Many influential players in the health industry have stayed silent since the Trump administration proposed undoing civil rights protections for LGBTQ patients in late May. But these muted responses haven’t gone unnoticed, especially when those who say they support LGBTQ rights, and celebrated Pride Month through social media, don’t speak up.
ThinkProgress reached out to seven insurers and insurance middlemen who either met with HHS’ Office for Civil Rights, the Office of...
ThinkProgress
The most important lesson Democrats must learn from Obama’s presidency
Imagine, for a moment, what 2009 would have looked like if the Senate’s Democratic supermajority showed up for its first day of work and immediately nuked the filibuster.
In such a world, the White House didn’t have to beg Republican senators for the votes it needed to enact President Barack Obama’s stimulus package. Though Democrats eventually achieved a 60-vote supermajority in the 111th Congress, it was only after Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched parties...
Rand Paul blocks funding for 9/11 victims over hypocritical budget concerns
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked an attempt by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on Wednesday to fast-track a bill that would extend compensation for victims of the September 11th attacks.
Paul expressed concerns that Gillibrand’s attempt to pass the measure using unanimous consent — meaning a bill is approved so long as no senator objects — did not take into consideration the need to offset that funding elsewhere.
In short, he argued, funding shouldn’t be d...
Biden’s health care plan reveals the divide among Democrats
Presidential candidate Joe Biden released his health care plan on Monday, formally entering the Democratic debate about how to solve the country’s health care crisis, in which 26% of Americans struggle to afford services even with insurance and out-of-pocket medical costs outpace wage growth.
The Biden plan, expands upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by adding a government-run public option to compete alongside private insurers and making existing subsidies for private plans m...
The Trump administration’s incompetence just blocked a major victory by the religious right
A federal appeals court struck down Trump administration regulations on Friday that allow virtually any employer to exempt itself from federal rules requiring employer health plans to cover birth control.
This decision is only limited cause for celebration among public health advocates. Judge Patty Shwartz, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit judge who wrote the opinion, is an Obama appointee. The two judges who joined her opinion in Pennsylvania v. Presiden...
Federal appeals court blocks Trump administration’s efforts to roll back free birth control
Cost-free birth control for thousands is safe for now, after a federal appeals court on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a district court decision issued in January that blocked regulations to allow virtually all employers to opt out of covering workers’ birth control for religious or moral reasons. The Department of Health and Human ...
Alaska’s legislature fails to stop a major attack on its judicial independence
Alaska’s legislature has until Friday at midnight to override the governor’s attack on the state’s judicial system. No vote has yet been scheduled, and one-third of the legislators are in Wasilla, 800 miles away from the state capital.
Using a line-item veto, Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) recently slashed the budget of the state’s Supreme Court, due to its repeated protection of abortion rights. Dunleavy cut the budget of the Alaska Supreme Court and the court of appeals by 5%, as part of ...
Here’s what unions think about Medicare for All
History tells us that the support of organized labor is critical to any major health care reform in the United States.
Unions represent 1 in 10 U.S. workers, making it one of the largest institutions nationwide. So what does that mean for “Medicare for All,” a policy that moves everyone into one public plan with no premiums or deductibles?
Everyone agrees universal health care coverage is the goal, but not everyone agrees Medicare for All is the only or best way t...
California becomes first state to give young undocumented adults health care. But is that enough?
The health care system failed Ana because of her immigration status: she’s undocumented.
Ana’s last two pregnancies were riddled with complications. But her lack of insurance exacerbated her health problems. She didn’t qualify for full-scope Medicaid, even though she was eligible by income, but the state did offer her pregnancy-related Medicaid, a public plan that covers every pregnant resident regardless of immigration status, but comes with an expiration...
A Republican federal appeals court appears determined to strike down Obamacare
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA — A panel of two Republicans and one Democrat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a case asking them to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. The Democrat did not speak, although she remains overwhelmingly likely to reject this attack on Obamacare.
The Republicans, by contrast, came to court today wearing their partisan hats. When Samuel Siegel, the first of two lawyers defending the la...