Descent Into Secrecy: Senate Health Talks Speak To Steady Retreat From Transparency
The Senate’s secret deliberation on the health bill overhaul is part of a long, slow slide away from transparency. And I’m a witness.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
721-740 of 780 results
The Senate’s secret deliberation on the health bill overhaul is part of a long, slow slide away from transparency. And I’m a witness.
At least 500 terminally ill Californians have asked for the medicine that allows them to end their lives, and nearly 500 health organizations have signed on to help.
The Obamacare replacement bill passed by House Republicans would cut Medicaid by $834 billion over a decade. That has people with disabilities scared that services that allow them to live independently, such as job training and transportation, will disappear.
In the early stages of the Senate’s attempts to write a health care bill, a Republican and a Democrat each solicit constituents’ Obamacare experiences from opposite ends of the spectrum.
The legislation would revive the age-old practice of paying providers for every service they perform — a recipe for a busted budget, some experts say. Backers say the bill is a work in progress.
While nearly half of Americans support Obamacare, fewer than a third are in favor of the Republican replacement legislation.
Since the House passed the American Health Care Act, Republican members of Congress have tried to swing public opinion to their side. ProPublica has been tracking what they're saying.
"I feel like I am in a bad dream," said state Sen. Ed Hernandez, who chairs California's Senate Health Committee.
A state Senate panel considering the measure said money for existing public programs could cover half the cost. But the rest might have to come from new taxes — a serious political obstacle.
In states that take up the bill’s option to change the essential health benefits, the out-of-pocket spending limits and annual and lifetime caps on coverage in large group plans could fray.
A 2016 California law allowed children without papers to sign up for full Medicaid benefits. More than 189,000 children have been covered, but some families now fear renewing coverage or signing up their kids for the first time.
With limited federal subsidies under the GOP health care bill, experts say states like California and New York would be under pressure to cut costs. That could mean shrinking benefits and dropping the prohibition against charging sicker patients higher premiums.
Some political analysts and community advocates say members of California’s Republican congressional delegation, which voted unanimously for the House bill, could be haunted at the polls.
With a slim margin, Senate Republicans must tread a fine line to pass their health replacement bill.
CEO Paul Markovich said he opposes the Republican plan because it would allow insurers to once again discriminate against people with preexisting conditions. "We are better than that," he said.
Bill would require disclosure of potentially harmful chemicals used in hair treatments, nail polish and other substances used in salons.
The advocacy group behind an expensive media blitz opposing Canadian drug imports has deep ties to the drug industry’s largest trade group.
Sales of sugary drinks dropped in the city by nearly 10 percent a year after tax took effect in 2015, while bottled water sales rose, researchers report.
Rep. Brian Mast, a first-term Republican congressman, defends his party’s push to repeal Obamacare in a meeting with constituents but concedes its health care plan needs more work.
Lawmakers in California, like their counterparts in Congress, are considering a tax that would pay for addiction prevention and treatment efforts.
© 2026 KFF