Virginia Democrat: Trump bill will be ‘political albatross’ for Republicans

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Sunday that President Trump’s megabill will be a “political albatross” for Republicans back at home.

In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” moderator Margaret Brennan noted that the GOP tax and spending bill, which just cleared a key hurdle in the Senate on Saturday night, includes some policies that Democrats have championed.  

“You can put as much lipstick on this pig as you want. This will be a political albatross for the...

HHS promotes insurer pledge to scale back prior authorization

Federal health officials on Monday touted pledges they have received from the health insurance industry to streamline and reform the prior authorization process for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid Managed Care and Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Marketplace plans which account for most insured Americans.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz took part in a roundtable discuss...

CBO: Nearly 11 million people will be uninsured if GOP megabill becomes law

Nearly 11 million people would lose health insurance under the House Republican tax bill, mostly due to cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). 

The CBO's latest report estimates that 10.9 million people would be uninsured over the next decade if the spending package, which includes much of President Trump's legislative agenda, were enacted.   

That total includes an estimated 1.4 million ...

Trump administration slashes funding for ObamaCare outreach program

The Trump administration slashed funding for Affordable Care Act navigators, which help people sign up for ObamaCare coverage on the law’s exchanges, by 90 percent. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday announced health insurance navigators will receive just $10 million per year over the next four years. Navigators received $98 million in 2024. 

CMS said the cut will allow the exchanges to focus on more effective strategie...

Murkowski says she supports extending ObamaCare premium subsidies

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she supports extending enhanced subsidies to help people afford premiums on ObamaCare plans ahead of what’s expected to be an intense debate among congressional Republicans this year. 

The enhanced subsidies were first put into effect during the height of the coronavirus pandemic as part of President Biden’s 2021 economic recovery law and then extended as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The subsidies increase financial help to low-...

ACA enrollment marks another record year

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Will anger at health insurers spur action? Democrats pessimistic

Democrats are pessimistic that Congress will enact new rules around the health insurance industry, even as they try to appear responsive to growing calls for reform following the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.  

Luigi Mangione faces murder charges for the killing of Thompson on December 4. His death unleashed a torrent of anger on social media against the U.S. health system, and insurance companies specifically.  

It also opened an ...

Will anger at health insurers spur action? Democrats pessimistic

Democrats are pessimistic that Congress will enact new rules around the health insurance industry, even as they try to appear responsive to growing calls for reform following the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.  

Luigi Mangione faces murder charges for the killing of Thompson on December 4. His death unleashed a torrent of anger on social media against the U.S. health system, and insurance companies specifically.  

It also opened an ...

Election night: The future of health care

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Raskin presses insurers, PBMs on free contraception coverage

The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee wants to know how the country’s top health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers plan to make it easier for people to access contraception for free.  

In letters sent Thursday to the five largest health insurers and four largest pharmacy benefit managers first shared with The Hill, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked for information on how the companies plan to respond to federal guidance designed to improve no-...