Health Care

Are Democrats Too Afraid of Raising Taxes?

By Michael Rainey

One of the crucial unanswered questions hanging over the democratic debate on Medicare for All is how its proponents plan to pay for it. While Bernie Sanders has made it clear that he would raise...
Pelosi Pushes Ahead on Drug Bill Despite Clashes With Trump

By Yuval Rosenberg

House Democrats are pushing ahead with their plan to lower prescription drug prices, even as the already fraught relationship between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump, her main bargaining...
Opioid Crisis Has Cost the US Economy at Least $631 Billion: Study

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The opioid crisis has already cost the U.S. at least $631 billion , according to a study released this week by the Society of Actuaries. The figures cover the four-year period from 2015 to 2018, and...
The $30 Trillion Question Haunting Elizabeth Warren’s Campaign

By Yuval Rosenberg

There’s a $30 trillion question looming over Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign: How would she fund the cost of the Medicare-for-All plan she proposes? The issue was the subject of repeated...
A Cheaper Way to Provide Universal Health Coverage?

By Michael Rainey

With Democrats debating a variety of ways to expand access to health care and President Trump promising a “ phenomenal ” plan at some point in the future, it’s a good bet that there could be...

Your Two-Minute Summary of Tuesday’s Democratic Medicare-for-All Debate

By Yuval Rosenberg

Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate once again highlighted the candidate’s deep divides over Medicare for All. After opening questions related to the House impeachment inquiry into...
2020 Democratic Debate: What Voters Want to Hear About Health Care

By Yuval Rosenberg

Given the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump and the turmoil in Syria in the aftermath of the president’s controversial decision to withdraw U.S. troops, health care is likely to be...
Pelosi’s Prescription Drug Bill Would Save Medicare $345 Billion: CBO

By Yuval Rosenberg

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill to reduce prescription drug prices would save Medicare $345 billion from 2023 through 2029, according to a preliminary analysis released Friday by the nonpartisan...
Think ‘Medicare For All’ Is The Only Democratic Health Plan? Think Again

By Emmarie Huetteman, Kaiser Health News

If you tuned in for the first five nights of the Democratic presidential debates, you might think “Medicare for All” and providing universal care are the only health care ideas Democrats have. With...
Medicaid Work Requirements in Question

By Michael Rainey

A justice department lawyer defending the Trump administration’s approval of work requirements for Medicaid recipients in Kentucky and Arkansas told a panel of federal appeals court judges Friday...

US Surgeons General Say Dementia Is Top Public Health Crisis

By Yuval Rosenberg

Four former surgeons general who served under presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are warning that dementia is the nation’s top public health crisis. In a guest commentary...
The Budget Outlook Isn’t Good — but It Has ‘Improved Substantially Since 2010’: Report

By Yuval Rosenberg

The national debt is now approaching $23 trillion, up nearly $9 trillion from the end of 2010, and the debt held by the public now stands at nearly $17 trillion, up about $7.5 trillion from since the...
States Spending Millions to Administer Medicaid Work Requirements

By Michael Rainey

States deploying work requirements in their Medicaid programs are spending millions of dollars on administrative costs to implement the new rules, according to a new study by the Government...
Trump Wants States to Experiment With Medicaid — Up to a Point

By Michael Ollove, Stateline

After a series of zigzags, Utah is about to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. At least 10 red states have done the same, but Utah’s experience may be a bellwether showing how far the...
The Big Push for Medicare Advantage

By Michael Rainey

Medicare is shaping up as one of the most important issues in the 2020 election, with several leading Democrats offering proposals that would significantly expand the program. President Trump jumped...