Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

President Obama has been hoping to shore up his health legacy — roughly 20 million have gained coverage under his reforms — instead of fending off repeated legal challenges to reforms. (Associated Press)

Judge rules in favor of House GOP in Obamacare lawsuit

A federal judge dealt President Obama and his health care law a major blow Thursday, ruling in favor of House Republicans who said the administration broke the law and trod on Congress' fundamental powers by paying Obamacare insurers without permission from Capitol Hill.

May 12, 2016
Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Zika funding deal close in Senate

Sen. Roy Blunt said negotiators are nearing a deal that would partially fund President Obama's $1.9 billion request for emergency spending to combat the Zika virus at home and abroad.

May 11, 2016
Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Senate nears deal for funding for Zika fight

Sen. Roy Blunt said negotiators are nearing a deal that would partially fund President Obama's $1.9 billion request for emergency spending to combat the Zika virus at home and abroad.

May 11, 2016
David Vitter (Associated Press/File)

David Vitter holding up OPM nomination over Obamacare ‘fraud’

Sen. David Vitter said Wednesday he will not lift his hold on President Obama's pick to lead the federal personnel office because the agency continues to let members of Congress use an Obamacare exchange while receiving a generous employer subsidy, an option that regular Americans don't have.

May 11, 2016
In this Feb. 11, 2016, file photo of aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen in a mosquito cage at a laboratory in Cucuta, Colombia. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)

Governors to Congress: Strike a deal on Zika funding now

The nation's governors urged Congress Monday to strike a deal on federal funding to combat the Zika virus, saying Capitol Hill must act before the mosquito-borne virus can reach a "tipping point" that leads to a rapid rate of infection in their states.

May 9, 2016
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 10, 2015, before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on President Obama's health care law. Burwell said it will be up to Congress and the states to decide what to do should the Supreme Court annul federal subsidies that are a cornerstone of Obama's health care law. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Obama admin: Help us design a medical bill people can understand

The Obama administration challenged health care groups, web developers and other innovators Monday to design a medical bill that patients can actually read and understand, saying a patchwork of content and jargon is overwhelming Americans who just want to know what they owe and why.

May 9, 2016
Mosquito inspector Giraldo Carratala responds to a complaint in a Miami neighborhood. Health officials are concerned about the Zika virus and the mosquitoes that spread it. (Associated Press)

Zika fears fuel demand for bug spray as mosquito season looms

Factories are churning out bug spray around the clock as fears of the mosquito-borne Zika virus take hold. Demand has tripled in Brazil, where the virus is already entrenched, and has doubled in the U.S., even though no mosquito-transmitted cases have been recorded in the country.

May 5, 2016
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (Associated Press) **FILE**

Fla. Gov. Rick Scott to Congress: Treat Zika threat ‘like a hurricane’

Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged Congress Wednesday to brush partisanship aside and treat the looming Zika virus "like a hurricane," saying his state is depending on resources and specific planning to gird for the mosquito-borne illness linked to serious birth defects and other health problems.

May 4, 2016
FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, the HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed on a laptop screen in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) **FILE**

Obamacare customers overpaid $8M by IRS

The IRS mistakenly overpaid more than $8 million to HealthCare.gov customers and Obamacare users in California, and cheated tens of thousands of others out of nearly $2 million in 2015 because the government relied on incorrect information to figure their taxes, an audit revealed Tuesday.

May 3, 2016
Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio Republican (Associated Press) **FILE**

Congress must do more to fight opioid crisis: poll

Nearly half of Americans say they know someone who's faced addiction to prescription painkillers, and more than 60 percent say the government needs to do more to stop the epidemic of painkiller and heroin abuse that's sweeping the country.

May 3, 2016

Senate Dems block spending bill over Iran ‘poison pill’

Senate Democrats blocked the first of a dozen spending bills from advancing Thursday, mounting their second filibuster in as many days in protest of a GOP bid to disrupt President Obama's effort to bolster his nuclear deal with Iran.

April 28, 2016
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., right, leans in to speak to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., center, as Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., stands left, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 27, 2016, to call on congressional Republicans to approve President Barack Obama's emergency supplemental request to fight the Zika virus. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Sen. John Cornyn: Dems want a ‘blank check’ for Zika

Senate Democrats are seeking a "blank check" to combat the Zika virus, a top Republican charged Thursday, as lawmakers prepared to skip town for a week without settling their quarrel over President Obama's request for nearly $2 billion to resist the mosquito-borne disease.

April 28, 2016