1/24/2018

HHS/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A majority of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm former pharmaceutical industry executive and lobbyist Alex Azar as the next Health and Human Services secretary. Azar would be charged with overseeing the Trump administration’s response to the opioid epidemic, its efforts to weaken the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, […]

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1/22/2018

HHS/RELIGION: “A small cadre of politically prominent religious activists inside the Department of Health and Human Services have spent months quietly planning how to weaken federal protections for abortion and transgender care — a strategy that’s taking shape in a series of policy moves that took even their own staff by surprise. Those officials include […]

Read More… from 1/22/2018

1/19/2018

ABORTION/HHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump touted his administration’s anti-abortion record on Friday [1-19-18] during remarks that made him the first sitting president to speak via video feed to the March for Life gathering in Washington… Trump’s video address heralding his administration for a series of anti-abortion decisions that have been made over the last […]

Read More… from 1/19/2018

1/19/2018

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/PLANNED PARENTHOOD: “U.S. health officials on Friday [1-19-18] said they were revoking legal guidance issued by the Obama Administration that had sought to discourage states from trying to defund organizations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials also said the department is issuing a […]

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1/18/2018

HEALTHCARE/HHS/RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is planning new exemptions for health-care practitioners with moral or religious objections to performing procedures such as gender-reassignment surgery and abortions. The move is part of a broader White House effort to protect religious rights that critics say roll back anti-discrimination protections. The Department of Health and Human Services […]

Read More… from 1/18/2018

1/8/2018

HHS/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When Donald Trump’s nominee for HHS secretary was a top executive at Eli Lilly, the patent on its blockbuster Cialis was soon to expire. So Lilly tested it on kids. The drugmaker believed the erectile dysfunction drug might help a rare and deadly muscle-wasting disease that afflicts boys. The drug didn’t work […]

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12/27/2017

FDA/HHS: “The Food and Drug Administration is not moving quickly enough to ensure that contaminated food is removed from store shelves, despite being given the necessary authority, federal investigators have concluded. The inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services examined 30 of 1,557 food recalls between 2012 and 2015. The investigators found […]

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12/19/2017

ABORTION/HHS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Renewed Trump administration efforts to prevent undocumented teens in U.S. custody from obtaining abortions suffered setbacks this week, but the ongoing court battle shows no signs of subsiding. The Justice Department said Tuesday [12-19-17] that one teen in custody who is seeking an abortion was a 19-year-old adult, not a 17-year-old […]

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12/18/2017

ABORTION/HHS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Two undocumented immigrants in United States custody must be allowed to have abortions, a federal judge ruled on Monday [12-18-17], objecting to a Trump administration policy. The immigrants, both 17, entered the United States illegally and are being held in government-run shelters. Under a policy announced in March by the Department of […]

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12/18/2017

HHS/RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “HHS is refusing to make public more than 10,000 comments on a Trump administration proposal to reduce federal regulations for religious and faith-based groups that could affect access to abortion and care for transgender patients, according to sources with knowledge of the decision. The agency has instead posted 80 comments — less […]

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12/18/2017

HHS/IMMIGRATION/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal judge considering whether to order the Trump administration to allow abortions for two pregnant, 17-year-old girls in immigration custody heard Monday [12-18-17] that a top Health and Human Services official has decided it is not in the best interests of one of the young women to terminate her pregnancy. Office […]

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11/30/2017

DRUGS/HHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump will donate his third-quarter salary to the Department of Health and Human Services’ efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, the Trump administration said Thursday [11-30-17]. Acting Health and Human Services Secretary Eric Hargan, speaking with reporters at Thursday’s White House press briefing, said the donation shows Trump’s ‘sense of […]

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11/29/2017

DRUGS/HHS/NOMINATIONS/PHARMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Alex Azar, a former drug industry executive who Republicans have nominated to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Wednesday [11-29-17] promised to lower drug prices that he said are too high, saying he would look at abuse of patent laws that delays generic competition. Azar, who worked at […]

