Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Mario Henderson leads chants of "save Medicaid," as other social service activists, Medicaid recipients and their supporters stage a protest outside the building that houses the offices of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Jackson, Miss. Soaring prices and fewer choices may greet customers when they return to the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces in the fall of 2017, in part because insurers are facing deep uncertainty about whether the Trump administration will continue to make key subsidy payments and enforce other parts of the existing law that help control prices. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

CDC: 28 million lacked insurance in early 2017

The number of uninsured Americans remained relatively unchanged from early 2016 to 2017, the government said Tuesday, offering fresh evidence that Obamacare's sweeping coverage gains are stalling out.

August 29, 2017
Volunteers and Harris County Sheriff deputies lift an elderly person on a wheelchair over the flooded C.E. King Parkway under the East Sam Houston North on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP)

CDC warns Hurricane Harvey victims of post-storm risks

Americans reeling from the storm damage and flooding in Texas and Louisiana should watch out for major health risks after Hurricane Harvey is gone, federal health officials said Tuesday, warning residents to avoid everything from downed power lines and carbon monoxide to mosquitoes and mold.

August 29, 2017
In this Oct. 8, 2013, file photo, a sign marks the entrance to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

CDC: HPV vaccination rates rising, though rural areas lag behind

Most parents are taking their children to get vaccinated for sexually transmitted HPV, yet fewer than half of U.S. teens received the follow-up shots they need to be fully protected, the government said Thursday in a study that also finds rural areas are falling behind.

August 24, 2017
The Capitol stays open as the Republican majority in Congress remains stymied by their inability to fulfill their political promise to repeal and replace "Obamacare", because of opposition and wavering within the GOP ranks, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Every U.S. county poised to have Obamacare insurer

Obamacare customers in every part of the U.S. are poised to have at least one insurer to choose from in 2018, after Ohio regulators said Thursday they convinced a nonprofit to offer plans in the nation's last remaining "bare county."

August 24, 2017

Senate health panel announces hearings on Obamacare markets

The Senate Health Committee will hold a pair of hearings on patching up Obamacare's wobbly markets as soon as Congress returns in September from the summer recess, its Republican chairman and ranking Democrat announced Tuesday.

August 22, 2017
While the U.S. government spent liberally to combat the Zika epidemic, public health officials warn pockets of the once-fearsome disease might still pop up in the country, requiring medical officials to remain vigilant. (Associated Press)

Zika virus reduced to few cases after scare in 2016

The Zika virus scare that sparked unprecedented travel warnings and a rush on bug spray in 2016 has petered out in its second year, with scientists saying that efforts to stamp out disease-carrying mosquitoes and the human immunity built up over the last year have combined to contain the spread.

August 20, 2017
This Oct. 10, 2013, file photo, shows an EpiPen epinephrine auto-injector, a Mylan product, in Hendersonville, Texas. Mylan reports earnings Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski, File)

EpiPen manufacturer Mylan agrees to $465M settlement with U.S.

Mylan, the maker of EpiPens for allergy sufferers, has agreed to pay $465 million to settle claims it short-changed taxpayers by misclassifying its popular device as a generic instead of a brand-name product, a U.S. attorney for Massachusetts said Thursday.

August 17, 2017

CBO: Cutting off Obamacare payments would jack premiums up 20 percent

Cutting off Obamacare reimbursement payments for insurers -- as President Trump has threatened to do -- would send premiums soaring by 20 percent next year, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, predicting that health insurance companies would hike rates to make up for the loss of taxpayers' money.

August 15, 2017
** FILE ** Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump sticks by Scott Garrett nomination to Export-Import Bank

President Trump is standing by former Rep. Scott Garrett, his pick to chair the Export-Import Bank, and is prepared to brave protests from business groups and senators who say the ex-congressman won't even commit to protecting the agency he's supposed to lead.

August 13, 2017

Donald Trump declares opioid crisis a ‘national emergency’

President Trump directed his administration Thursday to treat the opioid epidemic as a national emergency, following through on his own commission's advice just days after his health secretary suggested the president didn't need additional powers to fight the scourge of heroin and prescription painkiller abuse.

August 10, 2017

Teen pregnancy prevention grants to be trimmed under Trump

The Trump administration is cutting short a batch of Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants, angering big-city health department chiefs who said Wednesday they will no longer be able to figure out what's working to cut pregnancy rates.

August 9, 2017

Opioid overdose deaths rising despite efforts: Gov’t report

Drug overdose deaths spiked in the first nine months of 2016, according to government data that suggests the opioid crisis is still killing an alarming number of Americans despite nationwide efforts to get a handle on the epidemic.

August 8, 2017