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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

In this photo taken Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, Blue Bridge Benefits LLC agent Patricia Sarabia helps customers interested in Obama Care at a kiosk at Compare Foods in Winston-Salem, N.C. Such atypical approaches to selling health insurance policies are playing out across the country since the second round of open enrollment under the federal Affordable Care Act opened in mid-November. Insurance companies and some states are focusing heavily on signing up eligible Hispanics, a group that accounts for a large share of the nation's uninsured but largely avoided applying for coverage during the first full year the health care reform law was in effect. Hispanics accounted for just 11 percent of those who enrolled in the private policies sold during the initial sign-up period, which ended in March. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Republicans back Obamacare repeal, but divided over replacing it: Poll

Knee-deep in an election year, an increasing share of Republicans want to repeal Obamacare entirely but remain split on whether to replace it with a GOP-favored plan, while Democratic partisans are warming to the law after a presidential primary that put single-payer health care on the table, according to a poll released Thursday.

June 30, 2016
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., talks about his agenda for a GOP-controlled Congress during an interview with The Associated Press on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Congress approves Puerto Rico debt rescue package

Congress approved a rescue package Wednesday to help Puerto Rico escape a sea of debt, tossing a lifeline to the island territory just two days before it faces default on a $2 billion bond payment.

June 29, 2016
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington in this June 9, 2016, file photo. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ** FILE **

Senate Democrats block Zika funding bill

Senate Democrats blocked a $1.1 billion deal Tuesday that uses Obamacare and Ebola funds to combat the mosquito-borne Zika virus, throwing negotiations into disarray even as insects begin to bite on the U.S. mainland.

June 28, 2016
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. From left are, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., McConnell, and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ** FILE **

Zika virus spending package sitting in partisan gridlock

A spending package to fight the mosquito-borne Zika virus is mired in partisan gridlock, with Senate Democrats saying Monday they "have no choice" but to sink the $1.1 billion measure because it swipes money from Obamacare and the Ebola fight and bars any of it from flowing to Planned Parenthood.

June 27, 2016
House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 22, 2016, following a House Republican caucus meeting. (Associated Press) **FILE**

GOP tax plan would slash rates, simplify code

House Republicans called for a "fairer" and "flatter" tax code Friday, saying Americans should be split into fewer income brackets and file their returns on something as simple as a postcard.

June 24, 2016
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. listens at left as Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2016, following their policy luncheon. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Zika funding bill may be doomed by impasse in Congress

A House-passed deal to combat the Zika virus might be doomed in the Senate, where Democrats say it is not enough to stem the mosquito-borne threat and help pregnant women whose unborn children might develop defects in the womb.

June 23, 2016
In this image from video provided by House Television, House Speaker Paul Ryan stands at the podium as he brings the House into session Wednesday night, June 22, 2016, in Washington. Rebellious Democrats staged an extraordinary all-day sit-in on the House floor to demand votes on gun-control bills, shouting down Ryan when he attempted to restore order as their protest stretched into the night. The sit-in was well into its 10th hour, with Democrats camped out on the floor stopping legislative business in the House, when Ryan stepped to the podium to gavel the House into session and hold votes on routine business. Angry Democrats chanted No bill, no break! and waved pieces of paper with the names of gun victims, continuing their protest in the well of the House even as the House voted on a previously scheduled and unrelated measure to overturn an Obama veto. (House Television via AP)

Democrats end gun-control sit-in on House floor

House Democrats wrapped up a daylong sit-in Thursday without winning concessions on gun control, leaving town empty-handed after Republicans accused them of co-opting the chamber floor for a "publicity stunt" designed to fill party coffers.

June 23, 2016
Rio de Janierio Olympic officials are pressing on with preps for the Summer Games, saying that the Southern Hemisphere's winter months will allow time for instituting measures to head off Zika virus concerns. (Associated Press)

Rory McIlroy to forgo Rio Olympics as Zika fears hang over Summer Games

Olympic officials are forging ahead with the Summer Games in the country where the ominous Zika outbreak began, betting the Brazilian winter and months of prep work will triumph over disease-carrying insects and critics who say the event could scatter the virus across the globe.

June 22, 2016
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan announces a Republican plan to repeal and replace President Obama's health care law. (Associated Press)

GOP formally unveils its long-awaited health care plan

House Republicans launched an uphill bid Wednesday to redo national health care reform amid withering criticism from the White House and Democrats, who said the GOP's long-awaited plan lacks details and that Obamacare already insures millions of people.

June 22, 2016
Spearheaded by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the proposal is an election-year blueprint rather than a bill. (Associated Press)

Republicans to unveil Obamacare alternative after six-year wait

House Republicans will unveil a health plan Wednesday that has been six years in the making, calling for an end to the heavy mandates and government-run exchanges of Obamacare in favor of incentives designed to entice customers into private-market plans.

June 21, 2016
Carlos Franco looks at mosquitoes through a microscope to identify their genus and species at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, Conn., on June 7, 2016. (Arnold Gold/New Haven Register via AP)

First Zika vaccine trials to begin within weeks

The first human trials for a vaccine against the Zika virus will begin within weeks, a pair of pharmaceutical companies said Monday, though a fully approved shot against the mosquito-borne disease could still be over a year away.

June 20, 2016