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11/17/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The next head of the Department of Health and Human Services will be handed an agency facing criticism from state officials and internal strife. HHS, which employs about 80,000 people, oversees Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and such agencies as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has been caught up in […]

Read More… from 11/17/2017

11/14/2017

DRUGS/HHS/NOMINATIONS/PHARMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump tweeted Monday [11-13-17] that his nominee for HHS secretary, Alex Azar will ‘be a star for … lower drug prices!’ But the record of the former top executive for Eli Lilly, which tripled the price of a top-selling insulin drug while he led its U.S. operation, suggests a different […]

Read More… from 11/14/2017

11/13/2017

HHS/TOM PRICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Tom Price left his job as Health and Human Services secretary in September, but the investigation into his use of private jets for official travel now threatens to enmesh others in the department. The department’s inspector-general’s probe will review who approved — or should have been approving — Price’s use of […]

Read More… from 11/13/2017

10/30/2017

HHS/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Five months after President Donald Trump nominated Stephen Parente to be an assistant secretary for Health and Human Services, the nation’s largest health insurer quietly gave a $1.2 million gift to a tiny academic research center that Parente helped found and served as director over the past decade. Parente, who is still […]

Read More… from 10/30/2017

10/27/2017

DRUGS/HHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration announced Friday [10-27-17] it is relaxing a federal privacy rule that prevents health providers from notifying family members about a drug overdose, one of the administration’s most significant policy shifts to combat the nation’s opioid crisis. The new rule will explicitly permit health-care providers to share information with family […]

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10/27/2017

ABORTION/DHS/HHS/IMMIGRATION/TEXAS: “After a visit to a federal detention center in Texas earlier this year, Scott Lloyd focused on the details of one pregnant girl. He wanted to ensure she had food she liked and was comfortable, and he wanted to counsel her against having an abortion… The shelter, for children who cross the U.S. border […]

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10/26/2017

DRUGS/HHS/PHARMA/TRUMP MEMORANDA: “Presidential Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies Combatting the National Drug Demand and Opioid Crisis.. It shall be the policy of the United States to use all lawful means to combat the drug demand and opioid crisis currently afflicting our country. Individuals, families, and communities across the United States continue […]

Read More… from 10/26/2017

10/26/2017

DRUGS/HHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [10-26-17] will declare opioid addiction a ‘public health emergency,’ seeking to elevate the crisis within his administration without an immediate provision of additional funds. The description stops short of the ‘national emergency’ designation that Mr. Trump had said over the summer he would apply to the epidemic […]

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10/25/2017

DRUGS/FDA/HHS/SCOTT GOTTLIEB/TOM PRICE: “As the opioid epidemic in the U.S. continues to kill more and more Americans, the Food and Drug Administration wants to lift the stigma on the idea of using drugs to treat a drug habit. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told a U.S. House committee on Wednesday [10-25-17] that his agency is looking […]

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10/23/2017

ABORTION/HHS/IMMIGRATION/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider an order that delayed an abortion for an undocumented teenager. A three-judge appeals court panel on Friday [10-20-17] gave the Trump administration until Oct. 31 to find a sponsor for the girl, who crossed from Mexico to Texas […]

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10/20/2017

DRUGS/HHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump overrode his own advisers when he promised to deliver an emergency declaration next week to combat the nation’s worsening opioid crisis… Blindsided officials are now scrambling to develop such a plan, but it is unclear when it will be announced, how or if it will be done, and whether […]

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10/19/2017

ABORTION/HHS/IMMIGRATION/LEGAL/TEXAS: “A lawsuit at the intersection of two emotional issues—illegal immigration and abortion—is speeding through the courts, as judges consider whether an undocumented teen in U.S. custody may terminate her pregnancy over the wishes of the Trump administration. The 17-year-old girl has been held in a government-funded shelter in Texas since September, when she crossed […]

