WebProNews » Obamacare http://www.webpronews.com Breaking News in Tech, Search, Social, & Business Sun, 19 May 2013 15:26:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Obamacare ‘Kills’ Says Michelle Bachmann http://www.webpronews.com/obamacare-kills-says-michelle-bachmann-2013-03 http://www.webpronews.com/obamacare-kills-says-michelle-bachmann-2013-03#comments Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:21:53 +0000 Sean Patterson http://www.webpronews.com/?p=221977 Michele Bachmann, the U.S. congressional representative from Minnesota’s 6th district, is well-known for saying things that strike Americans in the middle or on the left of the U.S. political spectrum as inflammatory and pandering. Though her posturing rings true with the most conservative Americans, it has also made her the subject of many a joke.

This week, Bachmann continued her Don Quixote-like campaign against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – known derisively by conservatives as “Obamacare.”

The day after the 113th U.S. Conogress was sworn in, Bachmann proudly announced that she had introduced the first bill of the session, titled “To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.″

This week, Bachmann took to the house floor to rail against the president’s health care reform once again. She claimed that Americans, specifically women, children, and the elderly, are now paying more for less health coverage. She goes on to press her point with some hyperbole, saying,”Let’s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. Let’s not do that. Let’s love people. Let’s care about people. Let’s repeal it now while we can.”

Presumably, someone has convinced Bachmann that the “Obamacare” legislation contains a provision that spares non-elderly men from the legislation’s secret death mandate.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/obamacare-kills-says-michelle-bachmann-2013-03/feed 1 Justice Sonia Sotomayor Allows Contraceptive Mandate to Begin Next Week http://www.webpronews.com/justice-sonia-sotomayor-allows-contraceptive-mandate-to-begin-next-week-2012-12 http://www.webpronews.com/justice-sonia-sotomayor-allows-contraceptive-mandate-to-begin-next-week-2012-12#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:30:52 +0000 Sean Patterson http://www.webpronews.com/?p=209013 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an in-chambers opinion denying Hobby Lobby Stores Inc an injunction it had requested to prevent a birth control mandate from beginning on January 1. The mandate is part of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), colloquially known as “Obamacare.”

Hobby Lobby is arguing that the mandate to provide employees with healthcare coverage that includes preventive care ,such as birth control, conflicts with its first amendment right to freely exercise religion. Many religious Americans believe that birth control, specifically the morning after pill, is in conflict with their beliefs about sex, abortion, and reproduction. The PPACA already has exemptions for churches and other houses of worship, but highly religious business owners are arguing that they should be able to refuse contraceptive coverage for their employees as well.

Sotomayor has not dismissed Hobby Lobby’s case against the contraceptive mandate, and stated that she was not deciding whether the company’s claims had any merit. Instead, she concluded that the “applicants do not satisfy the demanding standard for the extraordinary relief they seek,” referring to the injunction. This means the mandate will take effect at the beginning of the new year.

A Hobby Lobby spokesperson has stated that the company will not be providing the morning after pill for its employees. Hobby Lobby and its affiliated companies face fines of $1.3 million per day if they do not comply with the mandate.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/justice-sonia-sotomayor-allows-contraceptive-mandate-to-begin-next-week-2012-12/feed 6 Birth Control Cuts Abortion Rates by More Than Half, Says Study http://www.webpronews.com/birth-control-cuts-abortion-rates-by-more-than-half-says-study-2012-10 http://www.webpronews.com/birth-control-cuts-abortion-rates-by-more-than-half-says-study-2012-10#comments Fri, 05 Oct 2012 16:56:12 +0000 Sean Patterson http://www.webpronews.com/?p=195974 A new study published this week in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that providing free birth control to women could reduce abortion rates by 62% to 78%. In addition, access to no-cost birth control “substantially reduced” unplanned pregnancies.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, looked at 9,256 women, ages 14 to 45 in the St. Louis area between 2007 and 2011. The women were given a choice of birth control methods, ranging from long-term IUDs to the classic birth control pill. Around 75% of women in the study chose IUD or implant methods of birth control, which have lower failure rates than pills but have higher up-front costs.

From 2008 to 2010, the women in the study had annual abortion rates ranging from 4.4 to 7.5 per 1,000 women. This is significantly lower than the U.S. national abortion rate, which is 19.6 per 1,000 women.

