Last Friday, one day after the Justice Department filed a brief refusing to defend the Affordable Care Act, a senior DOJ attorney with over 20 years of experience at the department resigned in an apparent act of protest. The lawyer, Joel McElvain, was one of three career lawyers who withdrew from the case rather than signing their name to the Trump administration’s arguments — a highly unusual move by career Justice Department officials.
Then, on Tuesday of this week, th...
health
American Medical Association calls for ban on assault weapons, amid congressional inaction
The American Medical Association (AMA) on Tuesday pushed for a ban on assault weapons, amid demands from its membership of doctors that the organization take a stand against gun violence.
The move comes months after the mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February that killed 17 people and elevated the national conversation around gun control. But despite dozens of mass shootings since then, Congress has done little to address gun violence.
Congre...
This 2011 quote from Jeff Sessions just became really awkward
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice will not defend in court the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections, including the ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing medical conditions, it announced Thursday. While Attorney General Jeff Sessions is far from the first to opt not to defend a law he deems unconstitutional, many prominent Republicans — including Sessions himself — were highly critical of the practice jus...
Trump promised to protect people with pre-existing conditions. He just abandoned them in court.
The Trump administration told a federal court Thursday evening that it would no longer defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA), arguing that protections for people with pre-existing conditions are unconstitutional.
The Justice Department filed the brief supporting a lawsuit from Texas and 19 other Republican-led states. In their complaint, the states argue the courts must invalidate the entire ACA because Congress zeroed out the individual mandate, the penalty for not having insurance....
Virginia governor signs Medicaid expansion bill into law
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed a two-year $115 billion budget that includes Medicaid expansion Thursday, making the state one of more than 30 that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The bill will provide health coverage to about 300,000 to 400,000 low-income residents, and many individuals — about 138,000 people fall in the state’s coverage gap — could be insured for the first time.
“It has been a long road to get...
More than 100 arrested nationwide for rallying for health care and environmental protection
Activists with the national Poor People’s Campaign faced backlash from government officials and law enforcement during nationwide protests Monday. More than 100 people in Kentucky, Kansas, California, New York, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. were arrested or blocked from entering government buildings.
The campaign, which marks 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized thousands of Americans...
Court orders Maine’s Republican governor to expand Medicaid already
On Monday, a state judge ordered the Maine Department of Health and Gov. Paul LePage (R) to follow through on a voter-approved ballot measure and expand health care to thousands of residents, ending seven months of stonewalling.
Last November, nearly 60 percent of Maine voters approved Medicaid expansion, making it the first state to expand the public insurance program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by ballot box. Just days after, LePage and state Republicans vowed to delay the...
The CEO of Aetna was considering suicide before he found meditation
Whatever else we expect of our big deal company leaders, we don’t expect to be privy to the history of their darkest days. But Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, speaking at an Asia Society e...
How to improve the health care of 825,000 people? By ballot
Big things are happening for more than 800,000 million people nationwide.
Effective January 1st, roughly 400,000 people will have Medicaid insurance in Virginia; in New Jersey, another 275,000 people will see their Obamacare premiums reduce next year; and 150,000 undocumented Californians could soon have health coverage for the first time.
And political participation made it all possible.
Turnout for Virginia’s gubernatorial race last November was the highest in ...
Virginia Senate Democrats and rogue Republicans approve Medicaid expansion
Advocates have been trying to get the Virginia Legislature to expand Medicaid for at least five years, and on Wednesday, Senate lawmakers handed them a big win.
Four Republicans joined all 19 Democrats, by a vote of 23-17, to pass a two-year $115 billion budget that includes Medicaid expansion. When state Senators initially voted to add Medicaid expansion, only three Republicans joined. The Senate is expected to also pass its $115 billion two-year budget on Wednesday and both are ex...