Just a few weeks ago the honorable Congresswoman from San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi, made the stunning claim that health insurance in America would be cheaper than ever before. … Read More
The Republican fantasy
One of the ways to differentiate liberals and conservatives today is to consider their respective caricatured sci-fi visions of the future. In cartoon terms, the liberal caricature is a “we’re in this all together” utopia of communitarian kumbaya, while the conservative caricature is basically Back to the Future II – a Biff Tannen-dominated dystopia of moral and economic decay whose only unifying ethos is thinking of – and violently protecting – oneself. Thus, liberals generally support stuff like universal social insurance and the social safety net, while conservatives tend to get fired up against gun control, taxes and a social safety net, and for massive military budgets.At the rank-and-file voter level, this is, of course, a cartoon version of ideologies – many self-described liberals are hardly dreaming of turning America into a giant kibbutz while many self-described conservatives just want the government out of their face. However, at the elected official level in Washington, the conservative cartoon in particular is no comedic caricature – as Rep. Paul Ryan’s new House Republican budget shows, it is an actual worldview, with specific legislative proposals in tow.Continue Reading… … Read More
Increasing numbers of colleges cover health care for transgender students
Last week, the student newspaper the Brown Daily Herald reported that Brown University would be eliminating a discriminatory rider in its student health insurance plan that banned transgender-specific health care coverage. The plan will now cover up to $50,000 worth of treatment, including sex…
White House: Health law requires coverage for workers’ children
The Affordable Care Act will require employers to offer health insurance that covers their workers’ children too, the Obama administration announced on Monday. While the decision sounds like a win for working-class Americans, there’s a catch: The New York Times noted that the coverage…
Study: Health reform saved consumers $1.5 billion in 2011
President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) saved American consumers $1.5 billion on out-of-pocket health insurance premium costs in 2011, a study published Wednesday (PDF) claimed. Despite this, benefits of the law were not applied equally across all health insurance markets, leading…