The study also found that for girls age 15 to 19 who had access to free birth control, their annual birth rate was 6.3 per 1,000 women, far below the U.S. national average of 34.3 per 1,000 women.

“This study shows that by removing barriers to highly-effective contraceptive methods such as IUDs and implants, we can reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortions,” said lead author Dr. Jeff Peipert, lead author of the study and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University. “Unintended pregnancy remains a major health problem in the United States, with higher proportions among teenagers and women with less education and lower economic status. The results of this study demonstrate that we can reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy, and this is key to reducing abortions in this country.”

This study comes just months after a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as ‘Obamacare’) mandated that all health insurance plans cover contraceptives for women, without requiring a co-pay.

Washingtion University prepared a video on the project, which illustrates the more interesting facts from the study:

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/birth-control-cuts-abortion-rates-by-more-than-half-says-study-2012-10/feed 6 Bill O’Reilly Mans Up, Apologizes for Being an Idiot http://www.webpronews.com/bill-oreilly-mans-up-apologizes-for-being-an-idiot-2012-07 http://www.webpronews.com/bill-oreilly-mans-up-apologizes-for-being-an-idiot-2012-07#comments Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:40:03 +0000 WebProNews Staff http://www.webpronews.com/?p=179320 Bill O’Reilly might be many things, but at least he’s a man of his word. This time around, anyway. The controversial Republican boldly declared in March that he would “apologize for being an idiot” should the Supreme Court uphold Obama’s health care law. Following the ruling that Obamacare would, in fact, remain in place, O’Reilly was strangely quiet. Of course, he was “off” last week, which may explain why we didn’t hear much from ol’ Bill during that time.

On Monday, much to the surprise of his many detractors, O’Reilly stepped up to the plate and proclaimed himself to be an idiot. In a roundabout way, mind you. Of course, in order to protect his image, he then brought Bernie Goldberg onto his show to discuss what certain “far left smear sites” thought about his sort-of-apology. So much for being the bigger man.

“I’m not really sorry, but I am a man of my word, so I apologize for not factoring in the John Roberts situation,” O’Reilly said. “Truthfully, I never in a million years thought the chief justice would go beyond the scope of the Commerce Clause debate and into taxation. I may be an idiot for not considering that.”

What do Twitter users think about Bill O’Reilly’s sort-of apology? As always, you can sample their reactions to the news by taking a trip into the space below. It sort of goes without saying that O’Reilly apologists aren’t all that numerous on the micro-blogging site, so do take that into consideration before shaking your angry fist at the screen.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/bill-oreilly-mans-up-apologizes-for-being-an-idiot-2012-07/feed 9 Obamacare Gets “Dewey Defeats Truman” Image, Courtesy of CNN http://www.webpronews.com/obamacare-gets-dewey-defeats-truman-image-courtesy-of-cnn-2012-06 http://www.webpronews.com/obamacare-gets-dewey-defeats-truman-image-courtesy-of-cnn-2012-06#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2012 19:56:26 +0000 Chris Richardson http://www.webpronews.com/?p=178079 ]]> By now, you’ve probably heard about the Obamacare coverage mishaps, courtesy of CNN and Fox News. Both news outlets briefly reported President Obama’s health care initiative as being struck down by the Supreme Court, something that clearly did not happen. If you’d like to see how people are (over)reacting the news, just hang on Twitter for a little while and follow this particular hashtag.

You won’t be disappointed by the exchanges, no matter how misguided they are.

It’s clear the rush to be first in the world of news trumps accuracy, and because each station’s screw-up was so noticeable, it became something of a talking point, at least where CNN is involved. While a slanted report that goes against the Obama administration is to be expected for Fox News, the fact that CNN was so thoroughly mistaken is a major talking point, perhaps all the way to the halls of CNN itself.

