Friday afternoon, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sent a warning on Twitter that the tens of thousands of Americans who could die if Trumpcare becomes law are not out of the woods yet.
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ThinkProgress
Last-ditch Republican health care effort could reduce federal funding by nearly $300 billion
A bill proposed by Republican Senators Bill Cassidy (LA) and Lindsey Graham (SC) would dramatically reduce federal funding for health care over the course of the next decade, according to a new report.
Released Wednesday, the Graham-Cassidy bill is seemingly the last viable option for Republicans hoping to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, this year. The bill faces a steep — and likely doomed — battle in Congress: it has yet to be scored by the Congressional Budget...
An Obamacare bill — that has nothing to do with repealing it — could pass
The month of September has been bombarded with health care bills. This week alone, Democrat and Republican senators introduced both a single-payer plan and an Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replacement plan. But the most important bill has yet to be released. Language to the only health bill that’ll immediately secure the ACA marketplace and relieve nearly 22 million people of stress next year — and a host of coverage providers — will be released soon.
The la...
How to make $240,000 in 6 months by being friends with Rick Perry
This week in swamp draining: Rick Perry’s former campaign manager has made $240,000 since March lobbying the Department of Energy, the agency that Perry now leads, according to lobbying disclosures filed with the Senate.
The aide, Jeff Miller, worked as a fundraiser and adviser for former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and when he joined Perry, Miller was credited with his reinvention—the square glasses, the guy who remembers all the agencies he’ll cut.
Miller g...
After Florida deaths, Trump administration called out for making it harder to sue nursing homes
This week’s tragedy at a Florida nursing home, where eight people died in the wake of Hurricane Irma, brought to light how the Trump administration is aiming to make it harder for seniors and their families to hold nursing homes accountable.
Family members of the people who died at the Hollywood, Florida, nursing home are likely prohibited from filing lawsuits or taking legal action against the owner of the facility, since nursing homes routinely require residents to sign agre...
Why turning public health care into ‘block grants’ can’t work
Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) released their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Wednesday — the last GOP plan left standing.
The chances for the bill to pass are slim to none. It needs to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office and cleared by the Senate parliamentarian — the designated health care referee — to see if it adheres to budget rules. Additionally, many critical lawmakers have said that the Senate needs ...
Trump doesn’t actually think single-payer is a horrible idea
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has proposed the only health care plan that would fulfill all the health care promises made by President Trump—but White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed the single-payer health care plan Wednesday, saying Trump thinks it would be a horrible idea.
“I think that the president as well as the majority of the country knows that the single payer system that the Democrats are proposing is a horrible idea,” Huckabee Sanders told reporters. “I ...
While attention turns to health care for all, let’s talk about coverage for immigrants
As progressives consider proposals to implement universal health care, it’s important to define the principle that’s driving them. What unites Democrats right now is the idea that health care is a right afforded to all. If that’s the self-imposed litmus test, it’s essential to define “all” when discussing universal health care.
Millions of people who live in the United States are currently uninsured. High costs remain a major barrier to coverage; ...
The census data has bad news for Black and Latinx Americans
New Census Bureau data shows an increasingly optimistic picture for white Americans — but far less so for Americans of color, many of whom still face stark income disparities.
Released Tuesday, the numbers appear to show good news across the board in several key areas. Median household income in the United States in 2016 was $59,039 — a more than three percent rise from 2015 and the highest ever recorded. Poverty also saw a dip, as did the number of people without health...
How Bernie Sanders would fund his Medicare for All plan
On Wednesday afternoon on the second floor of the Hart Senate Office Building, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) officially unveiled his much-hyped Medicare for All plan. The senator was flanked by his 16 co-sponsors, many of them rising stars in the Democratic party and nearly every one of them talked about as a potential presidential candidate in 2020.
The basic idea of the plan is this: Over the course of four years, the state would expand eligibility for Medicare until every resident o...