LA Times: Ignore Insurance Death Spiral, Trump Is Fearmongering

/0 Comments/in , /by

The mainstream media continue to live in a fantasy world of its own making, where Obamacare works great and the evil Republicans, led by President Trump, are trying to take people’s health insurance away.

A Friday headline from Brian Bennett, reporting for the Los Angeles Times, reads “’Death spiral!’: Trump is stoking fear that the Obamacare markets will collapse if Congress doesn’t act.”

“Stoking fear,” eh? Last week, the president tweeted about Aetna’s exit of the Obamacare insurance markets, exclaiming “Death Spiral!”

“Many health care experts and industry officials believe the marketplaces need to be tweaked, and the withdrawal of insurers has left consumers in some parts of the country with few options,” Bennett reported, before denying that the “death spiral” exists.

“That said, health care experts have not seen signs of a so-called ‘death spiral’ for the exchanges, and have seen enrollment on the marketplaces remain relatively steady, even with recent premium hikes.”

So, according to the L.A. Times, Trump is fearmongering. But the truth is, the president has repeatedly claimed, correctly, that Obamacare is imploding; premiums continue to increase and individuals are unwilling to pay the higher prices, driving insurers out of the marketplace.

When United Health Care announced last year it would withdraw from the Obamacare exchanges, Conservative Review contributor Logan Albright explained how Obamacare has created the insurance death spiral Trump is talking about.

The death spiral works like this: When the pool of people who sign up for health insurance is older and sicker than insurance companies expect, costs end up being higher than projected. Companies have to raise their prices (premiums) in order to make a profit. Higher prices cause some people to drop their plans as being too expensive, and the people most likely to do this are the ones who need insurance the least. This makes the remaining pool still more costly than before, and the cycle begins again, until nobody can afford insurance anymore.

While Bennet writes that “health care experts have not seen signs” of the death spiral, in Maryland:

This Washington Post article by Carolyn Y. Johnson, published the same day as Bennet’s piece in the Times, quotes health care expert Chet Burrell, chief executive of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, stating that the Obamacare marketplaces “were in the early stages of a death spiral.”

“The head of the largest insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region warned Thursday that the Affordable Care Act marketplaces were in the early stages of a death spiral, a statement that came as the company announced its request for massive, double-digit premium increases for next year.” (Emphasis added)

CareFirst, which The Washington Post reports insures about 215,000 people thorough the Obamacare exchanges, has lost $600 million since entering the marketplaces four years ago. They are asking Obamacare regulators to approve a more than 50 percent premium rate hike in Maryland to cover their costs.

“What we’re seeing is greater sickness levels. The pool of beneficiaries is becoming sicker, in part because healthier people are not coming in at the same level we hoped,” said Burrell.

The explanation is straight from the definition of a death spiral. Obamacare’s insurance mandates and “consumer protection” regulations have driven up the cost of insurance plans, pricing healthy people out of the market. Without those people paying in to subsidize the sick, insurance costs must increase to make up the difference. The resulting higher premiums and deductibles price more people out of the market, and the cycle repeats ad nauseam.

“We were hoping for more stability. The factors that I have described to you today lead to instability and to a spiral, and we think we are in the beginning of that,” Burrell explained to the Post.

Obamacare is collapsing. Insurers in the health exchanges are indeed in a death spiral, and the president is telling the truth. The Los Angeles Times is being dishonest with the American people about the failure of Obamacare by accusing President Trump of “stoking fear.”

Campaigning against Obamacare’s visible failures has been a winnings strategy for Republicans in every election since the bill’s passage. Unfortunately, the Republican American Health Care Act, as passed by the House of Representatives, does not solve the problem.

“As a Marylander who know pays three times more for premiums in order to get less coverage and be subject to a $13,100 deductible, I can say this is an issue that fully resonates with residents of the state,” Conservative Review Senior Editor Daniel Horowitz said. “The problem is that Trump continues to promote a bill that accepts that premise of Obamacare that is causing these rising premiums.”