While Fox News is also to blame here, the fallout is being coined as CNN gives Obama his “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment, something that was immortalized by yfrog.com users. So much so, in fact, it lead to the creation of a mock-up of the famous image, but instead of Truman holding up the newspaper, which leads this article, the image has been doctored to feature Obama, an iPad, and CNN’s unfortunate blunder of a headline:

Obamacare Dewey Defeats Truman

Needless to say, the image has gone viral:

Killjoy.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/obamacare-gets-dewey-defeats-truman-image-courtesy-of-cnn-2012-06/feed 1 CNN Shook The Christmas Present, Killed The Parrot On Health Care Coverage Says Jon Stewart http://www.webpronews.com/cnn-shook-the-christmas-present-killed-the-parrot-on-health-care-coverage-says-jon-stewart-2012-06 http://www.webpronews.com/cnn-shook-the-christmas-present-killed-the-parrot-on-health-care-coverage-says-jon-stewart-2012-06#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:14:24 +0000 Josh Wolford http://www.webpronews.com/?p=177813 The Daily Show devoted a large majority of their show last night to the analysis of yesterday’s landmark Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare to some. But it’s Jon Stewart’s lashing of CNN and Fox News that really won the night.

In a 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts surprised a lot of people when he sided with the more-liberal arm of the Court and provided the crucial fifth vote to uphold the law – even the controversial “individual mandate” clause.

It needn’t be stressed that this SCOTUS vote was a pretty big deal, as it will undoubtedly shape the course of health care in America over the upcoming years. And because of the magnitude of the decision, cable news outlets were chomping at the bit to be the first to break the news when the decision was handed down.

But as you may already know, both CNN and Fox News had a bit of a “Dewey defeats Truman” moment at around 10:00 am yesterday. Both networks reported that the individual mandate had been deemed unconstitutional, a headline that was just flat out wrong.

Fox corrected their error in a about two minutes. But as Jon Stewart points out, it took CNN just a bit longer. Pobre CNN.

Sarcastically likening CNN’s reports of embarrassment for the Obama administration to the obvious embarrassment of the entire CNN staff, Stewart says,

“How will the administration recover after this incredibly public blow to their credibility? I mean, the administration staked their entire reputation on this important moment, and now the administration is out there, the face of this giant f*ck up. Sure wouldn’t want to be the administration right now.”

“Yes, widely different,” he continued. “There’s what you’ve been saying…and then there’s what happened.”

Check it out below:

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/cnn-shook-the-christmas-present-killed-the-parrot-on-health-care-coverage-says-jon-stewart-2012-06/feed 0 SCOTUS Was Probably Too Busy Today for Facebook, Zynga, LinkedIn, & Yahoo http://www.webpronews.com/supreme-court-was-probably-too-busy-today-for-facebook-zynga-linkedin-yahoo-2012-06 http://www.webpronews.com/supreme-court-was-probably-too-busy-today-for-facebook-zynga-linkedin-yahoo-2012-06#comments Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:39:21 +0000 Drew Bowling http://www.webpronews.com/?p=177284 It’s reasonable to believe that the U.S. Supreme Court only had one item to mark off on its to-do list for today, the last day of the term: make a decision on President Obama’s health care law. Given the gravity of the court’s ruling, the internet has been buzzing about little else since the decision was announced shortly after 10AM this morning. While proponents and opponents alike vociferously add their comments to the discussion currently being waged on the innernets, the monumental SCOTUS decision had some collateral side-effects to a few of the top tech companies who were left empty-handed as they awaited a decision on an unrelated case.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Zynga, and Yahoo, among companies from other industries, had filed a brief with the Supreme Court earlier this year related to a lawsuit filed by an Ohio woman against the title company, First American Financial Corp., that handled her house purchase due to allegations that it violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. She hadn’t actually incurred any direct harm from First Financial’s dealing with her bank but she staked her case on the premise that the company violated the federal law and, thus, she sued for monetary damages.

According to Kashmir Hill of Forbes, the appeal is what piqued the interest of the aforementioned tech companies because, given all of the legal matters involved with online privacy, the companies have a particular interest in what it calls “no-injury lawsuits,” which would include class action lawsuits.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Zynga, and Yahoo joined forces to file a brief [pdf] in the case urging the Supreme Court not to allow people to sue them for breaking federal laws when those people suffered no actual injury. Specific federal laws that folks tend to get these companies on are the Electronic Communications Act, the Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act — all laws designed to protect the privacy of your communications.

While the companies had a vested, albiet self-preserving, interest in this case, they were all left empty handed today as the Supreme Court changed course and decided to not make a ruling on the First Financial case.

