Illegal Immigrants Will Receive Free Health Care Under Bernie’s Single Payer Bill

Illegal immigrants will seemingly be eligible to receive Medicare benefits under Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ single payer health care bill, released Wednesday. The bill, dubbed “Medicare For All Act of 2017,” extends an enhanced version of Medicare coverage, absent virtually all out of pocket costs, to every U.S. resident, regardless of age or immigration status. “IN…

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Governor Haslam Echoes Lamar Alexander’s Sense of Urgency to ‘Fix’ Obamacare at Senate Hearings

  The second of four hearings scheduled by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee and Patty Murray of Washington as Chairman and Democratic Ranking Member, respectively, of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the topic of “Stabilizing Premiums and Helping Individuals in the Individual Insurance Market for 2018,” had the same themes from five Governors as the five Insurance Commissioners from the day prior. In addition to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, the other four witnesses were Governors Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Steve Bullock of Montana, Gary Herbert of Utah and John Hickenlooper of Colorado. In their opening comments, all five governors echoed the comments of the Insurance Commissioners’ testimony and that of Sen. Alexander to achieve premium stabilization in the individual market for 2018. Measures the governors and insurance commissioners encouraged Congress to take included continuing the cost sharing reductions (CSRs), seeding state reinsurance programs and streamlining the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Section 1332 Waiver process. CSRs, subsidies that lower out-of-pocket expenses of co-pays and deductibles for individual market participants who purchase a specific subsidized plan sold on the healthcare.gov exchange, are funded on an annual basis. The consensus from committee members and witnesses is…

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Conservatives Blast Senator Lamar Alexander’s Plans for Obamacare ‘Bailout’

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) will try to build consensus next week around narrow tweaks to Obamacare that could draw bipartisan support and fix the health law’s biggest flaws. It is unlikely such an effort will produce anything meaningful, however, according to conservative activists and health care scholars. “It’s going to be vey small,” said Michael Tanner,…

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Economist Stephen Moore Blasts Senator Lamar Alexander and ‘Turncoat’ Republicans During Nashville Visit

Tennessee Star

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Free-market economist Stephen Moore slammed U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in a speech Saturday when talking about “turncoat” Republicans who did not support a recent Republican-led Senate effort to repeal Obamacare. He said the Tennessee senator is “leading the charge” to preserve Obamacare in some form. Last month, Alexander was one of seven Republicans to vote against a strong repeal amendment sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). “What he is doing right now behind the scenes is a betrayal,” said Moore, the senior economic contributor for FreedomWorks and a fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Moore is a frequent commentator on TV and a former Wall Street Journal editorial board member. Moore spoke at a breakfast hosted by the Tennessee Republican Assembly at Glenwood Baptist Church in Nashville. The meeting was to be held at Dairy King next door, but had to be moved because of rain damage at the restaurant. Business leader Andrew Puzder, who was at one point President Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, also spoke at the event. “This is a very dangerous moment right now,” Moore said. “If Lamar has his way, we will permanently enshrine Obamacare into the budget. We will never get rid of…

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Commentary: Four Steps President Trump Can Take to Quicken Obamacare Implosion

With the wee-hours even a modest partial repeal of Obamacare in the Senate, the ball now moves to the executive branch. President Donald Trump’s administration has considerable power to improve the health care system within the confines of the Affordable Care Act — or make mischief and hasten its demise. The president tweeted in the early-morning…

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Alexander And Corker Both Vote For Failed Obamacare “Skinny Repeal” Amendment

Tennessee Star

Tennessee’s Republican senators both voted early Friday for a health care bill amendment that would have repealed parts of Obamacare, though less dramatically than an amendment defeated earlier this week. The latest amendment, defeated by a 51-49 Senate vote, was dubbed “skinny repeal” and was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The stronger amendment defeated Wednesday was sponsored by his fellow Kentucky Republican senator, Rand Paul. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who voted against Sen. Paul’s amendment because it didn’t have an immediate replacement plan, but who voted to advance Sen. McConnell’s “skinny repeal” said: I voted to take the next step toward what I believed was our best opportunity to repeal and replace Obamacare. The Senate’s failure to do this leaves an urgent problem that I am committed to addressing: Tennessee’s state insurance commissioner says our individual insurance market is very near collapse. Unless Congress acts, many of the 350,000 Tennesseans who buy health insurance in that market—songwriters, farmers, the self-employed—face the real prospect of having zero options to buy insurance in 2018 and 2019. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said in a statement: My strong preference was for Congress to advance legislation I supported earlier this week to repeal Obamacare…

