The Washington Times

Health Care Reform

News coverage, opinion and information on health care reform and health care policy including the Affordable Care Act.

  • Size: + / -
  • Print
  • Recent Stories

  • ** FILE ** This undated image provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows an individual smuggled inside the engine compartment discovered at the U.S. border. Five people were indicted on Thursday Feb. 2, 2012, in connection with an alleged human smuggling ring that used non-Spanish-speaking black American drivers to shuttle illegal immigrants from the border in a bid to elude detection, authorities said. (AP Photo/ICE)

    Immigration bill boosts costs of 'Obamacare'

    By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

    The Senate immigration bill will be good for the U.S. economy as a whole, but for individual workers the picture is not as good — in fact, unemployment will rise slightly and average wages will drop over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office's analysis Monday. Published June 19, 2013

  • **FILE** In this photo from July 27, 2011, Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, greets a supporter at a tea party rally on Capitol Hill. (Associated Press)

    Sen. Mike Lee: Chief Justice John Roberts OK'd Obamacare on 'campaign of intimidation'

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Sen. Mike Lee's new book, "Why John Roberts Was Wrong About Healthcare," includes a dramatic theory — that the leading Supreme Court justice did not want to rule in favor of Obamacare but was pressured and intimidated. Published June 19, 2013

  • President Obama gives a thumbs up to a supporter at a campaign rally at the Community College of Aurora in Aurora, Colo. on Nov. 4, 2012. (Associated Press)

    Obama's army of supporters to man the trenches in new health care push

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    Enroll America, the nonprofit that is leading the charge in promoting President Obama's health care law, announced on Tuesday it has launched a nationwide campaign to help the uninsured learn about benefits and subsidies that take effect next year. Published June 18, 2013

  • Job seekers at a recent Los Angeles career fair were less likely than before the recession to find full-time work. Starting Jan. 1, larger employers must provide health care benefits to those who put in at least 30 hours a week. (Associated Press)

    'Obamacare' benefits mandate could further phase out full-time work

    By Patrice Hill - The Washington Times

    President Obama's health care reform is prompting employers to hire more part-time and temporary workers to escape paying benefits under a mandate that goes into effect next year, amplifying a trend toward transient employment that took hold during the recession, according to a growing number of economic indicators. Published June 16, 2013

  • ** FILE ** Former Rep. Anthony D. Weiner (Associated Press)

    Anthony Weiner: 'I coined' the term Obamacare

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    New York City mayor hopeful Anthony Weiner had an Al Gore-type moment earlier this week when he took credit for coining the term used to describe the nation's health care overhaul: Obamacare. Published June 14, 2013

  • ** FILE ** Doctors in at a Red Crescent Hospital examine a man who was shot in the leg when caught in the crossfire between Iraqi factions in the Saddam City area of Baghdad, Iraq. The doctors said that they have not treated any war casualties in two days, but are flooded with victims of civil chaos and fighting and are running low on supplies, Friday, April 11, 2003. ( J.M. Eddins Jr./The Washington Times )

    Medical students' prognosis unclear with 'Obamacare'; many don't understand law

    By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

    Being accepted to medical school was once seen as a ticket to a prosperous and fulfilling career, but today's students face far less certain futures under Obamacare. Published June 11, 2013

  • **FILE** Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks on Feb. 14, 2012, at HHS headquarters in Washington. (Associated Press)

    Obamacare 'rate shock' hits Ohio with 88 percent insurance hikes

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    The Ohio Department of Insurance predicts premiums in 2014 will rise by 88 percent, a direct result of President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Published June 11, 2013

  • **FILE** Teva Women's Health packaging for Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) tablet, one of the brands known as the "morning-after pill" (Associated Press)

    Obama administration drops its appeal of Plan B ruling, will widen access to drug

    By Ben Wolfgang and Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    President Obama still harbors deep reservations about letting young girls buy the morning-after pill without a prescription, even though his administration has decided against fighting a court order that forces it to do just that, his spokesman said Tuesday. Published June 11, 2013

  • This undated photo provided by Blair Kahora Cardinal shows Javier Acosta, 11, of New York, who has cystic fibrosis and is in intensive care at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the same hospital where 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan is a patient. (AP Photo/Blair Kahora Cardinal, Milagros Martinez)

    Judge orders second sick child onto adult organ transplant list

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    The family of an 11-year-old boy awaiting a new lung has won a federal judge's support, and now his name could be permanently added to an adult transplant list. Published June 7, 2013

