health care

Virginia Senate Republicans just torpedoed the state’s Medicaid expansion

health care, medicaid, News

Just four months ago, Virginia’s gubernatorial race saw historic voter turnout — as casting ballots at the time meant extending Medicaid coverage to 400,000 people. On Thursday, voting paid off.

Virginia is currently one of 18 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) despite a majority of residents’ support. But the state is inching closer to expanding Medicaid insurance: The Republican-controlled House on Thursday overwhelming vote...

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An Idaho insurance company is skirting Obamacare law. Will the Trump administration stop it?

health, health care, News, obamacare

Blue Cross of Idaho submitted five health plans to Idaho insurance regulators on Tuesday that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to local reports. The move has serious repercussions on people’s health care — and if the Trump administration allows the state to bypass the federal health law, other states could soon do the same.

If approved, Blue Cross of Idaho will begin selling plans in March that charge people with pre-existing conditions and old...

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Trump’s budget cuts Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, breaking core campaign promise

Donald Trump, health care, medicaid, Medicare, News

When he began his presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to “save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts.”

This is a promise, however, President Trump would like to break. Trump’s 2018 budget proposal that would cut all three programs, which help the most vulnerable in American society, by billions of dollars.

Fox News’s website tells readers that Medicare is spared “as he promised during the 2016 campaign,” but a cursory...

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Adding work rules to expand Medicaid is a false choice, activists say

health care, medicaid, News, politics

A lot has changed since Virginia’s gubernatorial race last November yielded the highest voter turnout in 20 years. Then, health care moved people to the polls, as casting ballots at the time meant extending health care to 400,000 people. Despite historic Democrat gains, Republicans maintained control of the state house. Now, Medicaid expansion is subject to unprecedented conditions.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to expand Medicaid eligibility to people making up to 133 ...

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The Trump administration wants to allow states to impose lifetime coverage limits on Medicaid

health care, medicaid, News, Trump administration

The Trump administration is taking aim at Medicaid yet again, specifically with lifetime coverage limits, according to a McClatchy report Monday evening.

Just weeks after unveiling guidance that will allow states to impose Medicaid work requirements, Trump’s Health and Human Services agency is reportedly attempting to limit the number of months adults have access to the safety net program. The cap, if approved, would be the first of its kind in Medicaid’s history.

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Republican who voted to repeal Obamacare draws challenge from cancer survivor

congress, health care, News, politics

An Arkansas state legislator who survived cancer announced Monday that he’s running for Congress, hoping to take down his district’s current Republican representative, who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Clarke Tucker, a Democrat, told ThinkProgress Monday that his own experience with bladder cancer last year helped him realize just how real the consequences of repealing the ACA would be.

“Thankfully, I had access to great health care, but it ...

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Trump couldn’t be more wrong in his tweet on Britain’s health care protests

Donald Trump, health care, News, politics

President Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday to criticize Britain’s health care system, and in the process, attacked a goal that many other industrialized democracies share: universal coverage.

The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working. Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!

— Donal...

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Work rules, drug tests, and time limits: When the GOP war on welfare comes for Medicaid

health, health care, Health Care Reform, medicaid, News

Thomas Penister was uninsured for years after serving time in prison. In 2015, he applied for Medicaid coverage to see a primary care doctor as his mental health problems became debilitating. He was relieved to finally discover what was wrong: his doctor diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit disorder, severe sleep apnea (a common nighttime breathing disorder), and anxiety.

Continued treatment of these illnesses allowed him to get his life back, he said...

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