Sen. Angus King again credits insurance with saving his life

Without health insurance as a young man, U.S. Sen. Angus King might never have had the chance to serve the state of Maine as its governor and senator. As a 29-year-old Senate aide, King beat a dangerous form of skin cancer – malignant melanoma – that was discovered during a routine checkup he may never had found had he lacked insurance.

Senate splits 49-49 on amendment based on Trump’s entitlements campaign promise

An amendment drafted by Sen. Bernie Sanders , using language that Donald Trump used to assure voters he would not cut Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security, won 49 votes Tuesday , with Sen. Susan Collins joining every Democrat and independent to vote yes. Sanders was clear on the purpose of the amendment, one of several messaging efforts that have become part of the 115th Congress’s slow-motion debate over repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Act quickly on Obamacare: Trump

… rid of it. The law, popularly known as Obamacare, has enabled millions of previously uninsured Americans to obtain health insurance, but Republicans condemn it as a government overreach. With Trump set to succeed Obama on January 20, Republicans, …

Obamacare enrollment climbs in New Jersey

Obamacare enrollment climbs in New Jersey NJ enrollment grows, despite Congressional plans to repeal the law. Check out this story on mycentraljersey.com: http://northjersy.news/2jsxqFD Across the nation and in New Jersey, health coverage enrollment through the Affordable Care Act is growing, despite talk of repeal in Washington.

Ap Fact Check: Despite woes Obamacare not in ‘death spiral’

As congressional Republicans prepare to repeal the health law, they are working to portray it as a mess of Democrats’ making, and themselves as the ones who will clean up that mess. In the process they are exaggerating the law’s very real problems, according to health care experts, who largely believe that the Affordable Care Act’s troubles with high prices and lack of competition could be addressed with bipartisan solutions.

Wheels Coming Off the Obamacare Repeal Train

… today Lamar Alexander again expressed his opposition (he did so in November too). Alexander is the Chair of the key health care committee in the Senate. Then came Bob Corker saying not to repeal the Obamacare taxes before there was a replacement (a …

The battles over Obama’s legacy begin

… has the power to repeal ACA, but political realities dictate that they can’t cut off millions from access to health insurance without replacing it with something comparable – or, as Trump vaguely has promised, “something terrific.” A lot of people …

Planned Parenthood Doesn’t Need Our Taxesby Ian TuttleWhat the…

The baby abattoir gets plenty of money from private sources, and Congress can redirect the public funds to other health-care centers. Planned Parenthood is an industrial-scale baby abattoir responsible for more than 300,000 American deaths annually and a degradation of human dignity on the order of Josef Mengele, and the urgent issue of the day is whether it should be privately or publicly funded.

How Democrats Can Defeat the Repeal of Obamacare

… can win, if they’re smart about it. As Republicans themselves are now realizing, it’s easy to criticize a complex health-care law when the other party is getting blamed for everything anyone doesn’t like about the system, but it’s a lot harder to …

More

… WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress is poised to complete its initial step toward dismantling President Barack Obama’s health care law, as Republicans divided over how to replace it face pressure from Donald Trump for quick action. “We have a responsibility …

Sanders’ weapon against GOP entitlement reform: Trump

Bernie Sanders Sunday called on President-elect Trump to promise to veto any GOP legislation to cut Medicare, Social Security, or Medicaid, using Trump’s position on retirement programs to try to blunt GOP entitlement reform. In a statement, the Vermont senator and former Democratic presidential candidate seized on the assertion that Trump doesn’t want to “meddle” with Medicare or Social Security, made earlier in the day by incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.

Reckless? Shaheen created this mess

… as she does. Shaheen had no such reservations on Christmas Eve 2009, when Senate Democrats rushed through a sloppy health care law without a single Republican vote. The death of Ted Kennedy, replaced by Republican Scott Brown, meant that Democrats …

Cut Dependence On Government

West Virginia’s U.S. senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, share one concern about proposals to repeal and replace the Obamacare program. It is that those who have become dependent on it not be cut off from health insurance.

The Boobytrapped Presidency

… happen. Obamacare is an unpopular program that has become progressively more unpopular as its effects-more expensive health insurance and fewer choices-have become apparent. Yet the GOP, many of whose Representatives and Senators were elected …

Republicans Take Upper Hand in Fight to Defund Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, joined by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., left, and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., right, and others, speaks during a news conference discussing women’s health care, Jan. 5, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The day after Thanksgiving, president-elect Donald Trump left Marjorie Dannenfelser a voicemail thanking her for the efforts of her volunteers, who knocked on more than one million doors on his behalf this election.

How will Congress act?

Well, folks, in the last day or two we got a glimpse of what we can look forward to with a Republican-controlled Congress emboldened by Donald Trump’s election: overreach and arrogance. The first thing they try to do is weaken oversight of ethics violations in the House.

Governor, legislators ready for the 2017 session

They face uncertainty as it’s unknown how big changes at the federal level could affect the state policy, particularly in the area of health care. “You tell me what the changes are, and I’ll tell you how we react,” said House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley.

Black Forest News

… small-town atmosphere. I like it when I know all my neighbors and they all know me. NFH: Since this is the NFH annual health care issue, what do you think is the most pressing health care issue facing our country today? Descar: Being able to afford …

Is there a doctor in the House? There are two in the Senate

This week, two came aboard – one Democrat and one Republican – and their real-world experience could come in handy with health care shaping up as a dominant issue before the Legislature. Republican Scott Jensen, 62, comes from a conservative district in Chaska and is a family practice doctor with his own clinic.