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Seen, Heard & Whispered: Conservatives push DOJ to act on post-Dobbs attacks on the court

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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Senate health panel announces hearings on Obamacare markets

The Senate Health Committee will hold a pair of hearings on patching up Obamacare's wobbly markets as soon as Congress returns in September from the summer recess, its Republican chairman and ranking Democrat announced Tuesday.

August 22, 2017
While the U.S. government spent liberally to combat the Zika epidemic, public health officials warn pockets of the once-fearsome disease might still pop up in the country, requiring medical officials to remain vigilant. (Associated Press)

Zika virus reduced to few cases after scare in 2016

The Zika virus scare that sparked unprecedented travel warnings and a rush on bug spray in 2016 has petered out in its second year, with scientists saying that efforts to stamp out disease-carrying mosquitoes and the human immunity built up over the last year have combined to contain the spread.

August 20, 2017
This Oct. 10, 2013, file photo, shows an EpiPen epinephrine auto-injector, a Mylan product, in Hendersonville, Texas. Mylan reports earnings Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski, File)

EpiPen manufacturer Mylan agrees to $465M settlement with U.S.

Mylan, the maker of EpiPens for allergy sufferers, has agreed to pay $465 million to settle claims it short-changed taxpayers by misclassifying its popular device as a generic instead of a brand-name product, a U.S. attorney for Massachusetts said Thursday.

August 17, 2017

CBO: Cutting off Obamacare payments would jack premiums up 20 percent

Cutting off Obamacare reimbursement payments for insurers -- as President Trump has threatened to do -- would send premiums soaring by 20 percent next year, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, predicting that health insurance companies would hike rates to make up for the loss of taxpayers' money.

August 15, 2017
** FILE ** Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump sticks by Scott Garrett nomination to Export-Import Bank

President Trump is standing by former Rep. Scott Garrett, his pick to chair the Export-Import Bank, and is prepared to brave protests from business groups and senators who say the ex-congressman won't even commit to protecting the agency he's supposed to lead.

August 13, 2017

Donald Trump declares opioid crisis a ‘national emergency’

President Trump directed his administration Thursday to treat the opioid epidemic as a national emergency, following through on his own commission's advice just days after his health secretary suggested the president didn't need additional powers to fight the scourge of heroin and prescription painkiller abuse.

August 10, 2017

Teen pregnancy prevention grants to be trimmed under Trump

The Trump administration is cutting short a batch of Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants, angering big-city health department chiefs who said Wednesday they will no longer be able to figure out what's working to cut pregnancy rates.

August 9, 2017

Opioid overdose deaths rising despite efforts: Gov’t report

Drug overdose deaths spiked in the first nine months of 2016, according to government data that suggests the opioid crisis is still killing an alarming number of Americans despite nationwide efforts to get a handle on the epidemic.

August 8, 2017
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra blasted his former congressional colleague, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who suggested that President Donald Trump's lack of political experience helps explain his questionable interactions with James Comey when he was FBI director, during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, June 9, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. Becerra labeled Ryan an "accomplice" for defending what he termed Trump's incompetence or dereliction of his presidential duties. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Xavier Becerra Eric Schneiderman can intervene in Obamacare payment case

Democratic state attorneys general can intervene in a court case over critical Obamacare payments that President Trump has threatened to cut off, a federal appeals court said Tuesday, finding the states demonstrated the risk of premium hikes and an uptick in the number of uninsured people seeking expensive care at state-funded hospitals.

August 1, 2017
Some conservatives say the public would support President Trump if he revokes the special $12,000 Obamacare subsidy that members of Congress receive each year courtesy of taxpayers. (Associated Press/File)

Conservatives urge Donald Trump to revoke Obamacare subsidy for Congress

Top conservatives challenged President Trump on Monday to revoke the special $12,000 Obamacare subsidy members of Congress receive each year courtesy of taxpayers, saying the best way to force lawmakers back to the bargaining table is to force them to fully obey the struggling law.

July 31, 2017
Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, sent shock waves through the Senate early Friday, July 28, 2017, when he cast the deciding vote rejecting his party's effort to repeal and replace the Democrat-crafted Affordable Care Act. (Associated Press)

Health care system a bipartisan problem in Congress

Dozens of U.S. counties might not have any plans to choose from on Obamacare's insurance exchanges next year while consumers with options face double-digit rate increases in many places -- putting Congress to choose among bipartisan fixes to the program, doubling down on repeal or following President Trump's advice to "let it implode."

July 30, 2017
Seate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., joined from left by, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., speaks with reporters outside the chamber after Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie to start debating Republican legislation to tear down much of the Obama health care law, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

Senate Democrats call for reset, quick fixes on health care

Senate Democrats called on Republicans to immediately shore up Obamacare's flagging insurance markets and "sit down and trade ideas" over health reforms, extending an olive branch after the GOP push to repeal the 2010 law fell into tatters early Friday.

July 28, 2017
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 27, 2017. The Senate voted decisively to approve a new package of stiff financial sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, sending the popular bill to President Donald Trump for his signature after weeks of intense negotiations. The legislation is aimed at punishing Moscow for meddling in the 2016 presidential election and its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria, where the Kremlin has backed President Bashar Assad. McCain said the bills passage was long overdue, a jab at Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress. McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has called Putin a murderer and a thug.(AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

John McCain ‘no’ vote kills Obamacare repeal effort in Senate

Drained by self-inflicted wounds, shifting aims and unrelenting protests, Republicans' push to kill off President Obama's signature health law sputtered out of gas early Friday, as Senate leaders failed to rally the votes for a significantly pared-down repeal bill in a vote after midnight.

July 28, 2017