White House tries (again) to sell Obamacare, this time with a cartoon

White House tries (again) to sell Obamacare, this time with a cartoon-stat: The Obama administration is trying once again to address a criticism that has dogged the president ever since his health care bill passed six years ago: they need to sell it better.

Bad Debt Is the Pain Hospitals Can't Heal as Patients Don't Pay

Bad Debt Is the Pain Hospitals Can't Heal as Patients Don't Pay-bloomberg: A type of pain that hospitals thought they had relieved has come back with a vengeance: it’s called bad debt. Hospitals have long struggled to collect bills when patients aren’t covered by insurance -- creating delinquent accounts. The Affordable Care Act was supposed to relieve some of that strain by helping pay for coverage for millions of Americans and expanding Medicaid in some states to cover the poor.

Obama goes big on healthcare in final budget wish list

Obama goes big on healthcare in final budget wish list-thehill: The Obama administration is resurfacing its boldest healthcare proposals in its final budget wish list, which may mark its last chance to strengthen the Affordable Care Act.  The $4.1 trillion budget proposal — his most expensive to date — includes new ideas like enticing states to expand Medicaid and requiring drug companies to publicly disclose the costs of their research and development.

The chaotic fight for ObamaCare

The chaotic fight for ObamaCare-thehill: Less than 48 hours before the final vote on the Affordable Care Act, President Obama was irritated.  Jason Altmire, a centrist Democratic congressman representing the Pittsburgh area, had just announced he would vote against ObamaCare. The White House needed every vote it could get, with the bill in serious jeopardy of dying on the House floor.

House fails to override ObamaCare veto

House fails to override ObamaCare veto-thehill: The House on Tuesday failed to override President Obama’s veto of legislation that would have repealed much of ObamaCare and defunded Planned Parenthood. The result was expected, given that an override would have required Democratic support to succeed, but Republicans praised the vote as showing what could happen next year if their party wins back the White House.

This week: Congress takes up ObamaCare repeal, energy fight

This week: Congress takes up ObamaCare repeal, energy fight-thehill: All eyes will be on the Iowa caucuses on Monday, but Congress is back in session this week for an energy fight in the Senate and yet another vote to repeal the healthcare law.  Groundhog Day references will likely be inevitable when the House votes once again Tuesday, Feb. 2, on legislation to repeal ObamaCare.

ObamaCare not high on voters' priorities, poll finds

ObamaCare not high on voters' priorities, poll finds-thehill: ObamaCare is not of central importance to voters ahead of the coming election, according to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The poll finds that the 2010 healthcare law ranks eighth on voters’ list of issues important to them in the election. Twenty-three percent of registered voters said ObamaCare is extremely important to their vote, compared to 38 percent who said terrorism and 34 percent who said the economy.

Study: GOP win in ObamaCare suit would hike spending

Study: GOP win in ObamaCare suit would hike spending-thehill: A new study indicates that a favorable ruling for House Republicans in their ObamaCare lawsuit would cause a large disruption, but would not cripple the law.  The study from the Urban Institute finds that if Republicans win in the case of House v. Burwell, cutting off certain payments to insurers under the health law, insurers would face a major adjustment and have to hike premiums, but government subsidies would increase to help make up the difference and the system would likely not face major negative consequences.

Federal healthcare spending tops Social Security for the first time

Federal healthcare spending tops Social Security for the first time-thehill: Spending on federal healthcare programs outpaced spending on Social Security for the first time in 2015, according to an expansive report from the congressional budget scorekeeper released Monday.  The government spent $936 billion last year on health programs including Medicare, Medicaid and subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act, a jump of 13 percent from 2014, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Clinton: ObamaCare was originally 'Hillarycare'

Clinton: ObamaCare was originally 'Hillarycare'-thehill: Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is out with a new defense of her healthcare record — rival Bernie Sanders may have helped write ObamaCare, but it was her idea first. "It was called Hillarycare before it was called Obamacare,” Clinton told a crowd of supporters at a country club in Vinton, Iowa. “I don't want to start over."