That premise is the continued demand for protective regulations for individuals with pre-existing conditions, community rating, and the insurance mandates from the federal government that micromanage what coverage insurance companies are permitted to offer to consumers. Those elements of Obamacare are preserved in the GOP reform bill, not repealed whole cloth as was promised.

“It takes talent, at a time when Obamacare is making families pay another mortgage, for Republicans to take the focus off the ills of Obamacare and transfer it to the ACHA,” Horowitz said.

“Yet, this is what happens when they focus on half-baked replace instead of repeal.” (For more from the author of “LA Times: Ignore Insurance Death Spiral, Trump Is Fearmongering” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Trump OKs Arms for Syrian Kurds, Despite Turkish Objections

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will arm Syria’s Kurdish fighters “as necessary” to recapture the key Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, despite intense opposition from NATO ally Turkey, which sees the Kurds as terrorists.

The decision is meant to accelerate the Raqqa operation but undermines the Turkish government’s view that the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG is an extension of a Kurdish terrorist organization that operates in Turkey. Washington is eager to retake Raqqa, arguing that it is a haven for IS operatives to plan attacks on the West.

Dana W. White, the Pentagon’s chief spokeswoman, said in a written statement that President Donald Trump authorized the arms Monday. His approval gives the Pentagon the go-ahead to “equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS” in Raqqa, said White, who was traveling with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Europe. (Read more from “Trump OKs Arms for Syrian Kurds, Despite Turkish Objections” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

California Moves to Allow Communists in Government Jobs

/0 Comments/in , /by

California may soon allow Communists to serve in government, after passing legislation Monday that calls for the elimination of a provision blocking them from working in state jobs.

California lawmakers narrowly approved legislation to repeal portions of a 1953 law enacted at the height of McCarthyism. The bill, sponsored by San Francisco Bay Area Democratic Assemblyman Rob Bonta, would remove parts of the law that allow public employees to be fired for being a member of the Communist party.

“There is a clear and present danger, which the Legislature of the State of California finds is great and imminent,” the 1953 legislation reads. “Communist organizations in the State of California and their members will engage in concerted effort to hamper, restrict, interfere with, impede, or nullify the efforts of the State and the public agencies of the State.”

Under the new law, employees could still be fired for being members of an organization that knowingly advocates for overthrowing the government, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Bonta has argued that his bill simply updates an outdated provision. “It’s an old and archaic reference,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “It’s really just a technical fix to remove that reference to a label that could be misused or abused, and frankly, has been in the past, in some of the darker chapters of our history in this country,” Bonta said. (Read more from “California Moves to Allow Communists in Government Jobs” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

US Wants Tally of Haitian Immigrants’ Crimes

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Trump administration is taking the unusual step of hunting for evidence of crimes committed by Haitian immigrants as it decides whether to allow them to continue participating in a humanitarian program that has shielded tens of thousands from deportation since an earthquake destroyed much of their country.

The inquiries into the community’s criminal history were made in internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services emails obtained by The Associated Press. They show the agency’s newly appointed policy chief also wanted to know how many of the roughly 50,000 Haitians enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status program were taking advantage of public benefits, which they are not eligible to receive.

The emails don’t make clear if Haitian misdeeds will be used to determine whether they can remain in the United States. The program is intended to help people from places beset by war or disasters and, normally, the decision to extend it depends on whether conditions in the immigrants’ home country have improved enough for them to return. But emails suggest Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who will make the decision, is looking at other criteria. (Read more from “US Wants Tally of Haitian Immigrants’ Crimes” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Christian Governor in Jakarta Sentenced to Prison for Blasphemy Against Islam

/0 Comments/in , /by

An Indonesian court sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison on Tuesday for “blaspheming” the Quran, a jarring ruling that undermines the reputation of the world’s largest Muslim nation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

In announcing its decision, the five-judge panel said Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was “convincingly proven guilty of blasphemy” and ordered his arrest. He was taken to Cipinang Prison in east Jakarta. At the court, supporters of the governor wept and hugged each other amid shouts of jubilation from members of conservative Islamic groups.

