Free Republic

As a left-leaning state that has embraced the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, California is unlikely to pursue work requirements for that program. But with the Trump administration backing efforts by a handful of states to impose such requirements, backers of the measure said it was important to enshrine in state law that California would not do the same. Critics have said that work requirements will limit the care of those unable to work, including those with chronic physical ailments, mental illness or substance abuse problems. Four states have already taken action to move toward work mandates,...

Gavin Newsom, Democratic candidate for governor of California, said on liberal podcast "Pod Save America" that the state government should pay for universal health care for illegal immigrants. In the episode, released Tuesday, the candidate and current lieutenant governor of California touted his involvement in San Francisco having "the only universal health care plan for all undocumented residents in America." "I did universal health care when I was mayor—fully implemented, regardless of pre-existing condition, ability to pay, and regardless of your immigration status. San Francisco is the only universal health care plan for all undocumented residents in America. Very proud...

Former San Francisco mayor and current Democratic candidate for governor of California Gavin Newsome has pledged to make health care free for all illegal immigrants if he wins in November. “When I was mayor I extended the boundaries of freedom beyond what is provided in any other city in America,” Newsome boasted. “The most well-known of these freedoms is, of course, the freedom to defecate in public without fear of penalty. But an overlooked freedom was using public funds to ensure that every undocumented person residing in the city received the same benefits that citizens are required to purchase under...

1) After Obamcare was passed, unions that supported its passage requested and received special exemptionsWithin months after Obamacare was passed, Obama gave some organizations an exemption from some of the requirements of Obamacare. As time went on, more than 1,300 organizations received these exemptions.More than half of the people who are covered by insurance plans that received these exemptions are in union insurance plans. These unions supported the passage of Obamacare. But immediately after Obamacare was passed, these unions wanted exemptions from the very same law that they wanted to force everyone else to obey. This reveals an extreme level...

Republican lawmakers have made it clear they have no intention of repealing Obamacare in the current Congress. Republicans in the nation’s top lawmaking body have never really wanted to get rid of Obamacare. They would prefer to present the program, which David Horowitz correctly describes as “the greatest assault on individual freedom and individual choice in our lifetimes,” as a villain and whip up sentiment against it and run against it every election. They view Obamacare as good for the business of politics. They may chip away at it from time to time or tinker with it at the margins,...

Despite numerous promises from congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama when they passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the health care law has created far more problems than it has solved. Premiums, deductibles, and health care choices have all worsened since Obamacare went into effect, and there’s no sign America’s health insurance system will improve anytime in the near future. President Trump inherited a health insurance crisis when he took office in January 2017, so he and congressional Republican leaders immediately began to work to implement their plan to replace Obamacare with a more market-centered approach to improving the...

Democrat Congressman Jared Polis is running for Colorado governor on a platform largely constructed from the splintered and moldering remains of Barack Obama’s failed ideas. His opponent is two-term Colorado Treasurer and solid conservative Republican, Walker Stapleton. Polis would re-impose Obama-esque state government-controlled healthcare that has pounded family budgets with hundreds of dollars in monthly premiums for insurance they can’t even use because deductibles are so high. In Congress, Polis has introduced repeal of the Trump tax cuts that would steal thousands of dollars Colorado families are saving because of the new law, and cost the Colorado state budget hundreds...

Republican lawmakers have made it clear they have no intention of repealing Obamacare in the current Congress. Republicans in the nation’s top lawmaking body have never really wanted to get rid of Obamacare. They would prefer to present the program, which David Horowitz correctly describes as “the greatest assault on individual freedom and individual choice in our lifetimes,” as a villain and whip up sentiment against it and run against it every election. They view Obamacare as good for the business of politics. They may chip away at it from time to time or tinker with it at the margins,...

The House is planning to vote on legislation that would change the definition of a full-time worker under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, raising it to 40 hours a week, up from the law's current standard of 30 hours, among other changes to the law. Republicans had hoped to vote by the end of the week but that will likely be pushed back by Hurricane Florence. "This week, the House will take up the rule for the Save American Workers Act," Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters Wednesday....."It includes...

President Barack Obama made a stunning policy shift on Friday, endorsing "Medicare-for-all" -- a single-payer health system -- for the nation. Most Democrats contending for the 2020 presidential nomination, and many Dems vying for Congressional seats this fall, are backing it, too. But beware. They're pulling a bait-and-switch. The phrase "Medicare-for-all" sounds as American as apple pie. A new Reuters poll shows 70 percent of Americans respond to it favorably. That's because the public isn't getting the truth about what it means. The actual plan these Democrats are pushing doesn't look anything like Medicare. They're slapping the Medicare label on...

