The thinking behind President Donald Trump’s executive order on Monday is that more transparency around health care costs will benefit patients. That sounds sensible but, as various experts cautioned, the details matter.
The White House is tasking federal agencies with writing regulations that try to reveal a lot of information that isn’t readily available, like how much insurers pay hospitals for services and how much patients will pay out of pocket before being treated...
health care
The 2020 candidates finally had to answer activists’ questions about abortion. Here’s what they said
Reproductive freedom activists have long wanted a forum dedicated to abortion. On Saturday, they got one.
Planned Parenthood hosted 20 Democrats running for president at the University of South Carolina, where activists questioned candidates about their record and vision on the issue. During the day-long event, candidates demonstrated their understanding of abortion — whether they view it as health care and understand that it intersects with identities like gender and class.
30,000 poor elderly, people with disabilities to lose Medicaid coverage in Georgia
Georgia state officials said Tuesday that 30,000 residents will lose their Medicaid coverage for failing to respond to renewal notices. But lawyers of many of the recipients affected say their clients were dropped from coverage without ever having received those notices.
The state Department of Community Health (DCH) had initially reported in early June that 17,000 poor elderly or people with disabilities, who are “dual eligibles” also receiving Medicare benefits, would lose their M...
Trump’s 2020 campaign kick-off was a parade of his favorite lies and dog whistles
President Donald Trump filed for reelection the day he was inaugurated and has held countless campaign rallies in the two and a half year since. On Tuesday night, he “officially” kicked off his 2020 campaign.
In a rambling speech in Orlando, Trump confirmed that this campaign will look quite similar to the last — in no small part because he spoke as if he was still campaigning against his former rival, Hillary Clinton.
“The only collusion was committed by th...
What single-payer activists make of polls showing voters don’t understand Medicare for All
Recent polls showing voters do not understand Medicare for All have received a lot of attention. But activists who’ve been working to educate the public on this issue for years aren’t surprised by the findings — and a closer look makes it clear people shouldn’t write off Medicare for All just yet.
The Kaiser Family Foundation released a poll on Tuesday showing voters don’t know defining features of Medicare for All — including some of the planR...
Millions to lose benefits under Trump’s proposal to change how poverty is defined, new study shows
A new study released Tuesday shows just how insidious the Trump administration’s proposal to change the way the federal government measures poverty actually is. In short: millions could lose health and food benefits.
By way of background, in May, Trump’s budget agency sought public comment on updating the inflation rate used by the Census Bureau to determine the poverty line and estimate who’s poor. This technical change matters a lot because the federal poverty li...
Trump says he’ll announce a ‘phenomenal’ new health care plan soon. Where was it the last 2 years?
President Donald Trump says he’ll unveil a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in two months time. But he’s failed to produce a viable plan for the last two years, and it’s unlikely a few more weeks will change anything.
“If we win back the House, we’re going to produce phenomenal health care,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday night. “And we already have the concept of the plan, but it’ll ...
Ted Cruz says he wants to expand access to birth control. Here’s his chance.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says he wants to make birth control accessible over the counter, but has yet to support a bill to do just that.
On Wednesday, Cruz tweeted to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), asking her to team up on “a simple, clean bill making birth control available over the counter.” Last week, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that birth control should be over the counter to her millions of followers. Twenty minutes later, she tweeted it should also be free.
The...
The nation’s largest physician group is warming up to universal health care
The American Medical Association (AMA) — one of the nation’s most powerful health groups — is warming up to policy ideas that expand the role of government-run health care, thanks to activists trying to change minds from the inside.
Every year, the country’s largest physician group hosts a meeting to discuss its priorities. The top-line from this year’s annual conference is that the organization will continue its support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) while still op...
California poised to become first-ever state to offer health insurance to some undocumented adults
In a sharp rebuke to the Trump administration, California is expanding access to health care for its largest uninsured group: the undocumented.
Activists have been trying to get the state to cover undocumented residents for some time, as about 1.4 million lack insurance. On Sunday, they made progress when state lawmakers reached a budget agreement that would make California the first-ever state to offer health coverage to certain undocumented residents.
Specifically, undocume...