Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
Mitch McConnell: Obamacare may need to be patched up if no agreement reached
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled Thursday that Congress will have to prop up Obamacare's ailing markets if Republicans cannot smooth over their differences and pass a plan to scrap the 2010 law. Published July 6, 2017
Chuck Schumer blasts Ted Cruz health plan as ‘hoax’
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer blasted a health care proposal by conservative Sen. Ted Cruz as a "hoax" Thursday, hoping to blunt any momentum around the Texan's idea to rally votes for the GOP's faltering push to repeal and replace Obamacare. Published July 6, 2017
CDC: Opioid prescribing in U.S. dipped after 2010 ‘peak’
Opioid prescribing in the U.S. reached its peak in 2010 and then started a slow decline, yet patients are still filling far more prescriptions than they were at the close of the 1990s, government scientists said Thursday in a study that underscores the deep roots of the painkiller and heroin epidemic. Published July 6, 2017
Democrats trash Republican’s ‘repeal, replace’ health care bill
One Democratic senator said the GOP's health care bill would make the "Wicked Witch of West cringe." Another compared it to a "mean dog." Liberal hero Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the bill will leave Americans' blood on Republicans' hands. Published July 5, 2017
GOP tries to shift health care pressure onto Dems
Republican operatives countered attacks on the Republican health care plans Wednesday with ads saying Democrats haven't brought anything to the table beyond a push for government-run, single-payer system. Published July 5, 2017
Senate Democrats target freshmen Republicans
Democrats say the political pain from Republicans' troubled Obamacare repeal effort could be felt years into the future, and are already gearing up to attack GOP senators up for re-election in 2020. Published July 3, 2017
Donald Trump courts Senate GOP on health care bill
The White House says President Trump wants to pass a single Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill, but he's courting Senate Republicans who want to rip off the Band-Aid and gut the 2010 law upfront, leaving Congress no choice but to replace it in a bout of legislative summer school this August. Published July 2, 2017
Insurer steps in to fill gaps in Missouri Obamacare market
Centene Corp, a health insurer, said Friday it will offer Obamacare plans in Missouri next year, filling the gap in about two dozen "bare counties" after other insurers withdrew. Published June 30, 2017
Donald Trump floats repeal, then quickly replace, idea on health care
President Trump on Friday floated a potential Plan B to Senate Republicans who are struggling to break an intraparty logjam and pass a health care bill. Published June 30, 2017
Mayors go on attack as GOP regroups on health care
Democratic mayors ramped up their attacks Wednesday on a Senate GOP health bill that's stalled for now but likely to return, warning that estimated coverage losses and cuts to Medicaid funding would devastate their budgets, worsen the opioid crisis and afflict local hospitals. Published June 28, 2017
Mitch McConnell delays health care vote in face of GOP defections
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shelved plans for the Senate to vote this week on the Republicans' proposed Obamacare repeal, suffering an embarrassing setback Tuesday as he acknowledged the bill he wrote failed to win over enough troops in his own party. Published June 27, 2017
GOP leaders push for health vote despite mounting blowback
Senate GOP leaders said Tuesday they will charge toward a health care vote this week despite mounting concerns from within their own party. Published June 27, 2017
CBO: Senate Republican health care plan cuts costs, coverage
Senate Republicans' Obamacare repeal bill would lower most Americans' premiums and save the government more than $300 billion over the next decade but also leave 22 million fewer people with health care coverage, the Congressional Budget Office said in an analysis Monday. Published June 26, 2017
Susan Collins to vote no on Republican health care plan after CBO analysis
Republican Sen. Susan Collins said Monday a new budget analysis shows the GOP plan to replace Obamacare falls short and she will reject a procedural motion to take up the bill this week. Published June 26, 2017
CBO: Senate health bill would result in 22M more uninsured by 2026
The Senate version of the Republican health care bill would allow some Americans to pay less for skinnier plans but result in 22 million fewer people holding coverage a decade from now, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday in estimates that could make it harder for the GOP to scrap Obamacare. Published June 26, 2017
Senate Republicans plan to revise health care bill
Senate Republicans released a revised version of their health care plan Monday, replacing Obamacare's "individual mandate" with a provision designed to prevent Americans from waiting until they get sick to sign up for insurance coverage. Published June 26, 2017
Obamacare repeal plan needs Republican balance to pass
Senate Republicans must stamp out a series of fires to keep their Obamacare repeal mission alive this week, such as pinning down party holdouts and massaging arcane budget rules to appease pro-life activists and insurers. Published June 25, 2017
Dean Heller becomes 5th Republican to balk at health bill
Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said Friday he cannot support the Senate health care bill as written, making him the fifth Republican to say he won't vote for the Obamacare repeal plan unless it's changed. Published June 23, 2017
Regan Nichols, doctor who prescribed ‘horrifyingly excessive’ amount of opioids, charged with murder
An Oklahoma doctor accused of prescribing a "horrifyingly excessive" amount of painkillers was charged with murder Friday, a pioneering prosecution that reflects nationwide efforts to stamp out the opioid crisis. Published June 23, 2017
Pelosi rallies Democrats to fight Senate health bill: ‘The next few days are critical’
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told Democrats Friday to dig up and air stories about the "devastating impact" that a GOP plan to replace Obamacare could have on the most vulnerable, as Republicans try to pin down votes and fulfill their repeal promise before the July 4 holiday. Published June 23, 2017