Read More… from 10/19/2017

10/16/2017

ABORTION/HHS/IMMIGRATION/LEGAL: “The Trump administration is preventing an undocumented, pregnant teenager detained in a Brownsville refugee shelter from getting an abortion in a policy shift with big implications for hundreds of other pregnant, unaccompanied minors held in such shelters… For the last seven months, the Health and Human Services Department has intervened to prevent abortions sought […]

Read More… from 10/16/2017

10/13/2017

HHS/VA/VETS: “David Shulkin, the current U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and a holdover from the Obama administration, has been interviewed by the White House for the top job at Health and Human Services, according to sources familiar with the meetings. He is one of a number of leading contenders for the position, which has been […]

Read More… from 10/13/2017

10/13/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration will end billions of dollars in payments to insurers under the Affordable Care Act program, but President Donald Trump has privately told at least one lawmaker that the payments may continue if a bipartisan deal is reached on heath care, according to people familiar with the matter on Capitol […]

Read More… from 10/13/2017

10/10/2017

HHS/NOMINATIONS/TOM PRICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has appointed Eric Hargan as acting Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the White House said on Tuesday [10-10-17]. Hargan, the deputy secretary of HHS, formerly served on Trump’s transition team for HHS. The appointment follows Tom Price’s resignation as HHS Secretary late in September over his […]

Read More… from 10/10/2017

10/6/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday [10-6-17] eviscerated requirements under the Obamacare law that employers provide insurance to cover women’s birth control, keeping a campaign pledge that pleased his conservative Christian supporters. Administration officials said two new federal rules will let any non-profit or for-profit entity make religious or moral objections to […]

Read More… from 10/6/2017

9/29/2017

HHS/TOM PRICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned under pressure from President Donald Trump on Friday [9-29-17] in an uproar over Price’s use of private charter planes for government business. His abrupt departure was announced an hour after Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Price’s use of expensive plane […]

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9/28/2017

ETHICS/HHS/TOM PRICE: “Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said he would stop traveling on private jets and reimburse the federal government more than $50,000 for his flights, a day after President Donald Trump said he wasn’t pleased with the practice and signaled it could endanger his job… Dr. Price, a former Republican congressman from […]

Read More… from 9/28/2017

9/28/2017

ETHICS/HHS/TOM PRICE: “The White House approved the use of military aircraft for multi-national trips by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to Africa and Europe this spring, and to Asia in the summer, at a cost of more than $500,000 to taxpayers. The overseas trips bring the total cost to taxpayers of Price’s travels […]

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9/27/2017

ETHICS/HHS/TOM PRICE: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [9-27-17] said ‘we’ll see’ when asked if he would fire Health and Human Secretary Tom Price in the wake of reports he has used taxpayer-funded private planes for government business. The President said he is ‘not happy’ about the practice several of his Cabinet members have engaged in… […]

Read More… from 9/27/2017

9/23/2017

ETHICS/HHS/TOM PRICE: “Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services, said on Saturday [9-23-17] that he did not plan to travel on private jets until the department’s inspector general completes a formal review of the use of taxpayer funds for his chartered flights… In a report published late Saturday afternoon, Politico said it had […]

Read More… from 9/23/2017

9/19/2017

HHS/TOM PRICE: “In a sharp departure from his predecessors, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price last week took private jets on five separate flights for official business, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars more than commercial travel. The secretary’s five flights, which were scheduled between Sept. 13 and Sept. 15, took […]

Read More… from 9/19/2017

9/18/2017

HHS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Trump administration officials, under pressure from the White House to provide a rationale for reducing the number of refugees allowed into the United States next year, rejected a study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found that refugees brought in $63 billion more in government revenues over the past […]

Read More… from 9/18/2017

9/4/2017

CRISIS/EPA/HHS/TEXAS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Water is subsiding in flooded neighborhoods, the mayor is insisting Houston ‘is open for business,’ and shelters are emptying out, but Texans returning to flood-damaged homes face plenty of obstacles: the threat of toxic pollutants in the air and drinking water, and even hungry, dislocated animals seeking shelter. On Monday [9-4-17], authorities […]

