Tom Howell Jr.

Planned Parenthood targets two GOP Senate challengers for their birth control plan

The campaign arm of Planned Parenthood launched ads Friday targeting Republican Senate challengers' embrace of over-the-counter contraception, arguing the tactic is a thinly veiled scheme to ding Obamacare and make women pay more for birth control.

September 12, 2014

House votes to let insurers offer employer plans that don’t comply with Obamacare

The House on Thursday took another swipe at Obamacare ahead of the midterm elections, with about two dozen Democrats joining the Republican majority to pass a bill that lets insurers continue to offer employer health plans that do not comply with the law's coverage standards.

September 11, 2014

Obamacare doesn’t force people to work part-time, study shows

President Obama's health care law is not forcing people to work part-time, according to a new study that contests the claim that firms would slash hours to avoid fines under Obamacare's "employer mandate."

September 11, 2014

IRS can’t escape Lerner, tea party scandal at Obamacare hearing

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen went to Capitol Hill Wednesday to talk about Obamacare. But inevitably, he faced questions about the political targeting scandal that hit the revenue agency shortly before he took the reins.

September 10, 2014

House lawmakers wary of IRS claim of conveying costly Obamacare info

Lawmakers on the House tax committee cast doubt Wednesday on the IRS' ability to explain and administer the changes that Obamacare customers will face when they file tax returns next year.

September 10, 2014

IRS commissioner: We’ll deal with Obamacare even though Congress has withheld funding request

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress on Wednesday his agency is not getting the funding it needs to help consumers sift through new Obamacare requirements during next year's filing season.

September 10, 2014

House GOP pushes bill to let insurers ignore Obamacare standards

The House Rules Committee cleared the way Tuesday for another debate on poking holes in Obamacare — this time over a bill that would let insurers offer employer-based health plans that do not comply with the law's coverage standards for several more years.

September 9, 2014

Nuns battling the Obama admin. make it official: Tweaks to birth control rule ‘change nothing’

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an elder-care charity run by nuns, made it crystal-clear late Monday that the Obama administration's latest tweak to a mandate that requires employers to cover birth control will "change nothing of substance" in their courtroom fight against the rule.

September 9, 2014

HHS breaks own rules, OKs Ark. Medicaid plan — with potentially costly results: report

The Obama administration may end up paying more than it should for Arkansas' novel approach to Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, government investigators said Monday in a report with implications for several states that mimicked the state's "private-option" method.

September 8, 2014

HHS unveils $60M in grants for face-to-face Obamacare efforts

The Obama administration said Monday it will dole out $60 million in "navigator" grants to groups charged with offering in-person help to people who want to sign up for health coverage under Obamacare.

September 8, 2014

Colorado Senate race a ‘nail-biter’ between Udall, Gardner: poll

The Senate race in Colorado is a "nail-biter" ahead of the first debate between Democratic Sen. Mark Udall and Republican challenger Cory Gardner, a new survey says.

September 5, 2014

Hillary Clinton: I’ll decide on White House run after the new year

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she will likely decide whether to run for president in 2016 after the new year begins.

September 5, 2014

Jeb Bush circle to donors: Give us right of first refusal

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's advisers are asking political donors not to commit to other potential 2016 candidates until he decides whether to take a run at the GOP nomination for president, according to the Wall Street Journal.

September 5, 2014

Rep. Tom Cole: ISIS galvanizing anti-terror coalition

Rep. Tom Cole said Friday if the Islamic State can claim credit for anything, it's that "they know how to unite the whole world against them."

September 5, 2014

Cotton-Pryor race in Arkansas a dead heat: CNN poll

Republican congressman Tom Cotton leads Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor by 2 points in a closely watched battle in Arkansas that could determine which party controls the Senate, according to a CNN poll of likely voters.

September 5, 2014

Claire McCaskill talked to Kansas Democrat about race to unseat Sen. Pat Roberts

Sen. Claire McCaskill said Friday she spoke to Democratic candidate Chad Taylor about his chances of winning a Senate race in Kansas against Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. But she stopped short of saying she muscled him into dropping out.

September 5, 2014

Mark Pryor touts Obamacare in campaign ad — without mentioning it by name

Sen. Mark Pryor has released another campaign ad that goes to bat for Obamacare without mentioning it by name

September 5, 2014

Banking and real estate industries back in public’s good graces

Americans have a positive image of banking industry for the first time since 2007 and a positive view of the real estate industry for the first time since 2006, proving each sector is recovering from the doldrums of a financial recession precipitated in large part by a mortgage-linked housing bubble, according to a new survey.

September 5, 2014

Bill Cassidy holds 3-point lead over Mary Landrieu: poll

A poll of likely Louisiana voters has Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy leading Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu by 3 points in one of the country's tightest Senate races.

September 4, 2014

Democrat-heavy appeals court will hear critical Obamacare subsidy case

A top federal appeals court vacated its July ruling striking down a major part of Obamacare and announced Thursday that it will rehear the case in December, potentially delaying a date with the Supreme Court.

September 4, 2014