Photos quickly appeared online of Ahok, who still commands immense popularity in Jakarta, the capital, being warmly greeted by prison staff. Ahok said he would appeal, but it was unclear if he would be released once that process is underway. (Read more from “Christian Governor in Jakarta Sentenced to Prison for Blasphemy Against Islam” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Study: Why Do People Attend Church

/0 Comments/in , /by

Why do people attend church?

It’s a pretty straightforward question. But even among Christians — especially Christian leaders, writers and pundits who make a living commenting on such things — the answers are many and varied. People attend church because of culture and tradition, because of the music, because of a sense of community, because it’s the right thing to do, because of the children’s program, because of the hospitality and feeling of warmth and well-being.

The Gallup Organization decided to ask people who actually attend church why they attended, and the answers they got are helpful … sort of.

The Results are In

Gallup asked people if various aspects of worship were a “major factor,” a “minor factor,” or “not a factor” in their church attendance. About 76 percent of respondents said “sermons or talks that teach you more about scripture” was a major factor. If that’s all you knew about the survey, you might say that Bible-based expository preaching was the way to fill pews. Such a finding warms the hearts of the theologically conservative. And they would not be wrong. Lots of the largest churches in the country follow that strategy.

But, as they say in infomercials: “Wait, there’s more!”

Almost as many people — 75 percent — said “sermons or talks that help you connect religion to your own life” were a major factor. What does this mean? Are we talking about topical Bible studies? “How to have a better marriage”? “What the Bible says about money”? Or could we be straying even further away from expository preaching into Joel Osteen territory, into what Christian Smith has called “therapeutic moralistic deism”?

To complicate matters even further, children’s and teens’ programs were a major factor for 64 percent of respondents, and “community outreach and volunteer activities” mattered to 54 percent. Indeed, given the size of these numbers, it is likely that a significant number of people checked every box. All of these things were major factors.

Don’t Sweat the Music

So what is a pastor or other church leader to make of these numbers? First, repeat after me: “It’s not about the music.” Evangelicals have been engaged in “worship wars” for 40 years. The “traditional vs. contemporary” divide has consumed a lot of energy, but this survey suggests that it’s mostly an “inside baseball” squabble.

I’m not saying it’s not important. It’s really important. Music is didactic. That’s a fancy way of saying it teaches. Damon of Athens wrote more than 2000 years ago, “Give me the songs of a people, and I care not who writes its laws.” I would modify Damon: “Give me the songs of a church, and I care not who writes its doctrinal statement.”

So I’m not saying music is not important. I’m just saying the music is not generally a reason people come or do not come to your church. Use music that is biblical and authentic to your tradition of worship. Don’t worry about whether it will “attract a crowd” or not.

Walk the Walk

Secondly, faith without works is dead. Have you heard that before? Good. It’s biblical. But it is also what this survey is saying. People want sound preaching and opportunities for service. It’s not an “either/or.” It’s “both/and.” This is not a bad thing; it is a very good thing. Great churches provide opportunities for both growth and service, knowing that one feeds the other.

Finally, and like unto the second: It’s not one thing, it’s everything. In my private life, I don’t get to say, “I’m an unfaithful husband, but that’s okay because I’m a good provider for my family.” No, being a responsible husband, or wife, or parent, means mastering a number of skills, not all of them a natural part of one’s gifting.

So it is with church leaders, and churches. This reality can be overwhelming for pastors, but that’s because they try to do it all themselves rather than rely on another reality of the church: It is one body, but many members.

So this Gallup survey, while more suggestive than definitive, has much to teach us. Perhaps the most important lesson is this: There are no formulas. Some water. Some sow. But God brings the increase. (For more from the author of “Study: Why People Attend Church” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Pentagon Teeters on the Edge of Full-Scale War in Afghanistan

/0 Comments/in , /by

President Donald Trump’s most senior advisers will present him with a plan to escalate the U.S. military’s mission in Afghanistan, The Washington Post reports.

