Healthcare

Archive:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >  Last ›

7/20/2011 | Economy, Healthcare

Two 2012 Hopefuls Among 9 Republicans Voting No on Cut, Cap, and Balance

CNS News

Some of the 9 Republicans joining 181 Democrats in voting against the 'Cut, Cap and Balance" bill Tuesday said the legislation didn't go far enough.

Those nine include 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and Ron Paul (Texas). (Despite the nine Republican "nay" votes, the bill ultimately passed 234-190.)

"While I embrace the principles of Cut, Cap and Balance, the motion does not go far enough in fundamentally restructuring the way Washington spends taxpayer dollars," Rep. Michele Bachmann said in a message posted on her Web site. Bachmann did call the bill "a step in the right direction."

But in addition to cutting spending and imposing enforceable spending caps, Congress must also repeal and defund Obamacare, Bachmann insisted.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

7/1/2011 | Character and Ethics, Governmental Control, Healthcare, Politics

Citing Evidence They Call 'Contradictory' to Kagan's Confirmation Testimony, 49 Lawmakers Call for Judiciary Committee Investigation

CNS News

Forty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives--including the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and two presidential candidates--are pointing to evidence they say is "contradictory" to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's confirmation testimony and calling for the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the matter.

The lawmakers also say they believe that evidence already made public shows that Kagan must recuse herself from any court cases involving the health care bill signed into law by President Barack Obama while she was serving as Obama's solicitor general.

"We respectfully call upon the House Judiciary Committee to promptly investigate the extent to which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was involved in preparing a legal defense of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) during her tenure as Solicitor General," the 49 lawmakers wrote in a letter to Rep. Lamar Smith (R.-Texas), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. John Conyers (D.-Mich.), the ranking member of the committee.

"Contradictory to her 2010 confirmation testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, recently released Department of Justice (DOJ) documents indicate that Justice Kagan actively participated with her Obama Administration colleagues in formulating a defense of PPACA," the letter said.

The letter pointed to documents released by the Justice Department as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request that was filed by CNSNews.com on May 25, 2010 and that is now the subject of a federal court case pitting the Media Research Center--CNSNews.com's parent organization--and the U.S. Justice Department, which is asking a federal judge to block any further release of documents sought under the FOIA request.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Jeffrey Conway, Former CFO, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Coordinator of the Apolo, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Ron Ferner, Dean of the School of Business and Leadership, Philadelphia Biblical University
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Mike Gottfried, Founder, Team Focus
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studie, Phoenix Seminary
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Dr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers Ministries
Bullet 333Julius Kim, Westminster Seminary California
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Alex McFarland, President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
Bullet 333Fran McGowen, Founder and President , CarSense
Bullet 333David "Mac" Mcquiston, President/CEO, CEO Forum, Inc.
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Jeff Myers, Incoming President, Summit Ministries
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333K. Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Andrew Peterson, Reformed Theological Seminary, Virtual Campus
Bullet 333Vern Poythress, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Gale Radebaugh, Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences (Ret.), Pfizer Research
Bullet 333Phil Ryken, President-Elect , Wheaton College
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res
Bullet 333David Wheaton, Author, Speaker, Radio Talk Show Host, TheChristianWorldview.com

6/22/2011 | Economy, Healthcare

CBO sees government benefits swamping U.S. economy

Reuters

The United States will find little relief from its bleak long-term fiscal outlook so long as growing federal healthcare and retirement programs gobble up more and more of the country's resources, said a new economic report issued on Wednesday.

The findings by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office came as the Obama administration and Congress were struggling to find ways to make ends meet amid $1.5 trillion annual budget deficits and a national debt that, at $14.3 trillion, is seen as posing a danger to the nation.

"The aging of the population and the rising cost of health care would cause spending on the major mandatory healthcare programs and Social Security to grow from roughly 10 percent of GDP today to about 15 percent of GDP 25 years from now," CBO said in an annual report.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

6/21/2011 | Economy, Healthcare

McKinsey stands by employer health insurance survey

Reuters

Consultant McKinsey & Co on Monday defended the methodology behind its survey gauging employers' views on providing health insurance to workers, a report that drew criticism from U.S. health reform supporters.

The survey found 30 percent of respondents whose companies offered health insurance said they would "definitely" or "probably" drop coverage in the years following 2014, when the Affordable Care Act takes effect.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, last week sent a letter to McKinsey calling on the company to release the methodology behind the survey, published earlier this month.