FULL TITLE: Exclusive – Mo Brooks: Likely 15M Illegal Aliens in U.S., Giving Blue States 20 Additional Congressional Seats Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) says the counting of illegal aliens when dividing up congressional seats and electoral college votes is a violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Brooks, along with the state of Alabama, are suing the federal government for their counting of illegal aliens, rather than citizens, in congressional apportionment and the dividing up of electoral college votes. In an exclusive interview with SiriusXM Patriot Channel’s Breitbart News Saturday, Brooks revealed that should the Congress continue...

The Affordable Care Act may soon find itself in legal jeopardy yet again, if the tea leaves from a federal judge's hearing in Texas yesterday are any indication. The big picture: Most on-the-ground accounts of the hearing say Judge Reed O'Connor seemed open to red states' latest challenge to the health care law, raising the prospect that what was once seen as a long-shot lawsuit could be a more serious threat than many experts had anticipated. The details: O'Connor's questioning yesterday seemed to suggest that he "may seek to roll back at least some of the consumer protections at the...

Democrats say they’re champions of health care for all, but that narrative needs a reality check. Progressives around the country are working to outlaw insurance products that could cover Americans who have no other affordable options. On Governor Jerry Brown’s desk is a bill that bans the sale of short-term, limited-duration insurance in California. The Trump Administration recently issued rules on the plans, which don’t have to comply with Affordable Care Act mandates. The coverage can now last up to a year, which was the norm before the Obama Administration limited the options to three months. Plans also can be...

<p>LEXINGTON, Va. — A small town in Virginia is trying to recover its image after The Red Hen restaurant famously refused to serve President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.</p> <p>The Roanoke Times reported Sunday that a regional tourism board is pulling together emergency funds to boost its digital marketing campaign.</p>

To say that Social Security has issues would be a bit of an understatement. The latest Social Security Board of Trustees report, released in early June, suggests that the program will have higher expenditures than revenue collected this year for the first time since 1982. Although this net cash outflow will begin relatively small, with just $1.7 billion and $0.2 billion expected to flow out of the program's $2.9 trillion in asset reserves in 2018 and 2019, respectively, it'll ramp up with each successive year afterward. By 2034, Social Security's $2.9 trillion in excess cash could be completely gone. If...

New York Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocked the GOP on Thursday for “corny” attacks against Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) that invoked his former band. The Texas Republican Party took a shot at O’Rourke’s 1990s punk band called Foss on Twitter this week after he refused to debate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose seat O'Rourke is running for, by tweeting, "Maybe Beto can’t debate Ted Cruz because he already had plans." “Why is the GOP so corny?” Ocasio-Cortez asked on Thursday.

Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D) said Sunday that he would increase taxes on corporations in the state to help fund his plan to provide Medicare for all. Gillum was pressed on CNN's "State of the Union" about his pledge to provide medical care for everyone in his state, including how he would pay for it. "I don’t buy that," Gillum said when asked if higher taxes are a prerequisite of Medicare for all. "I will absolutely not raise taxes on everyday working Floridians."

Phil Bredesen, the health insurance executive turned governor, had an antidote to contain the spiraling costs of the state’s Medicaid program – disenroll elderly, sick and disabled Tennesseans from TennCare. According to Gordon Bonnyman, co-founder of the Tennessee Justice Center, two years into Bredesen’s first term as governor, “[a]pproximately 200,000 of [TennCare’s] costliest patients lost their coverage over a four-month period in late 2005.” Bonnyman characterized this group as the “sickest subgroup of the TennCare population.” The TNReport calculated that by the time Bredesen left office in 2011, approximately 350,000 Tennesseans were cut from TennCare which included an estimated 100,000...

He was selling "snake oil," "making a false and politically damaging promise," committing "a fraud on the American people," and "(doing) his country a major disservice." He was "creating a huge distraction" by pursuing "a fool's errand" and "the dumbest idea" one Senator claimed he had ever heard. He was a "false leader" engaging in "government terrorism." In sum, he was a "joke, plain and simple," and as one especially distinguished colleague affectionately recalled, "Lucifer in the flesh." And those were all descriptions from his own party. Oh, by the way: Ted Cruz was also right. The vilification Cruz endured...

Tuesday’s primaries show there’s no doubt the Democratic Party is lurching to the left. The last time Florida Democrats won the state’s governorship was in 1994. With GOP Gov. Rick Scott leaving office to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic Party leaders were determined to nominate a candidate who could appeal to centrists. They recruited former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, the daughter of a popular former governor and U.S. senator, who had won support from business in the past. But in a major upset, Graham lost the gubernatorial primary to Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who had the endorsement of Bernie Sanders...