Free Republic

Faced with the high cost of caring for smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why not just let these health sinners die prematurely from their unhealthy habits? Annual health care costs are roughly $96 billion for smokers and $147 billion for the obese, the government says. These costs accompany sometimes heroic attempts to prolong lives, including surgery, chemotherapy and other measures.

Who wants to be a ‘death panelist’? Jonathan Gruber was one of the Obama administration’s key advisers during the health-care reform debate. As the economist who conceived the ideas at the heart of the Massachusetts health-care law, he is arguably the intellectual godfather of the Affordable Care Act. All of which would make him a natural fit for the Independent Payment Advisory Board, the new, 15-member panel that has the authority to reduce Medicare doctors’ reimbursements and pilot new ways to deliver high quality care for less. There’s just one tiny problem: Gruber has absolutely no interest in serving on...

The 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board (i.e. the so-called “death panel”) included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) has run into a bit of problem: Very few want to join. Jonathan Gruber, for example, helped lay the groundwork for Massachusetts’ health-care law and played an important role in making “Obamacare” the law of the land. So you’d think he’d be an obvious choice for the panel, right? “No way,” he said, according to the Washington Post. “Maybe if it was a part-time gig. But full time? I can’t see it.” And he’s not alone. “It is supposed...

Hundreds of job cuts stemming largely from the pending loss of two major federal contracts will begin soon at Monona-based WPS Health Insurance. WPS filed notice with the state Monday that 451 employees in Monona, Madison and Wausau would likely lose their jobs starting March 29. That includes 250 people in Madison and Monona, and 201 in Wausau, where about 300 work now. And there could be more job cuts coming. Founded in 1946, WPS is Wisconsin's leading nonprofit health insurer. It currently employs about 3,600 people, including some 2,500 in the Madison area. Read more: http://host.madison.com/business/wps-health-insurance-files-notice-of-layoffs-in-monona-madison/article_f0188544-69ad-11e2-96de-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2JPbqF3Hl

How big can a company get with just 50 employees? We're about to find out.Thousands of small businesses across the U.S. are desperately looking for a way to escape their own fiscal cliff. That's because ObamaCare is forcing them to cover their employees' health care or pay a fine—either of which will cut into profits and stymie future investment and growth. We've already seen many of America's biggest companies respond to the new law by laying off employees, putting them on part-time, or raising prices. But those are short-term solutions. Ultimately, these corporations will have to innovate and restructure to...

Papa John’s pizza has been hounded by the media for comments supposedly made in response to Obamacare — that food prices were on the rise, that franchises would face closure due to escalating health care costs, that workers’ hours and positions would be sliced. Only problem: The comments, attributed to CEO John Schnatter, were never made. That’s according to a Politico report about the efforts of Papa John public relations firm Sitrick and Co. to track down bloggers who’ve covered the supposed comments and ask for edits.

Starting in April, the practice will ask patients to pay doctors directly for their care and no longer will accept payments from insurance companies except for Medicare. "We believe that insurance companies are making it increasingly difficult to practice patient-centered medicine," the doctors in the practice wrote to patients this month. The doctors are joining the small but growing number of physicians who since the late 1990s have tried going the "direct pay" or "concierge" route, where doctors typically care for a smaller group of patients who are willing to pay for easier access to their physician. It's a trend...

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) – A former Congressman who sued the Susan B. Anthony List for losing his election in 2010 has lost his case. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black, an Obama appointee, admitted in his seven-page ruling that he could not “see the forest for the trees” when he originally allowed Driehaus' defamation lawsuit to go forward. The former Cincinnati congressman, who identified as a “pro-life Democrat,” filed suit after SBA List threatened to take out billboards saying: “Shame on Steve Driehaus! Driehaus voted FOR taxpayer-funded abortion.” Although the signs never went up, Driehaus said the...

RACINE COUNTY — Partly in response to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare — as well as other forces — Aurora Health Care expects $13 million less in government reimbursements this year and has begun cutting some positions. Earlier this month Aurora President and CEO Dr. Nick Turkal laid out the financial situation in a 1,020-word letter to all system employees. He warned of position eliminations and discontinuations to come. Turkal said there are several causes of the projected $13 million or more decline in reimbursements. He cited the economy, cost reductions dictated by the Affordable Care Act and the...

Hospitals are expected to cut some 93,000 jobs in 2013 in anticipation of ObamaCare. A former presidential candidate and conservative advocate says America needs to prepare for major changes in the medical industry. Orlando Health, a not-for-profit network of community and specialty hospitals, is just one example of the massive layoffs expected in the coming year. Officials with the Central Florida-based healthcare services provider announced on Monday that the largest staff reduction in its nearly 100-year history will result in cutting up to 400 jobs, starting immediately. Gary Bauer, president of Washington DC-based American Values, warns that this is only...

