The Alan Katz Health Care Reform Magazine
By Alan Katz | The policies and politics surrounding health care reform in a Donald Trump world.
CBO to issue score for Obamacare repeal and replace
The Congressional Budget Office announced Thursday that it would soon issue a score for the Obamacare repeal and replace bill that is being debated …
ObamaCareGOP Senators Make Last-Ditch Effort to Rescue Health Care Bill
(WASHINGTON) — Republican senators are hunkering down in a last-ditch attempt to prevent their own divisions from pushing their health care bill to …
ObamaCareFreedom Caucus to try to force vote on Obamacare repeal
House conservatives are launching a late effort to force their colleagues to vote on an outright repeal of Obamacare.<p>Leaders of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday evening will jump-start a process intended to force the measure — a mirror of the 2015 repeal proposal that President …
House Freedom CaucusNewest Senate health bill would cause 32 million to lose coverage
Senate Republicans’ newest health care bill would cause 32 million additional Americans to become uninsured over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projected Thursday.<p>Republicans on Wednesday put forward the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act, a bill that would wipe the health law’s …
ObamaCareWhite House makes one last pitch today
Republicans' dream of repealing and replacing Obamacare appears dead — for now.<p><b>WHITE HOUSE MAKES ONE LAST PITCH TODAY —</b> The president has invited all 52 GOP senators for lunch to see if he can revive their nearly defunct effort, POLITICO's Burgess Everett reports.<p>Senate Majority Leader Mitch …
Health CareTrump making last-ditch effort after health bill collapse
AP Radio AP Radio News:<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump says it's probably time to "just let Obamacare fail" after the latest humiliating heath bill collapse in the Senate. Still, he's making a last-ditch effort to find some way to revive his party's seemingly failed efforts on the …
U.S. CongressInsurers Fear Latest Chaos Over Health Care
WASHINGTON — Health insurers expressed concern Tuesday over the uncertainty surrounding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and President Donald Trump's most recent call to let Obamacare "fail."<p>"With open enrollment for 2018 only three months away, our …
Health CareTrump: Republicans 'must keep their promise to America' on health care
Ahead of his scheduled lunch with Republican senators, President Donald Trump wrote online on Wednesday that GOP lawmakers “MUST keep their promise to America” by voting to do away with the Affordable Care Act.<p>Trump also predicted that his lunchtime meeting would improve the proposal tabled late …
Health CareJohn Kasich: The Way Forward on Health Care
Columbus — Washington’s approach to health care over the past decade is yet another example of our lawmakers’ increasing distance from the rest of America. First one party rams through a rigid, convoluted plan that drives up costs though unsustainable mechanisms that are now unraveling. Then the …
Health CareHow the White House and Republicans underestimated Obamacare repeal
The Trump team thought Congress would scrap the health law by late February. Nobody expected the effort to drag into the summer months.<p>The longer Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare flounder, the clearer it becomes that President Donald Trump’s team and many in Congress dramatically …
Health CareNevada Sen. Dean Heller is the man to watch on health bill
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Health care legislation is hanging by a thread in the Senate, and no one is under more pressure than Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada.<p>Heller was already seen as the most endangered GOP incumbent senator in next year's midterm elections. He is the only one running for …
Dean HellerInsurers Oppose Cruz Amendment to Republican Health-Care Bill
Provision would allow insurers to sell plans that aren’t compliant with Affordable Care Act<p>Insurers are ramping up their opposition to a new amendment in the Senate Republican health bill that would allow them to sell plans that don’t meet Affordable Care Act requirements, an effort that could add …
ObamaCareGOP leaders plead with senators to hold their fire on Obamacare repeal
Republicans are simply focused on finding the votes to begin debate, let alone pass their bill.<p>With their Obamacare repeal plan inches from failure, Senate Republicans are white knuckling their way into the weekend. And rather than panicking over passing a bill, GOP leaders are simply trying to …
U.S. CongressHealth care: Will moderate Republicans sink the bill?