This plan includes ramping up the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan along with changing the U.S. military’s rules of engagement while supporting the Afghan National Security Forces. The goal of the plan is to curb the Taliban’s battlefield gains and push them into entering a peace process with the Afghan government.

Both U.S. military commanders in charge of the war have told Congress the U.S. is in a stalemate with the Taliban and needs a few thousand more troops to tip the balance.

Trump will reportedly make the final call on the plan before a May 25 meeting with NATO heads of state in Brussels. Trump campaigned on a promise to defeat the Islamic State, which has a nascent presence in Afghanistan. The terrorist group is just one of a myriad problems for the U.S. in Afghanistan.

The Taliban movement controls nearly one-third of the Afghan population and more territory than at any time since 2001, a new United Nations report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal reveals. The plan essentially doubles down on supporting the Afghan National Security Forces in the fight against the Taliban. The Afghan forces, however, are beset by a host of problems, which nearly $75 billion in U.S. aid has been unable to fix so far. (Read more from “Pentagon Teeters on the Edge of Full-Scale War in Afghanistan” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Trump Fires FBI Director James Comey

/0 Comments/in , /by

President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening fired FBI Director James Comey, amid rising controversy over what Comey told Congress regarding a top Hillary Clinton aide and an ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election.

Numerous Democrats are calling for appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate questions surrounding Russia, claiming the Justice Department and FBI no longer are independent.

The White House said Trump informed Comey he was being terminated based on the recommendations of both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Trump issued a firing letter to Comey in which the president appeared to thank Comey for telling him the FBI wasn’t investigating him. The letter said:

I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendations and you are hereby terminated and removed from office effective immediately.

While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau.

It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.

I wish you the best of luck in future endeavors.

Comey was speaking to agents at the FBI’s field office in Los Angeles when the news of his firing came on TV, the Associated Press reported, citing a law enforcement official who was there. The FBI director chuckled, finished his remarks, and later returned by plane to Washington, AP reported.

In a public statement, Trump said:

The FBI is one of our nation’s most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement.

Comey, 56, last week testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Clinton confidant and campaign aide Huma Abedin forwarded “hundreds of thousands” of Clinton emails to her husband’s laptop computer. Clinton was secretary of state at the time, and some emails allegedly included classified information.

The FBI, in an embarrassment for Comey, clarified in a letter to the committee Tuesday that only a “small number” of emails had been forwarded to the laptop.

President Barack Obama nominated Comey in 2013 to what was supposed to be a 10-year appointment after the senior Justice Department official’s more than 30 years in law enforcement.

In the early days of his presidency, Trump announced he would keep Comey as FBI director, publicly giving him a hug and whispering something in his ear two days after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Comey had announced in July that the FBI would not recommend that the Justice Department charge Clinton, about to become the Democrats’ nominee for president, for conducting official and often sensitive State Department business with a private email account over a private server at her home.

In October, 11 days before the Nov. 8 election, Comey announced a reopening of the investigation with the discovery of the emails sent by Abedin to the laptop of her husband, former New York congressman Anthony Weiner.

Two days before the election, Comey announced that the FBI had cleared Clinton.

In a public interview last week, Clinton blamed Comey in part for her loss to Trump in the election.

Comey deputy Andrew McCabe, who has his own ties to the Clinton camp, is expected to serve as acting director until Trump nominates a successor and the Senate confirms that nominee.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, issued a critical statement on Comey following the news of his firing. Grassley said:

The handling of the Clinton email investigation is a clear example of how Comey’s decisions have called into question the trust and political independence of the FBI. In my efforts to get answers, the FBI, under Comey’s leadership, has been slow or failed to provide information that Comey himself pledged to provide.

The effectiveness of the FBI depends upon the public trust and confidence. Unfortunately, this has clearly been lost.

But Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., compared the Comey firing to Watergate, saying:

President Trump’s firing of Director Comey sets a deeply alarming precedent as multiple investigations into possible Trump campaign or administration collusion with Russia remain ongoing, including an FBI investigation. This episode is disturbingly reminiscent of the Saturday Night Massacre during the Watergate scandal and the national turmoil that it caused. We are careening ever closer to a constitutional crisis, and this development only underscores why we must appoint a special prosecutor to fully investigate any dealings the Trump campaign or administration had with Russia.

Other Democrats, such as Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, had their own speculation.

Another member of the House oversight panel, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., thanked Comey for his service.

While Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., hasn’t joined Democrats in calling for a special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference in the election, he did renew his call for a select committee to investigate.

Meanwhile, Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., says he is writing legislation to establish an independent commission on the Russia questions.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the decision to fire Comey “outrageous.”

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed skepticism over the timing of Comey’s firing.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., repeated calls for a special investigation into the Russia claims.

Conservative commentator Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, tweeted:

(For more from the author of “Trump Fires FBI Director James Comey” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

As Senate Mulls Obamacare Repeal, Insurers in 2 States Ask Double-Digit Premium Hikes

/0 Comments/in , /by

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 than the general population.

Insurance companies selling plans in Maryland and Connecticut have submitted their rate requests for 2018, as other insurers decide whether they’ll continue to offer coverage on Obamacare’s state-run and federal exchanges.

Already, Tennessee and Iowa have seen an exodus of major insurers. Consumers in parts of those states are in jeopardy of having no insurers to choose from on the exchange next year.

Humana announced in February that it no longer would sell Obamacare coverage in Tennessee, leaving residents of 16 counties in the eastern part of the state at risk of having no plans available to them.

But BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee stepped in Tuesday, notifying the state’s insurance commissioner in a letter that it would sell coverage on the Obamacare exchange in those areas.

That coverage, though, may come with a steep price, the insurer warned.

“Given the potential negative effects of federal legislation and/or regulatory changes, we believe it will be necessary to price-in those downside risks, even at the prospect of a higher-than-average margin for the short term, or until stability can be achieved,” J.D. Hickey, president of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, wrote.

In Iowa, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Aetna already said this year they no longer would sell plans in the individual market next year. That leaves just one insurer, Medica, as the only choice for Iowans living in 94 of the state’s 99 counties.

But Medica indicated last week that it would leave Iowa’s individual insurance market.

“Without swift action by the state or Congress to provide stability to Iowa’s individual insurance market, Medica will not be able to serve the citizens of Iowa in the manner and breadth that we do today,” the company said in a statement to The Des Moines Register.

Higher Premiums

Alongside potential exits from Obamacare’s exchanges, insurers in Maryland, Connecticut, and Virginia have begun to submit proposed premium increases for 2018.

Chris Sloan, a senior manager at Avalere, stressed that the figures coming from insurers are only proposed rates, and those rates typically decrease as insurance companies negotiate with state insurance departments and their commissioners.

Still, the preliminary figures from insurance companies indicate that uncertainty about the future of the health insurance market, and the enrollment population from years past, could lead to double-digit premium increases next year.

“This is a market that continues to have underlying issues with the risk,” Sloan told The Daily Signal. “Last year, a lot of people looked at 2017 as a market correction, which is why we had such big increases [in premiums], but then going into 2018 and nothing has changed in most of these markets.”

In Connecticut, just two insurers will sell health coverage on Obamacare’s exchange next year, according to the state.

There, Anthem requested an average rate increase of 34 percent for plans sold in the individual market. ConnectiCare requested an average rate increase of 15 percent for individual health plans.

In documents filed with the state, ConnectiCare said that despite “uncertainties” in the market, the company based its pricing on “weakened” enforcement of Obamacare’s individual mandate and continuation of cost-sharing reduction payments, which are taxpayer-funded subsidies that lower the cost of deductibles and copayments for exchange customers.

