Free Republic

An Opinion article in the Washington Post by John R. Graham explains How Domestic Medical Tourism Could Save Us All Money. One of the most under-reported medical success stories in recent years has been the increase in medical tourism: traveling abroad to get high-quality care at a fraction of what it would cost in the United States. The same Lasik eye surgery that might cost $4,400 here (for both eyes) is available in India, for example, for $500, according to the Medical Tourism Association. A heart-valve replacement that might cost $170,000 in the United States could cost less than $30,000...

There have been more than 47 significant changes made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act according to the Galen Institute. At least 28 that President Obama has made unilaterally. Congress has passed and the president has signed 17 more. And, the Supreme Court is responsible for two changes. Now top Democrats want the Obama administration to grant an extension for uninsured taxpayers who are facing Obamacare fines. The AP reported: The official sign-up season for President Barack Obama’s health care law may be over, but leading congressional Democrats say millions of Americans facing new tax penalties deserve a...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The official sign-up season for President Barack Obama's health care law may be over, but leading congressional Democrats say millions of Americans facing new tax penalties deserve a second chance. Three senior House members told The Associated Press that they plan to strongly urge the administration to grant a special sign-up opportunity for uninsured taxpayers who will be facing fines under the law for the first time this year.

Pope Francis recently proclaimed that it is okay for parents to spank their children if their dignity is respected. That lamentable statement is as naive as it is injurious. Especially at a time when our beleaguered world has been experiencing countless outrageous forms of violence, his regrettable words do little to quell such tragic acts and may even add fuel to the fire. Our world has more than enough hitting. Why anyone, however well intentioned, would wish to do anything to increase it defies reason. Regarding spanking (however one may choose to define it), Edward Lee Thorndike, the Columbia University...

New York City, N.Y., Feb 13, 2015 / 04:02 am (CNA).- Questions are being raised over two U.S. foundations that have poured more than three million dollars into abortion rights, LGBT activist, and legal groups to push the message that exemptions based on religious beliefs are “un-American” and an abuse of liberty. The Arcus Foundation and the Ford Foundation have spent over $3 million in combined spending against religious liberty exemptions since 2013, according to a CNA review of tax forms and grant listings. John Lomperis of the Institute for Religion and Democracy – a D.C.-based ecumenical Christian think tank...

In recent days a controversy has arisen over whether parents should be required to vaccinate their children. Some politicians with presidential aspirations were criticized for defending the rights of parents to make that decision. As an internal medicine doctor, I believe strongly in the efficacy of vaccines. I also believe strongly that our vaccines (and all of our medical advances) should be safe and derived in a morally principled fashion.There is an ethical concern about the measles vaccine issue that I do not believe the American public is aware: a component of the current MMR vaccine is derived from an...

Sometimes, the best education is the one life gives you. Students at the prestigious but liberal-leaning Cornell University found that out the hard way last week, when they stormed the office of school President David Skorton to protest a modern-day example of socialism at work. On Feb. 5, Skorton posted a memo on the school’s website notifying students that all who opt out of Cornell’s health care program next year will be charged a $350 fee, Fox News reported. Obamacare requires all students to have health insurance, but those already covered are also forced to pay the opt-out fee. And...

The same day the White House announced that Islamic State terrorists’ only remaining American hostage was killed, President Barack Obama uttered a phrase that means “You only live once.” The president was clowning around for a BuzzFeed video on Obamacare when he said, “YOLO,” a light-hearted moment that Fox News anchor Heather Childers called inappropriate and insensitive considering its timing. “The president says, ‘YOLO, man!’ And for people at home who may not know what that stands for, YOLO stands for ‘you only live once,’” Childers said on Friday’s show, talking specifically to liberal panelist Juan Williams. “Well you know...

President Obama is putting Republicans on notice that he plans to run through their cynical politics and opposition during his final two years in office. While speaking at a DNC fundraiser in San Francisco, the president said: "And one of the things I am absolutely determined to do over the next two years is not just consolidate the gains that we’ve made, not just move forward on new initiatives like free community colleges for young people around the country who need to be trained for the 21st-century economy, but part of my goal is also to restore a sense of...

