Free Republic

The chairmen of President Obama’s fiscal commission are calling for a second look at a robust government-run healthcare program, which Congress shelved last year following acrimonious debate. Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), the chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, suggested reviving the public option in the future if healthcare costs continue to soar. They made the suggestion in a 50-page co-chairmen’s proposal released to reporters on Wednesday. It is one of many ideas for controlling the federal deficit that is likely to spark heated debate in...

Democrats could revive the public healthcare option if they maintain their majorities in Congress, the House Democrats' third-ranking member said Friday. "Reelect me, keep Democrats on the field. And when we come back next year, maybe we will get to the public option," Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.) said during an appearance on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Clyburn has been traveling the country and making media appearances this week in an effort to drum up lagging voter enthusiasm on the Democratic side heading into the Nov. 2 midterms. The public healthcare option was a top prize for liberal activists...

3M Co., citing new federal health laws, said Monday it won't cover retirees with its corporate health-insurance plan starting in 2013. Instead, the company will direct retirees to Medicare-backed insurance programs, and will provide reimbursement for that coverage. It'll also reimburse retirees who are too young for Medicare; the company didn't provide further details. The company made the changes known in a memo to employees Friday; news of the move was reported in The Wall Street Journal and confirmed Monday by 3M spokeswoman Jackie Berry. In its memo, the company said the new health-reform act would create new opportunities for...

A move by insurance companies to stop selling child-only policies is drawing criticism ahead of Thursday, when the federal health overhaul will require insurers to cover sick children. Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp., WellPoint Inc., Humana Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s Golden Rule subsidiary say they will no longer sell new child-only policies. The new law requires them to accept applications from sick children on insurance policies that they sell, but doesn't require them to sell a policy individually to children in the first place. Insurers said children with pre-existing conditions will be able to apply for coverage on their parents'...

Four months after President Barack Obama enacted the Affordable Care And Patient Protection Act, House Democrats have revived a top liberal priority that was eliminated from the sweeping health care law in the latter stages of a grueling year-long debate: the public option. Armed with a new line of attack aimed at soothing deficit fears, Democratic Reps. Lynn Woolsey (Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) and Pete Stark (Calif.) last Thursday unveiled a bill that would offer consumers the choice of a “robust” government-run insurance plan alongside the private plans in the law’s exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the bill,...

Glenn Beck Vault post for Monday, July 26, 2010 What: The Glenn Beck Vault (GBV) was established in 2010 as the unofficial viewer research arm of the Glenn Beck Program seen on Fox News Channel weekdays at 5pm EST. Armed with the internet and a belief in his country, the GBV aims to help viewers deepen their knowledge of the subjects discussed on the show by providing sources and other materials for review. Full Explanation Here TLDR: I research stuff Glenn says each day and then post. It's fun and I generally end up learning something. Maybe others will too.

Britain’s National Health Service is a medical and budgetary disaster. Long lines, sub-par treatment (to American standards) and overcrowded hospitals are the norm with the NHS. The enormous cost that is associated with trying to run their “free” public heath service is enormous, which has led to a few cuts in spending. According to the Telegraph, those cuts include: * Restrictions on some of the most basic and common operations, including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and orthodontic procedures. * Plans to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from budgets for the terminally ill, with dying cancer patients to...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, seeking to console liberal activists who were disappointed by the final version of the national health care law, assured them that there would eventually be a public option. "We're going to have a public option," Reid said. "The only question is when." Reid's general comments reflected the same overall message to progressives that President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered earlier today. It essentially boils down to: We've done a lot of stuff, but we still have a lot of unfinished business, so campaign for us again.

Nothing more so far.

WASHINGTON - At a time when both political parties are worrying about the federal deficit, an unexpected and unorthodox proposal is coming back from the shadows of last year's health-care debate the "public option." The idea of creating a major government health insurance program was roundly rejected last year, but the 128 House Democrats pushing to reconsider the idea are now advancing the argument that it would help hold down federal spending. Their bill, which faces long odds, would allow Americans who do not get insurance at work to choose a government plan for their health coverage starting in 2014....

