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.

[Other view] How Trump can help Medicaid

President-elect Donald Trump has already stepped back from his campaign pledge to entirely repeal Obamacare, saying he'll keep a couple of the law's popular insurance protections. Soon enough, certain governors in his own party can be expected to argue that it would also be smart to retain the law's most successful component: the expansion of Medicaid.

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.

Donald Trump’s 7-point healthcare plan

As President Obama prepares to step down in January, he will leave behind one of the most harmful legacies imaginable: Unaffordable healthcare for much of the nation, which is bitterly ironic, given that the "Affordable" Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare , was supposed to lower premiums and other out-of-pocket expenses. In fact, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon , a new study has found that average premiums will increase by 27 percent next year, even higher than what the Department of Health and Human Services predicted just weeks ago.

New Mexico governor offers assurances on health coverage

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has offered assurances that people won't be left without health insurance as President-elect Donald Trump and fellow Republicans seek to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. Martinez was attending a meeting Wednesday of the Republican Governors Association in Florida.

What might TrumpCare look like?

Oregon has plenty to lose when it comes to President-elect Donald Trump's vow to change the nation's health care system. His surprise victory threatens state officials' hope of plugging a looming budget hole with $1.25 billion in federal health care reform payments, and his vow to immediately repeal Obamacare creates uncertainty for more than 470,000 Oregonians who received coverage or subsidies under the law.

Trump promised to repeal Obamacare. Now what?

Republican President-elect Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to repeal Obamacare, but making good on that promise may be easier said than done. President Barack Obama's 2010 national healthcare reform law extended medical insurance to 25 million more people by expanding the Medicaid plan for the poor and creating subsidized coverage for individuals.

Loebsack opponent Chris Peters vows to put ‘people over party’

Congressional candidate Chris Peters answers questions from the members of the Burlington Hawk Eye newspaper, Thursday Oct. 27, 2016 in Burlington. Congressional candidate Chris Peters answers questions from the members of the Burlington Hawk Eye newspaper, Thursday Oct. 27, 2016 in Burlington.

GOP: Feds risking taxpayer dollars on Obamacare

The Obama administration hasn't done enough to ensure that the right people get Obamacare subsidies, according to a new report from congressional Republicans. The report details earlier investigations into Obamacare's verification process for income eligibility, which screens whether a person is eligible for tax credits.

As Medicaid loses stigma, its fate rides on stormy election

The federal-state program for low-income people has been scarcely debated in the turbulent presidential election, but it faces real consequences depending on who wins the White House in the Nov. 8 vote. Under President Barack Obama, Medicaid has expanded to cover more than 70 million people and shed much of the social stigma from its earlier years as a welfare program.

Heed voters on Medicaid expansion

The August primary already is having a positive impact: The Legislature is expected to hold hearings and vote next session on Medicaid expansion - and it could pass. It remains to be seen whether Gov. Sam Brownback will loosen his opposition to expansion - or whether the loss of more of his allies in the Nov. 8 general election is needed to help change his priorities.

Reality Check: Trump on Clinton, Social Security

At a rally this week in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump pulled what he said was this nugget from hacked excerpts of a speech that Hillary Clinton had given to Wall Street bankers. "The speeches also show that Crooked Hillary supports cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits, one more example of how Hillary Clinton's public position is a lie," Trump said of the remarks that were revealed in hacked emails of Clinton campaign officials that were published by WikiLeaks.

Obama Says Obamacare Has – Real Problems’ Congress Refuses to Fix

President Barack Obama said his signature health-care law has "real problems" that have been exacerbated by congressional gridlock and political polarization. "They're eminently fixable problems in terms of strengthening the marketplace, improving the subsidies so more folks can get it, making sure everybody has Medicaid who was qualified under the original legislation, doing more on the cost containment," Obama said in an interview published Sunday in New York Magazine.

How Obama could try to bail out Obamacare insurers

In a little noticed memo released last Friday afternoon , the Obama administration signaled to insurers that it is eyeing another way to funnel bailout money to the industry that has been racking up billions of losses through Obamacare. Three years into its implantation, Obamacare still hasn't attracted enough young and healthy individuals to offset the cost of covering older and sicker enrollees who are now guaranteed an offer of coverage through the law.

Mark Murphy: The Affordable Care Act: A report card for 2016

The Patient Care and Affordable Care Act, a legislative mandate commonly known as "Obamacare," was signed into law on March 23, 2010. Its stated goals were to increase health insurance quality and affordability, lower the uninsured rate by expanding insurance coverage and reduce the overall costs of health care.

Gov’t survey confirms slowdown in US health insurance gains

In this March 23, 2010, file photo, President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. With the nation still divided over "Obamacare," President Barack Obama is laying out a blueprint for addressing unsolved problems with his signature health law, including a renewed call for a "public option" to let Americans buy insurance from the government.

Senator to return campaign gift from EpiPen maker after hike

A U.S. senator from New Hampshire says she's returning a campaign donation from the company that increased the price of an emergency allergy treatment drug from $50 to more than $600 for a two-pack. The Telegraph in Nashua reports Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services saying Mylan, the company that makes the EpiPen, isn't doing enough to "solve the problem" and hasn't said why it hiked the price.