Election-year rift opens in GOP

Election-year rift opens in GOP-thehill: House Republicans are moving full steam ahead with work on a replacement bill for ObamaCare, an effort that Senate Republicans see as dangerous. House Republicans feel emboldened by last year’s election of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as Speaker to pursue ambitious goals, with none bigger than presenting a conservative alternative to President Obama’s signature law.

Amplifying attacks, Clinton says Sanders wants to 'tear up' ObamaCare

Amplifying attacks, Clinton says Sanders wants to 'tear up' ObamaCare-thehill: Hillary Clinton accused Bernie Sanders of wanting to “tear up” ObamaCare during a combative exchange during Sunday night’s Democratic presidential debate. Assailing Sanders’s “Medicare-for-all” proposal, Clinton said the party should be focused on strengthening and improving the Affordable Care Act, also called ObamaCare. Seeking "to tear it up and start over again," she said, would be taking the country in the "wrong direction."

Heritage Action to GOP: Make healthcare a winning issue

Heritage Action to GOP: Make healthcare a winning issue-thehill: Heritage Action for America is urging GOP leaders to hone in on healthcare affordability ahead of the fall elections, an issue that it says is “overall one of strongest issues on the conservative agenda.” The conservative group, which carries heavy weight particularly among the party's right flank, delivered congressional Republicans a policy to-do list on Monday ahead of their joint retreat in Baltimore.

Week ahead: Obama, GOP offer healthcare promises for 2016

Week ahead: Obama, GOP offer healthcare promises for 2016-thehill: 2016 is here and everyone from President Obama and GOP leaders to the Chamber of Commerce will be laying out their healthcare priorities in the coming week. Expect to hear plenty of new promises on healthcare -- which could be pivotal in an election cycle that stands to permanently cement ObamaCare.

House passes ObamaCare repeal, sending measure to president

House passes ObamaCare repeal, sending measure to president-thehill: The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would repeal much of ObamaCare and defund Planned Parenthood for one year, sending the measure to President Obama’s desk.  The bill passed by a vote of 240 to 181. Rep. Collin Peterson (Minn.), who opposes abortion, was the only Democrat to vote for the measure. Reps. Bob Dold (Ill.), Richard Hanna (N.Y.) and John Katko (R-N.Y.), who all hail from swing districts, were the only Republicans to vote against it.

House poised to pass ObamaCare repeal

House poised to pass ObamaCare repeal-thehill: For the first time, Republicans on Wednesday are expected to send a bill to President Obama’s desk that would repeal most of his signature healthcare law. While the bill faces a certain veto, the vote in the House brings Republicans closer than ever before to dismantling the healthcare legislation that they say has failed the country.

Republicans Aim to Replace Obamacare

Republicans Aim to Replace Obamacare-morningconsult: The legislative year will kick off with a House vote designed to send a message to voters: Vote for Republicans in November, and Obamacare will be repealed. Late last year, the Senate passed a bill to repeal major pieces of Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says the House will vote on the same measure the first week in January. It is a symbolic gesture. President Obama has said all along that he would veto the measure.

How Democrats prevailed over Obama on the 'Cadillac tax'

How Democrats prevailed over Obama on the 'Cadillac tax'-thehill: As recently as three weeks ago, one of President Obama's top advisers warned Democratic leaders to leave the “Cadillac tax” alone. Asked on Dec. 1 whether Obama would veto any measure that chipped away at the unpopular tax on healthcare benefits, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough was stern.

Ryan promises vote next month to roll back ObamaCare

Ryan promises vote next month to roll back ObamaCare-thehill: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that House members will vote on a rollback of ObamaCare as one of their first acts of 2016.  “When we return in January, the House will put an ObamaCare repeal bill on the floor and pass it and put it on the president’s desk,” Ryan told reporters Thursday. “We are going to keep working to give families relief from this law while we work to dismantle and replace it altogether."

Clinton: ObamaCare pushing some people into part-time jobs

Clinton: ObamaCare pushing some people into part-time jobs-thehill: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said President Obama's healthcare is pushing some people into part-time positions.  “Well that’s why they’re going to part-time, that and also the Affordable Care Act,” Clinton said in Iowa while fielding a question about discrimination against workers under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), according to the Washington Free Beacon.