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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., speaks after a press conference at a Planned Parenthood office in Portland, Ore., Friday, Sept. 25, 2015. Wyden's support of Planned Parenthood comes amid a heated debate among Oregon politicians over how Planned Parenthood uses the $3.6 million it gets from Oregon.(AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Ron Wyden checks in on Obamacare innovation program

A leading Democratic senator asked the administration Thursday to update him on its efforts to implement a piece of Obamacare that allows states to waive parts of the law in 2017 if they find ways to outdo the federal health law in terms of the affordability and quality of coverage and how many people get insured.

November 19, 2015
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. A study out Wednesday finds that this year's most popular health law plans are raising premiums an average of 15 percent in 2016. You'll have to switch if you don't want to pay more. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

More than 1M have selected plans on Obamacare website

More than 1 million people selected health coverage on the federal Obamacare website through the second week of open enrollment, the administration said Wednesday in a snapshot that shows the number of plan selections nearly doubling since the first week's tally.

November 18, 2015
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania Republican, takes his seat on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 2, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

House, Senate negotiators set to work on highway bill

House and Senate negotiators sat down Wednesday and pledged to hammer out their first multi-year highway bill in a decade, saying stopgap measures are failing motorists and businesses who contend with America's crumbling roads and infrastructure.

November 18, 2015
Despite a failed attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act at the Senate level, Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell insisted the GOP will find a way to undercut President Obama's signature health care law after Thanksgiving. The Senate's parliamentarian ruled the previous attempt didn't abide by legislative rules. (Associated Press)

Republican efforts to overturn Obamacare stalls in Senate

The GOP's long-sought bid to dismantle Obamacare has hit another snag in the Senate, flustering House Republicans who thought they'd figured out a way to get a bill to President Obama's desk without having to face a Democratic filibuster.

November 17, 2015
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe speaks during an interview with The Associated Press during the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, on June 16, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Virginia slated to spend $1 billion more on Medicaid

Virginia faces a $1 billion increase in Medicaid spending through fiscal 2018, according to a two-year forecast Tuesday that state Republicans swiftly used as a cudgel against Gov. Terry McAuliffe's bid to expand the program under Obamacare.

November 17, 2015
The White House decided under intense political pressure in late 2013 to let people with substandard plans keep that coverage instead of forcing them to enter the marketplace and buy plans that met Obamacare's standards. The about-face was an attempt to fulfill Mr. Obama's promise that people who liked their plans could keep them under his signature law. The result was hundreds of thousands of low-risk customers who stayed with their plans. Meanwhile, customers with higher health risks switched to co-op plans, unleashing a tide of claims. (Associated Press)

Obamacare co-op flops have many scrambling for health insurance

When Amy Grech, a freelance Web consultant and horror story author in New York, was looking for health insurance, a broker pushed her toward Health Republic, the state's co-op under Obamacare. It had the doctors she needed, and the price seemed right.

November 15, 2015
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell speaks in Washington on July 28, 2014. (Associated Press) **FILE**

500K picked plans in Obamacare’s first week

More than a half-million people selected a health plan through the federal Obamacare website during the first week of open enrollment, according to a government update Thursday that said two-thirds of the customers were renewing coverage they already had.

November 12, 2015
studentsforlife.org

Pro-life group takes Planned Parenthood fight to Times Square

As Senate Republicans face a murky path toward defunding Planned Parenthood, a pro-life group is taking the fight to the bright lights of Manhattan, renting out ad space in Times Square to go after the women's health group.

November 12, 2015
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell speaks at the Treasury Department in Washington on July 28, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

N.Y. takes steps to rescue Obamacare co-op customers

Hoping to stem the fallout from the collapse of Obamacare's largest co-op plan, New York State regulators said the state's Obamacare exchange will automatically enroll affected customers into new coverage on Dec. 1 and let customers actively select a new plan through Nov. 30 -- a 15-day extension -- so they don't see a gap in coverage this year.

November 9, 2015
President Barack Obama speaks during a visit to the Newark campus of Rutgers University, Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) ** FILE **

White House challenges 20 cities to boost Obamacare signups

Hoping to boost Obamacare signups in a tough third year, the White House on Friday challenged 20 cities across the U.S. to root out their uninsured residents and drive them into Web-based exchanges set up under the law.

November 6, 2015