Nebraska lawmakers are suing to block voters’ chance to give more people health care by ballot

In November, Nebraska voters will get the opportunity to vote on whether or not the government should provide more low-income residents health insurance. But a new lawsuit from Republican lawmakers is trying to deny voters their say.

Should Nebraska residents vote to expand Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of poverty level, an estimated 90,000 people statewide will gain health care.

Nebraska is one of four states aiming to expand Medicaid insurance this fall. The others ar...

BREAKING: Federal judge blocks Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirements

A federal judge blocked Kentucky’s work requirement waiver Friday, meaning tens of thousands of low-income residents will not need to report working or volunteering at least 20 hours of work a week to keep their health care coverage.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, was to consider whether a slew of changes to Medicaid — work requirements, premiums, lockouts, a whole package of restrictions — should go into effect on Sunday, July 1. He decide...

Iowa judge overturns state’s ban on Medicaid covering transgender medical procedures

An Iowa judge has overturned the state’s ban on allowing Medicaid to cover the costs of surgical procedures for transgender people. In his ruling Thursday, Chief District Judge Arthur Gamble ordered the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) to immediately approve Medicaid coverage for the two petitioners, Carol Ann Beal and EerieAnna Good.

Both Beal and Good had already changed all of their documentation to reflect their identities, but were denied coverage for medically nec...

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...

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 ...