Trump calls on Congress to find bipartisan replacement for Obamacare

President Trump called on Congress Monday to work on a bipartisan health care plan, in light of a controversial court ruling that struck a major blow to Obamacare.

Judge strikes down Obamacare in entirety, throws Republicans political hot potato

President Trump says a federal judge's decision to strike Obamacare in its entirety is an early Christmas gift that clears the decks for a health care plan in the new year.

Trump admin.: You can still shop on HealthCare.gov

The Trump administration is reminding Americans they can still sign up for Obamacare coverage even though a federal judge said Congress invalidated the law by striking its mandate to hold insurance, starting in 2019.

Kentucky court says OxyContin maker must release marketing documents

A Kentucky appeals court on Friday ruled documents on how Purdue Pharma marketed OxyContin, a major prescription opioid, should be unsealed.

Obamacare defenders face Saturday deadline, plead for signups

Sen. Sherrod Brown isn't just pleading with folks to get covered under Obamacare by Saturday's deadline -- he's showing them how to do it, too.

HealthCare.gov signups 500K behind last year's pace

Roughly 500,000 fewer people have selected coverage on the main Obamacare website than at this point last year, the administration reported Wednesday, meaning sign-ups continue to lag heading into the final days of 2019 enrollment.

Naloxone maker rolls out cheaper generic, after pricing outcry

A Virginia drugmaker said Wednesday that it will roll out a far cheaper, generic version of its overdose-reversing naloxone, one month after Senate investigators accused the company of capitalizing on the U.S. opioid epidemic by dramatically hiking its price.

'Stunning': 80% using Obamacare's Medicaid expansion are ineligible, Louisiana report finds

Louisiana's legislative auditor wanted to know how the state's expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare was doing, so he picked 100 people who were deemed eligible under the rules.

Trump outlines ways states can duck Obamacare's strictures

The Trump administration on Thursday outlined ways that states can skirt Obamacare, freeing adventurous governors and legislators to spend federal money on health plans that don't meet the strict standards of the law's exchanges.

White House works on backup plan for Obamacare

The Trump administration is formulating a backup plan to ensure that Obamacare customers can still get insurance if a state-driven lawsuit is successful in striking down the 2010 health law.

Trump admin forming 'contingency plans' if lawsuit kills Obamacare

The Trump administration is forming a backup plan to ensure that sicker Americans can still get insurance if a state-driven lawsuit is successful in striking down Obamacare, the chief of federal insurance programs said Tuesday.

Pace of Obamacare sign-ups lagging, three weeks in

Sign-ups on Obamacare's main portal aren't coming in as fast as they were last year, according to a federal "snapshot" on Wednesday that looked at consumer interest three weeks into the 2019 enrollment period.

Couch potato death: More Americans sitting, not moving, health officials warn

Call it suicide on the back side: Americans are sitting themselves to death, federal data show.

Sen. Bernie Sanders' bill would force drug companies to match foreign prices

Capitol Hill progressives said Tuesday they've crafted legislation that compels drug companies to charge Americans no more than the median price for prescriptions in Canada, the U.K., France, Germany and Japan.

FDA moves to limit sale of flavored e-cigs, ban menthol cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it plans to ban flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes, and restrict the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, saying the U.S. must reverse a ballooning "epidemic" of teen use.

Health care system settles Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit

One of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the Untied States on Thursday settled a Justice Department lawsuit alleging it negotiated unlawful contacts that prevented patients from accessing less expensive physicians and hospitals.

High drug prices a target of opportunity for divided Congress

In January, Democrats will hold the majority in the House, dealing a crushing blow to much of the legislative agenda advanced by President Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Western lifestyle, not age, a greater risk for high blood pressure: Study

While doctors attribute high blood pressure to risk factors of age and family history, research published Wednesday argues that the Western lifestyle is more directly responsible for the silent yet deadly condition of heart disease, the No. 1 cause of death globally.

Exercise lessens drug cravings in mice, report finds

Exercise is known to have countless health benefits, both physical and mental, but new research shows it can also be an effective tool in helping people prevent relapse of drug use.

'Reinsurance' Obamacare fix wins bipartisan support in Senate

Senators on both sides of the aisle want to bring back a bipartisan "reinsurance" plan, in which federal dollars blunt the costs of pricey customers in states' markets, so everyone else can pay less.

Juul to yank flavored e-cigs from stores, close social media accounts

Facing intense pressure from the Trump administration, the nation's leading e-cigarette maker said Tuesday it will clamp down on teen use by shuttering its social media accounts and yanking flavored products from the 90,000 retail shops where they're sold.

Updated health guidelines encourage Americans to 'move more, sit less'

Federal researchers published updated guidelines on exercise and physical activity on Monday, stressing that any movement is beneficial than none at all in an effort to reduce and prevent a number of medical conditions and chronic diseases.

