The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
ϳԹ News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, who has covered health care for more than 30 years, offers insight and analysis of policies and politics in her regular HealthBent columns.
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Although President-elect Joe Biden is free to meet with people who will be vital to carry out his administration’s fight against COVID, he and his transition team are blocked from conferring with federal officials because the Trump administration refuses to acknowledge Biden won the election. That could have a critical impact on Biden's efforts to help fight the coronavirus.
In discussions of the impact Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett could have on abortion rights, many overlook related issues, including the right to birth control that the court recognized in 1965. During her confirmation hearings, Barrett refused to say whether she felt that case was correctly decided.
The administration seeks to have the Supreme Court overturn the federal health law but has not explained how it would ensure Americans’ health care coverage.
Much like President Barack Obama, a President Biden could find his health policies initially sidelined by economic issues — in his case, caused by the pandemic.
Rather than prosecuting their case against Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are refighting the war that won them seats in 2018 — banging on Republicans for trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act.
With the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lawsuit brought by Republican state officials has become the latest existential threat against the federal health law, scheduled for oral arguments at the Supreme Court a week after the general election in November.
With millions out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to help keep Medicare’s trust fund intact.
For new medical residents, this has been a year like no other. In part that’s because getting from here to there — from medical school to residency training sites — has been complicated by the coronavirus.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the nation’s doctors and hospitals to reevaluate how they work. At least three major changes may have a lasting impact.
Because the public health system mostly operates in the background, it rarely gets the attention or funding it deserves ― until there’s a crisis.
The presumptive Democratic presidential candidate unveils a proposal to lower the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60.
The legislation scheduled to go before the House for a vote Friday provides nearly $200 billion in aid for hospitals. That includes payments for expenses or lost revenues from the coronavirus pandemic, interest-free loans and changes in Medicare reimbursements.
The justices will hear a case Wednesday involving a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to be able to admit patients to a nearby hospital. But four years ago, the court said a similar Texas law was unconstitutional.
As the Democratic primary campaign nears pivotal voting, important aspects of health care policy are being overlooked.
The Supreme Court in March will hear a Louisiana case that tests whether the new five-member conservative majority is willing to overturn the 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide. Even if the court does not go that far, it could hasten the procedure’s demise by saying abortion providers cannot sue on behalf of their patients.
Democrats have asked the Supreme Court to take up an appeals court ruling that could invalidate some or all of the federal health law. It’s not clear the court will take the case, but the efforts will carry consequences for both Democrats and Republicans.
The Affordable Care Act has been on the books for nearly a decade. Parts of it have become ingrained in our health system ― and in our everyday life. But this could change, depending on a long-awaited 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding the law’s constitutionality.
Polls show that health care is at the top of voters’ issues, but the polls also say Democrats, let alone other Americans, are not ready for “Medicare for All.”
When passing the Affordable Care Act, Democrats touted the fact that they had included many measures to pay for the bill’s expanded coverage. But nearly 10 years later, many of the “pay-fors” have been eliminated.
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