Surprise! Republicans Could Be on the Verge of Dismantling Medicare

House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders have big plans to save Medicare that would involve a major overhaul to the program, including privatization. Even though most Republicans are on board, Ryan and others in favor of his plans are likely to face significant opposition to such a sweeping overhaul.

Dems to use hearings on Trump picks to court working class

Determined to hold around two dozen Senate seats in 2018, Democrats will use the coming series of confirmation hearings to try to distinguish themselves from President-elect Donald Trump's billionaire nominees and convince working-class voters who elected him that he's not on their side. While Democrats have little leverage to stop the Republican's picks in the Senate, they still plan a fight.

Paul Ryan isn’t ruling out Medicare privatization, and it isn’t just Democrats who are wary

Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan speaks during a weekly news briefing December 1, 2016 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. During the briefing, Ryan repeated comments indicating that changes to Medicare would have to accompany any effort to repeal and replace President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan speaks during a weekly news briefing December 1, 2016 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. During the briefing, Ryan repeated comments indicating that changes to Medicare would have to accompany any effort to repeal and replace President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The New Obamacare Term You Need to Become Familiar With

The Affordable Care Act, which is better known by its shorthand Obamacare, has presented as a mixed bag since its passage. In one corner, it's reduced the uninsured rate in America to its lowest levels on record, and it's allowed consumers who were previously shut out of the healthcare system because of their low income or pre-existing medical conditions the chance to get health insurance.

Insure Oklahoma Funded For Another Year

The federal government will continue for another year to fund an Oklahoma program that uses a combination of state tobacco tax revenue and federal Medicaid money to help provide health insurance coverage for nearly 20,000 low-income Oklahoma workers. Governor Mary Fallin announced that a one-year extension has been approved by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the Insure Oklahoma program.

Paul Krugman: Seduced and betrayed

Donald Trump won the Electoral College on the strength of overwhelming support from working-class whites, who feel left behind by a changing economy and society. And they're about to get their reward - the same reward that, throughout Mr. Trump's career, has come to everyone who trusted his good intentions.

Key House chairman: GOP will change Medicare, to ‘save’ it

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas., speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas., speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.

Senate GOP shies from fight over Medicare

In this June 7, 2016, file photo, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressional Democrats are warning that Speaker Paul Ryan and President-elect Donald Trump are gunning for Medicare _ and they are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of an epic political battle over the government's flagship health program that covers 57 million Americans.

EDITORIAL: Is Trump’s vow to refrain from meddling with Medicare to be trusted?

One of the great challenges experienced by both the press and at least some of the public in understanding Donald Trump is caught up in what his defenders often cite: The press during the long campaign made the mistake of taking Trump literally but not seriously, while Trump's many followers took him seriously but not literally. So how does all that work out regarding the president-elect's stand on Medicare? During the campaign, Trump made a point of vowing that he would keep his hands off both Medicare and Social Security.

Time to call Congress

Okay, now that Tom Price will be Secretary of Health and Human Services, we know that the medical and social insurance system that we have had in place since 1964 and expanded dramatically in 1999 and 2010 is under severe threat. Elimination can be mostly done through reconciliation but modification needs to go through regular order.

Trump to pick Seema Verma for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – transition official

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to name Indiana health policy consultant Seema Verma as his pick for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a transition official told Reuters on Monday. Trump is expected to officially announce his selection of Verma and Republican U.S. Representative Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon who he will nominate to be secretary of health and human services, casting them as his "dream team" whose job will be to transform the U.S. healthcare system, the official said.

What Trump can learn from Obama’s rough ride on health care

In this Nov. 10, 2016 file photo, President Barack Obama meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama took on America's problems of a lack of access to health care and high cost, but he and the Democrats paid a political price.

Obamacare repeal reveals messy politics

Already there are tensions between Trump, who's been shaky on the specifics of the 2010 health care law and says he wants to keep the popular parts, and congressional leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan and conservative think tanks who ideologically, almost theologically, oppose anything associated with the Affordable Care Act. They're going to get squeezed in a political vise.

The messy politics of repealing Obamacare

Already there are tensions between Trump, who's been shaky on the specifics of the 2010 health-care law and says he wants to keep the popular parts, and congressional leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan and conservative think tanks who ideologically, almost theologically, oppose anything associated with the Affordable Care Act. They're going to get squeezed in a political vise.