Republican Senate swing voters targeted; GOP go careful on the Affordable Care Act; and a new statue of Alice Dunnigan
Protesters were out in full force opposing Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the supreme court, with dozens arrested on Thursday as they targeted the offices of Republican senators viewed as swing votes on his confirmation.
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Illinois primary election: anti-abortion Democrat wins close congressional fight
Seven-term incumbent Dan Lipinski faced first serious challenge from progressive Marie Newman, who has refused to concede
Incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski won a narrow victory after a fierce challenge from progressive Marie Newman on Tuesday in Illinois’s third congressional district. With 95% of the vote reporting, Lipinski, one of the few remaining anti-abortion Democrats on Capitol Hill, edged out Newman by 51% to 49%.
A seven-term incumbent, Lipinski had not faced a serious challenge in a decade. However, in a district that backed Hillary Clinton by 15 points in 2016, he faced criticism not just for his views on abortion but his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and refusal to endorse Barack Obama in 2012.
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Canadians cut food and heating to afford prescription drugs, report finds
- Nearly one million Canadians sacrificed groceries and heating
- The only developed country with no universal drug plan
Nearly one million Canadians sacrificed food and heating last year in order to afford prescription drugs, according to a new report.
Despite having a universal health care system, Canada remains the only developed country in the world with no universal drug plan. It also has the second-highest drug prices in the industrialized world.
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Doctors say new Medicaid rules ‘like asking people to work with an anchor on their back’
Administration’s policy allows states to impose work requirements for people on Medicaid, meaning sick or injured Americans ‘have to go to work, no matter what’
Dr Gary Leroy’s patients are “salt of the earth”: inner-city people working in Dayton, Ohio as dishwashers, car mechanics and patient care assistants.
Related: Medicaid: Trump opens door for states to take away coverage from out-of-work Americans
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Medicaid: Trump opens door for states to take away coverage from out-of-work Americans
Administration unveils major policy shift that could mean millions of Americans could be legally required to hold a job to be on Medicaid
Millions who rely on Medicaid, America’s biggest public health insurance program, could be required to have a job if they want to hold on to their coverage in the future.
The Trump administration has unveiled a major policy shift that offers a path for states seeking to tie Medicaid eligibility to work requirements.
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Bit by bit, Trump is taking apart the New Deal’s glorious legacy | Heather Richardson
With huge tax cuts projected to create a $1.5tn deficit, cuts to social security and Medicare will surely followSince January, there have been frightening signs that America is becoming an oligarchy overseen by a dictator. From the first, Donald Trump has followed an authoritarian playbook, beginning with his rejection of objective reality. Forced early on to defend the assertion that the crowd at Trump’s inauguration was the biggest ever witnessed, presidential spokesperson Kellyanne Con...
Republican moderate Susan Collins undecided on final tax cut vote
- Maine senator who helped sink healthcare repeal voted for Senate tax bill
- Insists ‘4% cut in Medicare that could go into effect will not go into effect’
The Republican Susan Collins, whose support was crucial in passing the Senate tax reform bill earlier this month, said on Sunday she has not yet decided if she will back the final measure negotiated by House and Senate leaders.
The Maine moderate has laid out conditions for her support of a final “conference committee” version of the tax proposal. They include assurances that Medicare payments will not be cut and that Republicans will support two healthcare bills aimed at reducing premium costs.
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Fear over healthcare locks Americans in jobs – and throttles creativity | Jonathan R Goodman
What could and should make America great is the freedom to follow one’s dreams – not stay trapped in a cubicle, paralysed by fear
Millions of Americans are stuck in what some economists call “job-lock” or the inability to leave employment because of the risk of losing health insurance. A 2001 paper from Princeton’s Center for Economic Policy Studies showed, for example, that self-employed people are 25% less likely to have health insurance than office workers.
Uncertainty surr...
The Guardian view on elections in the US: cause for (cautious) celebration | Editorial
Sizable victories for the Democrats in a series of races offer cheer after a year of Donald Trump. But the party should not feel too reassuredIt was the boost they needed. The jubilation of Democrats as they celebrated the results of Tuesday’s elections owed much to the despair of one year before, when they learned that Donald Trump was on his way to the White House, as well as to the extraordinary events since, which have amplified his unfitness for the presidency and the extent of Russia...
Number of US adults without health insurance up 3.5m this year, study finds
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
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