Maine’s Gov. LePage uses final days in office to resist expanding Medicaid

November 24, 2018 health care, medicaid, News, politics

Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME) will leave office in January — but not before using his final few months in the governor’s mansion to resisting providing health care to an additional 70,000 low-income Mainers.

A Maine judge ordered LePage this week to follow through on expanding the Medicaid program in the state, setting a December 5 deadline for the state to make meaningful progress on setting up the health care expansion.

It’s the latest development in a protracte...

After federal court blocks Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirements, Trump admin reapproves them

November 21, 2018 medicaid, News

The Trump administration permitted Kentucky again to require low-income people to report at least 80 hours of work or community engagement per month or lose coverage for six months, even after a federal judge blocked the state’s proposal over the summer.

A U.S. district court judge called Kentucky’s proposal, which includes work rules, “arbitrary and capricious” in June, noting that officials never adequately considered whether the plan actually provided cove...

The legal challenge to Matthew Whitaker’s appointment is a trap

November 20, 2018 Justice Department, News, politics

On Monday, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), filed a lawsuit alleging that Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit is fairly likely to prevail — or, at least, a lawsuit of this sort is fairly likely to win five votes on the Supreme Court. It also potentially presents a grave danger to the next Democratic presidency and to the future viability of the en...

‘They don’t value the insurance’: Arkansas official on why thousands lost health care coverage

November 20, 2018 News

As of November 1st, Arkansas booted more than 12,000 people off Medicaid for failing to report work hours online for three months — but don’t blame the policy, blame the people said one official.

Of the 69,000 Arkansas residents subjected to Medicaid work requirements, less than one percent (557) reported 80-hours of work or community engagement activities per month, as required by the new Arkansas policy implemented in June. Residents, who qualify for Medicaid because t...

Pfizer ends deal to placate Trump, announces plan to raise prices on 41 prescription drugs

November 16, 2018 health care, News, politics

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer will raise prices on 10 percent of its prescription drugs in January, ending a brief period in which the company halted price increases in an effort to appease President Donald Trump.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the Pfizer news Friday. The paper reported that Pfizer would raise prices on 41 drugs by an average of about 5 percent, though three drug prices will be raised by 3 percent and one will be raised by 9 percent.

Trump negotiated ...

Trump’s rhetoric is deterring immigrant families from seeking public assistance, study suggests

November 16, 2018 News, politics

President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is affecting the number of immigrant families enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known colloquially as food stamps.

New research from Boston Medical Center’s Children’s HealthWatch surveyed approximately 35,000 immigrant mothers in five U.S. cities — Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Little Rock — from 2007 through the first half of 2018. What they found was a clear increase...

Republican senator claims ‘the left’ will start a civil war unless federal highway system abolished

November 15, 2018 Mike Lee, News, politics

On Thursday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) delivered a speech to the conservative Federalist Society that would have been more at home on Alex Jones’ radio show than at a gathering of many of the most powerful lawyers and judges in the country.

In it, Lee warned of a brewing civil war, and claimed that the only way to avert violence would be to eradicate a long list of federal programs including “the interstate highway system,” funding for “K through 12 public educati...

Republican who crafted health care repeal is officially ousted from Congress

November 15, 2018 health care, News, obamacare, politics

As the final votes are tallied and Democrats continue to notch midterm election victories this week, Republican incumbents were toppled in New Jersey and California by opponents who built campaigns focused on affordable and accessible health care.

Former Obama administration official Andy Kim was officially declared the winner in New Jersey’s 3rd district Wednesday, ousting Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ). MacArthur was one of the left’s biggest health care foes, and earned th...

No one is having more fun right now than these new House Democrats

November 14, 2018 climate, congress, House of Representatives, News, politics

The House of Representatives is going to look a lot different come January — not just due to a Democratic majority, but also a record-breaking number of women, people of color, and LGBTQ members set to join Congress after last week’s midterm elections.

That sea change is depicted on the cover of the New Yorker, which Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently shared on Instagram with the caption “Knock knock.”

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What the Democratic House majority means for Medicare for All

November 14, 2018 congress, health, News, politics

Thousands of people dialed into a call Tuesday evening to strategize how Democrats can make unprecedented progress on Medicare for All. A week after the midterm elections handed House Democrats the majority, organizers with National Nurses United hosted a conference call with lawmakers, activists, and just about any #M4A enthusiast, outlining how single-payer legislation passes at least one chamber of Congress. By the end of the one-hour call, most unmuted to say “I believe that we w...