Politics
FAQ: The House Passes A Bill To Fix Medicare’s Doctor Payments. What’s In It?
The troubled payment formula for Medicare physicians is one step closer to repeal. The current system would be scrapped and replaced with payment increases for doctors for the next five years as Medicare transitions to a new system focused "on quality, value and accountability." The deal also would permanently extend the Qualifying Individual, or QI program, which helps low-income seniors pay their Medicare premiums. There's enough in the wide-ranging deal for both sides to love or hate. more »
Dante in the City: Where Have All the Yellow Mustard, Orange Poppies and Blue Lupine Gone?
Julia Sneden writes: Surely, I thought, people have observed and learned a lesson from the large urban areas in the northeast and far west — but no, our small cities have replicated the poor planning and nutty zoning that have allowed the destruction of roadside beauty all over the country. We're right up there with the big guys. The roads that lead into our towns and cities are lined with fast-food joints and factories and car dealerships and shopping centers, so that reaching the center of town seems to take forever. more »
Congressional Bills Introduced: IRS & Trafficking, Ratifying CEDAW; Campus Sexual Violence; Tax Credits
A bill to strengthen connections to early childhood education programs; a bill to increase the number of months of vocational educational training that may be counted as work under the temporary assistance for needy families program; a bill to provide for the establishment of a commission to accelerate the end of breast cancer; a bill to create a tax credit for foster families; a bill to direct the attorney general to make grants to states that have in place laws that terminate the parental rights of men who father children through rape. more »
Five Things To Know About The Supreme Court Case Challenging The Health Law
Today, the justices have heard oral arguments in King v. Burwell, a case challenging the validity of tax subsidies helping millions of Americans buy health insurance if they don’t get it through an employer or the government. If the court rules against the Obama administration, those subsidies could be cut off for everyone in the three dozen states using healthcare.gov, the federal exchange website. A decision is expected by the end of June. more »