Senate Democrats, holding out for health care, reject government funding bill for 10th time

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats rejected for the 10th time Thursday a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits. The vote failed on a 51-45 tally, well short of the 60 needed to advance with the Senate’s filibuster rules. The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become. It has been at times the only item on the agenda for the Senate…

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Roundup: Dem Base Rallies Leaders to Stay Strong on Health Care Against the GOP as Shutdown Looms

See coverage in AP, Axios, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Politico  WASHINGTON – MoveOn Civic Action continues to encourage Congressional Democrats to stand united by refusing to agree to a government funding plan as long as ACA premium subsidies are on the chopping block and without any concessions from Trump and Republicans to reverse their massive healthcare cuts from the summer. Earlier this month, MoveOn sent a memo to Democratic leadership and appropriation chairs from Executive Director Katie Bethell conveying the grassroots will have their back if they keep their word…

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Grassroots Groups Announce 500K Call Push to Protect Health Care in Shutdown Showdown

Indivisible, MoveOn, and Working Families Power Combine Efforts to Ensure Dems Keep Holding the Line WASHINGTON – As health care premiums prepare to go up and the Trump-Republican shutdown continues, grassroots groups are coming together to push half a million calls to Congress to protect health care access.  Throughout this week, Indivisible, MoveOn Civic Action, and Working Families Power (WFP) are activating their members to place calls to Congress to demand they preserve ACA subsidies and reinstate life-saving Medicaid funding that Republicans gutted to make way for tax cuts for…

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MoveOn: Republicans Torpedo Americans’ Health Care as Shutdown Looms

Members Make Thousands of Calls to Offices to Protect Health Care WASHINGTON – As President Trump and congressional Republicans prepare to shut down the government instead of saving health care, MoveOn Civic Action Executive Director Katie Bethell released the following statement: “As the party in power, President Trump and Republicans’ priorities are clear: slashing our health care, eliminating cancer research funding, gutting Medicaid and our entire government to give away tax cuts to billionaires. The blame for this shutdown rests squarely on Trump and Republicans’ shoulders. Democrats should keep their…

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VA updates FY 2025 health care budget shortfall to $6.6B, nearly half its previous estimate

The Department of Veterans Affairs is cutting its request for additional funding by almost half after officials told lawmakers last week that a shortfall in its health care budget wasn’t as severe as earlier estimates showed. The VA is now asking Congress for a $ 6.6 billion supplement to its fiscal 2025 budget to keep providing more health care to more veterans than ever before. Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said in an interview Tuesday that the PACT Act, which expands eligibility for VA health care and benefits to…

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What Going ‘Wild on Health’ Looks Like

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the bear-fondling, gravel-voiced Camelot scion, is President-Elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, where presumably he will “go wild on health,” to quote Trump. His nomination has raised concerns among public-health experts because many of Kennedy’s views on health are, well, wild. To be sure, among Kennedy’s battier ideas are a few reasonable ones, such as reducing obesity and cracking down on direct-to-consumer drug commercials and conflicts of interest among researchers. But these are eclipsed by some troubling ones, such…

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