Democratic attorney general candidates won with campaigns centering on health care

Promises of leading the anti-Trump resistance weren't a magic bullet in last week's elections.

Lawyers seek end to birth-control mandate battle: 'Stop fighting nuns'

Lawyers for Catholic nuns who challenged the Obama-era "contraception mandate" cheered the Trump administration's expanded carve-out Thursday, saying they hoped the final rules would end "a long and unnecessary culture war fight."

McConnell: GOP hopes to ax Obamacare are gone

The Senate's top Republican admitted Wednesday that the party's hopes for repealing Obamacare are dead in Congress after Democrats captured control of the House, leaving in place a law that few think is working.

Trump admin finalizes sweeping carve-out from Obamacare contraception mandate

The Trump administration on Wednesday finalized rules that allow a wide range of employers to duck Obamacare's contraceptive mandate by claiming "sincerely held religious beliefs" or a moral objection.

Doctors say natural supplement kratom linked to opioid withdrawal symptoms in newborn: Report

Doctors believe the herbal supplement kratom caused newborns to exhibit withdrawal symptoms, as federal officials seek to classify the Southeast Asian plant as a dangerous opioid and activists defend it as a harmless pain reliever.

Three deep-red states vote to expand Medicaid

Three ruby-red states voted Tuesday to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, meaning more than 300,000 people will be eligible for taxpayer-funded insurance once Republican governors begin drawing down federal funds.

Seeking clarity on drug pricing

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar wants to make prescription drug pricing more transparent. We agree, but his well-intentioned plan will only confuse and mislead consumers. What's the good of listing drug prices in advertising if almost no one pays that "list price?" When patients say, "My drugs are too expensive," they're not talking about the list price — they're talking about their co-pays at the pharmacy.

Trump: No heads-up from Sessions on Obamacare position

Two months after oral arguments, a federal judge hasn't said whether a Republican tweak to Obamacare should stop the entire program in its tracks, pushing an explosive fight over the law beyond the midterms and forcing voters to decide which party can be trusted to balance protections for pre-existing conditions with affordable coverage.

Issues that dominate the midterms

Several issues dominate the midterm elections this week: The roaring economy, migrant caravans on a mysteriously swift journey to the United States, health care reform and leftist mobs protesting almost nonstop.

Feds say heroin, fentanyl remain biggest drug threat to U.S.

Opioid overdose deaths hit the highest level ever recorded in the United States last year, with an estimated 200 people dying per day, according to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Obama steps into midterm fight over health law, pre-existing conditions

Former President Obama on Thursday stepped into the midterm fight over insurance for sicker Americans, saying protections built into his signature health law are "absolutely at stake" on Election Day.

Federal health care website up and running after slow start

The federal website where consumers can get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act was up and running Thursday after a slow start as sign-up season for 2019 opened days before the midterm elections.

Obesity epidemic costs U.S. economy $1.72 trillion

The obesity epidemic in the U.S. has cost the U.S. economy $1.72 trillion, which includes hundreds of billions of dollars in health care costs and more than a trillion dollars in lost productivity, according to a report published Tuesday by the Milken Institute, a California-based economic think tank.

Trump meddling nudged Obamacare rates higher: Study

President Trump's fiddling with Obamacare will cause premiums for mid-tier health plans to be 16 percent higher than they would have been if he'd left the program alone, a nonpartisan study said Friday.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar: Trump's moves are 'ultimate nightmare' for Big Pharma

Health Secretary Alex Azar said President Trump's bid to tie what the U.S. government pays for certain Medicare drugs to what other nations pay won't cripple innovation or access to vital treatments, even if the plan is one of Big Pharma's "ultimate nightmares."

Trump admin reactivates Obamacare tool after breach

The Trump administration said Friday it's reactivated an Obamacare signup tool for insurance agents and brokers after a cyber breach exposed 75,000 individuals' private files.

Justice Department announces new measures to fight opioids

The Justice Department will create a task force to target prescription opioid abuse in the Appalachian region, as part of a series of measures to fight a drug epidemic that has claimed the lives of 72,000 Americans, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday.

Pharmaceutical industry challenges Trump plan forcing companies to reveal drug prices in TV ads

The pharmaceutical industry is fighting back, arguing that consumers should be able to find the price elsewhere and that few people end up paying the list price anyway.

Fighting opioids in the mail

Toward the end of the summer, I wrote in this paper about the need to attack the nationwide opioid epidemic from every possible angle. Nonprofits, local elected officials and our federal government have admirably worked on efforts ranging from reducing the stigma of addiction to tackling over-prescription. But any successes have been stymied by a failure to address the supply chain for the deadliest synthetic drugs that enter our communities every day.