Anthem also attributed its request for a 34 percent rate increase to the continuation of the subsidies that lessen the amount low-income Americans pay in deductibles and copayments. But the company also warned it has continued to enroll patients who are sicker and require more expensive care.

In Maryland, consumers purchasing coverage on Obamacare’s exchange could see substantially higher premiums next year.

There, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield asked to raise rates by more than 50 percent.

“What we’re seeing is greater sickness levels,” Chet Burrell, CareFirst’s chief executive, told The Washington Post. “The pool of beneficiaries is becoming sicker, in part because healthier people are not coming in at the same level we hoped.”

Cigna and Evergreen Health asked to raise rates by an average of 37 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Maryland reminded consumers, though, that the requests from insurers are preliminary.

“It’s important to remember that these rates are what companies have requested and not necessarily what will be approved,” Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer said. “There will be a thorough review of all the filings. As in years past, we may require changes.”

Uncertainties

In addition to the continuation of subsidies to reduce deductibles and copayments, some insurers attributed their requested rate hikes to the federal government’s weakened enforcement of the Obamacare mandate that all individuals have health insurance.

The health care bill passed by House Republicans last week eliminates the mandate altogether. And earlier this year, the IRS signaled it would continue accepting tax returns from taxpayers who didn’t indicate whether they had insurance for 2016.

But Sloan, of Avalere, said there wasn’t necessarily a significant shift in enforcement of the individual mandate from the Obama administration to the Trump administration.

“The secret in Washington is that the mandate hasn’t been enforced anyway,” he said. “The Obama administration gave a ton of exemptions, and the vast majority of people who were uninsured didn’t pay this penalty. It’s not as if we’re going from heavy enforcement to suddenly none. We’re going from lax enforcement to potentially more lax enforcement.”

Where Sloan does agree with insurers, though, is in the uncertainties looming as companies plot their rates for 2018.

“What [insurers] may have gained in understanding the exchange population, they’re losing in uncertainty of what the market will look like,” he said.

Those uncertainties include whether Trump will continue funding—and whether Congress will appropriate the money for—Obamacare’s cost-sharing subsidies, and how the House GOP’s health care bill will affect the insurance market.

The House-passed bill to repeal parts of Obamacare is called the American Health Care Act, or AHCA. Republican leaders in the Senate have said they will draft their own bill in coming weeks.

“With Congress, obviously if there was certainty on what the market will look like when talking about the AHCA, that would help,” Sloan said. “It would help if they committed or de-committed either way to funding or not funding the cost-sharing reductions.”

Sloan added:

There’s uncertainty around how many other carriers are going to be participating in the market, whether they’re going to have to bear all the bad risk in the market, uncertainty around what happens with the AHCA and whether subsidies will change or changes to the mandate. There’s a lot of stuff swirling around these plans. You’re going to see that in their requests going forward.

Still, the potential for double-digit rate hikes has provided fodder for congressional Republicans and the Trump administration, as both work to fulfill a campaign promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare.

“Last year alone, 83 insurers left the Obamacare marketplace and Americans living in one-third of our nation’s counties had only one choice for coverage,” Alleigh Marre, spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email to The Daily Signal. “The fact remains, insurers are fleeing because the law is fundamentally flawed.”

“Repealing and replacing Obamacare remains the best option,” Marre said.

In an interview Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” House Speaker Paul Ryan pointed to the rate hike proposals in Maryland, as well as Medica’s decision to leave Iowa, as reasons why Obamacare has to be repealed.

“Here’s the problem: This law is collapsing. This law is failing fast,” Ryan, R-Wis., said. “And so what we’re doing is a rescue operation, which is getting rid of this law, which is collapsing.” (For more from the author of “As Senate Mulls Obamacare Repeal, Insurers in 2 States Ask Double-Digit Premium Hikes” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Pro-Life Advocates Optimistic as One of Their Own Gets Key HHS Job

/0 Comments/in , /by

President Donald Trump’s appointment of a national pro-life leader to serve as the top communicator at the Department of Health and Human Services is great news for the pro-life cause, leaders at associated organizations say.

