skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

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

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Maryland Group Calls GOP Healthcare Plan a "Disaster"

play audio
Play

Wednesday, March 15, 2017   

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On the heels of a report by the Congressional Budget Office that estimates the American Health Care Act would mean 24 million people would lose their health insurance, opponents of the plan in Maryland say they're gearing up for what could be a long battle.

Vincent DiMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, calls the GOP's plan "reprehensible and immoral," and adds his group will fight it with everything they have. He says every person in the country needs to speak up, including Maryland's top official.

"Say 'no way' to the Paul Ryan 'Destruction of Health Care' plan," he said. "In addition, in Maryland, we should call on our Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to defend us from this."

Gov. Hogan did send a letter to Congress in January, outlining how Medicaid and other federal health-care programs benefit the state. DiMarco says Hogan could be more aggressive. Republican lawmakers are calling their proposal common-sense reform that makes health care more affordable, and will eventually reduce the number of uninsured Americans.

DiMarco's group is also asking the Maryland General Assembly to create a commission to study the state's options if Congress passes the GOP plan, including the possibility of having the state attorney general file a lawsuit.

"There are Republican members of the House and Senate whose constituents who have benefited tremendously from the Affordable Care Act," he explained. "Are they going to be able to look these folks in the eye and say, 'We're going to throw you off your health care?' In the end, I don't think so."

The Republican plan includes tax breaks to help pay for insurance that its supporters say are more fair to all. But the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates the plan would give consumers in the health-insurance marketplace an average of $1,700 less to buy coverage by 2020.

Its research says that would affect seniors and lower-income people the most, while the majority of tax breaks would go to businesses and the pharmaceutical industry.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

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