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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

FILE - This Nov. 12, 2014 file photo shows the HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, on a laptop screen, shown in Portland, Ore. Consumers in most places will see their health insurance premiums go up next year for popular plans under President Barack Obama’s health care law. But it will take time to get to a bottom line for family finances, let alone the larger political battle over the program’s future. For many people, government subsidies will cushion the hit. And there’s a new factor: returning customers who are savvy about health insurance and unafraid to shop for a better deal. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

HHS: More than 450K chose plan on HealthCare.gov in first week

The Health and Human Services Department said Wednesday that 462,000 people selected a health plan through the Obamacare exchanges during the first week of open enrollment, and that roughly half were customers renewing existing plans.

November 26, 2014
Jonathan Gruber poses in his home in Lexington, Mass., in this Feb. 8, 2011, file photo. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Jonathan Gruber, Obamacare ‘architect,’ agrees to testify before Congress

Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economics professor and key Obamacare adviser, has agreed to testify before the House oversight committee next month after critics unearthed a string of YouTube videos that depict him saying the "stupidity" of the American voter and legislative sleight of hand helped the contentious law make it through Congress.

November 25, 2014
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. speaks to supporters, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Lamar Alexander: Anti-discrimination board undermining own mission

A government commission that probes workplace discrimination is chasing shaky legal cases that result in embarrassing and costly losses, a Republican senator charged Monday in a report that says the body has underperformed of late compared to the Bush era.

November 24, 2014
House Speaker John Boehner (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

John Boehner files long-awaited lawsuit over Obamacare

House Speaker John A. Boehner filed a long-awaited lawsuit Friday that alleges President Obama took unlawful steps to delay part of his health care law and is paying out funds to insurers without congressional approval.

November 21, 2014
FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2014 file photo, Medicaid Administrator Marilyn Tavenner testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. A government watchdog agency says Medicare’s prescription drug program kept paying for costly medications even after patients were dead. The problem seems to have started with a bureaucratic rule now getting a second look. A report coming out Friday from the Health and Human Services inspector general says Medicare has been allowing payment for prescriptions filled up to 32 days after a patient’s death. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Dental plans mistakenly included in Obamacare tallies: White House

The Obama administration acknowledged Thursday it mistakenly included up to 400,000 dental plans in the 7.1-million enrollment figure it touted before Obamacare's second round, a move that nudged them above congressional budget estimates for participation in the contentious overhaul.

November 20, 2014
In this photo taken Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, health workers spray disinfectant around a mosque after the body of a man suspected of dying from the Ebola virus was washed inside before being berried in Bamako, Mali. It all started with a sick nurse, whose positive test results for Ebola came only after death. In a busy clinic that treats Bamako’s elite as well as wounded U.N. peacekeepers, who was the patient who had transmitted the virus? Soon hospital officials were taking a second look at the case of a 70-year-old man brought to the capital late at night from Guinea suffering from kidney failure. On Friday, Malian health authorities went to disinfect the mosque where the 70-year-old’s body was prepared for burial - nearly three weeks ago. Already some are criticizing the government for being too slow to react when health authorities had announced his death as a suspected Ebola case earlier in the week.(AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)

WHO outlines six Ebola cases in Mali

The World Health Organization said Thursday that Mali, a West African country, has suffered six official cases of Ebola, with five of them proving fatal.

November 20, 2014
Workers load a cargo jet with tons of Ebola relief supplies at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 5, 2014. The International Christian charity Samaritaan's Purse is shipping the supplies to Liberia. (Associated Press/The Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin) **FILE**

Liberian ambassador to U.S.: Ebola travel ban would stigmatize my country

A ban on travelers between West Africa and the U.S. during the Ebola outbreak would stigmatize Liberia, scare off much-needed aid workers to combat the disease and dissuade investors from buttressing its battered economy, the country's ambassador to the U.S. said Wednesday.

November 19, 2014
FILE - In this July 9, 2014 file photo, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Coburn requested a Government Accountability Office report which showed nearly 60,000 veterans collected more than $3.5 billion in 2013 in military retirement pay, disability benefits from Veterans Affairs and disability checks from Social Security. Coburn said officials should fulfill promises to veterans, but work to streamline duplicative programs. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Tom Carper allows Tom Coburn to chair Ebola hearing

Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware on Wednesday handed the gavel over to his Republican counterpart, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, after convening a hearing on public health preparedness amid the Ebola outbreak.

November 19, 2014
Former Rep. Ron Paul describes his new voicesofliberty.com website as a "digital bully pulpit" for early stage political ideas. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Ron Paul says Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio are ‘pretty average’

Ron Paul, a former presidential candidate and longtime congressman, is mum on a potential presidential bid by his son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. But he does have a few opinions about his son's potential GOP rivals in 2016.

November 19, 2014
In this Nov. 13, 2014, file photo, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn responds to a question after announcing the second year of open health care enrollment under the Affordable Care Act that began Saturday, Nov. 14, during a news conference in Chicago. Illinois lawmakers may have one more chance to approve a state-run health insurance marketplace during the fall legislative session that starts Wednesday, Nov. 19. Quinn supports the idea. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Illinois mulls its own Obamacare exchange as pressure mounts

A looming deadline for federal Obamacare grants and action at the Supreme Court have put pressure on Illinois lawmakers to decide if they want to set up their own health exchange or continue to rely on the federal HealthCare.gov portal.

November 19, 2014