Charmaine Yoest, longtime head of the group Americans United for Life, will assume the responsibilities of assistant secretary for public affairs at the sprawling federal agency.

Yoest, 52, will be the principal public affairs adviser to HHS Secretary Tom Price, which puts her in charge of speechwriting, strategic planning, and broadcast and digital communications.

“We are going to see a radical transformation occur within HHS,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told The Daily Signal in an interview.

“I fully expect us [as a society] to talk about … the consequences of abortion on women,” Hawkins said.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, where Yoest worked for seven years, told The Daily Signal in an interview that she will have an important platform in the Trump administration working for Price:

In her capacity in public relations I am not sure exactly how deep she will get in policy directly, but I think indirectly she will have a huge impact making sure policies are consistent with the secretary’s vision, the president’s vision. And her knowing this [pro-life] issue inside and out, again, I think it’s going to have a significant impact.

Price, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, is himself pro-life.

From August 2008 to February 2016, Yoest was CEO of Americans United for Life, a group that seeks to advance the legal and policy issues of the pro-life movement. She has extensive experience in working for conservative, pro-life officials and organizations on the national level.

Her start date at HHS is pending.

Yoest’s political experience began when, as a young woman, she was on the staff of the White House personnel office during President Ronald Reagan’s second term. She went on to work as a policy analyst and vice president of communications at the Washington-based Family Research Council. She briefly advised the 2008 presidential campaign of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Her new role as assistant secretary of public affairs at HHS, which does not require Senate confirmation, includes tasks such as overseeing the agency’s public affairs programming, leading its other public affairs activities, and managing digital communications.

Yoest, who will report directly to Price, also will oversee agency responses under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act, which allow individuals to access federal records. And she will direct a division that “leads the planning, development, and implementation of emergency incident communications strategies and activities.”

Yoest joins the new administration at an important time, Melanie Israel, a research associate at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in an email.

“From respecting rights of conscience for health care entities to administering programs and grants, to establishing important agency regulations, there are many areas in which the Department of Health and Human Services can affirm the inherent dignity and worth of every person, from conception to natural death,” Israel said.

Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, previously worked in the Office of the Secretary at HHS. In an interview, Mancini told The Daily Signal that Yoest will have a significant role to play in the agency’s policy messaging.

“All of the different things that are happening at HHS, whether it’s through the Centers for Disease Control or National Institutes of Health or the Food and Drug Administration or the many other programs that are happening through there, Charmaine will help them with their messaging and she is very gifted at communication both digitally and in person,” Mancini said.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the nation’s largest abortion provider, is not supportive of Yoest’s appointment.

“It is unacceptable that someone with a history of promoting myths and false information about women’s health is appointed to a government position whose main responsibility is to provide the public with accurate and factual information,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, said in a statement provided to The Daily Signal.

Yoest, Laguens said, “has spent her whole professional life opposing access to birth control and a woman’s right to a safe, legal abortion.”

Kevin Griffis, Yoest’s predecessor at HHS during the Obama administration, recently joined Planned Parenthood as vice president of communications.

Under Yoest’s leadership, Americans United for Life developed a legislative package called the Women’s Protection Project, designed to provide lawmakers with “specific legislative solutions to the growing concerns regarding the health risks to women from abortion.”

Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an organization that seeks to educate society on the importance of protecting life, told The Daily Signal that such attacks on Yoest are unfounded.

“I think she is terrific,” Donovan said in an interview. “She’ll be the most knowledgeable policy person, my guess would be, to ever hold a position like that,” adding:

She’s not only a great communicator with experience [in] the media, print and broadcast, but she has written extensive policy documents. She knows the issues inside and out.

(For more from the author of “Pro-Life Advocates Optimistic as One of Their Own Gets Key HHS Job” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.