  • President Obama walks out of the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 31, 2013. (Associated Press)

    Si se puede: Obama to appeal to Hispanics to enroll for health insurance

    By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

    With Democrats worried that too few people will sign up for "Obamacare" to make it a success, President Obama will urge Hispanics in California Friday to enroll for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Published June 7, 2013

  • Gary L. Edwards of Falls Church is a member of Samaritan Ministries International, a "health care sharing ministry" in which Christian members use monthly shares to pay for each other's medical needs. Such ministries are one of nine exemptions built into the Affordable Care Act, which goes into effect next year. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

    'Obamacare' alternative: health-sharing ministries offered a way out

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    While most Americans next year will have to grapple with the intricacies of President Obama's health law and the "individual mandate" requiring residents to have health insurance, Mr. Edwards and more than 160,000 others who use health-sharing ministries will be exempt. They're one of nine exemptions built into the health care law. Published June 6, 2013

  • ** FILE ** In this May 30, 2013, file photo provided by the Murnaghan family, Sarah Murnaghan, left, lies in her hospital bed next to adopted sister Ella on the 100th day of her stay in Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A federal judge in Philadelphia has made the dying 10-year-old eligible to seek donor lungs from an adult transplant list. (AP Photo/Murnaghan Family, File)

    Judge orders Kathleen Sebelius to add 10-year-old to adult lung transplant list

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    A federal judge told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to reverse course — a 10-year-old girl dying from cystic fibrosis should be added to the adult lung transplant list. Published June 6, 2013

  • **FILE** Teva Women's Health packaging for Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) tablet, one of the brands known as the "morning-after pill" (Associated Press)

    Court: Obama admin must make some morning-after pills freely available

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered the Obama administration to make a generic, two-pill version of emergency contraception available to women of all ages without restrictions. Published June 5, 2013

  • Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican, attends a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in downtown Washington on June 5, 2013. (Christian Science Monitor)

    GOP lawmaker: Congress has the tools to replace 'Obamacare'

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    A Georgia congressman said Wednesday he will try, once again, to push a health care bill that offers a "patient-centered" alternative to President Obama's sweeping reforms — one that includes tax breaks to make insurance affordable without imposing government mandates on Americans. Published June 5, 2013

  • **FILE** Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 17, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Barack Obama's budget proposal for fiscal year 2014. (Associated Press)

    Kathleen Sebelius: 'Obamacare' has dedicated provisions for LGBTs

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    "Obamacare" has some special benefits just for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. Published June 4, 2013

  • David and Barbara Green, co-founders of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., are asking a federal appeals court in Denver on Thursday, May 23, 2013, for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires the company to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill. The Oklahoma City-based arts-and-crafts chain argues that businesses, and not just religious groups, should be allowed to seek exemptions from that part of the health law if it violates their religious beliefs. (AP Photo/Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.)

    Mandate for birth control coverage up for federal appeal

    By Kristen Wyatt - Associated Press

    In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill. Published May 23, 2013

  • House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Pat Tiberi (left), Ohio Republican, waves a constituent's application to the IRS that was delayed on May 17, 2013, on Capitol Hill  during the committee's hearing on the extra scrutiny the IRS gave tea party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. From left are Tiberi and fellow Republican Reps. Devin Nunes of California, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Kevin Brady of Texas, and Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan. (Associated Press)

    GOP eager to link IRS scandal to 'Obamacare' takedown efforts

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    As her fellow House Republicans took another symbolic vote Friday to repeal President Obama’s health care law, Rep. Diane Black, Tennessee Republican, filed a bill that prohibits the Internal Revenue Service from targeting political groups with any data obtained by carrying out the overhaul. Published May 17, 2013

  • ** FILE ** Judy Pepenella, a New York resident and member of the Conservative Society for Action, protests the health care reform law Monday outside the U.S. Supreme Court. She said she is part of a group of 50 doctors who filed a friend-of-the-court brief advocating that so-called Obamacare be struck down. (Raymond Thompson Jr./The Washington Times)

    Health premiums could hike 400 percent under Obamacare

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Prepare your wallet. Health premiums are set to rise by as much as 400 percent under Obamacare. That's according to a new report from the House Energy and Commerce Committee released this week that uses information from the nation's largest health insurance companies to estimate the emerging costs of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Published May 14, 2013

  • **FILE** Teva Women's Health packaging for Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) tablet, one of the brands known as the "morning-after pill" (Associated Press)

