Stuff YOU Should Know
John McCain Diagnosed with Cancer Senator John McCain has recently been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a very aggressive form of cancer that forms in the tissue of the brain and spinal cord. Last Friday, McCain underwent surgery to remove a blood clot at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. During surgery, doctors confirmed the presence of […]
Senate to Vote on Health Care Reform
This week, over on the Election Central Web site, the main story looks at the Senate’s efforts to pass a Republican reform to the “Obamacare” Affordable Care Act. Once again, health care reform is dominating news headlines. This time, it’s because Senate Republicans have come up with a new health care bill, known as the Better […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Japanese Birth Rate Falling When you think of Japan, do you picture the crowded streets and skyscrapers of Tokyo? Just outside the city, the number of abandoned homes–called “ghost houses”—continues to rise, as the population of Japan continues to fall. Japan has been keeping records of its number of births since 1899. Last year was […]
Republican Health Care Replacement Bill Passes House
For the past seven years, House Republicans have been struggling to repeal the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as the ACA or “Obamacare.” After many failed attempts, they finally succeeded on Thursday when they narrowly passed a bill that will repeal and replace large chunks of the ACA. What Does the New Plan Look Like? […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
You Decide! Is the 100 Days Metric Useful? For decades, it has become tradition to measure a new president’s effectiveness at governing by his or her first 100 days in office. This practice began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, during his first 100 days, managed to sign 76 bills into law, declare (and then […]
Health Care Replacement–Take Two
This week, over on the Election Central Web site, the main story takes a look at congressional Republicans newest effort to replace the Affordable Care Act with their own national health care reform package. But their first effort–The American Health Care Act–didn’t go so well. What is different this time? April 29th marks an important day […]
New Health Care Plan Scrapped
Two weeks ago, btw reported on the new health care plan proposed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Congressional Republicans, called the American Health Care Plan (AHCA). The AHCA was introduced as a replacement for the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act (the ACA or “Obamacare”). However, last Friday, the legislation was killed before […]
Republicans Reveal New Healthcare Plan
On March 6, House Republicans released their replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act. Like the ACA, the new plan–known as the American Health Care Act–is a way for the federal government to help people afford the high cost of health insurance. But in many other important ways, the new plan is radically different. So […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Maker of EpiPen Faces Harsh Criticism Millions of Americans suffer from severe food allergies, many of them children. To combat a reaction that could lead to anaphylactic shock, many carrying an EpiPen. This is an “auto-injector” filled with the hormone epinephrine. While epinephrine itself is not considered an expensive drug, the single dose of a […]
New Problems for “Obamacare”
Revisiting Obamacare The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as “Obamacare,” has been a contentious issue ever since President Obama made healthcare reform a major part of his campaign in the 2008 general election. Despite being signed into law in 2010, Congressional Republicans have made several attempts since then to “defund” it. […]