Free Republic

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a program to provide free Covid vaccines to uninsured Americans through December 2024 after the federal government’s supply of shots runs out this fall. Those free shots, which the government is purchasing at a discount, will be available to the uninsured at pharmacies and 64 state and local health departments. The Health and Human Services Department also is hoping that vaccine makers will donate shots to pharmacies as part of the program. There are between 25 to 30 million uninsured adults in the United States and other Americans whose insurance will not cover free...

During an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen responded to a question on whether she has confidence that no other regional or small banks will fail by stating that she doesn’t want to get into “the situations of individual banks.” But overall, the banking system is in good shape and “banks are going to be able to survive this, but we’re monitoring the situation very, very carefully.” Yellen stated that the banks that have failed “have had some very unique characteristics that have made them vulnerable” and had profiles that are “not very common. But, look, a...

Silicon Valley Bank was aptly named: It held the funds of hundreds of U.S. tech companies and was a crucial player in the valley’s economy. But on Friday, it became the second largest bank failure in U.S. history after a rapid run on its deposits. Some $175 billion in customer accounts were taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which is now tasked with returning money to the bank’s customers. But more than 85% of the bank’s deposits were uninsured, according to estimates in a recent regulatory filing. That’s because FDIC deposit insurance is meant for everyday bank...

Before 2017, the national uninsured rate for children declined for nearly 10 years; however, the share of uninsured children suddenly increased that year (the most recent year available). In Georgia, the number of children without health insurance increased by 21,000. There are many reasons that progress to covering more children has stalled, including cuts to outreach efforts that help ensure that families enroll their children in Medicaid or PeachCare (Georgia’s version of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP), a lack of funding for marketplace subsidies, changing federal rules governing the marketplace or immigrant parents choosing not to...

CINCINNATI — If you have health insurance, it's easy to take access to doctors for granted. But the reality is: Many groups of people go without health care for even the simplest medical conditions because they do not know where to turn. A University of Cincinnati medical student is helping solve that problem. In between classes, exams and coffee-fueled clinics, Caroline Hensley noticed a void that needed to be filled -- health care for the uninsured.

When the Census Bureau reported an increase in the number of people without health insurance in America, it sent political partisans reaching for talking points on the Obama-era health law and its travails. But the new numbers suggest that fears of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown may be a more significant factor in the slippage. Overall, the number of uninsured in the U.S. rose by 1.9 million people in 2018, the agency report this past week. It was the first jump in nearly a decade. An estimated 27.5 million people, or 8.5% of the population, lacked coverage the entire year....

Support from family and community appear to shield Latinos from rising suicide rates. ... experience illustrates a “suicide paradox,” experts say. Even though Latinos face economic disadvantages and other stress in their lives, their suicide rate is about one-third that of non-Hispanic whites, both in Texas and nationally. Experts attribute the relatively low suicide rate among Latinos to the culture’s strong family and community support systems, which appear to provide some degree of protection. In Texas, the suicide rate among non-Hispanic whites has been steadily increasing during the past 16 years, from 13.4 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2000 to...

Bicycles and illegals don't mix on busy city streets in Chicago. No, wait: They actually mix a lot, and that's a problem. A Chicago bike-safety activist, who made it her business to erect bicycles spray-painted white on city streets where cyclists were killed as a reminder to drivers to look out for cyclists, decided that that issue wasn't all that important in cases where the driver is illegal. Which turned out to be her own assault by an incautious illegal alien driver. In her mind, being illegal trumped the very bike safety she spent time erecting monuments to. One set...

Senator John McCain has killed Obamacare "skinny repeal" but it should be made clear that much of the fearmongering by mainstream media about repeal and skinny repeal was dishonest by leaving out the complete story. New York Times "economist" Paul Krugman led the dishonesty by omission. with this retweet:

Repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law without a replacement risks making nearly 30 million people uninsured, according to a study released Wednesday. Separately, a professional group representing benefit advisers warned congressional leaders of the risk of “significant market disruption” that could cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance. Republicans dismiss such dire scenarios, saying that they are working on replacement legislation for a President Donald Trump to sign. […] The new study from the nonpartisan Urban Institute looks at a scenario where “repeal” goes through, but “replace” stalls. It predicts heavy collateral damage for people buying individual...