    Judge slaps Obama administration again over birth control restrictions

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    A federal judge in New York rebuked the Obama administration on Friday and said the federal government will not get a reprieve from his order to make a form of emergency contraception available to all ages without a prescription. Published May 10, 2013

  • President Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act in the East Room of the White House on May 10, 2013. (Associated Press)

    Obama: Health care law is 'here to stay'

    By Susan Crabtree - The Washington Times

    Amid growing concerns about the implementation of President Obama's health care law, Mr. Obama stepped up promotion of the law by pegging its benefits to this weekend's Mother's Day celebration. Published May 10, 2013

  • **FILE** Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks on Feb. 14, 2012, at HHS headquarters in Washington. (Associated Press)

    Obama releases new data on hospital bill disparities

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    President Obama's top health officials released a massive trove of medical billing data Wednesday, which they said will help expose hospitals that charge too much for common procedures. Published May 8, 2013

  • The headquarters of drugmaker Eli Lilly and Company are in pictured in Indianapolis in 2006. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

    Company that lobbied for 'Obamacare' now calls key provision 'catastrophic'

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    The head of a drug manufacturer that lobbied on behalf of "Obamacare" now has come out swinging on one key aspect of the plan — the requirement for more tax rebates for dual Medicaid-Medicare recipients. Published May 8, 2013

  • Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat (Associated Press)

    Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: Constitution implies a right to health care, education

    By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times

    Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee took to the House floor Monday night and implied that the right to health care and education exists in the Constitution. Published May 7, 2013

  • **FILE** Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat (Associated Press)

    Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin drops block on Obama Medicare nominee

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    Sen. Tom Harkin said he will remove his hold on President Obama's pick to lead the nation's Medicare agency, but the powerful Iowa Democrat said Tuesday he is still not happy with the administration's "penny-wise, pound-foolish" tendency to raid a fund designated for preventative health programs. Published May 7, 2013

  • President Obama answers questions during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. (Associated Press)

    CURL: Senate Democrats fleeing 'Obamacare'

    By Joseph Curl

    Like rats abandoning a sinking ship, Senate Democrats are furiously fleeing the coming disaster that is "Obamacare." Published May 5, 2013

  • ** FILE ** Judy Pepenella, a New York resident and member of the Conservative Society for Action, protests the health care reform law Monday outside the U.S. Supreme Court. She said she is part of a group of 50 doctors who filed a friend-of-the-court brief advocating that so-called Obamacare be struck down. (Raymond Thompson Jr./The Washington Times)

    Business owners' lawsuit says tax credits cannot flow to federally run Obamacare markets

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    A group of small business owners has filed suit against President Obama's health care law, breathing new life into a long-simmering debate on whether the law's premium tax credits were solely intended for states that set up their own insurance markets. Published May 3, 2013

  • **FILE** South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 28, 2012. (Associated Press)

    South Carolina House passes bill making 'Obamacare' implementation a crime

    By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times

    The South Carolina state House passed a bill Wednesday that declares President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to be "null and void," and criminalizes its implementation. Published May 2, 2013

  • ** FILE ** Teva Women's Health packaging for Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) tablet, one of the brands known as the "morning-after pill" (Associated Press)

    Obama administration to appeal Plan B contraception age limit

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    The Obama administration, under massive pressure from both sides of the culture war over contraception, has decided to appeal a federal court’s order to make a morning-after pill available to everyone without a prescription, just a day after expanding access to the pills for younger teenage girls. Published May 1, 2013

  • **FILE** Supporters of health care reform rally March 28, 2012, in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. (Associated Press)

    Obama admits challenges but doubles down on 'Obamacare'

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    President Obama on Tuesday vowed that his health care law will be a success for both insured and soon-to-be-covered Americans, even though it is a "big, complicated piece of business" facing ceaseless criticism on Capitol Hill and roadblocks to implementation in Republican-led states. Published April 30, 2013

  • Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, is "closely monitoring" proposed health insurance plan rates before the "Obamacare" exchanges kick in 2014.

