Trump administration eases penalties against negligent nursing homes

Reversing guidelines put in place under former President Barack Obama, the Trump administration is scaling back the use of fines against nursing homes that harm residents or place them in grave risk of injury. The shift in the Medicare program's penalty protocols was requested by the nursing home industry.

Donald Trump, Paul Ryan to push for major welfare system reforms in 2018

President Trump has sided with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan to push for sweeping welfare reforms this year but they will have to persuade a skeptical Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when the three huddle at Camp David over the weekend to set the GOP's legislative agenda for 2018. Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, is expressing grave reservations about tackling the hot-button issue without bipartisan support that the effort almost certainly will lack.

Trump administration relaxes financial penalties against nursing homes

The Trump administration - reversing guidelines put in place under President Barack Obama - is scaling back the use of fines against nursing homes that harm residents or place them in grave risk of injury. The shift in the Medicare program's penalty protocols was requested by the nursing home industry.

Republicans Only Care About Deficits As An Excuse To Hurt Working Americans

When Republicans in Congress passed a tax scheme to funnel huge amounts of money to America's most wealthy families and to powerful multinational corporations, they said that it was no big deal that this scheme would add $1.5 trillion to America's debt. Republicans said that the massive deficit spending they had created would be worthwhile, because financial elites would get a big payoff.

Unclear if Iowa lawmakers will touch privatized Medicaid

There appears to be consensus among Democrats and Republicans in the Iowa Legislature that there are problems with the state's privatized Medicaid program, but there is less agreement over what, if anything, legislators should do about it when they return to the Capitol in a few weeks. Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled statehouse are expected to address a range of topics when they gather in January, including taxes and water quality.

Maine residents receive extended ACA enrollment deadline

Federal officials are giving Maine residents affected by a massive power outage more time to enroll for health care under the Affordable Care Act. The Bangor Daily News reports Independent Sen. Angus King shared a letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Friday which says residents could qualify for an extension through a special enrollment period.

Sanders calls GOP tax bill a “massive attack” on middle class

"At the end of the day what you had is people like [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin, who himself is worth $300 or $400 million dollars, or the president of the United States who is worth several billion dollars, as you mentioned, some 4,000 to 5,000 lobbyists doing everything that they could to write a bill which significantly benefits the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations," Sanders said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. Sanders said that Republicans will turn to cutting "Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid" to offset upwards of $1 trillion in lost revenue, a scenario he said was "grossly unfair" to middle class families.

CBO Tries to Sink Tax Bill

CBO estimates played a significant role in the several failed attempts by Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare. Several Republican Senators appeared to be scared off by estimates of 20 million or more Americans who would lose coverage due to a particular variation of the repeal/replace effort.

Dems urge Baker to withdraw support for Fitchburg Senate candidate

Gov. Charlie Baker has tried, often against the odds, to grow the Republican Party since his 2014 election, but often times that means siding with candidates that don't perfectly align with his brand of moderate, socially liberal Republicanism. That conflict is rearing its head again two weeks before a special Senate election in north central Massachusetts as the Massachusetts Democratic Party is calling on the governor to withdraw his support for Fitchburg City Councilor Dean Tran over comments the candidate made during a debate this past weekend.

States Face Children’s Health Coverage Uncertainty

Oregon governor Kate Brown recently wrote to her state's two Democratic senators warning that federal funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program will run out in December. About two months after federal funding lapsed for the Children's Health Insurance Program, state officials still don't know exactly when they'll run out of money or when Congress will renew funding - leaving families that depend on the program increasingly anxious about their benefits.

Health | Weiss: Aging Groups – House GOP Tax Rewrite a Turkey

Thanksgiving approaches the GOP-Controlled House has passed H.R. 1, "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," its tax reform legislation, on November 16, by a partisan vote of 227 to 206, with 13 Republicans siding with the Democrats. The House tax bill would dramatically reduce corporate and individual income taxes and would increase the deficit by $ 1.7 trillion over 10 years - - possibly offset by $ $338 billion saved by repealing the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.

In election glow, Dems see health care as winning issue

Emboldened by election wins, Democrats are starting to see a political edge in health care, particularly widening Medicaid access for more low-income people. In Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam promised a vigorous push as governor to expand Medicaid.

Analysis: Louisiana’s Medicaid contracts get newa

Analysis: Louisiana's Medicaid contracts get new scrutiny A task force created by lawmakers is searching for signs of waste in Medicaid spending. Check out this story on dailyworld.com: No one seems to want to scrap the insurance-model system, but the Edwards administration can expect continued inspection of contracts that are among the largest in state government, amid concern that too few people are tracking the money.

Kansas proposes work requirement in new version of Medicaid

A proposed change to Kansas' privatized Medicaid program would compel about 12,000 adults to work to obtain benefits, making the state the first in the country to have such a requirement. Gov. Sam Brownback's administration said Friday requiring some Medicaid recipients to work would improve their lives and increase their self-esteem.