The pre-midterm defenestration of ACA enrollees looks like political madness – but the president appears to believe hitting poor people might work for him
There is a manic quality to Donald Trump’s desperate dash to do something, anything, ahead of November’s midterm elections to convince beleaguered Americans that he can make the pressures his policies have imposed on their livelihoods go away.
The US president offered to lower barriers against beef imports to limit surging me...
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Why Abdul El-Sayed might not be winning Black voters in Michigan
The Michigan candidate for US Senate seat is running without directly acknowledging specific constituent groups
Abdul El-Sayed has an impressive résumé: Rhodes scholar, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, executive director of the Detroit health department. And, at 41, the Michigan Democratic senatorial candidate represents a new generation of politicians, a shift that he also embodies sartorially. Whereas casual dress for many politicians is a tieless dress shirt with ...
Medicare for All remains key pressure point for Democrats ahead of midterms
The idea of universal health coverage in the US is embraced by party’s left but is often considered a liability by centrists
Last week, 1,500 unionized nurses gathered in a large conference room at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco to cheer for a cause they’ve championed for years: Medicare for All.
Considered a radical and even fringe idea for decades, interest in sweeping healthcare reform has surged as progressive Democrats have won a series of primary victories ahead of...
In latest blow to Obamacare, Trump is threatening the entire US health system
The Trump administration is removing 760,000 people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act marketplace
The Trump administration is removing 760,000 people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace on allegations of fraud, officials said on Tuesday – adding to previous efforts to chip away at federally subsidized insurance programs and likely causing some of the lowest-income Americans to forego healthcare, experts said.
The US government is also investigating about 420,000 people whom they suspect of fraud, and they are putting a six-month enrollment moratorium on new agents and brokers selling Obamacare policies, officials said at a press conference.
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Reader Q&A: how united are the Democrats ahead of the US midterms? Live now
Who are the Democrats running in the midterms, and where do they stand? Our US political reporters are live now to discuss the state of the Democrats, the party’s moderate and leftwing candidates and key races to watch
Sign up or sign in to post a questionCitizen_Squared writes: After the disaster of the Trump years, the Democrats still do not have a clear message/vision/plan for ending the destruction Maga has done. Talking endlessly about affordability is not a governing vision. The polls may have the Democrats ahead for the House and Senate but thanks to extreme gerrymandering, voter restrictions and a big assist from the corrupt Supreme Court in striking out the Voting Rights Act, don’t be surprised if the gains by the Democrats are limited on election day. If that happens, the party will collapse into civil war.
David: Yes, if Democrats underperform, there are sure to be recriminations and huge pressure on Senate leader Chuck Schumer and House leader Hakeem Jeffries (it’s been notable how many candidates are unwilling to endorse Schumer). But the day after the midterms will also fire the starting gun for the 2028 presidential primary, which will probably galvanising and energising. Candidates will come forward with their visions and that will take up a lot of oxygen.
Shrai: For Democrats, these midterms live in the wake of Kamala Harris’s loss in 2024. The party is still undergoing an identity crisis which these races seem to highlight. We’re seeing battleground states choose insurgent nominees who really buck the party’s establishment (see Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Troy Jackson in Maine, Angie Nixon in Florida and several other progressives in House races in New York and Colorado). But there is also a sense that this wave isn’t applicable across the board, particularly in states where we have Democrats running on more centrist platforms (see Roy Cooper in North Carolina, Chris Pappas in New Hampshire and James Talarico in Texas).
If progressive candidates aren’t successful in November it could be the cudgel that the establishment uses to advocate for moderate candidates (particularly looking ahead to 2028). If they win, however, it could be the exact proof-of-concept for the party’s direction forward, and running politicians who are pushing for ideas that might have once been considered radical (thinking about Medicare for All and higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy).
David: Affordability worked for both moderate and progressive Democrats in last year’s elections in New Jersey, New York and Virginia. I have to believe some flavor of that will be central in 2028: an understanding that the elites and the system have failed, that voters are struggling to make ends meet, that they fear their children will be worse off than they are. We’ve gone from an age of aspiration to an age of anxiety. Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia has been good at tying this to Trump and “the Epstein class”. But how will Democrats fix it? It will also be fascinating to see how Democrats handle the issues of AI/datacenters and Israel.
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Tennessee’s Justin Pearson takes on America’s most contentious issues
The progressive candidate won a Democratic congressional primary after boldly staking positions on voting rights, datacenters and the US war machine
Justin Pearson and Brent Taylor win primaries for key Tennessee House seat
Justin Pearson made national headlines as one of the “Tennessee Three” – the state lawmakers expelled from the capitol protesting for gun control after a deadly school shooting. Three years later, the state representative won a Democratic c...
Blanche confirmation allows Trump to continue ‘pervasive, breathtaking corruption’, says Schumer – US politics live
Senate minority leader condemns Republicans after Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer was confirmed by 50 votes to 49 early on Saturday morning
Democrats instigated a government shutdown last year when they refused to approve funding bills without an agreement to extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans. That led to the longest funding lapse in US history, but ultimately no agreement to keep the cost offsets going after the shutdown ended 43 days later.
Some gover...
‘Our system is in dire straits’: progressive Democrats hold Medicare for All hearing
Congressional Progressive caucus say ‘healthcare should not be a privilege’ as they champions single payer system
The Congressional Progressive caucus (CPC) held a shadow hearing on Medicare for All on Wednesday, led by Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell.
The hearing comes as over half of the House Democratic caucus has co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation, and Senator Andy Kim introduced legislation on Tuesday that would enroll all children into Medicaid until the age of 26, while Republicans passed drastic healthcare cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including nearly $1n in cuts to Medicaid and allowing Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire.
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Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization’ fund scrapped, acting attorney general Todd Blanche confirms – as it happened
Blanche confirms fund set up to compensate president’s allies will not go ahead after fierce backlash and court setbacks
In six months, Adam Hamawy has gone from a political nobody to, deemed by most measures, the frontrunner in a crowded race, endorsed by prominent progressive and Democratic figures including Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Tammy Duckworth.
His work history has driven him to call for Medicare for All, advocating for sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel, and the abolition of ICE – and to say openly he cannot support the Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.
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US under-45s struggle for insurance approval as colon cancer rates rise
ACA requires firms to cover colonoscopies for over-45s but young people face hurdles to receive appropriate tests
As colon cancer rates are rising among people in their 20s and 30s, some adults in the US who are under 45 and experiencing worrying symptoms are struggling to get insurance coverage for colonoscopies, which can detect colon cancer.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurance companies to cover colonoscopies for people over 45 “because it’s been recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force”, says Caitlin Murphy, a cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Chicago. The ACA requires preventive screenings, including pap smears, for example, to be completely covered.
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