Trump signs sweeping opioids bill, says effort will make 'big dent' in deadly crisis

President Trump signed a mammoth opioids bill Wednesday designed to expand treatment options, fund non-addictive painkillers and stop the flow of deadly synthetic drugs from abroad, saying the bipartisan effort will combine with his own efforts put a "big dent" in the problem.

Better health care, state-style

No one is guaranteed a tomorrow, but expectations run pretty high for happy days in the here and now. Americans consider first-rate health care a right tucked somewhere in the Constitution, between baseball and free hot dogs. The lengthy struggle over the proper role of government in facilitating access to modern medicine — including the grinding Obamacare tug-of-war — has reached an exhausting stalemate. With voters soon to pass judgment on the well-being of the nation, legislators at every level would be advised to get on with devising a health care system that Americans can live with. The key could be loosening the bureaucratic rules and enabling states to do what they were meant to do.

Opioid overdose deaths start to level off; HHS secretary credits Trump efforts

Deaths from drug overdoses are starting to "plateau," Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday, arguing that the epidemic remains dire but that President Trump's efforts are paying dividends.

Trump admin. loosens up Obamacare waiver rules

States looking to get around Obamacare's strictures will soon be able to use federal money to help people buy cheaper, skimpier plans, so long as they don't also eliminate plans that met Obamacare's earlier requirements, the Trump administration said Monday.

'Medicare for all'

It seems like just yesterday that Democrats were telling us that under Obamacare, "if you like your doctor and if you like your health plan you can keep it."

HHS IG: Hospitals better prepared for Ebola after 2014 outbreak

Far more U.S. hospitals are prepared to deal with Ebola than they were in 2014, when a raging outbreak in West Africa stress-tested the American health system and forced the federal government to rewrite its guidelines for dealing with infectious diseases, a government watchdog said Friday.

Sen. Chuck Schumer: Voters see through Trump's talk on health care

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Friday he's counting on voters to see through President Trump's rhetoric on protections for people with preexisting conditions, arguing Mr. Trump's policy foibles and hands-off approach to a lawsuit that threatens Obamacare belies his claims of "total support" for measures that shield the sick.

Polio-like paralyzing disease hits hundreds -- but don't call it polio

The United States was declared "polio-free" in 1979, a feat the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is "thanks to [an] effective vaccine." But now it's back -- or is it? The government says no, the condition that's been inflicting hundreds with polio-like symptoms is not, in fact, polio. It's polio-like. It's polio-pretty much. But it's not polio.

Trump: 'All Republicans' support pre-existing condition protections

President Trump leapt into the election-year fight over protections for people with pre-existing conditions Thursday, saying the GOP will defend them.

Virginia Gov. Northam: Medicaid expansion signups to begin Nov. 1

Virginia's decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare will make its first big splash on Nov. 1, when newly eligible people can begin enrolling in coverage that takes effect on New Year's Day, Gov. Ralph Northam said Thursday.

Health care is top issue for midterm voters: Poll

Midterm voters are mostly likely to cite health care as a leading issue, according to a Thursday poll that bolsters Democrats' decision to focus on coverage and care but says immigration and polarizing views of President Trump are crowding the message out.

Bob Casey pulls 'cruel' ad from Lou Barletta's home market

The campaign of Democratic Sen. Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania on Monday pulled a TV ad from the home market of Republican challenger Rep. Lou Barletta, after Mr. Barletta called it cruel to his family.

People more likely to forgo care in states that refused Medicaid expansion, gov't study shows

Poor adults in states that refused to expand Medicaid are more likely to say they've gone without needed medical care than those living in states that snapped up federal dollars to extend coverage, a government watchdog said Monday.

Big pharma says it will disclose more about drug costs

The Trump administration said Monday it will force drug makers to disclose the list price of medicines in their television ads, setting up a clash with the pharmaceutical industry, which is resisting such open disclosures.

Key Obamacare rates to drop slightly in 2019

Premiums for key health plans will drop by an average of 1.5 percent on the federal marketplace in 2019, the Trump administration said Thursday, heralding an "especially gratifying" end to years of eye-popping hikes on HealthCare.gov.

Democrats' bid to scuttle Obamacare change defeated

President Trump blasted Democrats on Wednesday for trying to overturn his administration's push to give consumers an off-ramp from Obamacare, warning that their defense of the 2010 law is a path to government-run socialized medicine.

Trump signs bipartisan bills to boost drug-pricing transparency

President Trump signed a bill Wednesday forbidding "gag clauses" that prevent pharmacists from telling customers they can save money in some cases by paying cash for their prescriptions, instead of relying on their insurance and making the co-payment.

GOP defeats bid to cancel expansion of Obamacare-evading plans

Senate Republicans turned back a Democratic bid Wednesday to kill President Trump's plan to expand the sale of health plans that fall short of Obamacare's rules, saying Americans who buy insurance on their own need more options, not fewer.