Comprehensive immigration reform could make millions of people suddenly eligible for assistance under President Obama's healthcare law, assuming a final deal paves the way for undocumented immigrants to receive papers. Illegal aliens are now prohibited from purchasing coverage through the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges, which will launch next year. They are also ineligible for Medicaid under most circumstances, making the law's expansion of the program fruitless for people without documents. Even young illegal immigrants with "deferred action" status, known as "DREAMers," cannot access the law's benefits. But the picture could change completely if Hispanic lawmakers get their wish —...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Obamacare supporters are shocked that its opponents’ predictions of job destruction are coming true One interesting thing about Obamacare is that even though it became law in March 2010, its main provisions were written so as not to take effect until after the 2012 Presidential election. This was no accident. Long before Obamacare was passed, its opponents were predicting that it would reduce employment, and that this would be especially harmful to low wage workers. For example, in September 2009, the Heritage Foundation wrote:“Mandates Kill Jobs and Lower Wages: The result of such a tax penalty...

The coverage of two recent events in the District of Columbia shows how the old media in this country has dropped all pretence of impartiality. The first image is from yesterday, 25 January, in Washington, D.C. Please consider how much media coverage you have heard about it. It was a pro-life protest. The second image is from the next day, today, the 26th of January. It was from a protest against the the people's right to keep and bear arms: Consider how much media coverage that you have heard of this event. The camera shots are completely different. The first...

Forty years after Roe v. Wade, a powerful shift is taking place within Big Abortion. What abortion advocates could not win through choice, they intend to impose through coercion. Even Time magazine recently acknowledged on their cover that, for those so inclined to celebrate Roe’s anniversary, the rejoicing over abortion on demand should be tinged with concern.  On January 14th Time asked “What Choice?” and then answered their own question:  “40 years ago, abortion rights activists won an epic victory with Roe v. Wade,” the cover noted and then concluded: “They’ve been losing ever since.” When viewed through the lens...

Biases upfront: I'm a 46 year-old health nut obsessed with exercise and eating right. I don’t smoke or drink, and there are supermodels who worry less about their weight. However, I do admire those who don't live like that; who might not live as long as I do, but will probably enjoy their overall quality of life more than my somewhat Spartan one. Oh, and I also realize that this is America. And if people want to pursue happiness through a double cheeseburger and a pack of Newports, any joyless, left-wing bossy-pants who has a problem with that can go...

The Truth About Obamacare “Obamacare” is neither about health nor care. It is ultimately about control, the devaluation and the elimination of human life. Here is the Vulcan mind-meld translation of the core premise of the Left: you have no right to live. By their lights, you are no more than a thing, or an animal, or a machine. Therefore, you have no right to the fruits of your labors. You are a ‘resource’ at best, a fungible, and ultimately disposable asset of the State. Or you are in their way and must be eliminated. There are the last 200...

Faced with the high cost of caring for smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why not just let these health sinners die? Annual health care costs are roughly $96 billion for smokers and $147 billion for the obese, the government says. These costs accompany sometimes heroic attempts to prolong lives, including surgery, chemotherapy and other measures. But despite these rescue attempts, smokers tend to die 10 years earlier on average, and the obese die five to 12 years prematurely, according to various researchers’ estimates....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Faced with the high cost of caring for smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why not just let these health sinners die?

Now that Obama has secured another four years in the White House, it is time for the administration to crank out more Obamacare propaganda, specifically arguments about the cost ineffectiveness of keeping old people alive. Enter the internet’s liberal bellwether, Salon.com. Earlier today, the website posted an article by Matthew Yglesias, a blogger and Democrat operative who spent time at the Soros’ project, ThinkProgress. According to Yglesias, old folks are “the key issue in the federal budget” and their welfare accounts “for the remarkable lack of apparent cost effectiveness of the American health care system.” “When the patient is already...

Last week was a bleak one at Thomson Reuters, the financial news and wire service giant. According to sources, as many as 3,000 people were let go, out of approximately 50,000 employees around the globe. Most of the layoffs came from the financial sector—the sales, training and analysts’ divisions—but some were on the editorial side. “Yes, I can confirm there have been layoffs across Thomson Reuters today, including editorial,” Barb Burg, vice president and global head of communications at Reuters, told Talking Biz News last week. “Similar to efforts across the company, the Reuters organization is focusing attention on our...