Survey results come after Republican attacks on government-backed health programs, including the Affordable Care Act
About 7 million fewer Americans have health insurance today than did four years ago, a new survey has found, the highest uninsured rate since 2014. The results come after sustained Republican attacks on government-backed health schemes, including the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
The survey’s findings come as the public is incre...
Trump administration
Rashida Tlaib: Democrat defends call for Trump’s impeachment – live
Michigan congresswoman stood by impeachment comment as her office says: ‘Tlaib was elected to shake up Washington’
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On their first full day in power, House Democrats voted to jump into into a court battle defending the Affordable Care Act as part of their rules package.
From the Associated Press, new poll shows Americans increasingly concerned with immigration:
As much of the U.S. government remains shut down over President Donald Trump’s insistence on funding for his border wall, nearly half of Americans identify immigration as a top issue for the government to work on this year.
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Democrats waste no time, announce first oversight measures of the new Congress
The 116th Congress — dubbed the most progressive and most diverse Congress in U.S. history — officially came to order on Thursday, and members of Congress have wasted no time introducing legislation and scheduling hearings to provide oversight over the White House.
With the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2011 and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wielding the gavel, the party is intent on using their new power to advance progressi...
Medicare for All: ‘huge step’ for proposal as Pelosi agrees to hold hearings – live
- Legislation would create universal health care system
- President accuses Democrats of ‘presidential harassment’
- Nancy Pelosi to be sworn in as House speaker
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Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the two first Muslim Congresswomen who will take office today, will take her oath of office on a copy of the Koran owned by Thomas Jefferson, per the Detroit Free Press.
Fun fact: When Rashida Tlaib, a Muslim, is sworn in as the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress today, she will take the oath of office using Thomas Jefferson’s personal copy of the Quran. https://t.co/wZ6I2eKq3v
The new 116th Congress has now officially convened.
Vice President Mike Pence is swearing in members of the Senate. House members are preparing to be sworn in.
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US election meddling: Russia running ‘active and ongoing’ operations – live
- Report on Russian interference prepared for the Senate accuses Facebook, Google and Twitter of impeding the investigation
- Russian disinformation campaign used every social media platform to help Trump in 2016 election and after he took office
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6.43pm GMT
A doctor who helped draft Obamacare said he’s “not particul...
US rate of uninsured children increases for the first time in nearly a decade
Nearly four million children in the United States are uninsured, the highest rate in nearly a decade.
The latest data, released by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families on Thursday, reflects an unprecedented increase in the number of children without health insurance, at a time when the Trump administration continues its assault on health care by chipping away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Georgetown report found that approximately 276,000 more chi...
Trump administration finalizes rules allowing employers to stop paying for birth control
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it has finalized the rollback of an Obama-era rule mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that required employers to provide contraception coverage for their employees, regardless of whether it conflicts with their moral or religious beliefs.
The new rules, set to take place in about 60 days, will allow employers that object to the use of birth control to stop paying for their workers’ contraception. The change will affect b...
Trump administration falsely blames Obama administration for transgender erasure proposal
The Trump administration issued a new response Monday to the New York Times’ report that it is considering a plan to erase transgender people from recognition under federal nondiscrimination laws. This attempt to blame the Obama administration for the current circumstances is not only false, but further undermined by conservative groups’ praise for the news.
In a statement calling the Times’ story “misleading,” Health and Human Services spokesperson Cai...
It’s not an exaggeration to say the Trump administration wants to erase transgender people
A Sunday New York Times article revealed that the Trump administration is planning to impose a rule that would effectively erase the existence of transgender people under the law. Though the Times did not share the full memo draft it had reviewed, it detailed the memo’s plan to define sex across agencies as “either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with” — subject to genetic testing.
It’s the equivalent of impo...
Trump’s new pick to lead Medicaid ran Maine’s public health department into the ground
The Trump administration is putting the health insurance of millions of Americans in the hands of a former Maine official best known for undermining the public health infrastructure in her state to put low-income families at risk.
Mary Mayhew, Maine’s former health commissioner, was tapped on Monday to run the national Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs. Mayhew will now control the $350 billion budget of the two health insurance programs ser...