‘I vote with my pancreas’: How the skyrocketing price of insulin became an 2020 election issue

Once a month, Sarah Stark makes the trip to her local pharmacy to pick up the insulin she needs to keep her diabetes in check.

She has health insurance through her job and uses a $100 manufacturer’s coupon to help defray the cost. Even so, she ends up paying a whopping $728.40.

Stark, 28, is not the only one to experience sticker shock when making the purchase. Invariably, the pharmacist who rings her up is taken aback by the price of the medication, and asks if she’s certai...

Trump administration defended Medicaid work requirements in court and it didn’t go well

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration had a hard time defending one of its most consequential health policies in federal court on Thursday.

The administration faced a lot of difficult questions from District Judge Jeb Boasberg, an Obama appointee, about why the court shouldn’t strike down Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky, as it has in the past. Boasberg listened to two separate but related lawsuits, challenging the legality of the states’ w...

In an unprecedented Senate bill, Democrats try to get federal dollars to pay for abortion

For the first time ever, Senate Democrats will introduce a bill that guarantees every person has access to abortion coverage if they receive health care through the federal government.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) will introduce the EACH Woman Act on Tuesday with support from at least nine other Democrats, including 2020 presidential candidates Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

On the other side of the chamber, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) will re-introduce,...

What does Medicare for All look like for people with disabilities?

More and more, the progressive rallying cry, Medicare for All, is garnering support. It’s now a frontrunner topic for Democratic presidential candidates, and members of Congress are introducing legislation for how it could actually work.

But does Medicare for All really include everyone? Disability rights activists say not really, if you’re basing it on the way Medicare, the health program for seniors and certain people with disabilities, works today.

“I think if you ask most...

Here’s what the Democrats’ new Medicare for All bill would do

On Wednesday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) will introduce the Medicare for All Act of 2019, and already more than 100 House Democrats have said they support the bill.

ThinkProgress reviewed a section-by-section summary of the bill and participated in two press calls with the congresswoman and staff. Jayapal’s plan is likely the most ambitious yet among the crowded list of Democratic universal-coverage proposals.

The plan would fundamentally reshape the health care system...

Red states try everything but straightforward Medicaid expansion — and the latest is Oklahoma

Red states that opposed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) during Barack Obama’s presidency are more likely to implement the 2010 law now, under Donald Trump, albeit with limitations — and Oklahoma is a fine example of this phenomenon.

To the surprise of Obamacare wonks, Oklahoma lawmakers in a key committee passed a Medicaid expansion bill this week — sort of. The bill directs the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to create a “Oklahoma Plan” within the state&#...

What if public insurance covered abortion care?

What if public health insurance paid for abortion? More and more people are beginning to ask that question.

With support for Roe v. Wade stronger than ever before, reproductive rights advocates have moved the “Overton window” of what policy ideas are considered feasible. Now, instead of simply defending the right to abortion, they’re talking about securing access.

Advocates have been trying to get public insurance to cover abortion for some time now...

Major hospital lobbying group comes out against ‘Medicare at 50’ bill

On Wednesday, Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would allow people to buy into Medicare beginning at age 50 — and already major players in the health care industry are coming out against it.

Around noon, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced “Medicare at 50,” legislation to let people between 50 and 64 years old buy Medicare coverage when they are shopping on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. It took industry lobbying groups only an hour to come out agai...

Trump talks unity but offers no olive branch

President Donald Trump paid lip service to unity and bipartisanship during his second State of the Union address Tuesday night. But he put forth no solution to the divisive problem facing the country later this month: another potential government shutdown.

Trump used the bulk of his address to mislead the country about immigration and border security, economic development and criminal justice, abortion and foreign policy. He inexplicably claimed credit for preventing a war with Nort...