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8/31/2017

BUDGET/HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s administration is cutting nearly $116 million from outreach programs aimed at signing people up for the Affordable Care Act, a move that has cheered the health law’s opponents but inflamed Democrats who fear the administration is undermining it. The Department of Health and Human Services plans to spend $10 […]

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8/24/2017

DRUGS/HHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Two weeks ago, in response to a reporter’s question, President Trump proclaimed that he considered the opioid crisis to be ‘a national emergency,’ leading many news organizations to report that a national emergency had been declared. But the Trump administration, perhaps caught off guard by the president’s statement, has not yet taken […]

Read More… from 8/24/2017

8/13/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has threatened to blow up Obamacare. But his own administration is separately dangling hundreds of millions of dollars before states to bail out their insurance markets. Alaska will get $323 million over the next five years to coax its lone Obamacare insurer to remain in the market and hold […]

Read More… from 8/13/2017

8/8/2017

HHS/TOM PRICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price announced Tuesday [8-8-17] that President Donald Trump has no immediate plans to declare the nation’s opioid epidemic a public health emergency, a decision that flies in the face of the key recommendation by the President’s bipartisan opioid commission. Public health experts had said that […]

Read More… from 8/8/2017

8/8/2017

CRIME/DRUGS/HHS/TOM PRICE: “President Donald Trump has scheduled what he called a ‘major briefing’ for Tuesday [8-8-17] on the epidemic of opioid drug use in the United States, a health crisis that kills more than 100 Americans daily. In the midst of a two-week getaway at his golf club in New Jersey, Trump will meet with […]

Read More… from 8/8/2017

8/4/2017

HHS/NOMINATIONS: “Dr. Jerome Adams was confirmed as the US surgeon general this week, pledging to take on the country’s opioid epidemic. Adams, who was nominated for the role by President Donald Trump, is the 20th surgeon general to hold the position. ‘To be confirmed as the 20th US Surgeon General is truly an indescribable honor,’ […]

Read More… from 8/4/2017

8/1/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/PHARMA: “Major health insurers in some states are seeking increases as high as 30% or more for premiums on 2018 Affordable Care Act plans, according to new federal data that provide the broadest view so far of the turmoil across exchanges as companies try to anticipate Trump administration policies. Big insurers in Idaho, West Virginia, […]

Read More… from 8/1/2017

7/30/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TOM PRICE: “U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said on Sunday that it was his department’s job to follow the law on the Affordable Care Act, former President Obama’s signature domestic initiative known as Obamacare. Price, on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ was asked whether he would implement the Affordable Care Act as it […]

Read More… from 7/30/2017

7/10/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/WOMEN: “From the obscure perch of a backbench senator’s office, Katy Talento used to warn against what she saw as the health hazards of birth control pills — cancer, infertility and miscarriage. From his post at a Christian legal advocacy group, Matthew Bowman spent years attacking the requirement that most health insurance plans cover contraception […]

Read More… from 7/10/2017

7/7/2017

CDC/HHS/NOMINATIONS: “Georgia’s public health commissioner was named director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday [7-7-17], ending months of speculation over who would fill a critical role leading an agency in charge of public health matters from battling epidemics to vaccination policy. The Trump administration named Brenda Fitzgerald to succeed Thomas Frieden, […]

Read More… from 7/7/2017

6/30/2017

HHS/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Indiana’s top doctor could soon become the nation’s surgeon general. President Trump on Thursday [6-29-17] nominated Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams to serve as the next surgeon general. Adams was appointed to his current position 2½ years ago by Vice President Mike Pence, at the time Indiana’s governor. While Adams […]

Read More… from 6/30/2017

6/28/2017

CABINET/HHS/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s appointment to be a cabinet secretary inadvertently saved him a big stock market loss, while as many as five members of congress may not have been so lucky. When Dr. Price was appointed to run HHS, he said he would sell 461,238 shares in an […]

