I’m sure that many of you have driven a car for so many years that eventually the engine gives out. You can put in a new muffler or a new radiator. You can replace the transmission and put on a new coat of paint. But if the engine has failed, then that car won’t run again until you put in a new engine. (more)
Rep.-elect Joe Walsh, a Republican from Illinois, will make good on a campaign promise and forgo government provided health care for himself and his wife in protest of the Obama’s health care plan — in spite of his wife’s a preexisting condition. (more)
In March, New Hampshire preschool teacher Gail O’Brien, who was unable to obtain health insurance through her employer, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Her subsequent applications for health insurance were rejected because of her condition. With each round of chemotherapy costing $16,000, she delayed treatment because she knew her savings wouldn’t last. (more)
In addition to a Republican effort to repeal the Democrats’ health care law, the party will also move to impose provisions that restrict insurance companies from discriminating against patients with pre-existing conditions and allow young people to stay on their parents’ insurance up to the age of 26, said Majority Leader-designate Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia. (more)
For the past decade, I’ve been an orthopedic surgeon. Lately, I’ve wondered what would happen if I practiced surgery the way President Obama and Congress have tackled reforming health care. Forget the obvious malpractice jokes about repairing the femur of a patient with two fractured ankles. I’m trying to imagine what would happen if I promised patients “good as new” results, a pain-free, fully-repaired body, while failing to deliver so much as a single healed bone. (more)
Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan suggested Thursday the Democrats’ health-care law would fail even without legislative action. (more)
Even as the nation was debating whether to overhaul the health insurance market, people who were buying coverage on their own were experiencing sharp increases in the cost of their policies, according to a survey released Monday. (more)
“How do you know when a politician is lying?”, asks the hoary joke. His lips are moving. (more)
At the invitation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a dozen American “policy-wonks” from differing perspectives travelled to Germany in December 2009. The Foundation was interested in our observations of the German social health system. My interest was how consumerism and individual choice worked in Germany. (more)
For the better part of a year, the American people gave Washington liberals plenty of warning signs that a government takeover wasn’t what they had in mind when it came to health insurance reform. (more)
The health care debate has offered much discussion about different ways to bend the cost curve down. While the administration was quick to offer its radical prescription allegedly to curtail health care spending, to this day there has been no attempt to ascertain its etiology. “What” the problem is (ahem, high health care costs) is obvious to all. But after months of speeches and interviews President Obama even now has yet to address the “why.” Why does health care cost so much in this country? (more)
Among the many exaggerated claims made in favor of the health care legislation before Congress is the idea that it would improve the public health system’s ability to manage public health crises like HIV and swine flu. (more)
Members undecided about how to vote on health care face intense pressure. The president is calling. Their leadership is badgering. Unions are threatening to back primary challengers and withhold support. Yet wavering Members be warned: Your constituents can’t twist your arm or make creative threats, but they will be voting in November. And if you vote for this health care legislation, chances are they’ll be voting against you. (more)
The more President Obama talks about health care, the more he reveals his true character and goals. This was evident earlier this week during his tirade at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania, where he used a captive audience of students to complain about how many of them are without health coverage. (more)
It’s time for Republicans to push for health care reform with the same amount of fire and enthusiasm that Democrats have pushed for health care deform. (more)
President Obama and other leading Democrats (more)
