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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

A report by Sens. Claire McCaskill (right) and Rob Portman suggested that Medicare's checks on opioid abuse haven't kept up with the ballooning use, meaning more people may be bilking the system and fueling the epidemic. (Associated Press)

Medicare’s lack of federal control feeds opioid crisis, senators say

Medicare spending on opioids is skyrocketing, but the agency's investigations into misuse have plummeted in the last couple of years, congressional investigators revealed Monday, suggesting that a lack of federal controls could inadvertently be feeding the prescription drug abuse epidemic.

October 4, 2016
FILE - In this June 26, 2013, file photo, a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration worker fogs a home with mosquito repellent in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai authorities have confirmed that two cases of babies with microcephaly — abnormally small heads — were caused by the Zika virus commonly transmitted by mosquitos, the first time the linkage has been made in Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

HHS outlines plans for new Zika money

The Obama administration said Monday it can start developing better ways to detect the Zika virus and knock out mosquitos that carry the disease, while forging ahead with a vaccine trial that began in August, now that Congress has broken a months-long stalemate and posted $1.1 billion for the fight.

October 3, 2016
A Miami-Dade County mosquito control worker sprays around a home in the Wynwood area of Miami on Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. The CDC has issued a new advisory that says pregnant women should not travel to a Zika-stricken part of Miami, and pregnant women who live there should take steps to prevent mosquito bites and sexual spread of the virus. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) ** FILE **

CDC: Couples exposed to Zika should wait six months to get pregnant

Men who've possibly been exposed to the Zika virus should wait at least six months before trying to conceive with their female partners, even if they haven't shown symptoms of the disease, the Obama administration said Friday in a major shift from its previous advice of eight weeks.

September 30, 2016
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas says President Obama is diluting American power and creating space for rogue actors by giving up control of the internet 'address book.' (Associated Press)

Obama administration to relinquish control of internet ‘address book’

The Obama administration will relinquish control of the internet's "address book" to a California-based nonprofit Friday, brushing aside last-ditch pleas and a lawsuit from Republicans who say the transfer could give rogue regimes a freer hand to interfere with web access.

September 29, 2016
Republicans say instability in the Obamacare marketplace has left them no choice but to prop up the 2010 Affordable Care Act before killing it so there isn't more chaos during the transfer to a replacement sytem. (Associated Press)

Insurer payments flouted plain text of Obamacare: Gov’t report

The Obama administration failed to follow its own health care law by directing funds to insurers instead of taxpayers, nonpartisan government investigators said Thursday, chalking up a win for GOP critics and denting the White House's ability to satisfy insurers who are losing money under the overhaul.

September 29, 2016
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, talks to reporters following a closed-door policy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

Mitch McConnell touts GOP progress, ignores Donald Trump

Barreling into a thorny election season, Republican leader Mitch McConnell said America's decision to entrust the Senate to his party in 2014 been a resounding success and should continue in the new year.

September 29, 2016
Republicans have given IRS Commissioner John Koskinen a deadline Tuesday to explain how the IRS plans to identify who will receive Obamacare letters and what the correspondence would look like. (Associated Press)

Obama administration wants to use IRS to hawk Obamacare

The administration wants to use the IRS to hawk Obamacare, drawing fire from Republicans, who fear President Obama is turning the tax agency into part of his political operation by enlisting it in the health care effort.

September 28, 2016
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, accompanied by Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., right, speaks at a news conference following a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Senate passes bill to avert government shutdown

The Senate cleared its pre-election agenda Wednesday by passing a bill to stave off a government shutdown and combat the Zika virus, after leaders from both parties broke a stalemate over funds for the Flint, Michigan, water crisis.

September 28, 2016
"The Republicans are essentially saying the disasters in our states are more important than the disasters in your state," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said. (Associated Press)

Senate blocks bill to avert government shutdown

Congress hurtled toward a government shutdown after Senate Democrats led a filibuster Tuesday, blocking a stopgap spending bill that funded the fight against Zika and addressed flooding in Louisiana, West Virginia and Maryland, but offered no money for Michigan residents affected by lead-tainted water.

September 27, 2016
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, says he doesn’t trust Republican promises of addressing the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, later. (Associated Press/File)

Flint water aid spending bill’s sticking point

Democrats who held out for a better deal on Zika spending are now demanding money for Michigan residents suffering from lead-tainted water, hoping to squeeze Republican leaders who are relying on Democratic cooperation to avoid a government shutdown after the fiscal year ends Friday.

September 26, 2016
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch pauses as she prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, before the House Oversight Committee hearing on EpiPen price increases. Bresch defended the cost for life-saving EpiPens, signaling the company has no plans to lower prices despite a public outcry and questions from skeptical lawmakers. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Maker of EpiPen defends price hikes

The CEO of Mylan Pharmaceuticals defended the rising cost of her company's lifesaving EpiPens to Congress on Wednesday, rejecting demands that she slash the price, though she insisted help is available for low-income patients and those with skimpy health care coverage.

September 21, 2016
Six years after the Obamacare market exchanges went online, the experiment looks faulty, and broadcasters appear to be ignoring the problem. (Associated Press)

Health care failures drive talk of public option

Rejected during the 2009 Obamacare debate as too controversial and unnecessary, the public option -- in which the government offers insurance that competes directly with private and nonprofit plans -- has been resurrected this year by Democrats who say it's the only way to rescue President Obama's struggling health care law.

September 20, 2016
FILE - In this July 8, 2016, file photo, a pharmacist holds a package of EpiPens epinephrine auto-injector, a Mylan product, in Sacramento, Calif. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch is defending the cost for life-saving EpiPens and is offering no suggestion that there are plans to lower prices. Bresch’s prepared testimony was released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ahead of her Sept. 21 appearance before the panel. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

EpiPen price hike siphoned millions from government: report

The skyrocketing cost of EpiPens is not just socking consumers, it's also siphoning more money from the government, which spent more than 10 times as much on the allergy treatment in 2014 than it did seven years prior, a nonpartisan analysis said Tuesday.

September 20, 2016