Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
Opioid funds tied to Obamacare repeal
Senate Republicans are dangling billions of dollars in opioid-fighting funds to try to entice wary moderates to sign onto their Obamacare repeal bill, looking to ink a final compromise. Published June 13, 2017
Mike Pence says Obamacare is in ‘death spiral,’ cites insurer exits
Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said Obamacare is in the throes of an "ongoing collapse" and that states across the Midwest will suffer the most next year, even as one insurer announced it is bucking the grim outlook and expanding its footprint in the law's exchanges. Published June 13, 2017
Obamacare lost 2 million enrollees since 2017 signups: Trump report
Nearly 2 million people have dropped out of Obamacare coverage they selected during the 2017 enrollment season, the Trump administration said Monday in a report that argues Americans are clamoring for more affordable options. Published June 12, 2017
Obamacare repeal remains Trump’s chief priority, Mike Pence says
Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday said eliminating Obamacare remains the chief priority for the administration, as it works with congressional Republicans to replace the law before the summer is over. Published June 10, 2017
Tom Price, HHS chief, and Democrats spar over Obamacare’s future
President Trump's health secretary on Thursday refused to commit his boss to making critical Obamacare payments through the coming year, infuriating Democrats who say the administration is sabotaging the insurance markets to bolster its case for repeal. Published June 8, 2017
Al Green: I’m drafting articles of impeachment
Rep. Al Green, a maverick Democrat, said Wednesday he is drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump, alleging the Republican president broke the law in May and must be held to account. Published June 7, 2017
Donald Trump meets with ‘Obamacare victims’ to whip up support for repeal
President Trump told Congress on Wednesday to keep toiling and send him a health care bill, saying Obamacare is in "absolute turmoil" and claiming victims in Ohio and other places as Republicans struggle to reach consensus on a replacement plan. Published June 7, 2017
Mitch McConnell: Obamacare repeal bill ‘close’ in Senate
Senate GOP leaders said Tuesday they're "close" to settling on their own plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, as pressure mounts on them to deliver on their health promises before the August recess. Published June 6, 2017
Andrew Cuomo moves to enshrine Obamacare protections
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said he will require insurers to cover Obamacare's "essential" health benefits and charge healthy and sick people the same amount, declaring his progressive state won't "stand idly by" as Republicans in Congress try to dismantle the 2010 health care law. Published June 5, 2017
Democrats depending on ‘repeal, replace’ plan to harm GOP in 2018 races
Democrats are counting on the GOP's anti-Obamacare push to wound Republicans heading into the 2018 elections, hoping to rescue themselves for what should otherwise be a very bad year at the polls for Senate Democrats. Published June 4, 2017
Narcan, naloxone: Baltimore makes opioid overdose-reversing drug available over the counter
Citing an opioid crisis that's claiming hundreds of city lives each year, Baltimore made an overdose-reversing drug available over the counter on Thursday in a bid to make the antidote as prevalent as possible. Published June 1, 2017
Chuck Grassley: EpiPen maker overcharged taxpayers nearly $1.3B
Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the maker of EpiPens for allergy sufferers, may have overcharged taxpayers as much as $1.27 billion by misclassifying their life-saving devices under Medicaid's drug rebate program from 2006 to 2016, a government watchdog has informed Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa. Published June 1, 2017
Trump administration’s rollback of Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate thrills conservatives
Conservatives are cheering on the Trump administration's reported plans to let any employer duck Obamacare's contraceptive mandate by claiming a religious or moral objection. Published May 31, 2017
GOP health plan gets low marks, heaping pressure on Senate: Poll
Americans continue to view Obamacare more favorably than the House-passed plan to repeal it, according to a Wednesday poll that finds the public is increasingly wary of how the GOP replacement would affect them if it were passed by the Senate and signed into law. Published May 31, 2017
Donald Trump’s first foreign trip thrills Republicans, disappoints Democrats
President Trump declared he knocked it out of the park during his first overseas trip and prominent Republicans agreed Sunday, saying he reassured allies and talked tough when necessary, though Democrats argued that he fell short and faces stiffer tests back home. Published May 28, 2017
GOP health care plan could harm anti-opioid efforts
The House GOP's health care bill would leave 14 million fewer people on Medicaid and force other patients to pay thousands of dollars more for substance abuse treatment, analysts said, in what some lawmakers fear would be a major step backward in the national battle against opioid addiction. Published May 28, 2017
Adam Schiff: Reports on back-channeling with Russia ‘very concerning’
Rep. Adam Schiff of California on Sunday said reports that White House adviser Jared Kushner sought a secret channel to talk with the Russians would be "very concerning," if true, considering the Kremlin's alleged interference in the U.S. election. Published May 28, 2017
Donald Trump picks fight with media upon return to U.S.
President Trump on Sunday picked up where he left off upon his arrival home from a nine-day overseas trip, using his phone and thumbs to attack the media on Twitter and decry the steady stream of governmental leaks that are embarrassing the White House. Published May 28, 2017
John Kelly, DHS chief, says leaks are ‘borderline’ treason
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Sunday said "it's borderline, if not over the line of treason" to leak highly classified information gleaned from foreign intelligence, citing Britain's alarm at seeing details of its probe into the Manchester terror bombing in the U.S. press. Published May 28, 2017
Bill Cassidy: Senate health bill will outdo House plan
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Sunday his chamber plans to outdo a House-passed health bill that would repeal and replace Obamacare but, according to estimates, would result in 23 million fewer people holding insurance a decade from now. Published May 28, 2017
