The Trump administration just denied Kansas’ request to create an unprecedented “lifetime limit” on Medicaid, a federal insurance largely for the poor and disabled.
“We seek to create a pathway out of poverty, but we also understand that people’s circumstances change, and we must ensure that our programs are sustainable and available to them when they need and qualify for them,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma ...
ThinkProgress
States waste hundreds of thousands on drug testing for welfare, but have little to show for it
In 2017, states spent more than $490,000 to drug-test 2,541 people who had applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits, which yielded just 301 positive tests.
While the costs for these programs has dropped somewhat over the past three years, the number of positive tests has also declined.
This year, ThinkProgress also asked states to provide the questionnaires used to determine whether there is “reasonable suspicion” that their applicants/recipients ar...
Meet Noel Francisco: The man who will supervise Mueller if Trump fires Rosenstein
Even before he became Donald Trump’s top Supreme Court advocate, Solicitor General Noel Francisco was a magnet for Trumpian causes. Francisco was one of the tobacco industry‘s top appellate advocates. And he represented the coal company at the heart of a deadly mining disaster — a coal company owned by Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
In the Supreme Court, Francisco convinced the justices to effectively strip President Obama of the recess appointments ...
The racial redlining in Michigan’s Medicaid work requirements
There are a lot of problems with work requirements for Medicaid.
They aren’t necessary because the majority of people who can work, work already; they would increase the ranks of the uninsured; and despite what supporters think, they wouldn’t actually pull people out of poverty but could further hurl them into it.
But there’s also another big issue: Medicaid work requirements could increase racial disparities in health care.
Last week, the Michigan Se...
Rubio tries to defend tax law stance, only manages to insult an intern and further muddy waters
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is once again defending the Republican tax law, just days after he said there’s no evidence it has helped American workers.
On Wednesday, Rubio tried to indignantly correct a Politico story that said he is “walking back” his earlier criticisms of the recently-passed Republican tax overhaul, insulting an intern and failing to make his point any clearer in the process.
The tax overhaul, passed and signed into law last December, raises t...
Rick Santorum says he wishes Trump would stop lying
Former Pennsylvania senator and CNN commentator Rick Santorum said on Wednesday that President Trump “has a problem” with lying, during an interview with CNN’s New Day.
“The president says things that don’t comport with the facts,” Santorum told host Chris Cuomo. “I don’t like calling people liars, but the reality is this president has a problem. And I have said that over and over again. I wish he wouldn’t go out and say...
Two transgender residents sue Wisconsin over discriminatory Medicaid rule
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) refused to cover Cody Flack’s top surgery.
Top surgery, a common reference for chest reconstruction surgery for transgender patients, is a widely accepted and effective surgical procedure for treating gender dysphoria. But DHS told Flack, who was born female but identifies as male, last summer that the procedure isn’t covered by Wisconsin’s Medicaid program. The state contends the surgery is “medically unneces...
Arizona election results provide further optimism for 2018’s crop of Democratic candidates
Conservatives nationwide breathed a sigh of relief following Tuesday night’s special election for Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District, as former State Sen. Debbie Lesko clinched a hard-fought victory over Democratic candidate Hiral Tipirneni — but they may not want to get too comfortable.
Lesko won the seat vacated by former Republican Congressman Trent Franks, who resigned in December amid allegations that he had offered $5 million to a former aide and repeate...
Years of inaction and thousands of deaths later, Congress finally addresses maternal mortality
Each year about 700 to 900 mothers die, and thousands more nearly die, due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, many of which are preventable — and this year, there’s finally appetite among lawmakers to do something about it.
The Senate Health committee will vote on a bill next month that addresses the country’s soaring maternal mortality rate, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) announced on Tuesday. Congress has never passed legislation directly focused on this public health cri...
BREAKING: Republican Debbie Lesko wins Arizona special election
Republican Debbie Lesko has won the Arizona special election to replace Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), defeating her Democratic rival Hiral Tipirneni, according to the Associated Press. (The New York Times and the Washington Post have similarly called the race for Lesko.)
BREAKING: Republican Debbie Lesko wins special U.S. House election in Arizona, keeping seat in GOP control.
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 25, 2018
The race, in Arizo...