<b>Washington (CNN) —</b> When have we seen this before? Mitch McConnell made a significant concession to conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, and now, the Senate majority leader is scrambling to pick up any votes he can from the moderate wing of his conference.<p>If he can't do this, the bill is as good as dead.<p>For …
Health CareNew GOP Health Plan Struggles to Win Over Critics
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was preparing Thursday for a meeting with fellow Republicans to walk them through the latest draft of the …
Health CareThe five biggest hurdles Senate Republicans are facing to pass their revised health care bill
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans hope their latest proposed bill to replace Obamacare will attract enough votes from the moderate and conservative wings of their party to pass next week.<p>But there are at least five hurdles that could derail efforts to reach consensus. They include:<p>1. The bill still …
Health CareRevised Senate Bill Tries to Win Votes, but Has Fewer Winners
The revised Senate health bill has a dwindling list of winners and a bigger pool of potential losers.<p>It would still make insurance much less affordable for poorer and older Americans who don’t get coverage through work or Medicare. It would make that insurance less valuable for many people with the …
Public HealthHere's What Just Got Added to the Senate's Health Care Bill
More money, more taxes for starters.<p>Senate Republican leaders released another draft of their health care bill on Thursday, attempting to advance …
Health CareRepublicans Are Still Seven Votes Shy On Health Care
Republicans appear to be at least seven votes short of the 50 they need to get a health care bill through the Senate, which is basically where they …
Shelley Moore CapitoDemocrats Will Use Senate Rules to Try to Block Health Bill
WASHINGTON — Democrats may not have the votes to stop the Republican push to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but they do have the Senate rules.<p>In the Senate, the rules are often seen as sacrosanct and members of both parties are quick to exploit them for partisan advantage. One of the rules, …
Health CareExclusive: House Democrats introduce new plan to fix Obamacare
A small group of Democratic legislators will do something unusual Wednesday morning: hold a press conference to talk about the parts of Obamacare that are broken.<p>Ten House Democrats will unveil a new plan to fix Obamacare, highlighting the parts of the law that have struggled to work and offering …
ObamaCareMcConnell: Senate will work through first two weeks of August recess
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will keep the Senate in session the first two weeks of August, the Kentucky Republican announced Tuesday — as the GOP faces a daunting to-do list that includes repealing Obamacare and raising the debt limit.<p>McConnell made the announcement during a party lunch …
Chuck SchumerProvinces struggling to provide proper care for seniors: report
Provincial health-care systems are struggling to place Canadians in the appropriate continuing-care settings they need, potentially adding to wait times and barriers to care, according to a new report.<p>The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) report found one in five seniors who have …
Health CareSenate GOP and White House plan final, urgent blitz to pass health-care law
The White House and Senate Republican leaders are planning a final, urgent blitz to pressure reluctant GOP senators to pass an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act before their month-long August recess.<p>Aware that the next 14 days probably represent their last chance to salvage their flagging …
ObamaCare2 GOP senators suggest bill to repeal health care law 'dead'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The initial GOP bill to repeal and replace the nation's health law is probably "dead" and President Donald Trump's proposal to just repeal it appears to be a "non-starter," two moderate Republican senators indicated Sunday as their party scrambled to salvage faltering …
Health CareRepublicans voice growing doubts on U.S. healthcare bill's fate
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans expressed increasing pessimism on Sunday about the prospects for the healthcare bill in the U.S. Senate aimed at rolling back Obamacare as lawmakers prepared to return from a week-long recess.<p>One prominent Republican lawmaker, Senator John McCain, said he thought …
ObamaCareMitch McConnell's $50B Obamacare 'Fix' Riles Conservatives
News that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is open to fixing the individual insurance exchanges if the GOP cannot get enough votes to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has enraged conservatives.<p>Sen. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, failed to bring his Better Care Reconciliation …
Health CareHow Mitch McConnell could stabilize Obamacare in 2018
Mitch McConnell certainly doesn't want to save Obamacare. But the Senate majority leader acknowledged Thursday that if Republicans can't pass a health care bill, they would have to do something to shore up the Obamacare markets for next year.<p>"If my side is unable to agree on an adequate …
Health CareAverage premiums could rise 74% by 2020 if Trumpcare passes
After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act -- better known as the AHCA or Trumpcare -- in May, all eyes turned to the U.S. Senate, which would be writing its own version of the bill. That Senate bill has arrived in the form of the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or …
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