Something quite disturbing is happening in the nation’s capital. Bureaucrats in one of the federal government’s biggest departments have issued a gag order against what they deem to be unfair criticism of President Obama’s health care reform proposals. Not only are these bureaucrats making a mockery of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech, they are also denying information that millions of elderly Americans have a right to receive.

Here’s the situation: Earlier this month, officials with the Louisville, Ky.-based Humana Corp. sent a one-page letter to all of its policyholders who participate in the Medicare Advantage program. The letter was entirely factual and pointed out, among other things, that because of cuts proposed under Obamacare, “millions of seniors and disabled individuals could lose many of the important benefits and services that make Medicare Advantage health plans so valuable.”