A brief, partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government ended 22 January, as the Senate and House approved legislation that would keep federal dollars flowing until 8 February, as well as fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for the next six years. President Donald Trump signed the bill that evening. The CHIP program, which […]
Having failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Congress is now working on a tax overhaul for the United States. But it turns out the tax bills in the House and Senate also aim to reshape healthcare. Here are five big ways the tax bill could affect health policy: 1. Repeal the requirement […]
After a bruising confirmation process, the U.S. Senate confirmed Representative Tom Price, R-Ga., to head up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), by a 52-to-47 vote. As secretary, Price will have significant authority to rewrite the rules for the Affordable Care Act, some of which are reportedly nearly ready to be issued. But there is […]
In a rare show of bipartisanship for the mostly polarized 115th U.S. Congress, Republican and Democratic Senate leaders announced a two-year budget deal that would increase federal spending for defense as well as key domestic priorities, including many health programs. Not in the deal, for which the path to the president’s desk remains unclear, is any […]
The federal government’s annual projections of health spending for the next decade suggest that it will go up faster than in recent years. One of the main reasons is the aging of the huge baby boom generation. And drug prices are expected to continue to rise rapidly, although drugs are still a relatively small portion […]