McKinsey, in a posting on its website, said the opinion survey of U.S. private sector employers was designed to measure their attitudes about healthcare reform and was not intended to be a predictive economic analysis of the impact of the Affordable Care Act.

"We stand by the integrity and methodology of the survey," McKinsey said.

Baucus said the survey results differed sharply from other research on the impact of health reform on employer-sponsored health insurance.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

6/8/2011 | Governmental Control, Healthcare

30 Percent of Employers to Drop Health Coverage Because of Obamacare

CNS News

A survey of 1,300 employers finds that 30 percent will “definitely or probably” stop offering health insurance to their employees due to new requirements imposed by the Obamacare health reform law.

The survey, conducted by business journal McKinsey Quarterly, found that contrary to government estimates a large percentage of employers will drop their employee health plans, forcing employees to buy coverage on the government-mandated insurance exchanges.

“Overall, 30 percent of employers will definitely or probably stop offering ESI [Employer Sponsored Insurance] in the years after 2014,” the study found.

In fact, among companies who are most familiar with the laws mandates and regulations, 60 percent would drop employee health plans because of the law.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project

6/6/2011 | Euthanasia, Healthcare

Obama Regulatory Czar Backs Off Call for Gov't to Attach Lower Value to Older People

CNS News

President Barack Obama’s regulatory czar has retreated from a 2003 academic report in which he advocated that the government assign a higher monetary value to the lives of young people than to senior citizens.

Cass Sunstein, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, on Friday testified in front of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about the Obama administration’s plans for reviewing and reducing federal regulations.

“I’m a lot older now than the author with my name was, and I’m not sure what I think about what that young man wrote,” Sunstein, 56, told the House panel. “Things written as an academic are not a legitimate part of what we do as a government official. So I am not focusing on sentences that a young Cass Sunstein wrote years ago. So the answer is no.”

Sunstein wrote the paper when he was a professor at the University of Chicago in 2003, only eight years ago. It was titled “Lives, Life-Years, and Willingness to Pay.”

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Jeff Myers, Incoming President, Summit Ministries
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Christopher Slattery, Founder and President, EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers

6/1/2011 | Healthcare

HHS Says You Should Know Who's Been Looking at Your Electronic Health Records

CNS News

The Department of Health and Human Services says patients should have the right to see who has accessed their electronic health records.

On Tuesday, HHS' Office for Civil Rights announced it has proposed changes to the HIPAA privacy rule that would allow people to receive a report on who has seen their protected health information.

The proposed regulation, intended to "foster transparency and patient trust, as well as to discourage inappropriate behavior," is now available for public comment.

“This proposed rule represents an important step in our continued efforts to promote accountability across the health care system, ensuring that providers properly safeguard private health information,” said Office of Civil Rights Director Georgina Verdugo. “We need to protect peoples’ rights so that they know how their health information has been used or disclosed.”

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

5/31/2011 | Healthcare

Schumer Proposes Rationing Through One-Size-Fits-All Payments for Sick Seniors

CNS News

Sen. Charles Schumer (D.-N.Y.), appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" today, proposed a reform that would ration health care for sick seniors by telling doctors the Medicare system would pay them a single flat fee for treating a particular illness as opposed to paying for the specific services needed to treat a particular patient.

The system proposed by Schumer would give health-care providers a financial incentive to withhold care from sick seniors because each and every service or treatment they provided would cut into their profit margin--or cause them to lose money.

Under the current fee-for-service Medicare system, Medicare payments are already so low that many doctors do no take new Medicare patients because it costs them too much to do so, or they transfer the costs of treating Medicare patients to private insurance holders by charging higher rates to them.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

5/25/2011 | Economy, Healthcare

Medicare key to shocking Dem win in NY House race

Associated Press

Kathy Hochul told her supporters they had picked the right issue to fight a Republican on long-held GOP turf.

The Democrat rode a wave of voter discontent over the national GOP's plan to change Medicare and overcame decades of GOP dominance here to capture Tuesday's special election in New York's 26th Congressional District.

Hochul defeated Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin on Tuesday night, capturing 47 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Corwin, to win the seat vacated by disgraced Republican Chris Lee. A wealthy tea party candidate, Jack Davis, took 9 percent.

