WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans’ bill to erase major parts of the Affordable Care Act would cause an estimated 22 million more Americans to be uninsured in the coming decade — about 1 million fewer than similar legislation recently passed by the House, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The forecast issued Monday by Congress’ nonpartisan […]
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Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Anthem predicts thousands will leave health care market
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – A major health insurance provider in Maine is predicting enrollment in the state’s Affordable Care Act insurance market will drop. The Portland Press Herald reports Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield foresees an 11 percent drop in Maine’s ACA marketplace. Anthem attributes the potential decrease to President Donald Trump’s health care […]
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Senate Republicans face key week for health-care bill
Senate Republicans are facing down an increasingly daunting challenge to secure the votes necessary to pass legislation to dramatically change President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law, and several senators said they would like more time to debate and tweak the plan as GOP leaders push for a vote this week. At least five Republicans have […]
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GOP leaders add penalty for lapsed coverage to Senate health care bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders added a penalty for people who’ve let their insurance lapse Monday as party leaders prepared to begin pushing their health care measure through the Senate, despite a rebellion within GOP ranks. Under the new provision, people who’ve had at least a 63-day gap in coverage during the past year and […]
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Susan Collins says she is waiting on health care bill's CBO score
A key moderate Republican senator said Sunday she’s waiting for a Congressional Budget Office score to finalize her position on the Senate bill to repeal and replace Obamacare and that she has concerns about the measure’s impact on older and rural Americans. “I have very serious concerns about the bill,” Sen. Susan Collins of Maine […]
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Angus King blasts GOP healthcare bill while Susan Collins studies it
Denouncing a new Republican health care bill Thursday, independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine called it a “really cruel” bid to take health care away from the poor, disabled and elderly “so very wealthy people can get a tax cut.” While King offered harsh words about the proposed overhaul of the Affordable Care Act, […]
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Senate GOP releases health care bill that cuts Medicaid, alters 'Obamacare'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans released their long-awaited bill Thursday to dismantle much of Barack Obama’s health care law, proposing to cut Medicaid and erase tax boosts that helped Obama finance his expansion of coverage. The measure encountered immediate trouble as four GOP senators said they opposed it but were open to negotiations. The bill […]
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A skeptical Susan Collins may decide fate of GOP's health care bill
Almost nobody knows what the Senate’s health care plan will look like because it’s been drafted behind closed doors with no public hearings, no copies for anyone to see and no updates on what it might contain. The other thing nobody knows is whether it has a future. One of the people who may decide […]
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Opioid hospitalization increasing, Maine among top 10 states
Users of opioid painkillers often grapple with risking addiction or living with pain The coast-to-coast opioid epidemic is swamping hospitals, with government data published Tuesday showing 1.27 million emergency room visits or inpatient stays for opioid-related issues in a single year. The 2014 numbers, the latest available for every state and the District of Columbia, […]
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Susan Collins offers support for Medicaid expansion in Maine
Whether Maine should expand its Medicaid program to cover tens of thousands more people has long been a hotly debated issue — and one that may be decided at the ballot box in November. But until now, Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has remained above the fray, focused on trying to come up with a […]