Harris breaks 50-50 deadlock to advance landmark climate, tax, health bill

The Senate voted along party lines Saturday afternoon to advance a sweeping bill to reform the tax code, tackle climate change and lower the cost of prescription drugs, taking a big step closer to giving President Biden a major victory before the November midterm elections.  

The Senate voted 51 to 50 to proceed to the 755-page bill, after Vice President Kamala Harris arrived at the Capitol to cast the tie-breaking vote. 

T...

Warnock pushes to close Medicaid coverage gap amid tough reelection battle

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) is making a last-ditch effort to add a provision providing health coverage in GOP-led states declining Medicaid expansion to Democrats’ sweeping package headed for a vote in the coming days.

Warnock is making the push as he faces a tough reelection race this November and seeks to highlight an issue that could give him a leg up in the race against Republican Herschel Walker, a former NFL player.

The Georgia senator says he plans to of...

Inflation Reduction Act will make aging with dignity possible for more Americans

Having to choose between paying for medicine, food, or rent each month is the new normal for millions of older adults. The pandemic, its economic fallout, and soaring inflation are pushing far too many middle-income older Americans into financial crisis — especially people of color who are already at an economic disadvantage as they age.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 offers a ray of hope. The legislation caps out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries at $2,000, which wi...

How the battle over the Democrats’ climate, tax and health bill will play out 

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Judge rules West Virginia Medicaid must cover gender-affirming medical care

Story at a glance
  • West Virginia’s Medicaid program will no longer exclude coverage for gender-affirming medical care, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
  • Lambda Legal, the law firm Nichols Kaster, PLLP, and the Employment Law Center, PLLC filed a class action lawsuit in 2020 challenging West Virginia’s exclusion of coverage for gender-affirming surgeries for transgender Medicaid recipients.
  • West Virginia had been o...

Inflation Reduction Act drops most of Biden’s proposals to tax the rich

The deal struck last week by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a slimmed-down version of the Build Back Better Act, leaves out most of President Biden's proposals to pull in greater government revenues from rich taxpayers.  

Increases in individual income tax rates for high earners, increases in the estate tax, increased taxes on capital gains like stock and property holdings, a tax on billionaires, a plan to build out the net investment incom...

‘Inflation Reduction Act’ — What’s in a name?

Last week, a few days before the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced a 1 percent monthly rise in the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index — higher than expected and the highest inflation in decades — Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that they had reached a deal on a climate, tax, and health care bill after long negotiations. The bill is called the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” Inflation reduction would certainly be nice rig...

Schumer ‘in touch’ with Sinema as Dems seek to move climate, taxes package

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US uninsured rate hits record low of 8 percent, Biden admin report says

The U.S. uninsured rate fell to a record low of 8 percent in the first quarter of 2022, according to a new report from the Biden administration.  

President Biden touted the number on Tuesday, saying it showed the success of his efforts to build on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  

“This progress did not happen by accident,” Biden said in a statement. “More than 35 million Americans are enrolled in Affordable Care Act related coverage – the highest total on record....