The special election that became a referendum on the health care plan for the nation's seniors may serve as a warning shot to further GOP efforts to cut popular entitlement programs.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

5/24/2011 | Economy, Healthcare

Poll: Americans Believe Medicare, Social Security Don't Have to Be Cut

Associated Press

They're not buying it. Most Americans say they don't believe Medicare has to be cut to balance the federal budget, and ditto for Social Security, a new poll shows.

The Associated Press-GfK poll suggests that arguments for overhauling the massive benefit programs to pare government debt have failed to sway the public. The debate is unlikely to be resolved before next year's elections for president and Congress.

Americans worry about the future of the retirement safety net, the poll found, and 3 out of 5 say the two programs are vital to their basic financial security as they age. That helps explain why the Republican Medicare privatization plan flopped, and why President Barack Obama's Medicare cuts to finance his health care law contributed to Democrats losing control of the House in last year's elections.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

5/20/2011 | Healthcare

NHS budget squeeze to blame for longer waiting times, say doctors

Doctors are blaming financial pressures on the NHS for an increase in the number of patients who are not being treated within the 18 weeks that the government recommends.

New NHS performance data reveal that the number of people in England who are being forced to wait more than 18 weeks has risen by 26% in the last year, while the number who had to wait longer than six months has shot up by 43%.

In March this year, 34,639 people, or 11% of the total, waited more than that time to receive inpatient treatment, compared with 27,534, or 8.3%, in March 2010 – an increase of 26% – Department of Health statistics show.

Similarly, in March this year some 11,243 patients who underwent treatment had waited for more than six months, compared with 7,841 in the same month in 2010 – a 43% rise.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

5/19/2011 | Healthcare

Waiver requests continue

OneNewsNow

Nursing homes and their industry lobbyists are the latest to request an exemption from the Obama healthcare law, and a former New York lawmaker expects thousands more appeals to come from various companies and unions.

The New York Times reports that nursing home lobbyists are already pressing the Obama administration for exemptions from the "employer responsibility" mandate going into effect in 2014, as the industry claims the mandate is unaffordable.

Dr. Betsy McCaughey, founder of Defend Your Healthcare and former lieutenant governor of New York, says nursing home employees, uninsured by their employers, will be put on Medicaid, which will cause the system's rolls to swell.

"Nursing homes have many low-paid employees -- nursing assistants who earn just slightly more than minimum wage. The nursing home industry is arguing that they can't afford to pay for health benefits on top of that; [they say] it would make hiring those people too costly." But she contends that "that's the kind of expense that many industries face -- small businesses and big ones. So you can imagine how many businesses are going to need waivers from the employer responsibility provision of the Obama health law."

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

5/17/2011 | Governmental Control, Healthcare

Nearly 20 percent of new Obamacare waivers are gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi’s district

The Daily Caller

Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Northern California district.

That’s in addition to the 27 new waivers for health care or drug companies and the 31 new union waivers Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services approved.

Pelosi’s district secured almost 20 percent of the latest issuance of waivers nationwide, and the companies that won them didn’t have much in common with companies throughout the rest of the country that have received Obamacare waivers.

Other common waiver recipients were labor union chapters, large corporations, financial firms and local governments. But Pelosi’s district’s waivers are the first major examples of luxurious, gourmet restaurants and hotels getting a year-long pass from Obamacare.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project

5/10/2011 | Healthcare

Primary Care Still Hard to Get in Massachusetts

MedPage Today

More than half of primary care practices in Massachusetts are not accepting new patients, and wait times for many new patients continue to lengthen five years after the state passed its landmark healthcare reform law, according to a survey sponsored by the state medical society.

"Massachusetts has made great strides in securing insurance coverage for its citizens, but insurance coverage doesn't equal access to care," Alice Coombs, MD, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said in a press release. "We still have much work to do to reduce wait times and widen access."

The law passed by Massachusetts in 2006 required all residents to have insurance, and was, in some ways, a model for the national healthcare reform law signed into law last year.

Long wait times persist for new patients making appointments to see an internist or family physician in Massachusetts, the survey found. The average wait time is 48 days for a new patient to see an internist -- five days shorter than last year -- and 36 days to see a family doctor, which is an increase of seven days from 2010.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

4/20/2011 | Healthcare

Obama Misrepresents Republicans’ Plan to Reform Medicare

CNS News

A fact-check group says President Barack Obama has misrepresented and “exaggerated” the House Republicans’ deficit-reduction plan, but he’s sticking with his interpretation of what the Republican legislation would mean for seniors.

