Health Care

Mitch McConnell on Rising Deficit: ‘It’s Not a Republican Problem'

By Yuval Rosenberg

The quotes: “It’s disappointing, but it’s not a Republican problem. It’s a bipartisan problem: unwillingness to address the real drivers of the debt by doing anything to adjust those programs to the...
What Will Work Requirements for Medicaid and Food Stamps Really Accomplish?

By The Fiscal Times Staff

A new paper from the Brookings Institution raises more doubts about the usefulness of work requirements for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). More than a dozen states...
GOP Scrambles to Send a Pre-Election Message on Pre-Existing Conditions

By Yuval Rosenberg

From The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann : “Thirty-two of the 49 GOP incumbents in races deemed competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report have backed congressional measures on pre-existing...
Chart of the Day: The Surge in Medicare Advantage Enrollment

By Yuval Rosenberg

Enrollment in Medicare Advantage, the government-funded private health plans that serve as an alternative to traditional Medicare, has doubled since 2010, writes Phil Galewitz at Kaiser Health News...
Trump’s New Medicaid Chief Is a Medicaid Critic

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration has reportedly named Mary Mayhew , a former Maine health commissioner, as deputy administrator and director of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)...

Trump Administration Seeks to Force Drugmakers to Post Prices in Ads

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration is pushing ahead with its plan to require drugmakers to disclose their list prices for medications in consumer advertising, much as they warn about possible side effects. The...
Medicare Advantage Riding High as New Insurers Flock to Sell to Seniors

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

Health care experts widely expected the Affordable Care Act to hobble Medicare Advantage, the government-funded private health plans that millions of seniors have chosen as an alternative to original...
Fact Check: Who’s Right on Protections for Preexisting Conditions?

By Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News

Ensuring that people with preexisting health conditions can get and keep health insurance is the most popular part of the Affordable Care Act. It has also become a flashpoint in this fall’s campaigns...
$Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during an event to introduce the "Medicare for All Act of 2017\$

Can Democrats Win with Medicare for All?

By Yuval Rosenberg

Axios’ Caitlin Owens reports that most Democrats running in competitive House races this year “are supporting or at least leaving the door open to some form of ‘Medicare for All,’” — though just what...
Here's How Much Soaring Health Care Prices Have Cost American Workers

By Michael Rainey

It’s not news that health care costs have been rising for years, but a new report from Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute puts some eye-opening numbers on just how much the rising price of...

Health Care Economist Awarded MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant

By Yuval Rosenberg

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation on Thursday announced the 25 winners of this year’s fellowships — awards, commonly called “genius grants,” for “exceptional creativity” and the “...
Out-of-Network Health Coverage Is Waning

By Yuval Rosenberg

Surprise medical bills have gotten considerable attention in recent months — like this story , in which a high school teacher was charged nearly $109,000 by the hospital where he was treated for a...
In the Battle to Control Drug Costs, Old Patent Laws Get New Life

By Shefali Luthra, Kaiser Health News

In the drug pricing battle, progressive lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and patients’ rights activists rarely find themselves in step with the health industry’s big players. But in a...
Medicare for All? 6 Big Questions Any Realistic Plan Must Answer

By Michael Rainey

“Medicare for All” has become a rallying cry for many progressive Democrats, and it’s a good bet that efforts to expand the popular insurance program will help shape the health care battleground over...
Dietary Number of the Day: 36.6 Percent

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Nearly 37 percent of American adults ate fast food on any given day between 2013 and 2016, according to a new CDC data brief . Perhaps surprisingly, the CDC found that fast food consumption grew with...