Category: US Senate

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan rejects calls to repair Obamacare

WASHINGTON In a growing rift among Republicans, Rep. Jim Jordan rejected calls by some GOP lawmakers to “repair” the 2010 health law, saying the law known as Obamacare was a “complete disaster” and needs to be swiftly and completely scrapped. During an interview Friday on Fox News, Jordan, R-Urbana said for Republicans “to say we’re going to repair something implies you can actually fix something.

Obamacare sign-ups decline in face of Trump repeal threat

Facing higher premiums, less choice and a last-minute advertising pullback, fewer people signed up for coverage this year through HealthCare.gov, according to data from a preliminary government report Friday. About 9.2 million people signed up through HealthCare.gov, the insurance marketplace serving most states, said the Health and Human Services department.

Women could take big hit if ACA is tossed

From a return to higher premiums based on gender, to gaps in coverage for birth control and breast pumps, experts say women could end up paying more for less if the Obama-era health care law is repealed. The 2010 law ended a common industry practice of charging women more than men for policies purchased directly from an insurer.

With no allies, Republicans step away from precipice of repeal

As they struggle to figure out how to deliver on the most important promise they made to their constituents over the last eight years – repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act – Republicans face two sets of problems, both of which are far thornier than they imagined. The first are the policy problems, which arise from the fact that health care reform is incredibly complex .

Sen. Donnelly, vote for Dr. Price for HHS secretary

When President Trump nominated my friend and my former Budget Chairman Dr. Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services , I knew that he had made the right choice. With ObamaCare continuing to hurt more and more Americans every day, bold leadership is needed to quickly reverse course and provide commonsense healthcare reforms.

Pro-Life Groups Raise Concerns About Obamacare Replacement Plans

Dozens of pro-life leaders sent a letter to Congress Thursday afternoon urging Republican senators and representatives to honor their commitment to prohibit taxpayer-funding of elective abortion coverage under any health-care bill to replace Obamacare. “Currently, any bill funding healthcare must carry restrictions on abortion funding or it will end up funding the brutal practice of abortion,” the letter states.

Risk to women’s health benefits seen in health law repeal

From a return to higher premiums for women to gaps in coverage for birth control and breast pumps, the Republican push to repeal the Obama-era health care law already is raising concerns that women could be hit hard. The 2010 law ended a common industry practice of charging women more than men for policies purchased directly from an insurer.

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… for women to gaps in coverage for birth control and breast pumps, the Republican push to repeal the Obama-era health care law already is raising concerns that women could be hit hard. The 2010 law ended a common industry practice of charging women …

Obamacare enrollment deadline Tuesday

… boost in enrollment this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports. In mid-December, enrollment in health exchange plans was up 3 percent from the same time period the previous year. U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, proposed a …

Medicaid takes center stage as Democrats grill Tom Price

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump was emphatic that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that poor Americans can get the health care they need. But in Trump’s first days as president, it is becoming increasingly clear that he and his administration are open to making drastic changes to Medicaid – a move that could make it difficult for Trump to fulfill his impassioned campaign promise to take care of the poor.

Trump budget pick: Cut benefit programs; tax hikes on table

Budget Director-designate Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C. testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Budget Committee. Budget Director-designate Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C. testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Budget Committee.

“Dancing with the Stars” Co-Host Erin Andrews Reveals Battle with Cervical Cancer

Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office… — The governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, has prostate cancer, he said Tuesday.Dayton said that he learned of the diagnosis last week and that he might have… – Iran, Russia and Turkey agreed to launch a three-way mechanism to ensure compliance with the Syrian ceasefire as talks on the conflict concluded T… The American Soybean Association has communicated to the White House that the significant trade benefits U.S. farmers have achieved under the North American Free Trade A… A winter storm has blanketed parts of Western Nebraska and that means we’ve got postponements and/or cancellations for events today.

GOP senators present Obamacare alternative

… as an “Obamacare replacement plan.” The duo is promising that the proposal would give more power to the states on health care policy, increase access to affordable insurance and help cover millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. …

Facing skeptical lawmakers, state officials strike at critical KanCare report

The agency that oversees KanCare on Monday called a scathing federal report against the Medicaid program incomplete and criticized the quality of its analysis under intense questioning by lawmakers. Susan Mosier, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, defended the program and its employees in a tense appearance before the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.

