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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, is shown during a committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 11, 2017. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Senate Dems propose Medicare buy-in bill

A pair of Senate Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that allows working-age Americans to buy into Medicare, a proposal that inches toward a single-payer system without fully embracing a government-run system in a pivotal election year.

April 18, 2018
In this April 4, 2018 photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks on a question during a town hall meeting with Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, examining economic justice 50 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) **FILE**

Bernie Sanders takes aim at opioid companies

Sen. Bernard Sanders took direct aim Tuesday at opioid makers he said are fueling the drug-overdose crisis, proposing legislation that would impose crippling fines and even jail time on company executives who downplay the addictive nature of their product.

April 17, 2018
In this April 26, 2017 file photo supporters of single-payer health care march to the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. A poll released on April 13, 2018, finds that a slim majority of Americans now support the idea of a government-run single-payer health care system. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli file) **FILE**

Poll: Slim majority supports single-payer health care

Just over half of U.S. adults back single-payer health care, according to a poll released Friday that says the idea of government-run health care is still a partisan issue but finds favor with enough independents to produce a slim majority of public support.

April 13, 2018
FILE - In a Monday, June 19, 2017 file photo, U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., speaks to reporters about the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, following a news conference in Canton, Miss. Harper said Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018 that he won't seek re-election this year. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

House panel to grill opioid distributors in May

Republican leaders announced Thursday they will haul executives from top opioid distributors before Congress to testify about their alleged roles in "pill dumping" in West Virginia -- a state reeling from the addiction crisis.

April 12, 2018
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam gestures as he delivers his State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly as Lt. gov. Justin Fairfax, left, and House Speaker Kirk cox, R-Colonial Heights, right, listen at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ** FILE **

Virginia Democrats near victory on Medicaid expansion

Powered by last year's electoral victories and emboldened by GOP defections, Virginia Democrats are on the cusp of winning an expansion of Medicaid — something they've been seeking since Obamacare first passed eight years ago.

April 10, 2018
FILE - In this July 27, 2017, file photo Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss. The state's governor will appoint Hyde-Smith as Mississippi's first female member of Congress to fill the Senate vacancy that will soon be created when Sen. Thad Cochran retires, three state Republicans told The Associated Press on Tuesday, March 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Cindy Hyde-Smith sworn in by Mike Pence

Cindy Hyde-Smith was sworn in Monday as the junior senator from Mississippi, making her the first female member of Congress from the Southern state.

April 9, 2018
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, pauses for a reporter's question at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 18, 2018. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Lamar Alexander proposes bill to empower FDA in opioids fight

The Food and Drug Administration should use its share of anti-opioid money in the new omnibus spending bill to expand labs and train dogs to sniff out deadly fentanyl that's slipping through U.S. mail facilities, a top senator proposed Monday.

March 26, 2018
In this June 6, 2017, file photo, a reporter holds up an example of the amount of fentanyl that can be deadly, after a news conference about deaths from fentanyl exposure, at DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Va. The chief justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court told prosecutors she fears that allowing fentanyl and carfentanil into courtrooms as evidence puts people at risk even when the drugs are properly packaged. Some medical experts said a proposal to ban them from courtrooms appears to be driven by a misguided understanding of the real dangers of the substances. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

GOP lawmakers heed Trump’s call to crack down on opioid dealers

Heeding President Trump's call to "get tough," Capitol Hill Republicans filed legislation Thursday that sets lengthy prison terms for fentanyl dealers, saying criminals must think twice before they peddle synthetic powders that can fit into a salt shaker, yet kill tens of thousands.

March 22, 2018