AUGUSTA — A bill limiting gifts from drug companies to doctors is receiving bipartisan support in Maine. Rep. Scott Hamann, D-South Portland, says he wrote the bill after reading how some doctors who prescribed opioids received thousands of dollars from drug manufacturers. He says the bill received widespread support because many see the link between […]
health care
Posted inNation / World
White House tweaks health care bill to appeal to conservatives
WASHINGTON — White House officials made a new offer to conservative House Republicans late Monday on the GOP’s failed health care bill, hoping to resuscitate a measure that crashed spectacularly less than two weeks ago. Vice President Mike Pence and two top White House officials made the offer in a closed-door meeting with members of […]
advertisement
Posted inOp-Eds
Trump used to get it right about health care
NEW YORK — The recent Republican debacle on health care could prove to be an opportunity. It highlighted, yet again, the complexity of America’s system, which continues to be by far the most expensive and inefficient in the advanced world. But Donald Trump could actually use the legislative collapse to fix health care if he […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Health care issue isn’t over yet
WASHINGTON — Repeal-and-replace (for Obamacare) is not quite dead. It has been declared so, but what that means is that, for now, the president has (apparently) washed his hands of it and the House Republicans appear unable to reconcile their differences. Neither condition needs to be permanent. There are ideological differences between the various GOP […]
Posted inOp-Eds
GOP’s partywide failure on health care
There’s stumbling out of the gate, and then there’s what Republicans just did on health care. They came up with a substantively indefensible bill, put it on an absurd fast track to passage, didn’t seriously try to sell it to the public, fumbled their internal negotiations over changes — and suffered a stinging defeat months […]
Posted inLetters
Universal health care
“?The only way to have universal care, if you stop to think about it, is to force people to buy it under penalty of law,” said White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney in an interview before GOP health care legislation was pulled.? Do we not agree that universal health care is desirable? Are we not […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Gov. Paul LePage proposes tougher welfare law
In a State House news conference Tuesday, Gov. Paul LePage unveiled a bill that would make some of his administration’s welfare policies state law. Updated 1:20 p.m.: Gov. Paul LePage unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would enshrine a smattering of welfare changes enacted and proposed by his administration in Maine law, putting his stamp on […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Freecom caucus loses chance to govern
By Marc A. Thiessen Special to The Washington Post A few days before the House Freedom Caucus brought down the American Health Care Act, Rep. Mark Meadows laid out the stakes for his group: “This is a defining moment for our nation, but it’s also a defining moment for the Freedom Caucus.” The North Carolina […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Gov. Paul LePage slams Republicans who didn't back AHCA
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Gov. Paul LePage is lining up with President Donald Trump and against many congressional Republicans after intra-party squabbling made leaders pull a proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Friday. The Republican governor was against the bill at its rollout early this month, but he went public in support of it on […]
Posted inUncategorized
Blaming conservatives, Donald Trump signals new openness to Dems
In a March 23, 2017 file photo, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, right, departs after a Republican caucus meeting on Capitol Hill, in Washington. Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” March 26, 2017, Priebus made clear that President Donald Trump would be seeking support from moderate Democrats for upcoming legislative battles. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, […]