What if Trump-care works in California? What if it doesna t? Thomas Elias

One problem in having a president who operates without much regard for facts, truth or consistency – one whose staff has devised the concept of “alternative facts” – is that when he says or promises something, no one can know whether he means it. So it was with President Trump’s mid-January promise of “health insurance for everybody,” including better coverage, more choice among policies, lower deductibles and no one left behind – far different from anything his Republican allies in Congress ever promised in their many efforts to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act .

Repealing the Affordable Care Act will kill more than 43,000 people annually

David Himmelstein is a professor of public health at the City University of New York at Hunter College, a Lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. Steffie Woolhandler is a professor of public health at the City University of New York at Hunter College, a Lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Ambition isn’t always blind

On a fairly regular basis back in the day, state Sen. Barack Obama would walk up to the Senate press box and bum cigarettes off me. That was when people could smoke in the Senate chambers and back when both of us smoked.

Trump Set to Battle With GOP Over Budget Cuts

… is the entitlement part of the budget,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chairman, told The Hill. But that line of thinking runs counter to Trump’s campaign …

What if Trump-care works?

One problem in having a President who operates without much regard for facts, truth or consistency – one whose staff has devised the concept of “alternative facts” – is that when he says or promises something, no one can know whether he means it. So it was with President Trump’s mid-January promise of “health insurance for everybody,” including better coverage, more choice among policies, lower deductibles and no one left behind – far different from anything his Republican allies in Congress ever promised in their many efforts to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act .

Louisiana senator to unveil Obamacare replacement

Within hours of becoming the leader of the free world, President Trump’s first action took a swipe at President Obama’s landmark health care reform, signing an executive order that asks federal agencies to ease the burden of Obamacare. FOX 8 Political Analyst Mike Sherman says that pen stroke may simply be a nod to supporters that Trump’s promise to repeal Obamacare won’t be forgotten.

With executive order, Trump tosses a “bomb” into fragile health insurance markets

President Donald Trump’s new executive order instructing federal agencies to grant relief to constituencies affected by the Affordable Care Act has begun to reverberate throughout the nation’s health-care system, injecting further uncertainty into an already unsettled insurance landscape. The political signal of the order, which Trump signed Friday just hours after being sworn into office, was clear: Even before the Republican-led Congress acts to repeal the 2010 law, the new administration will move swiftly to unwind as many elements as it can on its own – elements that have changed how 20 million Americans get health coverage and what benefits insurers must offer some of their customers.

With executive order, Trump tosses a ‘bomb’ into fragile health insurance markets

The federal government forms for applying for health coverage are seen at a rally held by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, widely referred to as “Obamacare”, outside the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson, Mississippi, on Oct. 4, 2013. President Donald Trump’s new executive order instructing federal agencies to grant relief to constituencies affected by the Affordable Care Act has begun to reverberate throughout the nation’s health care system, injecting further uncertainty into an already unsettled insurance landscape.

Editorial: KanCare problems never seem to end

… . The Jan. 13 letter was written by James Scott, CMS associate regional administrator for Medicaid and Children’s Health Operation, and he summarized the agency’s concerns: “The results of our on-site review confirm that Kansas is substantively out …

a Gop Senator Told a Democrat To Lighten Up During a Confirmation Hearing. It Didn’t Go Well.

Sen. Pat Roberts’ attempt to break the ice at a hearing for President-elect Donald Trump ‘s pick to lead the Treasury backfired on Thursday. The Kansas senator opened the hearing by offering anti-anxiety drug valium to Sen. Ron Wyden , after he delivered a lengthy opening statement detailing the shady business history of Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury.

a Gop Senator Told a Democrat To Lighten Up During a Confirmation Hearing. It Didn’t Go Well.

Sen. Pat Roberts’ attempt to break the ice at a hearing for President-elect Donald Trump ‘s pick to lead the Treasury backfired on Thursday. The Kansas senator opened the hearing by offering anti-anxiety drug valium to Sen. Ron Wyden , after he delivered a lengthy opening statement detailing the shady business history of Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury.