health

One of Trump’s health reform picks says he actually wants to improve Obamacare

Affordable Care Act, Donald Trump, health, News, obamacare, politics

It’s pretty obvious that the Trump administration has no real plan for what to do next should the federal courts overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — just look at who the president put in charge of the replacement plan.

Last week, President Donald Trump said a team of GOP senators will craft legislation that will replace the ACA, including Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). But on Monday, Scott said he’s actually more interested in improving the current health law.

Read More

Health care and insurance industries are spending a lot of money to defeat Medicare for All

health, health care, Medicare, News, politics

Medicare for All has attracted widespread support in the Democratic Party. But the ambitious overhaul of the nation’s health care system faces a major threat: big spending by health care and insurance interests determined to preserve the status quo.

A ThinkProgress analysis found that those industries, part of a coalition called the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, donated nearly $1.2 million in the 2017-2018 election cycle to Democratic members of four key House commit...

Read More

Trump claims the GOP is the ‘party of health care,’ but his health care plans are losing in court

Affordable Care Act, health, medicaid, News, obamacare

After vowing to strike down Obamacare and implement a replacement that will enshrine the GOP as the “party of health care,” President Donald Trump is off to a rocky start this week. In quick succession, he was dealt two major health care blows in the courts.

On Thursday, a federal judge blocked so-called “association health plans” (AHPs) — an avenue that Trump has long touted as a method of providing “tremendous health care at very small cost.”

U...

Read More

How Stacey Abrams got more people to care about a 6-week abortion ban

health, News, politics

This year, there has been an unprecedented surge in state lawmakers trying to ban abortions before most people even know they’re pregnant — but no state has gotten as much national attention as Georgia. Activists credit Stacey Abrams as a big reason why.

Georgia’s House Bill 481 would ban abortion at six weeks. It’s surprised many people that the state, which has 10 abortion clinics in Atlanta alone, would revert from a 20-week ban to a near-total ban, devast...

Read More

Federal judge blocks Arkansas and Kentucky Medicaid work requirements

health, health care, News

A federal judge struck down work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky on Wednesday, temporarily blocking one of the Trump administration’s most consequential health policies.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the federal government did not properly justify the need for the work requirements given the number of people who would lose health coverage.

This is the second time Boasberg blocked Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirements. In June 2018, he said...

Read More

Remember when Republicans vowed to be the party to protect pre-existing condition coverage?

Affordable Care Act, health, health care, medicaid, News, obamacare, politics, Republicans

After the president and Republicans repeatedly promised to protect people with pre-existing conditions, the Trump administration on Monday evening said it supports a federal judge’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional, adding that it will seek to repeal the sweeping health care law in its entirety.

The Justice Department filed a brief letter in the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit telling the court that it agrees with Judge Reed O’C...

Read More

States legislatures shore up Obamacare with 2020 prospects uncertain

Affordable Care Act, health, health care, medicaid, News, obamacare

While the Democratic Party determines where it wants to go next on health care — whether it’s Medicare for All, Medicare for America, or any one of the other 2020 health proposals — state lawmakers are shoring up the party’s signature policy, the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

So far in 2019, state legislatures in Colorado, Maine, Maryland, and New Mexico are moving bills to bolster the 2010 health law, like securing consumer protections for people with pre-exist...

Read More

New North Carolina bill would hold doctors accountable for sexual assault

health, News, politics

A new bill making its way through the North Carolina Legislature seeks to ensure doctors are held accountable for sexually assaulting their patients. The bill is partly influenced by Larry Nassar, a former doctor and convicted serial sexual predator who, during his time at USA Gymnastics, molested hundreds of young girls and women.

The legislation, House Bill 228, cleared the House Health Committee on Tuesday and has been re-referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Rep. Gr...

Read More

Low-income New Hampshire residents sue Trump administration over Medicaid work requirements

health, health care, medicaid, News, politics

Low-income residents in New Hampshire are suing the Trump administration for approving the state’s Medicaid work requirement, a group of health advocacy organizations announced Wednesday.

This is the third legal challenge against the administration’s most consequential health policy. The administration has already allowed eight states to condition Medicaid eligibility on reported work.

The administration first approved New Hampshire’s work requirement in Nov...

Read More