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Sen. Corker Votes To Repeal Obamacare, Sen. Alexander Votes No

Tennessee Star

Tennessee’s Republican senators in Washington, D.C., were divided Wednesday on repealing significant portions of Obamacare. Sen. Bob Corker voted for a health care bill amendment to repeal the Affordable Care Act, while Sen. Lamar Alexander voted against it. Put forward by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the amendment would have given lawmakers two years to develop a replacement plan. The Senate will now debate measures that won’t alter Obamacare as much as the amendment defeated Wednesday. Radio talk show host Phil Valentine speculated on his show Wednesday that Corker, considered a moderate by some conservatives, voted for repeal because he is up for election next year and knew the vote would play well with Tennessee voters. Corker has not said whether he will seek a third term. In a statement released before Wednesday’s vote, Corker said: As I have said before, I believe the best path forward is for Congress to repeal Obamacare after a reasonable transition period. This amendment would take us back to a level playing field where, by a date certain, all sides have incentive to work together to develop a health care replacement that would generate broad support and stand the test of time. I urge my…

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Commentary: Obamacare Repeal is ‘Shawshank Redemption’ Moment for GOP

By Jeffrey A. Rendall   Another week, another failure for the Republican congressional leadership. The media is ablaze with stories of more feckless incompetence by the GOP congressional majority to pass any kind of repeal and/or replace of Obamacare this week. Of course the professional talkers are snickering at President Trump as well, seemingly joyous that the president doesn’t appear to carry sufficient political clout to lean on enough senators to get anything pushed through. Though it’s safe to say all conservatives are frustrated with the lack of progress on Capitol Hill it’s doubtful Trump himself will sustain any political hits from the inactions of a wayward few in his own party. Jason L. Riley wrote at The Wall Street Journal, “Emily Ekins, a Cato Institute scholar who is part of a politically diverse team of academics and pollsters in the process of analyzing the 2016 election, told me on Monday that Trump supporters are less concerned about his policy agenda and more interested in having someone who understands them occupy the Oval Office… “This is of little comfort to Republicans in Congress. Unlike the president, GOP lawmakers must face voters next year and desperately want some legislative victories to…

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Obamacare Repeal And Donald Trump’s September 2015 Remarks

Tennessee Star

ConservativeHQ.com Staff July 23, 2017 September 2015 seems like an eon ago – and politically it is. Back then Donald Trump was the outsider candidate who didn’t have a prayer of winning the Republican nomination for President, never mind beating Hillary Clinton and winning the White House. Trump confounded all the naysayers, and truth be told he did it with one very simple campaign theme, “We are led by very, very stupid people.” Repeal ObamacareThe Washington establishment was outraged when Donald Trump called them “stupid,” but voters across the heartland were energized and reassured that someone running for president was willing to say what they had been thinking for a good long time. What’s more, Trump’s remark was an equal opportunity trashing of the Washington elite. He didn’t limit the universe of stupid people to just Democrats, establishment Republicans were very clearly included. Fast forward to Inauguration Day 2017 – Trump was sworn-in, and as our friend Cathy put it, “We were filled with such optimism on Inauguration Day. Little did we expect the treachery lurking in the Swamp before it could be drained.” The Swamp, the establishment, the DC status quo decided that if Trump and his conservative –…

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Senator Bob Corker Issues Statement Supporting Repeal of Obamacare

Tenessee Star

On Thursday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) issued a statement supporting full repeal of Obamacare: “After being involved in many discussions over the past several months with my colleagues and stakeholders across Tennessee, I believe the best path forward is for Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act after a reasonable transition period,” said Corker. “This takes us back to a level playing field where, by a date certain, all sides have incentive to work together to develop a health care replacement that can generate broad support and will stand the test of time. Regardless of how we move forward, it is my hope that our focus will be not only on coverage but also on lowering the actual cost of health care.” Corker participated in a lengthy meeting held by senators last night and also attended the lunch meeting held yesterday at the White House. Corker had previously opposed efforts to repeal Obamacare without having a complete alternative in place. Critics on the left criticized Corker’s change of heart, while conservatives, many of whom have fiercely criticized Corker in the past, applauded it. “Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini and the U.S. Senate campaign of Democrat James Mackler were having…