The reasons to defund and repeal Obamacare continuing to pile up as more and more facts are revealed by those willing to spend the time necessary to dig through the over 2000 page law. Now we learn that Obama lied to America about the Public Option (government-run health Insurance companies) being dropped from ObamaCare. It was NOT dropped. It is STILL in the law -- only hidden. Look for yourself. Look in Section 1334, pages 97-100, of the new health care law. If you feel as if you have been screwed –that’s because you have! Do yourself a favor and...

Henry Blodget | Mar. 29, 2010, 6:42 AM The White House has rushed to try to stop a wave of companies announcing that ObamaCare will cause their healthcare insurance costs to rise, causing them to cut benefits or fire people. At the end of last week, Secretary Gary Locke hit the WH blog to say, in effect, that these companies didn't know what they were talking about (which seems unlikely). Later, on CNBC, he suggested that they were acting unpatriotically. And now Henry Waxman is calling Congressional hearings to beat the companies up on live TV. For what it's worth,...

We have previously reported on how Obamacare as signed into law yesterday is simply a stalking horse which, if not repealed, will eventually morph into a complete government healthcare takeover. Yet it seems some Democrats are wanting to move faster than even I had predicted...

Buyer’s Remorse, Already? Democrats Fret Over Job-Killing ObamaCare Tax Hikes, Regulations As Nation’s Employers Prepare to Take a Hit, New Nat’l Survey Shows Most Americans Want Republicans to “Keep Fighting” Gov’t Takeover of Health Care Washington, Mar 25 - Democratic governors experiencing the first pangs of buyer’s remorse. A major Midwest manufacturer – and President Obama’s economic bellwether – projecting crushing first quarter losses. Small businesses grappling with the prospect of closing their doors. The first new piece of red tape. A phony abortion executive order signed behind closed doors. A growing grassroots revolt in the states. So goes the...

Just announced on Fox. One of the first "benefits" of Obamacare is news that companies with large populations of retirees that now have health insurance through their former employees will, instead, be dumped and forced onto Medicaid and Medicare. The resulting fines for the companies will be far less than continuing to pay for retirees' medical care. It's all allegedly legal under ObamaCare.

Public option supporters could offer a second reconciliation bill to establish the program, a top Democrat said Wednesday. Supporters of creating a government-run public option health insurance program are considering moving the proposal after healthcare reform is finished via another budget reconciliation bill that would require just a simple majority to pass, said Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

The latest: UPDATE: Some Twitterers are stating that this is a “shell bill” that will provide a base for actual language later. Rep. Paul Ryan alluded to this move last week. * * * * The Hill is reporting tonight that the Democrats have published a copy of the bill that they plan to use to update the original Senate healthcare socialization bill that Pelosi plans to bring to the floor this week. And it appears they’ve decided to go all-in on this one. Included in the bill appears to be the “public option” that was removed from the Senate...

To provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 202 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010. 2300+ pages and includes student loans. Happy reading...

All United States citizens may be required to carry a biometric I.D. card! That's not Orwell's Big Brother speaking. Rather Democrat Chuck Schumer (D- New York), and Republican Lindsay Graham (R- South Carolina) have devised new legislation to mandate that every worker carry a government I.D. card to prove his citizenship. The card must be carried every day and may be checked by employers and any governmental authority upon request. All U.S. citizens would be required to carry an ID cards according to this plan. It's meant to keep companies from hiring illegal immigrants. No matter where you apply for...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday that the public health insurance option will not be included in a package of fixes to healthcare reform legislation. Pelosi's comments throw a wrench into liberal efforts to reintroduce it to the bill. She shut the door on a possible pathway opened by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who said earlier on Friday that he would "aggressively" push senators to vote for the plan if the House included it in the fixes. "We had it, we wanted it ... it's not in the reconciliation," Pelosi said at her weekly press briefing. "It...