Justice Department approves $69B CVS/Aetna deal

The Department of Justice on Wednesday granted conditional approval of CVS Health's $69 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna, the department announced.

Eight reasons to still hate Obamacare

Remember Obamacare? The fight is far from over on the future of the Obama-era health insurance overhaul. Republicans are making a list-ditch effort this year to turn the program and the money over to the state. This isn't full Obamacare repeal, but would make a world of sense because states would be free to experiment and find ways to reduce costs and provide better services.

Opioid treatment gap in Medicare: Methadone clinics

One in three older Americans with Medicare drug coverage is prescribed opioid painkillers, but for those who develop a dangerous addiction there is one treatment Medicare won't cover: methadone.

Another funeral for repeal and replace

The Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare was dead and buried. The eulogies, such as they were, were over and the Health Care Freedom Act of 2017 was dispatched to a forgettable corner of the graveyard. But when a couple of senators noticed a twitch and heard a groan they pulled it out of its coffin and called the medics.

Oregon may drop faltering Obamacare exchange and turn to federal website

Oregon may drop its glitch-laden Obamacare exchange and rely on the federally run HealthCare.gov website instead, according to a new report.

Sessions announces biggest health-fraud takedown 'in history'

Federal agents carried out the biggest health care fraud takedown "in history" on Thursday, the Department of Justice said, charging more than 600 people across the country with bilking taxpayers for $2 billion through fake medical claims and prescriptions for unneeded opioids.

Trump opens door to sale of 'association' health plans across state lines

The Trump administration finalized plans Tuesday to let small companies and the self-employed band together and buy health insurance outside of Obamacare's strict rules, moving to offer coverage to people priced out of the market by the 2010 health care law.

States sue opioid makers, say deceptive tactics used to downplay addiction risks

Six states sued a leading opioid manufacturer Tuesday, saying Purdue Pharma used deceptive tactics to downplay the risks of its painkiller OxyContin and helped fuel the addiction crisis.

Trump vows to end 'rip-offs' at the pharmacy counter

President Trump said Friday he will put "American patients first" by speeding cheaper drugs to market, forcing companies to disclose prices and leveraging trade deals to put U.S. consumers on a level playing field with those abroad.

Trump administration says it's developing medications to help wean people off opioids

The Trump administration said Tuesday it is developing long-lasting medications that wean people off opioids — while slashing the odds of relapse — and overdose-reversing drugs that can compete with synthetics that kill faster than regular heroin.

Alex Azar: Trump opioid plan includes retraining physicians on pain-management options

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday that President Trump is committed to reducing the number of prescribed opioids and retraining physicians on how to handle pain management.

Feds take on clinical, commercial roots of opioids crisis

Food and Drug Administrator Scott Gottlieb said Thursday his agency will be "very aggressive" in warning consumers about opioid-related products or taking them off the market, noting for too long, people thought the U.S. drug epidemic was welling up from the illicit heroin market.

White House to host 'opioids summit' for survivors of epidemic

First lady Melania Trump and a sweeping roster of Cabinet members will gather Thursday for a White House summit designed to highlight President Trump's efforts to tackle the opioids crisis.

Alex Azar sworn as HHS secretary; Trump orders him to bring down drug prices

Alex Azar was sworn Monday as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, filling a critical seat in President Trump's cabinet that for months had been filled by an acting boss.

Roberts' Obamacare argument being used by GOP to undo individual mandate requirement

When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. rescued Obamacare in 2012, he ruled it was legal to require Americans to hold health insurance under Congress's taxing power -- and said it was up to lawmakers to kill it, if they wanted.

Trump's executive order for health care alternatives prods Congress to pass Obamacare repeal

President Trump, frustrated by the Senate's failure to repeal Obamacare, took his first unilateral steps to tweak the struggling heath care system Thursday by signing an executive order that clears the way for giving consumers more insurance alternatives.

Senators, agencies plot ways to head off opioids addiction

Government officials on Thursday said they're scrambling to keep Americans from getting hooked on opioids in the first place, from cutting the number of pills in circulation to crafting drugs that attack pain without triggering brain receptors that crave another high.

Senate GOP shelves Obamacare repeal

Senate Republicans said Tuesday they're shelving their 11th-hour push to repeal Obamacare, admitting defeat in the face of three crippling defections from their majority.

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.

Liberals with eye on presidency rush to support Sanders's 'Medicare for all' bill

High-profile liberals are rushing to back a single-payer system, signing onto the "Medicare for all" bill that Sen. Bernard Sanders will unveil Wednesday and laying the groundwork for the next big health care fight.

Supreme Court upholds Obama health care law

Gallery: 40 Photos
The Supreme Court upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul.

Obama chats up health care

Gallery: 6 Photos
President Obama speaks about the Patient's Bill of Rights and health care reform in the backyard of a private residence in Falls Church, Va.

Document: Supreme Court opinion (PDF)