Thomas Penister was uninsured for years after serving time in prison. In 2015, he applied for Medicaid coverage to see a primary care doctor as his mental health problems became debilitating. He was relieved to finally discover what was wrong: his doctor diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit disorder, severe sleep apnea (a common nighttime breathing disorder), and anxiety.
Continued treatment of these illnesses allowed him to get his life back, he said...
ThinkProgress
Indiana becomes second state with Medicaid work requirements, to leave thousands without insurance
The Trump administration approved Indiana’s request requiring some Medicaid recipients to work to get benefits on Friday, meaning thousands of people in the state could soon be without health insurance.
Under the new proposal, Indiana residents will need to work 20 hours a week, on average, or participate in a job training program in order to be eligible for Medicaid. The rule kicks off in 2019. The state would not require pregnant women, students, the homeless, and some other...
Amazon isn’t going to be your health care savior
An announcement Tuesday morning that three of the richest, most powerful companies in the United States are launching a new effort to break the health insurance industry’s stranglehold on the economy was greeted with great excitement.
The new firm is the brainchild of Berkshire Hathaway tycoon Warren Buffett, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Their goal is to break the age-old cycle of ever-rising health care costs in the United States, where people pay more t...
The chilling attack on liberal democracy buried in Trump’s speech
President Donald Trump spent the bulk of his first State of the Union address touting his tax policy and laying out an immigration proposal that would advance many white nationalist organizations’ top priorities.
Buried within the speech, however, was a proposal that would fundamentally rework the balance of power between civil servants and political appointees — and strike a deep blow to the rule of law in the process.
“I call on the Congress to empower eve...
Trump touts opioid work, but has actually done almost nothing
The Trump administration is fighting the opioid epidemic, President Trump said Tuesday in his first State of the Union address — but the Trump administration hasn’t actually done much to fight the epidemic beyond declaring a state of emergency, which is merely a bureaucratic formality.
“In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses: 174 deaths per day. Seven per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourg...
Paul Ryan’s latest political gambit is appalling, even for Paul Ryan
On Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan released a statement patting himself on the back for shepherding “the longest extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in history” through Congress.
Millions of families across the country can now breathe a sigh of relief after the longest extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in history became law this week. https://t.co/CqKj5oxk4a
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) January 2...
First lawsuit filed against Kentucky’s Medicaid work rules. The health care of thousands is at risk.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) upended the state’s Medicaid program two weeks ago by imposing work requirements, premiums, and other administrative changes on some enrollees. Changes to the half-century program will move 95,000 people off Medicaid coverage, state officials said. Advocates warned early on there would be lawsuits, and on Wednesday, the first one came.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, National Health Law Program, and Kentucky Equal Justice Center filed the class ac...
Here’s how Texas is using Medicaid to defund Planned Parenthood
Republicans in Congress weren’t able to “defund” Planned Parenthood last year, but some remain hopeful that they can in 2018.
While eyes fixate on Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — an agency packed with anti-abortion sympathizers — signaled it would approve efforts to withhold federal dollars to Planned Parenthood if states asked. Texas has already sought federal permission to do so and the green light could come any day now.
In June 2...
Democracy’s lost decade
There is something profoundly wrong with the United States of America’s system of government.
For proof, briefly take stock of the last ten years in American democracy, in which a combination of factors — the filibuster, the way we draw legislative districts, Senate malapportionment, and the Electoral College — converged to rob American voters of a meaningful ability to choose their own leaders.
- In 2008, President Obama won a resounding victory, defeat...
Congressman argues Obamacare made him sexually harass a female aide
On Saturday, the New York Times published a detailed report about allegations of sexual harassment leveled against Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA) by a former aide. In a subsequent interview on Tuesday, Meehan said his conduct was wrong but didn’t rise to the level of harassment, and offered a novel explanation for his boorish behavior: Obamacare made me do it.
According to the Times report, Meehan displayed unusual curiosity about the personal life of a female aide on his staff. W...