Read More… from 6/28/2017

6/21/2017

DEMS/DHS/HSS/RUSSIA: “Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told a congressional panel on Wednesday [6-21-17] that there was a delay between the time the FBI first made contact with the Democratic National Committee about Russia hacking its servers and the time he was notified at the Department of Homeland Security. Johnson, who served under President Barack […]

Read More… from 6/21/2017

6/12/2017

HHS/MEDICARE: “Medicare erroneously paid an estimated $729 million to doctors and other health professionals under a multibillion-dollar federal initiative designed to shift the health-care system from paper records to computer files, according to a new federal audit. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which conducted the audit, said Medicare, […]

Read More… from 6/12/2017

6/11/2017

DRUGS/HHS/PHARMA/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “Five years ago, Vivitrol was a treatment for opioid addiction that was struggling to find a market. Now, its sales and profile are rising fast, thanks to its manufacturers’ shrewd use of political connections, and despite scant science to prove the drug’s efficacy. Last month, the health and human services secretary, Tom […]

Read More… from 6/11/2017

5/22/2017

HSS/TRUMP PEOPLE/JOHN KELLY: “The Trump administration has decided to continue protecting Haitians living in the US since the 2010 earthquake from deportation for another six months after the expiration of the program became controversial. The decision, made by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, was announced Monday [5-22-17] and will be followed up by an official […]

Read More… from 5/22/2017

5/20/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/HSS/TRUMP PEOPLE/JOHN KELLY: “…[R]ecognizing the depth of Haiti’s misery and the complexity of the rebuilding effort, the United States government extended a seldom-used lifeline to Haitians in the United States — temporary protected status, or T.P.S. The program allows people, like Ms. Versannes, who were visiting or were living here illegally before the earthquake […]

Read More… from 5/20/2017

4/24/2017

HHS/PUBLIC FIGURES/TRUMP PEOPLE/VIVEK MURTHY/TOM PRICE: “Surgeon General Vivek Murthy resigned at the request of the White House after assisting in the transition to the Trump administration. Dr. Murthy’s deputy, Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, will assume the position of acting surgeon general. Trent-Adams, a 24-year veteran of the corps, also served as its chief nurse officer […]

Read More… from 4/24/2017

4/20/2017

CABINET/HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “While President Donald Trump insisted Congress repeal Obamacare within his first 100 days, the legislation was rushed, according to his Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Tom Price, and that’s why the Republicans failed. But the recent setback will not deter the Trump administration, he said during an interview at the Centers […]

Read More… from 4/20/2017

04/04/2017

CABINET/CONFLICT OF INTEREST/HHS/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price more than tripled his investment when he sold shares in a small biotechnology company developing a multiple sclerosis drug that might one day seek approval from Dr. Price’s agency, public disclosures show. Dr. Price sold the shares of Australia-based Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd. in […]

Read More… from 04/04/2017

3/29/2017

CABINET/HHS/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Wednesday he is obligated to uphold the Affordable Care Act as long it is in place but he didn’t commit to specific actions, including enforcing the requirement that most Americans pay a penalty if they don’t have health coverage. ‘So long as the law […]

Read More… from 3/29/2017

3/4/2017

CABINET/HHS/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “What he said: During his confirmation hearings, Price told senators that the discount he received on a stock he bought was ‘available to every single individual that was an investor at the time.’ What really happened: The Wall Street Journal reported that only 20 people were offered the discount at the time.” […]

Read More… from 3/4/2017

2/9/2017

CABINET/HHS/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “The Senate is expected to confirm House Budget Chairman Tom Price (R., Ga.), President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, in a party-line vote in the early-morning hours Friday, placing him atop a sprawling agency tasked with dismantling the Affordable Care Act. His confirmation would boost […]

Read More… from 2/9/2017

1/20/2017

HEALTHCARE/HHS/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. It is the policy of my Administration to seek the prompt repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148), as […]

Read More… from 1/20/2017