“The House Republicans just passed a proposal, and their main plan to reduce our long-term deficits and debt is to turn Medicare into a voucher program,” Obama told a town hall meeting in Annandale, Va., on Tuesday.

According to Obama, the Republican proposal would give senior citizens “a set amount of money” to buy insurance in the private marketplace. But, he added, “If the voucher you were getting (was) for $6,000 or $7,000, and the insurance company said it’s going to cost you $12,000 -- well, you’re going to have to make up that difference.”

The non-partisan Factcheck.org says Obama is exaggerating the impact of the Republicans’ Medicare reform proposal.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

4/6/2011 | Healthcare

Surgeons raise alarm over waiting

BBC News

Surgeons say patients in some parts of England have spent months waiting in pain because of delayed operations or new restrictions on who qualifies for treatment.

In several areas routine surgery was put on hold for months, while in many others new thresholds for hip and knee replacements have been introduced.

The moves are part of the NHS drive to find £20bn efficiency savings by 2015.

The government said performance should be measured by outcomes not numbers.

Surgeons have described the delays faced by patients as "devastating and cruel". Peter Kay, the president of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA), says they've become increasingly frustrated that hip and knee replacements are being targeted as a way of finding savings.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

4/6/2011 | Economy, Healthcare

Medicare Cost Would Rise for Many Under Ryan Plan

Wall Street Journal

The House Republican plan for overhauling Medicare would fundamentally change how the federal government pays for health care, starting a decade from now, likely resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs and greater limits to coverage for many Americans.

The current spending level on seniors in Medicare is widely viewed as unsustainable, given rising medical costs and the aging population. Medicare calculates that it spent an average of $11,743 on beneficiaries in 2009, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's solution is to end the current Medicare program for people born in 1957 and after. Starting in 2022, when those Americans begin turning 65, they would no longer get their medical bills paid directly by the government, which the Wisconsin Republican in his blueprint released Tuesday calls an unsustainable "blank check commitment."

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

4/5/2011 | Governmental Control, Healthcare

Unions, Health Insurance Companies Biggest Beneficiaries of Obamacare Waivers

CNS News

After labor unions, health insurance companies are the largest beneficiaries of waivers to the health care overhaul law, when measured by the number of workers affected, according to the most recent numbers released by the Department of Health and Human Services.

As of March 4, the number of health care waivers granted to various companies, unions and non-profit organizations stood at 1,040, up from 222 in December. A total of 2,624,720 people are covered by the 1,040 waivers.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project

3/24/2011 | Healthcare

Anthony Weiner: Waiver might work for New York

Politico

Rep. Anthony Weiner said Wednesday he was looking into how a health law waiver might work for New York City.

Weiner, who is likely to run for mayor of New York, said that because of the city’s special health care infrastructure, his office was looking into alternatives that might make more sense. Weiner is one of the health care law’s biggest supporters; during the debate leading up to reform, he was one of the last holdouts in Congress for the public option.

“The president said, ‘If you have better ideas that can accomplish the same thing, go for it,’” said Weiner. “I’m in the process now of trying to see if we can take [President Barack Obama] up on it in the city of New York, … and I’m taking a look at all of the money we spend in Medicaid and Medicare and maybe New York City can come up with a better plan.”

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA

3/16/2011 | Economy, Governmental Control, Healthcare

Medicare and Medicaid Made $70 Billion in ‘Improper Payments’ Last Year—More Than All Spending by Homeland Security and State Departments Combined

CNS News

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services—the federal health-care agency that is a key bureaucracy in implementing Obamacare—made at least $70.5 billion in “improper payments” last year.

These improper federal health-care payments amounted to more than the combined total of $68.3 billion spent by the entire Homeland Security and the State departments last year, which spent $44.5 billion and $23.8 billion respectively according to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Medicare made at least $48 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2010 and Medicaid made $22.5 billion, according to written testimony on "Medicare and Medicaid Fraud, Waste and Abuse" presented to the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management by Kathleen King, director of health care for the Government Accountability Office.

Recommended Guests:

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res
Our Mission: We want to stimulate thoughtful debate and presentation of controversial issues on radio and television news and public affairs shows by representing guests who have something to say, and who know how to say it.