Hundreds of nurses rallied in the Pittsburgh area Tuesday, calling on their employer, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) of McKeesport, to recognize their union rights and negotiate a contract that would include more staff and better quality jobs.
Nearly 170 nurses have been working at the hospital without a contract since April, local CBS affiliate KDKA reported.
“We want some reasonable raises, we want some of the things that the rest of the nurses in the s...
Affordable Care Act
New insurance rates prove Trump’s policies have increased Obamacare premiums
Early signs show health insurance companies are trying to exponentially raise prices for plans sold on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace — and for people who don’t qualify for federal assistance, there’s no relief in sight.
Insurers in Maryland and Virginia are asking for double-digit premium increases to 2019 monthly plans. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield CEO Chet Burrell said that Maryland’s exchange is in the “advanced stages of a death spiral.̶...
Two transgender residents sue Wisconsin over discriminatory Medicaid rule
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) refused to cover Cody Flack’s top surgery.
Top surgery, a common reference for chest reconstruction surgery for transgender patients, is a widely accepted and effective surgical procedure for treating gender dysphoria. But DHS told Flack, who was born female but identifies as male, last summer that the procedure isn’t covered by Wisconsin’s Medicaid program. The state contends the surgery is “medically unneces...
Trump’s big idea for health insurance excludes maternity care and barely covers addiction treatment
The Trump administration’s “affordable alternative” to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is short-term health plans, but a new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study published on Monday shows just how bare-bones this coverage actually is.
A KFF review of short-term health health plans offered on two large private insurance websites, eHealth and Agile Health Insurance, in 45 states and Washington, D.C. shows these plans rarely if at all pay for essential coverage: no plan...
Trump administration issues new rule chipping away at Obamacare
The Trump administration issued a ton of regulatory changes Monday that chip away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Moving forward, states will have more flexibility to set their own standards and people will be given new exemptions to avoid the health care law’s individual mandate penalty.
The 523-page regulation is one that comes out every year, and is intended to outline what ACA plans will look like for consumers next year.
Monday’s rule gives consumers two ne...
Health care is a top priority for the Pennsylvania voters who turned out for Conor Lamb
While many Republican strategists and conservative pundits struggled to make sense of how a Democrat could have been so successful in Pennsylvania’s 18th district on Tuesday, voters sent a clear message: Health care is a priority.
Election night exit polling by Public Policy Polling found that among PA-18 voters who said health care was the most important issue, Democrat Conor Lamb beat Republican Rick Saccone by a margin of 64 to 36. Saccone’s support of the Republican health care ...
Trump administration’s latest attack on Obamacare would cost taxpayers millions
The Trump administration announced a sizable change to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Monday — winding back Obama-era rules on skimpier health insurance. The administration is proposing to expand access to short-term health plans, which is intended to fill temporary gaps in coverage and provide some consumers with cheaper options because the plan’s coverage is limited. This is just the latest move to undermine the ACA, and it’ll cost the federal government anywhere between...
Trump predicts Republicans and Democrats will ‘come together’ on health care plan
Trump said on Twitter that "the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate has been terminated as part of our Tax Cut Bill, which essentially Repeals (over time) Obamacare."
