Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, is among those in his party who does not believe the Republicans have a substitute for Obamacare. "They've had five years to put a bold alternative on the floor," Mr. Hoyer said. (Associated Press)

Eric Cantor loss puts Obamacare alternative in jeopardy

One major casualty of Majority Leader Eric Cantor's primary loss this week could be the final chance for House Republicans to pass a substitute to Obamacare this year — likely dooming the second half of the party's "repeal and replace" campaign mantra.

June 12, 2014
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell (Associated Press)

GOP lawmakers take aim at Obamacare ‘bailout’ once again

Congressional Republicans called on new Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to reveal whether her agency plans to make an "unlawful" payments under an Obamacare program that protects against insurer losses — a provision the GOP has derided as a "bailout."

June 11, 2014
** FILE ** Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (Associated Press)

Medicaid expansion spurs partisan battles in state capitals

Obamacare has taken center stage in the nationwide battle to win control of the Senate. But when it comes to a key pillar of the law — expanding Medicaid — the trail of political drama still leads to state capitals, not Washington.

June 10, 2014
President Barack Obama watches as outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, center, goes to hug the president's nominee to replace Sebelius, Budget Director Sylvia Mathews, Friday, April 11, 2014, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, where the president made the announcement. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Obamacare ‘tax’ to collect $3 billion less than projected

Two million fewer people will pay an Obamacare penalty for lacking insurance in 2016, a $3 billion drop in revenue that government auditors Thursday attributed to the Obama administration's multiple new exemptions and to changes in the nation's economic outlook.

June 5, 2014
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell (Associated Press)

Senate confirms Burwell as HHS secretary, new face of Obamacare

Government auditors said Thursday that 2 million fewer people will pay an Obamacare penalty for lacking insurance in 2016 than previously thought, marking yet another shift in the law's landscape as the government's top health agency welcomes a new leader.

June 5, 2014
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other senators gather for a closed-door briefing with intelligence officials about the Obama administration’s decision to swap five members of the Taliban for captive Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 4, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

McConnell uses Burwell vote to bash Obamacare

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said Sylvia Mathews Burwell's willingness to implement Obamacare "calls her policy judgment into question" and is enough for him to oppose her nomination as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

June 5, 2014
** FILE ** Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President Barack Obama’s nominee to become secretary of Health and Human Services, appears before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for her confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 8, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

HHS nominee Sylvia Mathews Burwell passes test vote in Senate

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President Obama's pick to see Obamacare into its second season, easily cleared a key Senate hurdle Wednesday, putting her on track to be confirmed as the next Health and Human Services secretary in a final vote Thursday.

June 4, 2014
Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican, said the GOP should work to repeal the Affordable Care Act "step by step," saying the speed of the changes will depend on how large the Republican majority is in the House. Others still argue for a full repeal of the presidents signature health law. (Associated Press Photographs)

Republicans’ attempts at Obamacare replacement stall

The GOP push to replace Obamacare is stuck in neutral, with Republicans deeply fractured over what to do and fearful of giving President Obama and his Democratic allies an easy target ahead of November's elections.

June 3, 2014
Russia's national soccer team players Sergei Ignashevich, center, Dmitri Kombarov, second from left, and Igor Denisov, left, attend a training session ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil at the Eduard Streltsov Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Russia will play with South Korea, Algeria and Belgium in the Group H of World Cup soccer matches. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Russia gears up for World Cup, despite protests from U.S. senators

Russia national soccer team coach Fabio Cappello on Monday named the 23 players he will take to the World Cup — a team that, if two U.S. senators had their way, would not be heading to Brazil in light of Russian President Vladimir Putin's questionable role in the deadly unrest that's roiling Ukraine.

June 2, 2014
** FILE ** Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, right, and his wife Elaine Chao wave to his supporters following his victory in the Republican primary Tuesday, May 20, 2014, at the Marriott Louisville East in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

McConnell leads Grimes by 7 points in new poll

With the Kentucky party primaries for U.S. Senate in the books, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell now holds a 7-point lead over his Democratic challenger, Alison Lundergan Grimes, according to a new poll.

May 30, 2014
FILE - In this Nov. 26, 2013 file photo, Red Cross and UNICEF medics administer polio and measles vaccinations to children at an evacuation center for typhoon survivors more than two weeks after Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the city of Tacloban, Leyte province in central Philippines. Measles cases in the last five months have caused more U.S. illnesses than in any entire year since 1996, according to numbers released by the Center for Disease control and Prevention on Thursday, May 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

Measles at a 20-year high: CDC

The Centers for Disease Control said this week the 288 cases of measles reported during the first five months of the year mark a 20-year high, and nearly all have been tied to international travel by unvaccinated people.

May 30, 2014