddling with Medicare to be trusted?
One of the great challenges experienced by both the press and at least some of the public in understanding Donald Trump is caught up in what his defenders often cite: The press during the long campaign made the mistake of taking Trump literally but not seriously, while Trump's many followers took him seriously but not literally. So how does all that work out regarding the president-elect's stand on Medicare? During the campaign, Trump made a point of vowing that he would keep his hands off both Medicare and Social Security.
Price boosts GOP plans to overhaul health care
President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Rep. Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services signals that the new administration is all-in on both efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and restructure Medicare and Medicaid.
Trump picks Mnuchin as treasury secretary
Elaine Chao's record at the Labor Department suggests she'd have a light hand when it comes to safety regulation as transportation secretary and would seek to shift responsibility from the federal government to... Trump has a follow-up meeting Tuesday with the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, who has become a symbol of the internal divisions agitating the transition team. Reaching deep into conservative territory, President-elect Donald Trump chose Georgia Rep. Tom Price to oversee the nation's health care system on Tuesday, picking a fierce "Obamacare" critic who also has championed... President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday received only his third top-secret intelligence briefing since his election four weeks ago.
Time to call Congress
Okay, now that Tom Price will be Secretary of Health and Human Services, we know that the medical and social insurance system that we have had in place since 1964 and expanded dramatically in 1999 and 2010 is under severe threat. Elimination can be mostly done through reconciliation but modification needs to go through regular order.
Insulin Prices Skyrocket, Putting Many Diabetics in a Bind
Insulin, a life-saving medication used to treat diabetes, was discovered nearly 100 years ago, yet the price of the drug has now spiked by 700 percent in just two decades. In early November, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Democrat, pointed out that certain insulins had risen from $21 a vial in 1996 to $255 a vial in 2016.
Trump to pick Seema Verma for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – transition official
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to name Indiana health policy consultant Seema Verma as his pick for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a transition official told Reuters on Monday. Trump is expected to officially announce his selection of Verma and Republican U.S. Representative Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon who he will nominate to be secretary of health and human services, casting them as his "dream team" whose job will be to transform the U.S. healthcare system, the official said.
Entrepreneurs and small businesses on why they love – and hate – Obamacare
U.S. President Barack Obama said in 2013 that "consumers, small-business owners, and pharmacists" have benefited from the Affordable Care Act Talk that the Affordable Care Act would decimate small businesses ran rampant when the law was passed, but has it turned out to be true? The health care law has forced some small-business owners to make tough choices, with more expensive coverage requiring them to scale back or even preventing them from providing coverage to employees, they told MarketWatch. But other entrepreneurs say it has done nothing but good, allowing them to start their own businesses, stabilizing the cost of insuring employees, or simply giving them the peace of mind about getting health insurance in the future.
What Trump can learn from Obama’s rough ride on health care
In this Nov. 10, 2016 file photo, President Barack Obama meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama took on America's problems of a lack of access to health care and high cost, but he and the Democrats paid a political price.