skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

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

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

For Some, Senate Healthcare Bill Looks Like 'Life or Death'

play audio
Play

Monday, June 19, 2017   

RICHMOND, Va. -- Folks who got healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act are closely watching as the new healthcare bill is drafted in the Senate - including some who say Obamacare saved their lives.

The Senate "repeal and replace" legislation is still being negotiated behind closed doors, although observers say it will closely resemble the bill that passed the House. That's disturbing to cancer survivor Russell Williams. After he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Williams said he struggled to get the insurance he needed to have surgery and then, what he called "aggressive chemo.”

He said it was a close call.

"One gentleman looked at me and his words were, 'So you want insurance with a late-stage cancer diagnosis? Good luck with that,’” Williams recalled. "Had the Obama Administration not pushed and made the Affordable Care Act happen, I'd be dead."

Supporters of the Senate bill say patients with pre-existing conditions would still be covered. But other observers have warned that their premiums would go up so much, they'd likely lose coverage anyway.

Edwin Park, vice president for health policy with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the little information being leaked about the Senate bill indicates it generally resembles the one that passed the House. He said both would make similarly steep funding cuts, and would reduce access in much the same way.

He predicts the Senate bill's timeline will be slower, but would have the same impact.

"The Senate is making tweaks, but those changes, you know, are relatively minor in the greater scheme of things, and still result with the same outcome as the House bill,” Park said.

Supporters have argued that reductions in funding are needed to keep the programs viable. But Park pointed out that both bills include tax cuts that benefit the wealthy, the drug companies and others.

"Medicaid cuts, as well as cuts to the subsidies, pay for the tax cuts that overwhelmingly go to high-income folks and the health industry,” he observed.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants to pass the Senate version by the end of the month.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

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