skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Thousands Rally Against ACA Repeal

play audio
Play

Monday, January 16, 2017   

CHICAGO -- Rallies were held across the country over the weekend to oppose repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois attended a rally at the SEIU Healthcare Office in Chicago on Sunday. He said that the GOP-led assault on President Obama's signature healthcare law could cause more than a million Illinoisans could to lose their coverage.

In Illinois alone, Durbin said, 4 million people with employer-based health insurance will no longer benefit from a ban on lifetime caps and protections against discrimination for those with pre-existing conditions.

"If you had a pre-existing condition called being a woman, you were going to pay a higher premium,” Durbin said of the state of the healthcare system before the ACA. “We got rid of that. Lifetime limits on health insurance coverage? That can be destroyed in one trip to the doctor or one accident in your car."

Over the weekend, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus said President-elect Donald Trump does not have plans to touch Medicare. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said he'd like to see a tweet from Trump confirming the campaign promise that he would not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.

Durbin said that older folks will be hit particularly hard if the ACA is repealed.

"Senior citizens on Medicare have full coverage for their prescription drugs,” he said. "Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is saving the average senior in Illinois $1,000 a year on drug costs."

Also, thousands of young adults in Illinois could be removed from their parents' health plans, Durbin said. He also warned that repealing the law will cause job losses that would be devastating to the economy.

"We're going to lose, we estimate, 95,000 jobs in Illinois of healthcare professionals,” Durbin said. "We're going to see hospitals losing 40 percent of their revenues as we eliminate Medicaid coverage for people."

Trump has vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Congressional Republicans took the first step in that process late last week.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021