Health Reform: The Obama administration says more than 16 million have gained insurance, thanks to ObamaCare. But a closer look at the numbers shows they're once again playing fast and loose with the data.

Health Care: ObamaCare was supposed to be a gift to the uninsured. Maybe someone should have checked with them first. A new poll finds the uninsured hate ObamaCare more than any other group.

Thanks to some careful research by Matt Palumbo who writes for the Foundation for Economic Education, a series of lies and half-truths being promulgated by Obamacare mouth piece Jonathan Gruber have been uncovered. The first lie cited is the bogus analogy Gruber makes between a mandate forcing Americans to buy Obamacare and one forcing drivers to buy auto insurance. This completely pushes aside the fact that no one is required to drive a car and thus carry auto crash liability insurance. Asserting that the burden to carry Obamacare is no different than the mandate of auto liability insurance is a...

When it became obvious a couple of years ago that Obamacare would accelerate health care inflation, the law’s boosters began claiming that cost control was never its primary goal. PPACA’s promoters had previously promised that it would reduce annual health care expenses by $2,500 per family while improving access and quality of care. But the facts forced them to abandon that pledge and adopt a safer party line. As expressed by the New York Times, the new story goes thus: “At its most basic level, the Affordable Care Act was intended to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance.”...

The uninsured rate fell 1.3% in the first three months of this year to the lowest point since the Centers for Disease Control began tracking it in 1997. The CDC's survey, on top of others by Gallup, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban Institute, appears to show that ObamaCare is succeeding in its main goal of cutting the ranks of the uninsured. But the picture is far murkier than these surveys suggest. In fact, it's not entirely clear what impact ObamaCare is having on the uninsured, or what part of the law deserves credit if it is.

ObamaCare defenders keep insisting that the law is a huge success while public approval continues to deteriorate, even among Democrats and especially among the uninsured. It's supposed to be the GOP's worst nightmare — President Obama's health care takeover turns out to be a success, proving once and for all that small-government conservatives are delusional. ObamaCare has, we're told, signed up more than expected while avoiding terminal rate shocks. In fact, a new report suggests premiums for "benchmark" Silver plans will actually be lower in many states next year....

Ironically, liberal college professors are now feeling the increasing weight and burden that is from ObamaCare, or its official name “The Affordable Care Act.” A study released by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that an increasing number of college and university professors are paying more for their health insurance. obamacare forum The study, “2014 Employee Healthcare and Other Benefits in Higher Education Survey,” covered health benefits, four types of healthcare plans (HMO, PPO, POS and high deductible plans), “formal wellness programs,” dental plans and other healthcare basics. The questionnaire itself can be viewed here. The...

The Affordable Care Act cannot be broken down into sound bites. This holds true for both its most ardent supporters and its most fervent opponents. The law is simply too complex to be labeled either a total failure or a smashing success. But that doesn't mean it isn't trending in one of those two directions. Across the country, individuals and families are beginning to learn whether their insurance premiums will change for 2015—early estimates indicate an overall national increase of 7.5 percent, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis. That's what is expected despite the early promise that the ACA would lower...

Enrollment: ObamaCare loyalists are trumpeting a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey finding that more than half of those who enrolled had been uninsured. But the survey's findings are nothing to cheer about. First, nobody knows exactly how many ObamaCare enrollees were previously uninsured, because the administration didn't bother to ask for that information when people signed up. So it's been up to pollsters to figure out what happened, and previous surveys showed that only a small percentage of ObamaCare sign-ups came from the ranks of the uninsured. The new Kaiser survey, in contrast, found that 57% of those getting coverage...

President Obama claims the debate over the Affordable Care Act is "over," but in coming weeks and months expect it to intensify. Health-insurance companies will soon begin releasing preliminary rate estimates for next year's plans. Industry experts say consumers should once again brace for significantly higher premiums. [snip] Either way, there will be a significant number of uninsured Americans unwilling or unable to pay for the inflated insurance available on the exchanges and forced to pay penalties, which for 2016 and thereafter will be the greater of $695 or 2.5% of income. More will choose this option every year. By...