Category: US Politics

New budget chief tackles Rubik’s cube of spending

The dyspeptic Henry Adams was not nice but not wrong when he described what now is named the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House, as an “architectural infant asylum.” The granite pile, which once housed the State, War and Navy departments, was, Harry Truman said, “the greatest monstrosity in America.”

Rand Paul calls GOP repeal plan ‘Obamacare Lite’

… mission of repealing Obamacare. That’s because many of the GOP replacement measures are too similar to the landmark health reform law. “What we think is being hidden from conservatives is there’s a lot of ‘Obamacare Lite’ in their bill,” Paul said …

With ‘Trumpcare’ On Horizon, Voters Go Wobbly On Repeal

As candidate Donald Trump hammered the Affordable Care Act last year as “a fraud,” “a total disaster” and “very bad health insurance,” more Americans than not seemed to agree with him. Now that President Trump and fellow Republicans show signs of keeping their promise to dump the law, many appear to be having second thoughts.

GOP Hopes to Enlist Trump in Entitlement Reforms

Republicans in Congress are hopeful that despite his campaign promises to the contrary, President Trump will at some point embrace reforms to major entitlement programs long sought by GOP lawmakers to rein in federal spending and debt. Trump campaigned on preserving Medicare and Social Security, putting him at odds with most of his GOP primary opponents and the majority of the party.

Entitlement Reform – Medicare

Medicare, like Medicaid, has long been a reform target of congressional Republicans who seek to bend the cost curve for the program that provides coverage for more than 50 million seniors at a cost of more than $500 billion per year. Last year, Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled his proposal to convert Medicare to what is known as a “premium support” program in which the federal government would provide a payment on behalf of each Medicare recipient toward the purchase of a health insurance plan either a private plan, a similar Medicare Advantage plan or traditional Medicare.

Trump talks big, but making it happen is another thing

Like most presidential presentations, Donald Trump’s initial venture into the soaring chamber of the House of Representatives looked and sounded good, producing some positive reactions that could expand the embattled president’s short-term support. Trump’s hour-long address made solving massive national problems sound possible, from creating a more vibrant economy to revamping and expanding health care, if only both parties follow his lead.

Trump’s nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid advances

President Donald Trump ‘s nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid won committee approval Thursday, clearing her for a final floor vote in the Senate. Verma would head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency that oversees health insurance programs covering more than 130 million Americans.

House GOP eyes three-week plan on Obamacare

House Republicans on Thursday said leaders want to smooth over party divisions and pass their Obamacare repeal plan within three weeks, as the GOP scrambles to keep its health care promises before the Easter break. GOP leaders are trying to repeal and replace as much of the Affordable Care Act as they can under a fast-track budget process that allows them to avoid a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

Next 25 Articles

In a speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, President Donald Trump outlined five principles to guide lawmakers when repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. “Tonight I am also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower cost, and at the same time provide better health care,” the president said.

Associated Press

Allowing insurers to market health care policies across state lines is one of President Donald Trump’s main ideas for bringing down costs. While supporters of the idea cast it as a way to make insurance policies more competitive, critics say it’s unlikely to result in more affordable plans and could undermine stronger consumer protections in states such as California and Hawaii.

Trump, GOP lawmakers talk replacing Obamacare

… president Wednesday to chart a path forward on the law, hoping to seize on the momentum of Trump’s big night This as Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price started meeting with wary house conservatives to assuage concerns. But many of those …

Learn about the Affordable Care Act

The two leading conservative groups in the House both announced their opposition to House leadership health care plans based on a leaked draft and reports that the bill would cost more than expected while covering fewer people than the Affordable Care Act . In other words, the real world.

Trump’s likely envoy to Canada: Political donor, philanthropist from coal family

A big-money political donor and philanthropist with personal ties to the coal industry and professional connections to the White House and the U.S. Senate is expected to be named Donald Trump’s ambassador to Canada. Expectations within government, as well as recent media speculation, point to the Trump administration submitting Kelly Knight Craft’s name for the approval of the Senate.

Nielsen: Nearly 48 million watch Trump’s address to nation

President Donald Trump’s first major address to the Congress and the nation was seen by an estimated 47.4 million people. The Nielsen company said Wednesday that Trump’s audience couldn’t quite match the first such speech by predecessor Barack Obama, who drew an audience of 52.4 million in 2009.

Sanders vows to ‘continue to fight’ after Trump’s Congress speech

Sen. Bernie Sanders ripped President Trump’s first speech before Congress in a point-by-point takedown that culminated in a call for continued resistance against the new administration. “Those of you who attended rallies or town hall meetings: Keep showing up, keep calling Congress, and continue to fight,” the Vermont senator said in a live stream uploaded to Facebook minutes after Trump concluded his Tuesday night speech.

Trump speech highlights divide on Obamacare replacement

President Trump highlighted a growing divide among congressional Republicans over how to repeal and replace Obamacare when he backed health insurance tax credits Tuesday night. Republican leaders said Trump’s call to replace the healthcare law partially with tax credits allowing people to buy a wider range of health plans proves that they’re making progress on repeal and replace, even though conservatives are starting to publicly oppose such credits since they would be a new federal entitlement.

Bernie Sanders rails against Trump after speech

… on working with Republicans in Congress who want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, throw 20 million Americans off of health insurance, privatize Medicare, make massive cuts in Medicaid, raise the cost of prescription drugs to seniors, eliminate …

Trumpa s budget plan sends a a very powerful messagea : budget director

President Trump’s budget plan sends a “very powerful message” that he wants to move spending “from overseas to back in this country,” Mick Mulvaney, the administration’s Office of Management and Budget Director, said on ABC’s Good Morning America Tuesday. “The president is doing what he’d say he’d do when he ran,” Mulvaney said to ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Free range egg labels explain ‘temporarily housed’ hens

Marks and Spencer has promised to continue paying the free range egg price to producers who are having to keep birds indoors after the end of February. In the United Kingdom, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued the housing order in anticipation, before cases were reported in Wales and Northern England.

Free range egg labels explain ‘temporarily housed’ hens

Marks and Spencer has promised to continue paying the free range egg price to producers who are having to keep birds indoors after the end of February. In the United Kingdom, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued the housing order in anticipation, before cases were reported in Wales and Northern England.

Top Conservatives Oppose GOP Health Care Plan, Muddying Path to 218

Meadows, center, and his conservative colleagues have expressed opposition to a House GOP plan to provide refundable tax credits to help individuals purchase insurance. The top two House conservatives on Monday said they cannot vote for their conference’s health care repeal and partial replacement plan in its current form, meaning House GOP leaders have some work to do before they can offer a bill that will get the 218 votes needed to pass the House.

Rep. Daniel Donovan will vote ‘no’ on Obamacare repeal without a replacement

Committees in the House of Representatives may begin considering legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in early March, and when they do, Rep. Daniel Donovan said he won’t vote for the first without the second. Republicans have long dismissed former President Barack Obama’s signature achievement — Obamacare — as unaffordable and unfair to patients, increasing premiums and deductibles while patients lose their doctors and their health insurance plans.

ObamaCare quietly leaves mark on Medicare despite repeal push

Republican efforts to repeal ObamaCare will likely leave Medicare untouched, meaning former President Obama will leave his mark on the popular health program for more than 58 million elderly and disabled “There are changes to Medicare that are in the ACA that have taken effect that people are benefiting from today,” Juliette Cubanski , Kaiser Family Foundation Medicare policy program associate director, told The Hill Extra. “Medicare, the way it is now, is really popular.