    'Obamacare' opponents checking for 'rate shock'

    By Tom Howell Jr. and - The Washington Times

    Opponents of President Obama's health care law are eagerly scouring the paperwork insurers file with states, looking for early evidence of "rate shock" — rising prices ahead of full implementation of the state "exchanges" that begin next year. Published April 29, 2013

  • Recent Opinion Columns

  • Illustration: Blow up Obamacare by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

    MCCONNELL: Senate donkeys must join elephants to get rid of law

    By Sen. Mitch McConnell

    Two-and-a-half years ago, President Obama teamed up with Democrats in Congress to pass a health care bill they knew most Americans didn't want. Americans weren't shy about expressing their bad opinion of the bill, so Democrats settled on a dishonest sales pitch aimed at changing their minds. Published July 5, 2012

  • Illustration Breaking the Chains of Obamacare by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

    BOEHNER: Congressional Republicans resolved to repeal Obamacare

    By Rep. John Boehner

    There's no doubt that the president's health care law is hurting our economy. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling on Obamacare, the president's law was driving up health costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire. Published July 5, 2012

  • Illustration Obamatax by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

    NORQUIST: With a gavel bang, Obamacare is Obamatax

    By Grover Norquist - The Washington Times

    It's official: Obamacare is Obamatax. The Supreme Court saved Obamacare but at the expense of exposing it as simply a massive collection of taxes - 20 taxes at least. Obamacare was supposed to reduce the cost of health insurance but it has six taxes on Americans who already have health insurance. Your insurance will cost more to pay Mr. Obama's tax hikes. Published July 4, 2012

  • Illustration Strapped to Obamacare by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

    BACHMANN: Onward to repeal Obamacare

    By Rep. Michele Bachmann

    The Supreme Court ruling on the president's health care plan resulted in a sad day for freedom, liberty and the American people. In an activist decision, the court rewrote the foundation of the Affordable Care Act and then ruled it constitutional. Published June 28, 2012

  • Illustration: Obamacare's debt by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

    EDITORIAL: The Obamacare tax

    By THE WASHINGTON TIMES - The Washington Times

    The Supreme Court affirmed on Thursday what the White House never wanted to hear: Obamacare constitutes the largest and most regressive tax in American history. Published June 28, 2012

  • Illustration Obamacare Marionette  by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

    SANTORUM: Obamacare is no care

    By Rick Santorum

    The Obama presidency has been disastrous on so many levels. From unemployment to rising energy prices to an appeasing foreign policy, this Administration has exhibited a multitude of failures. Yet, if we’re to talk about the lack of forward vision that keeps us in this economic recession, look no further than Obamacare. Published June 20, 2012

  • Illustration Constitution gavel by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

    TERWILLIGER: Obamacare's supreme affront

    By George J. Terwilliger III

    A curious chorus of Obamacare devotees is being heard today to claim that only an audaciously overactivist Supreme Court could rule unconstitutional Congress' latest attempt to manage the private enterprise of health care. Published June 11, 2012

  • Illustration Small business monopoly by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

    KYL AND NOVACK: Tossing Obamacare anchor to small business

    By Sen. Jon Kyl and Dr. Eric Novack

    When Obamacare passed in 2010, one of its essential elements was the "essential health benefit" (EHB) mandate - in essence, the things Washington politicians thought every American's health care plan must contain. Published June 7, 2012

  • **FILE** President Obama speaks May 21, 2012, in Joplin, Mo. (Associated Press)

    MILLER: Buried by Obamacare bills

    By Emily Miller - The Washington Times

    President Obama promised his health care reform law would save money and reduce costs. It wasn't true then; it's certainly not true now. Lower- and middle-class Americans already have seen their premiums go up. They feel the pinch from taxes on everything from a wheelchair to a bottle of aspirin. While waiting for the Supreme Court to rescue us from this disaster, Congress needs to provide relief. Published June 4, 2012

  • Illustration by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

    WOLF: Desperately avoiding Obamanomics and Obamacare

    By Dr. Milton R. Wolf - The Washington Times

    The intertwined strands of evil DNA - Obamanomics and Obamacare - will determine the outcome of the 2012 election, and Barack Obama knows it. That's why he desperately wants to talk about something else. Anything else. A failed stimulus. Published May 8, 2012

  • President Barack Obama steps out of the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, July 27, 2010, to make an appeal for bipartisanship on his legislative agenda, in the Rose Garden. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    MILLER: Obamacare's big secret

    By Emily Miller - The Washington Times

    Thanks to Obamacare, more people will find themselves without health insurance. It turns out President Obama's signature accomplishment was so badly drafted that businesses are likely to find it more cost-effective to pay a government penalty than provide insurance to their employees. Published May 2, 2012

  • Recent Blog Entries

    Communities

    A Front Page in History

    A Washington Times' Commentary front page from April 2, 2010, featuring a cartoon from Alex Hunter.

    community.title

    Vote on Today's Question

    Do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Obama's health care overhaul?

    View results