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UnitedHealth’s Profits Continue To Soar After Ditching Obamacare

The largest health insurance company in the U.S., UnitedHealth Group, exceeded its quarterly-profit expectations in the second quarter of 2017, as it continues to make gains after the provider decided to almost entirely opt-out of the Obamacare state exchanges. United’s second quarter net-earnings were $2.28 billion, up from $1.75 billion in the same quarter of 2016.…

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Letter to the Editor: With Obamacare, There Is Nothing Left to Repair

Tennessee Star

  Dear Tennessee Star, There are a lot of people calling, writing and visiting our two Senators, urging them to vote against the American Health Care Act and instead, repair the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). I have news for these folks: There is nothing left to repair. I know it must be frustrating to see that the hallmark Democratic achievement of the last eight years has, as we predicted, collapsed under its own weight. More and more insurers are leaving the health care exchanges: in fact, of the 95 counties in Tennessee, 47 – over half – will have NO INSURER left beginning next year. Nearly two million Americans have dropped their Obamacare coverage so far this year. Is it not bad enough to pay taxes and penalties for refusing to buy health insurance you can’t use? Do you remember the promise that premiums for the average family would decrease by $2,500 a year? In reality, premiums for many families have doubled (or more) and are expected to increase dramatically again in the next year. Clearly, the Affordable Care Act is neither affordable, nor does it provide care. The government, and insurance companies, need to get out of the…

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Senate Health Care Legislation Stalls, Corker and Alexander Were Still Mulling Bill

Tennessee Star

The Senate health care bill appeared to stall late Monday for lack of votes needed to pass. Last week, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said he was encouraged by the direction of the bill, while Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said he had concerns about its effects on Tennesseans and was waiting to see a report from the Congressional Budget Office. The bill was to have been considered this week, but was delayed until at least next week to give Arizona Republican Senator John McCain time to recover from surgery to remove a blood clot. McCain’s presence was needed to advance the bill, which has faced growing opposition. Then news broke late Monday that the bill in its current form has been brought to a halt after more senators stepped forward to say they wouldn’t support it. That means leaders will need to revamp the bill or scrap health care legislation this year. Some senators are opposed to the bill because they say the proposed cuts to Medicaid are too steep, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) says it keeps too much of Obamacare intact. Paul mounted a campaign to convince fellow Republicans that the bill is not a repeal as promised. The bill has…

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White House: ‘We’re Getting Close’ on Health Care; Repeal-Only Vote Gains Momentum

The Trump administration on Sunday declared “we’re getting close” to having the votes needed to pass a health care overhaul bill in the Senate while reiterating that the president is open to a repeal-only measure if Republicans can’t agree on exactly how to replace Obamacare. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Marc Short, White House director of…

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‘Hookers for Health Care’ Organizes Against Republican Efforts to Replace Obamacare

Republican efforts to replace former President Obama’s signature piece of legislation have a new group of activists pitted against them: prostitutes. Nevada’s licensed prostitutes have organized a hundred-strong coalition called “Hookers for Health Care” to influence America’s national health care debate. Leader Alice Little of Carson City’s Sagebrush Ranch brothel says undoing the Affordable Care Act…

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Elizabeth Warren Slams Obama’s Healthcare as Not Liberal Enough

Elizabeth Warren

Rep. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) criticized former President Obama’s model for healthcare while promoting a progressive agenda towards single-payer health care. She said the Affordable Healthcare Act, also known as Obamacare, was based on a model of healthcare taken from a conservative playbook and that Democrats should campaign on a platform for Medicare-for-all. “President Obama tried to…

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Commentary: GOP Health Care Plan Would Fundamentally Change Medicaid

Obscured by the largely over pre-existing conditions, the Obamacare rewrite by the House of Representatives would usher in the most significant changes ever to one of America’s largest entitlement programs. The American Health Care Act faces almost-certain major changes in the Senate. But as passed by the House, it would phase out the Medicaid expansion created…

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Health Insurers in Connecticut and Maryland Ask for Double-Digit Premium Hikes, Tennessee Braces for ‘Sticker Shock’

