On Thursday, the Trump administration proposed to change current health law by permitting millions of small businesses and self-employed individuals to purchase plans that don’t play by Obamacare rules.
“People have no idea how big that is,” President Donald Trump said of association health plans (AHP) in a recent New York Times interview. He’s right.
Thanks to the new proposed rule, people can exit the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace and purchas...
ThinkProgress
Democratic governors threaten legal action against Republican tax plan
The Republican tax plan has been law for just over a week, but it’s already facing the threat of legal challenges from Democratic governors who claim that the bill’s disparate impact on red and blue states could be illegal.
On Thursday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN that the bill amounted to “pillaging” from blue states in order to provide tax cuts for more conservative states.
“This tax provision hits the blue states by eliminating the sta...
Donald Trump’s 60 worst tweets of 2017, ranked
As a candidate for president, Donald Trump promised that, if he won, he would not tweet. “Don’t worry, I’ll give it up after I’m president. We won’t tweet anymore…Not presidential,” he said.
President Donald Trump has tweeted 2563 times in 2017 (so far).
Many of Trump’s tweets follow common themes. He’s complained about “fake news” 152 times, tagged @foxandfriends 97 times and touted his efforts to repeal Obamacare 70 times.
Bu...
Many midwives work in the shadows as they await proper state regulation of home births
Planned home births have increased over the past few years, but several states are only on the fringe of governing the practice — and the lack of regulation is hurting pregnant people.
Expectant individuals with healthy backgrounds and no medical risk factors often choose to deliver their babies in their homes. But the practice is contentious. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Medical Association (AMA) both oppose home birth, citin...
Papa John’s founder and CEO is leaving the company after ill-conceived attack on NFL players
John Schnatter, the proprietor of bad takes and even worse food as CEO of Papa John’s, is stepping down from the company he founded after weeks of withering criticism for his attacks on NFL players who are protesting for racial justice.
Schnatter used the company’s most recent earnings call to criticize NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for allowing the “debacle” of pre-game protests to extend for weeks into the 2017 season. Papa John’s is one of the large...
Obamacare enrollment at 96% of last year’s levels despite Trump’s sabotage
President Donald Trump declared Obamacare dead Wednesday after Congress passed its deeply unpopular $1.5 trillion tax overhaul bill. “Obamacare has been repealed in this bill,” he told reporters. Not only was he factually incorrect — as the bill only repeals the tax penalty for not having insurance — his statements were premature.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) released its open enrollment estimate numbers on Thursday, revealing that approximatel...
On the brink of a government shutdown, Congress still has unresolved issues
In a move that has lately become a Congressional norm, the House plans to vote on an interim spending bill Thursday, racing to beat a Friday midnight deadline to fund the government or face a shutdown.
With less than 48 hours to reach an agreement, Democrats and Republicans are split on funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and community health centers, disaster relief, defense spending, as well as a solution for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as...
U.S. life expectancy has dropped due to the opioid crisis. All Trump has done is unlock $157,000.
The life expectancy declined in 2016 for a second consecutive year, and this was largely driven by the country’s drug crisis.
Drug overdoses killed more U.S. residents in 2016 than any other year, according to a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report on U.S. mortality. More than 63,600 people died of drug overdoses last year; roughly two-thirds, or 42,200 deaths, were associated with opioids. And experts say CDC is likely undercounting opioid-related deat...
CNN anchor gets House Republican to admit he communicated with the White House on Mueller
During a CNN interview on Wednesday evening, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) admitted that he’s discussed Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign with the White House.
Asked by anchor John Berman if he’s “had conversations with the White House about the Mueller investigation,” Jordan initially tried to talk over Berman and ignore the question. But under sustained grilling, Jordan eventually admitted that he has in fact discussed th...
GOP rushed to pass tax bill, but likely won’t fund Children’s Health Insurance Program until 2018
On Wednesday, Senate lawmakers reneged on their promise to include funding for children of low-income families in the short-term government funding bill, exacerbating the already dismal situation for the millions of children who rely on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) said they do not expect to appropriate long-term funding until next year. It’s been 81 days since Congress missed the original deadline ...