The Hill

Drug companies face Medicare price negotiation deadline

health care, Medicare, News
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Biden administration looking to expand coverage of OTC birth control, other products

health care, News

The Biden administration is asking for public comment on whether to require most health insurance plans to cover a range of over-the-counter (OTC) preventive products, including contraception, for free.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover preventive services, including specific types of birth control, but only if they are prescribed. Insurers usually don’t cover OTC products.

The departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and the Treasury sa...

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Brendan Boyle’s plan to end debt ceiling games once and for all

News, Opinion

Days before the federal government is expected to shutter its doors, the media’s attention has been focused on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and his raucous caucus. 

Reneging on an agreement reached with President Biden last June to raise the debt ceiling and establish spending levels for the next fiscal year, McCarthy has yielded to the extreme Republican wing, which is demanding a shutdown showdown. 

The de facto leader of the far-right win...

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How a shutdown would impact key health care programs

health care, News

The federal government is staring down a shutdown as a handful of ultra-conservative House Republicans remain opposed to a short-term agreement to keep the government funded. 

The current spending laws expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30. Without a deal by that night, funding will lapse and many government functions, including some health care programs, will temporarily stop. 

Here's how a shutdown will, and won't, impact health agencies and services:

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Winners and losers of the second GOP presidential debate

News

Seven GOP presidential rivals tangled Wednesday night on a Simi Valley, Calif., stage, arguing over who is the best to take on President Biden next fall.  

It was a rambunctious night filled with personal attacks by candidates battling for survival, culminating in a clash over curtains between Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and his state’s former Gov. Nikki Haley. 

None of the contenders are within spitting distance in polls to former President Trump, who for a se...

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Insurers say COVID-19 vaccine rollout issues being resolved

health care, News
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What leverage? Shutdown fights don’t get results

News

As the federal government approaches another funding deadline, naturally there’s another attempt to get something big out of it.

Unfortunately, the possibility of shutdowns creates leverage only for congressional leadership and top appropriators, not for most Republican members or the American people they serve.

Think about it. Most members of Congress will accept a lot to avoid a government shutdown. And with good reason. Americans expect the federal government to p...

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North Carolina Medicaid expansion set to launch Dec. 1

health care, medicaid, News

Medicaid expansion will launch in North Carolina on Dec. 1, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced Monday, marking the culmination of a long-fought campaign from Cooper and health groups.

North Carolina Republicans refused for more than 10 years to accept federal funding to help expand coverage to low-income people. There are now only 10 holdout states remaining.

According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, the expansion will allow about 600,000 North Carol...

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As shutdown fight looms, Congress should remember broadband program

News

With Congress facing a Sept. 30 deadline to pass both its appropriations and farm bills, and the threat of a government shutdown looming, the options to find a moving vehicle to which Congress could attach an extension of the $14 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) are running short. 

The ACP is expected to run out of federal funding within the next year. In anticipation of legislation to continue funding, some have called for an expansion of the program, while others h...

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