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Tom Howell Jr.

Tom Howell Jr.

Tom Howell Jr. covers politics and the White House for The Washington Times. He can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Republicans said the Congressional Budget Office made bad predictions about how Americans would have responded to legislation moving toward the repeal of Obamacare. (Associated Press/File)

Obamacare costs to rise faster than inflation, CBO projects

Obamacare premiums will rise an average of 5 percent a year over the next decade, much higher than the annual inflation rate, the government's chief scorekeeper predicted Thursday, saying that while the 2010 health care law is stable, the government will have to pump in more money per customer to keep it running. Published September 14, 2017

This image provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows what the new Medicare cards will look like. The cards are getting a makeover to fight identity theft. No more Social Security numbers will be placed on the card. Next April, Medicare will begin mailing every beneficiary a new card with a unique new number to identify them. (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services via AP)

Medicare to issue new cards in anti-fraud measure

Medicare enrollees will receive brand-new cards that replace their Social Security numbers with unique IDs, the Trump administration said Thursday, hoping to crack down on the type of identity theft and fraud that's soaking the federal insurance program. Published September 14, 2017

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., center, joined by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., center left, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., center right, and supporters, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, to unveil their Medicare for All legislation to reform health care. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Bernie Sanders, Democrats introduce “Medicare for all” bill

Sen. Bernard Sanders released a long-awaited "Medicare for all" bill Wednesday that would give Americans a publicly funded insurance card, allowing them to see the doctor without paying anything out-of-pocket or shelling out premiums to private companies. Published September 13, 2017

Senate Budget Committee members Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, and Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., leave a closed-door meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Trump's top economic adviser Gary Cohn, as they struggle with a tax code overhaul, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. The as-yet-undrafted bill to overhaul the tax code is the top priority for Trump and Republicans after the collapse of their effort to dismantle Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP senators push last-ditch bill to repeal Obamacare

Four Senate Republicans unveiled a last-ditch effort Wednesday to repeal Obamacare, calling for scrapping federal insurance mandates and instead sending the health law's money to the states, letting them decide what to do with their share. Published September 13, 2017

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Democrat (Associated Press) **FILE**

Kirsten Gillibrand joins chorus pushing ‘Medicare for all’

High-profile Democrats are rallying around Sen. Bernard Sanders' plan to offer "Medicare for all," as the push for universal, government-run coverage gains steam in the wake of the GOP's failure to kill Obamacare. Published September 12, 2017

President Donald Trump waves and begins to walk away after stopping to answers questions on at South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Trump commented on the response to Hurricane Irma which he called "some big monster," and praised both FEMA and the Coast Guard for their efforts as the storm made landfall. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Democrats to Trump: Where’s your opioid emergency declaration?

Senate Democrats on Monday demanded to know why President Trump hasn't followed through on his month-old pledge to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency, saying the delay is forcing them to question his commitment to the fight. Published September 11, 2017

After casting the deciding thumbs-down on the GOP's repeal-and-replace effort on Obamacare in July, Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, is now supporting a plan by his GOP colleagues to allow states to use their Obamacare money as they see fit. (Associated Press)

Obamacare repeal vote sees new life under John McCain plan

Sen. John McCain, the longtime "maverick" whose thumbs-down quashed the GOP's push to repeal Obamacare in July, is now at the center of a long-shot bid to revive the repeal effort before Republicans run out of time. Published September 10, 2017

Utah Governor Gary Herbert speaks at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss ways to stabilize health insurance markets, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Governors in both parties plead for Obamacare payments, flexibility

Governors who were shut out of the drive to repeal Obamacare implored Congress on Thursday to shore up the program by guaranteeing dollars the White House has threatened to withhold, while giving states a freer hand to shape their markets under the 2010 law. Published September 7, 2017

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017, file photo, water from Addicks Reservoir flows into neighborhoods as floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey rise in Houston. For small businesses, the recovery from hurricanes and other natural disasters can take years, if they can recover at all. Business owners in Houston have only just started assessing their damage and how to move forward. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Texas to begin aerial mosquito spraying after Harvey

Texas health officials said Wednesday they will use airplanes to spray for mosquitoes in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which left large areas of standing water in which nuisance or Zika-carrying insects can lay eggs. Published September 6, 2017

Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican, said the administration's tariffs are "like shooting ourselves in both feet" because they raise prices for consumers while reducing revenue, profits, wages and jobs. (Associated Press/File)

Senate panel launches push to patch up Obamacare

The Senate Health Committee launched a politically ambitious effort Wednesday to shore up Obamacare's ailing markets, saying nearly 20 million Americans are counting on them to find common ground after President Trump's push to repeal and replace the law collapsed. Published September 6, 2017

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, walks towards the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. Lawmakers returned to Washington Tuesday facing fast-approaching deadlines, including pressing demands to replenish dwindling disaster aid reserves as Texas and Louisiana dig out from Harvey and an even more powerful hurricane, Irma, bears down on the U.S. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republicans facing swiftly closing window on Obamacare repeal

Congressional Republicans returned from their summer recess Tuesday facing a swiftly closing window to repeal Obamacare using GOP votes alone, as a mounting September to-do list and procedural deadlines threatened to doom a fast-track effort that was supposed to be dusted off months ago. Published September 5, 2017

Senate Health Committee chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander is urging his GOP colleagues to bless short-term fixes to Obamacare for consumers and insurers who've been left in a type of "no man's land" ahead of this fall's sign-up period. Mr. Alexander launched the effort with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray. (Associated Press)

Obamacare shore-up bill pushed by bipartisan group of senators

Despite partisan headwinds and a crowded September to-do list, a bipartisan crop of senators is pushing a GOP-led Congress to endorse what would have been unthinkable at the start of the year — a bill to shore up Obamacare. Published September 4, 2017