Congress won’t be able to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) after the midterm elections handed Democrats control of the House of Representatives — but that doesn’t mean lawmakers are done tinkering with the 2010 health care overhaul law.
Democrats ran and won on health care and the new House majority is expected to make strengthening the ACA a top priority next year. For some lawmakers, this means passing measures to further stabilize the marketplace...
health care
Wisconsin Republicans pass bill that undermines new Democratic governor
Lawmakers in Wisconsin approved legislation early Wednesday morning that will undermine the authority of Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D) and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul (D), moves that have sparked uproar among many liberal activists.
Outgoing Gov. Scott Walker (R) has signaled that he expects to sign the bill into law, which would give the Legislature control of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board, make it easier for legislators to hire private attorneys, limit early voti...
Wisconsin’s GOP power grab will have devastating consequences for health care
Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled, lame-duck legislature is trying to disparage the powers of incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, preventing the elected officials from keeping key campaign promises on health care.
The blue wave came to Wisconsin after residents rejected union-busting, anti-Obamacare Gov. Scott Walker (R) in November. But now, GOP state lawmakers are trying to secure their conservative agenda. On Tuesday, the legislature is scheduled to...
The case for abolishing the lame duck session
Democrats romped through Michigan and Wisconsin last month, winning races for governor, attorney general, and secretary of state in both states. In response to these flagrant acts of democracy, the lame duck Republican governments now plan to pass a rush of new laws stripping these offices of power.
In Wisconsin, one proposal would prevent the incoming Democratic officials from withdrawing from a partisan lawsuit attacking the Affordable Care Act — or potentially from other la...
Coalition releases plan to end U.S. HIV epidemic by 2025
In advance of World AIDS Day Saturday, a coalition of HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations have laid out a detailed plan to end the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2025.
The new roadmap sets ambitious goals for treatment and prevention and calls upon lawmakers to enact the kinds of changes that will help achieve them.
What that looks like is meeting what is called the “95/95/95” framework:
- 95 percent of people who have HIV are aware of their status.
- 95 perce...
Trump admin can’t use Congress to repeal Obamacare, so it’s asking states to rewrite the health law
Less than a month after the midterm elections ended the possibility of Obamacare repeal in Congress, the Trump administration has called on states to rewrite the health law in the image of failed GOP health bills.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new guidance on Thursday encouraging states to implement changes to the marketplace that fundamentally undermine the goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
States have always had the ability to modify the ACA...
US rate of uninsured children increases for the first time in nearly a decade
Nearly four million children in the United States are uninsured, the highest rate in nearly a decade.
The latest data, released by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families on Thursday, reflects an unprecedented increase in the number of children without health insurance, at a time when the Trump administration continues its assault on health care by chipping away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Georgetown report found that approximately 276,000 more chi...
‘How can we expand our impact to achieve health equity?’ Planned Parenthood’s new way forward
Dr. Leana Wen’s vision for Planned Parenthood is deceptively simple: “This is Health Care.”
On Thursday, Wen, Planned Parenthood’s new president, announced the organization’s new way forward, affirming an obvious truth that bears repeating: reproductive health care — like contraception, abortion, or comprehensive sex education — is health care, period.
“I’m deeply troubled by how health care — specifically reproducti...
Maine’s Gov. LePage uses final days in office to resist expanding Medicaid
Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME) will leave office in January — but not before using his final few months in the governor’s mansion to resisting providing health care to an additional 70,000 low-income Mainers.
A Maine judge ordered LePage this week to follow through on expanding the Medicaid program in the state, setting a December 5 deadline for the state to make meaningful progress on setting up the health care expansion.
It’s the latest development in a protracte...
Pfizer ends deal to placate Trump, announces plan to raise prices on 41 prescription drugs
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer will raise prices on 10 percent of its prescription drugs in January, ending a brief period in which the company halted price increases in an effort to appease President Donald Trump.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the Pfizer news Friday. The paper reported that Pfizer would raise prices on 41 drugs by an average of about 5 percent, though three drug prices will be raised by 3 percent and one will be raised by 9 percent.
Trump negotiated ...