US politics

Tracking Trump: president gives himself top marks for military bereavement calls

Donald Trump, News, US news, US politics

President claimed he ‘called every family of someone who’s died’ as tensions flared with sergeant’s relatives and later gave himself 10/10 on Puerto Rico

It was unclear exactly what Donald Trump hoped to achieve when he decided to cut a key element of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – subsidies to insurance companies to help them cover those on low incomes – except perhaps a sense of pure destructive joy in damaging something his predecessor built that Republicans in Congress seemed unable to dismantle. On Saturday, he, crowed that he had ended a “Dems windfall” for insurance companies.

Continue reading...

Read More

Number of US adults without health insurance up 3.5m this year, study finds

Donald Trump, News, US healthcare, US news, US politics, World news

Rising premiums and political turmoil over Obamacare undermine the gains that drove the nation’s uninsured rate to a historic low

The number of US adults without health insurance is up nearly 3.5 million this year, as rising premiums and political turmoil over Obamacare undermine coverage gains that drove the nation’s uninsured rate to a historic low.

Related: 'He keeps zigging and zagging': the perils of doing a healthcare deal with Trump

Continue reading...

Read More

‘He keeps zigging and zagging’: the perils of doing a healthcare deal with Trump

Democrats, Donald Trump, News, Republicans, US Congress, US healthcare, US news, US politics, World news

This week, senators moved to salvage the Obamacare subsidies Trump cut – but Washington remains confused over which way the president is swinging

Chuck Schumer was at the gym when his phone rang, just over a week after the latest version of the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act foundered. It was Donald Trump calling the most senior Democrat in the Senate with an idea.

Related: Senators reach bipartisan deal to salvage Obamacare subsidies Trump eliminated

Continue reading...

Read More

Senators reach bipartisan deal to salvage Obamacare subsidies Trump eliminated

Donald Trump, News, US healthcare, US news, US politics, US Senate

Republican Lamar Alexander and Democrat Patty Murray reach deal to help insurance companies cover medical needs of low-income Americans

Senators have moved to salvage Obamacare following Donald Trump’s decision last week to scrap critical subsidies that underpin the health law.

Republican senator Lamar Alexander announced on Tuesday that he had reached a deal with Democrat Patty Murray to fund the federal payments – intended to help insurance companies cover the medical needs of low-income Americans – in exchange for allowing states more regulatory flexibility under the Affordable Care Act.

Continue reading...

Read More

McConnell and Trump put on show of unity as Bannon urges Republican ‘war’

Donald Trump, News, Republicans, Trump administration, US Congress, US news, US politics, US Senate, World news

Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell appeared side-by-side in the Rose Garden after lunch at the White House on Monday in a show of solidarity after the president’s former chief strategist called for the metaphorical assassination of the Senate majority leader.

Trump insisted he and McConnell are “closer than ever before”, despite publicly criticizing the Republican leader for the Senate’s failure to enact the president’s legislative agenda, including Republicans’ failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which Trump called a “disgrace”.

Continue reading...

Read More

Bannon says Trump will ‘blow up’ Obamacare as subsidies cut stokes fires

Democrats, Donald Trump, News, Republicans, Trump administration, US domestic policy, US healthcare, US news, US politics, World news
  • Moderate Collins and Democrat Murphy decry cut to low-income help
  • Trump responds to healthcare critics with claim ‘millions’ will benefit

A day after Steve Bannon seemed to confirm Donald Trump’s intent to destroy the Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying the president was “gonna blow that thing up”, a Republican senator who helped dynamite two Republican replacement bills said Trump was hurting American citizens.

Related: Steve Bannon renews call for war on Rep...

Read More

Saturday Night Live: here come the Harvey Weinstein jokes – a week late

News, US politics

Kumail Nanjiani was likable and Kate McKinnon shone as usual. But in the dispiriting America of Harvey and Donald, the best tactic was to keep it surreal

Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick, Silicon Valley – is in charge tonight. But first: Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump giving an address in a hangar. This week, he explains, he’s been reversing everything Obama did: Obamacare, the nuclear deal with Iran … and ‘We’re ripping out all of the vegetables in Michelle Obama’s garden and planting M...

Read More

Trump responds to critics of healthcare order with claim ‘millions’ will benefit

Donald Trump, News, Republicans, Trump administration, US domestic policy, US healthcare, US news, US politics, US Senate, World news

The president tweeted Saturday that he’s ‘very proud’ of executive order, despite analysts, politicians and others saying millions of people would in fact suffer

Donald Trump on Saturday heralded his latest moves to undermine Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, tweeting that “millions of people” would benefit from his executive order on access to cheaper insurance and his scrapping of federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Related: 'He is failing': Trump strikes out solo as friends worry and enemies circle

Continue reading...

Read More

Trump plants bomb, says Obamacare ‘imploding’

Donald Trump, News, US healthcare, US news, US politics

• President ends subsidies for poor … opens door for flimsy insurance plans … threatens Iran deal … vows love for Puerto Rico

• Get the day’s politics news in 60 seconds every weekday. By Tom McCarthy

10.05pm BST

Trump planted a time bomb under the Affordable Care Act by scrapping vital federal subsidies that help insurers extend quality coverage to low-income recipients. Then Trump said Obamacare was “imploding”.

Read our coverag...

Read More