Liberal comedian Bill Maher, a longtime champion of Obamacare, began to change his tune on President Obama’s signature legislation Friday night. “Obamacare: You know it’s the signature achievement of obviously this president and like many liberals I’ve been screaming how great it has been and ‘it’s working’ and ‘there’s no doubt,’” Maher said on his HBO show “Real Time.” “But The New York Times on Sunday did an article that basically said, you know, when Obama said if you like your plan nothing will change — well, everything has changed,” Maher said. “46 percent of people are having trouble paying...

WHEN Karen Pineman of Manhattan received notice that her longtime health insurance policy didn’t comply with the Affordable Care Act’s requirements, she gamely set about shopping for a new policy through the public marketplace. After all, she’d supported President Obama and the act as a matter of principle. Ms. Pineman, who is self-employed, accepted that she’d have to pay higher premiums for a plan with a narrower provider network and no out-of-network coverage. She accepted that she’d have to pay out of pocket to see her primary care physician, who didn’t participate. She even accepted having co-pays of nearly $1,800...

Employer mandates and penalties exist only in states with ACA subsidies, which are only available through state-based exchanges. Most individuals will also be exempt from the mandate and penalties because there's no "affordable" (subsidized) coverage.

Earlier on Thursday, CNN “New Day” co-host Chris Cuomo debated Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore on the issue of the Alabama courts’ ruling versus a federal court’s ruling on same-sex marriage.

“Even now, I wonder what I might have accomplished if I'd studied harder.”This regretful remark, delivered to Eureka College's graduating class of 1982, inspired uproarious laughter from the audience. Why? Because it came from a sitting president of the United States. Ronald Reagan, despite his admittedly mediocre grades, had already made it just about as far as anyone can.Ideally, college study helps to form the whole person. But to some extent, and for most Americans, it is viewed as a means to an end—a preparation for later accomplishments in life.Today, there still exists a very small, elite world in which...

MILWAUKEE — Scott Walker was gone. Dropped out. And in the spring of his senior year. In 1990, that news stunned his friends at Marquette University. Walker, the campus’s suit-wearing, Reagan-loving politico — who enjoyed the place so much that he had run for student body president — had left without graduating.

Court Nixes Faith-Based Birth Control Mandate Challenge JOE MANDAK Bishop David Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh answers questions after a news conference in Pittsburgh. Zubik responded on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, to a federal appeals court decision that reversed lower court victories that challenged birth control coverage mandates as part of federal health care reforms. Zubik said that the church is no longer free to practice what it preaches. . PITTSBURGH (AP) — An appeals court has ruled that the birth control coverage required by federal health care reforms does not violate the rights of several religious groups...

Pope Francis, who presumably has not been woken up at 4 a.m. on a workday by the howls of a tiny human who wants to be fed and/or changed, says that couples who don’t want to have kids are “selfish” and are part of a “greedy generation.” Pope Francis told an audience in St Peter’s Square, Rome Wednesday that it’s a depressed society that considers children to be a burden. “A society with a greedy generation, that doesn’t want to surround itself with children, that considers them above all worrisome, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society,” he said....

As much as I hate these people, on some level I’m starting to feel sorry for them. They remind me of Communists in the Gulags who still think Stalin cares about them. Or abuse victims who keep defending their abuser. The latest comes from the New York Times.

Sen. Rand Paul isn't happy that the Federal Reserve is mobilizing against his legislation that would subject the central bank's monetary policy decisions to an audit. "It is alarming that the Federal Reserve, which was granted Monopoly money-making power, is now specifically trying to stop my legislation," the Kentucky Republican wrote in a column published by the conservative publication Breitbart Tuesday. "The Fed, with unlimited ability to print money, now prints that money to lobby against congressional oversight," Paul added. "It is a disgrace and every citizen in the land should rise up and say: We the people are in...

In December 2014, Planned Parenthood Federation of America released their annual report for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. In the report, they list their twelve top moments of the year, from helping reduce teen pregnancy to “fighting” breast cancer. They even included their work in influencing pop culture by fighting abortion stigma in the movie Obvious Child.Planned Parenthood seems especially proud that they influenced 126,494 youth through a new chat and text program online. According to their report, this program helps teens reach dedicated “specialists” at urgent moments to provide advice.They go on to brag that our generation will be the...