Meanwhile, Facebook, LinkedIn, Zynga, and Yahoo will have to find another hardly related case to hitch themselves onto in order to try to preclude any possible lawsuits stemming from potential violations of privacy law. The collaboration of several big tech companies to try to attach themselves to this particular case about real estate dealings is somewhat puzzling because it really does require a detailed imagination to relate the two topics. At any rate, if these companies felt they could broadly interpet a SCOTUS decision that overturned the ruling against First Financial, there are likely many other lawsuits and appeals that the companies will likely try to poach for their own cause.

[Via Forbes.]

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/supreme-court-was-probably-too-busy-today-for-facebook-zynga-linkedin-yahoo-2012-06/feed 0 House Will Vote To Repeal Obamacare On July 11th http://www.webpronews.com/house-will-vote-to-repeal-obamacare-on-july-11th-2012-06 http://www.webpronews.com/house-will-vote-to-repeal-obamacare-on-july-11th-2012-06#comments Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:13:18 +0000 Richard Stalker http://www.webpronews.com/?p=177327 The Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, has announced that shortly after the Republican led house comes back from its Independence day recess, there will be another vote on the repeal of Obamacare. This comes after the Supreme Court voted to uphold the controversial bill 5-4.

When asked about the new vote, Canter said: “The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold ObamaCare is a crushing blow to patients throughout the country. ObamaCare has failed to keep the President’s basic promise of allowing those who like their health care to keep it, while increasing costs and reducing access to quality care for patients.”

The vote will take place on July 11th and, as Eric Cantor put it, “will clear the path for ‘patient-centered reforms that lower costs and increase choice.’” This vote will pass, but will more than likely not make it out of the Senate. If for some reason it does, then there is no way that Obama will sign the repeal to his signature piece of legislation. This vote is mostly seen as a political move in advance of the November elections which will now be all about Obamacare.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/house-will-vote-to-repeal-obamacare-on-july-11th-2012-06/feed 0 Supreme Court Upholds Obama’s Affordable Care Act http://www.webpronews.com/supreme-court-upholds-obamas-affordable-care-act-2012-06 http://www.webpronews.com/supreme-court-upholds-obamas-affordable-care-act-2012-06#comments Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:17:40 +0000 Shawn Hess http://www.webpronews.com/?p=177229 This morning the Supreme Court upheld a key component to Obama’s proposed health care law (the 2010 Affordable Care Act), stating that almost all Americans must maintain health coverage or face a penalty on their taxes.

In a 5-4 decision, the court made it possible for the overhaul on health care in the U.S. to move forward as it it attempts to secure coverage for over 30 million uninsured American.

Chief Justice John Roberts announced the judgment claiming, “Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness,”.

Despite the ruling, one aspect of the Affordable Care Act that was found unconstitutional is the sanction imposed on states which fail to expand Medicaid to the poor. The court found that the federal governments does have the authority to give states grants with strings attached, but in this instance, they were telling them they had to expand Medicaid or lose funding for the whole program.

The expansion of the law can proceed, but the sanction against states who decide not to take part is struck down. Meaning, the entire act is upheld with the one exception regarding the federal government’s power to terminate states’ Medicaid funds.

That’s the news on the Affordable Care Act for now. The Supreme Court mostly upholds the key aspects of the law and it can beginning moving forward. We’ll keep you updated as news rolls in and we get reactions from the Democratic and Republican parties.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/supreme-court-upholds-obamas-affordable-care-act-2012-06/feed 0 Health Care Decision: Sarah Palin One Of Many Politicians Tweeting http://www.webpronews.com/health-care-decision-sarah-palin-one-of-many-politicians-tweeting-2012-06 http://www.webpronews.com/health-care-decision-sarah-palin-one-of-many-politicians-tweeting-2012-06#comments Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:39:11 +0000 Amanda Crum http://www.webpronews.com/?p=177158 Sarah Palin has never been known to hold her tongue, particularly when it comes to President Obama and his initiatives, and she took to Twitter about a half hour ago to voice her opinion about the surprising and controversial vote made by the Supreme Court today to uphold Obama’s health care initiative.

Of course, she was not alone. Thousands of politicians and celebrities have taken to social media to start a conversation about the act, which would tax citizens in 2014 who don’t have health insurance/Medicaid. Under the mandate, everyone would be required to purchase health insurance, Medicaid would be made available to over 16,000 people, and no one could be denied by health care providers over a pre-existing condition.

Palin and several others tweeted about the news as soon as it broke.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/health-care-decision-sarah-palin-one-of-many-politicians-tweeting-2012-06/feed 0