Tennessee Star - Obamacare

Consumers in at least two states face the prospect of double-digit increases in health insurance rates next year, as insurers attempt to price premiums amid uncertainty, including from Congress and President Donald Trump on the fate of Obamacare. Also driving rate increases is the fact that the millions of Americans enrolled on Obamacare’s exchanges are sicker…

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Commentary: The House Obamacare Vote: First Step To Repeal Or Sham?

by ConservativeHQ.com Staff Through the passage of the American Health Care Act, the House has now voted-out a bill that some of our friends are calling a first step in the complete repeal of Obamacare, and that other friends are calling a complete sham and a step backward for Republicans. According to a transcript posted by Breitbart’s Ian Hanchett, on Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) argued the revised American Health Care Act is “the first time that Congress Republicans have affirmatively put their stamp of approval on a program where federal money, taxpayer money, is paid to insurance companies.” Senator Paul later in the interview said, “I just don’t want to replace [Obamacare] with Obamacare-lite, or another federal program. The programs they put in place will be there forever. So, the refundable tax credit, which is a subsidy by another name, will be there forever. And this — these buying — these high-risk pools they want to create, Republicans used to hate the idea. They hated the idea when they were called risk corridors, and they were giving money to insurance companies. They were bailouts, when it was a Democrat idea. Now that…

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When All Else Fails, @TheDemocrats Go Blue

Tennessee Star

  Racking up the election losses is taking a toll on the Democrats’ Twitter team, it appears. After failing to avoid a runoff in the anything-goes special election to replace Georgia’s Tom Price, and looking down the abyss of no likely wins in the foreseeable future, Democrats are once again resulting to profanity to try to make an impact. Taking away health care from 24 million people is going low. Giving a shit about people is going high. https://t.co/UISq0f7Ob3 — The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) April 19, 2017   The tweet, posted just as offices were opening for the day, was a reaction to a tweet by @GOP, who pointed out the low-road, gutter-talk messaging printed on tshirts at the Democrats’ online store. 2016: “When they go low, we go high” – Michelle Obama2017: ⬇ pic.twitter.com/HoweDU2qvg — GOP (@GOP) April 19, 2017 Seems Democrats are a little sensitive about completely and singlehandedly ruining healthcare and the health insurance marketplace with Obamacare. But then, we know that was the plan all along.      

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President Trump tells Speaker Ryan to pull ‘Obamacare-lite’ Bill

Tennessee Star

  The Washington Post reports President Trump has asked Speaker Paul Ryan to pull the American Health Care Act bill. Via the Washington Post: House Republican leaders abruptly pulled a rewrite of the nation’s health-care system from consideration on Friday, a dramatic acknowledgment that they are so far unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act. “We just pulled it,” President Trump told The Washington Post in a telephone interview. The decision came a day after Trump delivered an ultimatum to lawmakers — and represented multiple failures for the new president and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). Dubbed “Obamacare-lite” by conservatives, the reaction of the development is being felt across both sides of the aisles. Tea Party Patriots President and co-founder Jenny Beth Martin released the following statement today, reacting to the failed attempt by House GOP members to repeal and replace ObamaCare: “The AHCA failed to garner the necessary votes from the House GOP for the simple reason that it failed to repeal the core elements of ObamaCare – the insurance company mandates (‘Guaranteed Issue,’ ‘Community Rating,’ and ‘Essential Health Benefits’) that are driving up the costs of health insurance even as they drive down the quality of care –…

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Commentary: Repeal Means Repeal!

  For the past six years the Republicans in Congress have repeatedly demanded that Obamacare be repealed and replaced. In fact the House has voted over 60 times to repeal Obamacare but were regularly blocked by the Democrat-controlled Senate under Majority Leader Harry Reid. When Republicans took control of the Senate the House was able to pass a bill in 2016 to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood that finally came to a vote and also passed in the Senate. President Obama vetoed it. As long as President Obama could wield the veto pen there was no hope of actually repealing Obamacare. But now, with President Trump in place and with his oft-repeated campaign pledge to “repeal Obamacare,” Republicans are positioned to keep their promises and kill the disastrous and costly government health insurance scheme. Yet, here we are on the verge of success and moderate Republicans like Speaker Paul Ryan and House Budget Chair Diane Black are desperately trying to simply replace Obamacare with a watered down version that replaces subsidies with credits and keeps the foundations of Obamacare firmly in place. Instead of “promises made, promises kept” the Republicans will claim “promises made, promises continued until phases two…

