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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2014 file photo, Medicaid Administrator Marilyn Tavenner testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. A government watchdog agency says Medicare’s prescription drug program kept paying for costly medications even after patients were dead. The problem seems to have started with a bureaucratic rule now getting a second look. A report coming out Friday from the Health and Human Services inspector general says Medicare has been allowing payment for prescriptions filled up to 32 days after a patient’s death. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Dental plans mistakenly included in Obamacare tallies: White House

The Obama administration acknowledged Thursday it mistakenly included up to 400,000 dental plans in the 7.1-million enrollment figure it touted before Obamacare's second round, a move that nudged them above congressional budget estimates for participation in the contentious overhaul.

November 20, 2014
In this photo taken Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, health workers spray disinfectant around a mosque after the body of a man suspected of dying from the Ebola virus was washed inside before being berried in Bamako, Mali. It all started with a sick nurse, whose positive test results for Ebola came only after death. In a busy clinic that treats Bamako’s elite as well as wounded U.N. peacekeepers, who was the patient who had transmitted the virus? Soon hospital officials were taking a second look at the case of a 70-year-old man brought to the capital late at night from Guinea suffering from kidney failure. On Friday, Malian health authorities went to disinfect the mosque where the 70-year-old’s body was prepared for burial - nearly three weeks ago. Already some are criticizing the government for being too slow to react when health authorities had announced his death as a suspected Ebola case earlier in the week.(AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)

WHO outlines six Ebola cases in Mali

The World Health Organization said Thursday that Mali, a West African country, has suffered six official cases of Ebola, with five of them proving fatal.

November 20, 2014
Workers load a cargo jet with tons of Ebola relief supplies at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 5, 2014. The International Christian charity Samaritaan's Purse is shipping the supplies to Liberia. (Associated Press/The Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin) **FILE**

Liberian ambassador to U.S.: Ebola travel ban would stigmatize my country

A ban on travelers between West Africa and the U.S. during the Ebola outbreak would stigmatize Liberia, scare off much-needed aid workers to combat the disease and dissuade investors from buttressing its battered economy, the country's ambassador to the U.S. said Wednesday.

November 19, 2014
FILE - In this July 9, 2014 file photo, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Coburn requested a Government Accountability Office report which showed nearly 60,000 veterans collected more than $3.5 billion in 2013 in military retirement pay, disability benefits from Veterans Affairs and disability checks from Social Security. Coburn said officials should fulfill promises to veterans, but work to streamline duplicative programs. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Tom Carper allows Tom Coburn to chair Ebola hearing

Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware on Wednesday handed the gavel over to his Republican counterpart, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, after convening a hearing on public health preparedness amid the Ebola outbreak.

November 19, 2014
Former Rep. Ron Paul describes his new voicesofliberty.com website as a "digital bully pulpit" for early stage political ideas. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Ron Paul says Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio are ‘pretty average’

Ron Paul, a former presidential candidate and longtime congressman, is mum on a potential presidential bid by his son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. But he does have a few opinions about his son's potential GOP rivals in 2016.

November 19, 2014
In this Nov. 13, 2014, file photo, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn responds to a question after announcing the second year of open health care enrollment under the Affordable Care Act that began Saturday, Nov. 14, during a news conference in Chicago. Illinois lawmakers may have one more chance to approve a state-run health insurance marketplace during the fall legislative session that starts Wednesday, Nov. 19. Quinn supports the idea. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Illinois mulls its own Obamacare exchange as pressure mounts

A looming deadline for federal Obamacare grants and action at the Supreme Court have put pressure on Illinois lawmakers to decide if they want to set up their own health exchange or continue to rely on the federal HealthCare.gov portal.

November 19, 2014
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, questions witnesses at a House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations into the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak in November. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Republicans push for Ebola travel ban

Despite progress in the fight against Ebola, President Obama said Tuesday the global response is "nowhere near out of the woods yet in West Africa," as skeptical members of Congress renewed their calls for a travel ban and pored over his $6.2 billion request to fund efforts to combat the disease at home and abroad.

November 18, 2014
President Barack Obama emerges from a tent with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, left, and former Boston Celtics center Bill Russell, after he got a private viewing of a statue honoring Russell in Boston, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Mass. health exchange seeks Obamacare turnaround

The Obamacare exchange in Massachusetts deemed nearly 12,000 eligible for private health plans or coverage through its Medicaid program during the first weekend of open enrollment — a stark turnaround from web troubles in the commonwealth last year.

November 17, 2014