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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Despite a failed attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act at the Senate level, Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell insisted the GOP will find a way to undercut President Obama's signature health care law after Thanksgiving. The Senate's parliamentarian ruled the previous attempt didn't abide by legislative rules. (Associated Press)

Republican efforts to overturn Obamacare stalls in Senate

The GOP's long-sought bid to dismantle Obamacare has hit another snag in the Senate, flustering House Republicans who thought they'd figured out a way to get a bill to President Obama's desk without having to face a Democratic filibuster.

November 17, 2015
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe speaks during an interview with The Associated Press during the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, on June 16, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Virginia slated to spend $1 billion more on Medicaid

Virginia faces a $1 billion increase in Medicaid spending through fiscal 2018, according to a two-year forecast Tuesday that state Republicans swiftly used as a cudgel against Gov. Terry McAuliffe's bid to expand the program under Obamacare.

November 17, 2015
The White House decided under intense political pressure in late 2013 to let people with substandard plans keep that coverage instead of forcing them to enter the marketplace and buy plans that met Obamacare's standards. The about-face was an attempt to fulfill Mr. Obama's promise that people who liked their plans could keep them under his signature law. The result was hundreds of thousands of low-risk customers who stayed with their plans. Meanwhile, customers with higher health risks switched to co-op plans, unleashing a tide of claims. (Associated Press)

Obamacare co-op flops have many scrambling for health insurance

When Amy Grech, a freelance Web consultant and horror story author in New York, was looking for health insurance, a broker pushed her toward Health Republic, the state's co-op under Obamacare. It had the doctors she needed, and the price seemed right.

November 15, 2015
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell speaks in Washington on July 28, 2014. (Associated Press) **FILE**

500K picked plans in Obamacare’s first week

More than a half-million people selected a health plan through the federal Obamacare website during the first week of open enrollment, according to a government update Thursday that said two-thirds of the customers were renewing coverage they already had.

November 12, 2015
studentsforlife.org

Pro-life group takes Planned Parenthood fight to Times Square

As Senate Republicans face a murky path toward defunding Planned Parenthood, a pro-life group is taking the fight to the bright lights of Manhattan, renting out ad space in Times Square to go after the women's health group.

November 12, 2015
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell speaks at the Treasury Department in Washington on July 28, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

N.Y. takes steps to rescue Obamacare co-op customers

Hoping to stem the fallout from the collapse of Obamacare's largest co-op plan, New York State regulators said the state's Obamacare exchange will automatically enroll affected customers into new coverage on Dec. 1 and let customers actively select a new plan through Nov. 30 -- a 15-day extension -- so they don't see a gap in coverage this year.

November 9, 2015
President Barack Obama speaks during a visit to the Newark campus of Rutgers University, Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) ** FILE **

White House challenges 20 cities to boost Obamacare signups

Hoping to boost Obamacare signups in a tough third year, the White House on Friday challenged 20 cities across the U.S. to root out their uninsured residents and drive them into Web-based exchanges set up under the law.

November 6, 2015
FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2015 file photo, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The White House accused new House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday of “pandering to the extreme right wing" of his party on immigration. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Ryan's recent comments on immigration reform are "preposterous" and disappointing. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

GOP digs into Obamacare’s co-op headache

Obamacare's co-op plans were "learning how to sail in a hurricane" when they set out to compete with larger, more-established insurers on Web exchanges set up to offer subsidized coverage in January 2014, a state regulator told Congress on Thursday.

November 5, 2015
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania Republican, takes his seat on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 2, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

House approves $325 billion roads bill

The House advanced a $325 billion highway bill Thursday that funds infrastructure projects for three years -- setting the stage for Congress's first long-term roads deal in a decade -- though the White House says America's crumbling infrastructure will need even more money.

November 5, 2015
FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2015 file photo, the HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed on a laptop screen in Washington. The government's insurance website is faster and easier to use, but as a third sign-up season gets underway, President Barack Obama's health care law is approaching limits. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Obama kicks off media blitz for health law

President Obama kicked off a media campaign in support of his signature health law Wednesday by cheering on "navigator" groups tasked with rooting out the millions of Americans who failed to sign up during the first two rounds.

November 4, 2015
President Barack Obama shares a humorous moment with a group of doctors from around the country in the Oval Office, Oct. 5, 2009, prior to a health insurance reform event at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

More than half of Obamacare co-ops go belly up

More than half of Obamacare's nonprofit co-op plans have failed, with Michigan becoming the latest to announce it will not offer plans for next year, prompting Republicans to label the program a disastrous waste of taxpayer money.

November 3, 2015
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office during the President's Daily Economic Briefing on July 30, 2009. (White House)

GOP piles on after nearly half of Obamacare’s co-ops fail

Leading Senate Republicans pressed the administration Monday to explain how it plans to recoup $2.4 billion in loans to Obamacare's flailing co-op program and whether consumers will be able to get new coverage without significant hiccups.

November 2, 2015