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Commentary: Ryancare a Kamikaze Mission for Trump

George Rasley, CHQ Editor Those of us who have been around conservative politics for a while will remember the smirk on Democratic Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell’s face when he got President George HW Bush to destroy his presidency by abandoning his “no new taxes” pledge. That same smirk is flitting across establishment Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s face as he rams his Obamacare 2.0, RINOcare or Ryancare health care bill through the House while claiming support from Kamikaze pilotPresident Trump. There are two main reasons for why Ryancare is such a disaster for President Trump; the first is that Ryancare is merely Obamacare with a big government establishment Republican spin on it, and the second is that it continues to be most financially burdensome to the small businesses and independent workers who were a key component of Trump’s electoral coalition. It’s a twofer for Ryan: He and his big government DC pals continue to control people’s lives by controlling the health care and health insurance market and they screw Trump in the process. For those innocent souls who are inclined to take serial liar Paul Ryan at his word about his bill, the Texas Public Policy Foundation…

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Commentary: Republicans Should Remember the Lessons of the Scurrilous Path to Obamacare Passage

By George Rasley, CHQ In 2009 Democrats, flush with victory in the 2008 election and in control of the White House, Senate and House – a victory won largely on jobs and economic issues – embarked, not on the passage of a job creation and economic reform agenda, but on a costly and politically debilitating government takeover of the healthcare and insurance industries. The legislation, written behind closed doors by a handful of Democratic leaders in consultation with liberal consultants, was rammed through Congress by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-President Barack Obama. Pelosi famously said at the time, “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy” and Obama spent enormous amounts of his political capital framing the healthcare takeover as one of government acting to improve and reform the healthcare insurance market and selling the socialist utopian idea that access to healthcare unlimited by market forces is a “right.” Both of these sales points turned out to be lies and everyone on the inside knew them to be. MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber, the architect of the bill said that if Americans knew the truth “the…

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Commentary: Paul Ryan Betrays President Trump On Obamacare Repeal And Replace

by ConservativeHQ Staff It was inevitable that this would happen, but we figured it would take a little longer. Speaker Paul Ryan’s so-called Obamacare “repeal and replace” bill is a complete sellout of President Trump’s campaign promise to rid the country and the economy of the disaster of Obamacare, but the President is Paul Ryanalready being suckered into endorsing it. Indeed, President Trump’s White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, falsely stated yesterday that the healthcare bill from House Speaker Paul Ryan represents what will eventually be a full repeal of Obamacare. As our friend Matthew Boyle writing for Breitbart pointed-out, the bill is more like Obamacare 2.0 because the bill keeps in place the Obamacare requirements that insurers allow for coverage of pre-existing conditions and allows children to stay on their parents’ health care until they’re 26-years-old. It shifts the individual mandate from being a tax paid to the government to a penalty paid to insurance companies, does not even address the Medicaid issue in states effectively, helps illegal aliens access healthcare in the system, and it does not allow for purchasing of insurance across state lines as Republicans have promised for years—among many, many other problems. And among those among many, many problems…

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Letter to the Editor: Repeal Obamacare Now

Tennessee Star - Obamacare

Dear Tennessee Star, Obamacare continues to be a total disaster for families. Remember the famous saying, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” With President Trump in office and Republican control of Congress – it’s important that Congress moves to quickly repeal Obamacare. Our healthcare system is on the edge. Republicans must put forth a solid and complete replacement plan that goes along simultaneously with any repeal. Congress should work on patient-centered reforms that bring power back to the states and allows for a free market system. It’s also important that Congress ensure the repeal of the health insurance tax – which is a tax on healthcare premiums. The National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation found the health insurance tax will cost between 152,000 and 286,000 jobs by 2023, with 57 percent of those lost jobs represented in small businesses. A study by Oliver Wyman estimates that the health insurance tax results in an extra cost to small businesses of an average of $280 per employee per year and to individuals who purchase insurance coverage on their own of $220 per year. Thankfully, there is a bi-partisan bill by Representatives Kristi Noem and Kyrsten Sinema –…

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