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Health Care Reform

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

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  • 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

  • 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** 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

  • **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

  • **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

  • 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

  • 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

  • ** FILE ** House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, listens on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill following a Republican strategy session. (Associated Press)

    PRUDEN: Panic on Capitol Hill

    By Wesley Pruden - The Washington Times

    When crunch time comes, when the chips are down, when the rubber meets the road — employ the cliché of your choice — Americans can put away their selfish concerns and come together in common cause. Even Congress, our only native criminal class. Published April 26, 2013

  • Kathleen Sebelius

    Sebelius visits Capitol Hill to stop health care law 'train wreck'

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    President Obama's top health official tried Thursday to stanch Republican lawmakers' complaints about the federal health care law amid growing concerns from both sides of the aisle that the administration is facing a "train wreck" as it prepares to go live with key parts of the system next year. Published April 25, 2013

  • Illustration by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

    EDITORIAL: Obamacare off the rails

    By THE WASHINGTON TIMES - The Washington Times

    Sen. Max Baucus, who as chairman of the Finance Committee guided Obamacare down the tracks in the U.S. Senate, is changing his tune now that he's about to retreat into Montana to hide in placid retirement. He sees "a huge train wreck coming down" with the implementation of President Obama's health care takeover. Now he tells us. Published April 25, 2013

  • **FILE** Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat, addresses the state Legislature in Helena on Jan. 10, 2013. (Associated Press/The Independent Record)

    Sen. Max Baucus: Health law heading for 'train wreck'

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    A Democratic senator who helped write President Obama's health care law stunned administration officials by saying he thinks it's headed for a "train wreck." Published April 17, 2013

  • "To comply with the Affordable Care Act, Regal had to increase our health care budget to cover those newly deemed eligible based on the law's definition of a full time employee," a Regal Entertainment Group memo to employees reads. The movie chain must cut hours in order to better shoulder the costs of President Obama's signature health care legislation.

    Regal Cinemas cuts workweek for thousands, blames 'Obamacare'

    By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times

    The largest movie theater chain in the country has cut the workweek of thousands of its employees, blaming President Obama’s health care law in a company memo that announced its decision. Published April 16, 2013

  • ** FILE ** President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act in 2010 at the White House.

    Obama doubles estimated cost of health exchanges to $4.4B

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Budget estimates for states to participate in the Obamacare health insurance exchange have soared to $4.4 billion, the president's proposal sent to Congress on Wednesday outlined. Published April 11, 2013

  • **FILE** Sen. Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia Democrat, speaks Aug. 3, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press)

    'Obamacare' creator Sen. Jay Rockefeller now says law 'beyond comprehension'

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, a leading force in the creation of President Obama's health care law, now says the health reform is at risk of falling under its own regulatory weight and that it's becoming too complicated to properly implement. Published April 10, 2013

  • Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (Associated Press)

    HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius taken aback by 'relentless' 'Obamacare' politics

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that she has been taken off guard by the concerted and continuing opposition to "Obamacare" and that her office has been pushed into public relations mode to persuade states to join the exchange. Published April 10, 2013

  • (Screen shot of Indiana University's website)

    Indiana University awarded $423K stimulus to explore 'condom use problems'

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Trustees at Indiana University reported this week that a study on how to properly use condoms had been completed — and that funding for the research had come from federal stimulus dollars, to the tune of $423,500. Published April 5, 2013

  • **FILE** Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, accompanied by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, speaks Feb. 20, 2013, about the federal health care overhaul during a news conference at City Hall in Philadelphia. (Associated Press)

    Judge tells FDA to provide morning-after pill for all ages

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    A federal judge has ruled that the Food and Drug Administration must allow females of all ages over-the-counter access to the morning-after pill. Published April 5, 2013

  • ** FILE ** Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe. (Associated Press)

    GOP walks a fine line on taking federal money for Medicaid; must weigh stigma vs. practicality

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    The stigma of "Obamacare" is so potent in many red states that some Republican leaders are walking a linguistic tightrope, trying to avoid being seen as joining the massive new health care entitlement but still hoping to get a piece of the money being offered. Published April 4, 2013

  • ** FILE ** President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act in 2010 at the White House.

    Taxes heat up battle against 'Obamacare'; focus turns to partial repeals

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    A tax on everything from X-ray machines to oxygen tanks took effect at the beginning of this year — one of about 20 taxes and fees included in President Obama's health care law — and has emerged as the central battleground in the fight by the law's opponents to repeal parts of the president's overhaul. Published April 3, 2013

  • **FILE** Kathy Hansen, a family practice doctor in Houston, protests President Obama's health care law outside the Supreme Court on March 27, 2012. The justices were listening to arguments on the law's individual mandate. (The Washington Times)

    Lawsuit over health care tax could kill 'Obamacare'

    By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

    "Obamacare" looks increasingly inevitable, but one lawsuit making its way through the court system could pull the plug on the sweeping federal health care law. Published March 31, 2013

  • **FILE** Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican (Associated Press)

    Senate votes to kill Obamacare-related tax

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

    The Senate on Thursday voted to repeal a sales tax on medical devices that is part of President Obama's health-care law, a rare bipartisan attempt to strip away a section of the controversial reforms. Published March 21, 2013

  • ** FILE ** North Dakota state Sen. Margaret Sitte, a Republican, speaks in favor of HB1305, one of two anti-abortion bills, during floor debate at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D., on Friday, March 15, 2013. (AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Mike McCleary)

    North Dakota legislators mull ban on all abortions

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Lawmakers in North Dakota — where abortion laws are already among the most restrictive in the nation — are now considering a personhood bill that would outright ban the procedure. Published March 20, 2013

  • **FILE** Various size cups and sugar cubes are displayed May 31, 2012, at a news conference at New York's City Hall. (Associated Press)

    Soda kills: Sugary drinks blamed for 180K deaths a year, researchers say

    By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

    Step away from the soda. Researchers say sugary drinks are to blame for the deaths of 180,000 around the world — each year. Published March 20, 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

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

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