Health Care Repeal Opposition to Obamacare Becomes Political Liability for GOP Incumbents September 16, 2020 KAISER HEALTH NEWS Share Tweet Summary: Republican Senators, including North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, were elected in 2014 in part by demonizing the Affordable Care Act. Now facing re-election, the ACA (or Obamacare) is significantly more popular and the repeated Republican attempts to repeal it has become a liability. Take a deeper look at the in-depth coverage from Kaiser Health News.
Health Care Repeal Trump vows complete end of Obamacare law despite pandemic May 6, 2020 Washington Post Share Tweet Summary: The Washington Post reports that even amid a global health crisis as serious as the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump is still promising to end Obamacare. Also known by its formal name, the Affordable Care Act, it gives urgent protections for patients with pre-existing conditions.
Health Care Repeal Vidant Health Announces Furloughs, Pay Cuts Due To COVID-19 April 23, 2020 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio Share Tweet Summary: In addition to the human toll and the strain the coronavirus pandemic is causing in our health care system, there are other problems coming to light. North Carolina Public Radio reports that Vidant Health is having significant financial stress that is being intensified by coronavirus. Vidant has had to furlough employees, cut salaries, and […]
Prescription Drugs Public Health Needs the Mail September 16, 2020 Slate.com Share Tweet Summary: With the United States Postal Service in the news as North Carolinians’s worry about their ability to carry out a safe and fair election, Slate Magazine writes an interesting article about USPS’s role as a part of the nation’s public health infrastructure. Last year, over 300 million prescriptions were filled by mail, and the […]
Prescription Drugs A Potentially Deadly Case of Sticker Shock May 11, 2020 Share Tweet Summary: It’s a potentially deadly case of sticker shock. A North Carolina doctor tells us that Senator Thom Tillis’ votes to allow insurance companies to stop covering prescription drugs could have been devastating. “I spend at least a third of my day trying to help patients get the medicine they need – but they simply […]
Prescription Drugs Sen. Tillis should fight for public health, not his Big Pharma donors’ profits April 29, 2020 North Carolina Policy Watch Share Tweet Summary: Senator Thom Tillis received over $150,000 from the pharmaceutical industry for his campaign in 2019, and ranked first in Congress for donations from political action committees associated with drug companies. Margarida Jorge and Pat McCoy write a stinging analysis of the dangerous impacts on public policy due to the outsized influence of Big Pharma.
Medicare CBO finds COVID-19 puts Medicare trust fund insolvency just 4 years away September 16, 2020 Healthcare Dive Share Tweet Summary: In a recent report, the Congressional Budget Office has moved up the timeline for how long the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will remain solvent. The Impacts of COVID-19 on the healthcare system appears to be speeding up the timeline by putting additional stress on the health care system. The CBO report suggests that without […]
Medicare Nearly half of Mecklenburg’s COVID-19 deaths are connected to long-term care facilities April 30, 2020 The Charlotte Observer Share Tweet Summary: Recent coverage in the Charlotte Observer highlights the risk coronavirus is posing for long-term care facilities. Through April, a dozen long-term care facilities have had outbreaks of coronavirus and nearly half of all coronavirus related deaths in Mecklenburg County were connected to long-term care facilities.
Medicare How Medicare Cuts Will Hurt Seniors July 27, 2019 Verywell Health Share Tweet SUMMARY: Coverage from Verywell Health shows how 2016 campaign promises by Donald Trump to preserve Medicare have proven to be hollow. The Trump administration has proposed legislation cutting funding for Medicare, but it’s not just the White House. Republicans in Congress have plans to change Medicare as we know it and their tax bill very […]
Medicaid Expansion Thom Tillis staffer tells cancer survivor that people only deserve health care if they can afford it September 16, 2020 Salon.com Share Tweet Summary: Salon.com covers the ongoing story of Bev Veals and her harrowing interactions with the office of Senator Thom Tillis. Veals, the North Carolinian and three-time cancer survivor, reached out to her senator, fearing that her health insurance was at risk. Instead of getting a helping hand, she had an extremely difficult conversation with a […]
Medicaid Expansion NC’s rural provider shortage persists despite decades of efforts September 16, 2020 NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH NEWS Share Tweet Summary: North Carolina Health News takes an in-depth look at the ongoing problem of North Carolina’s shortage of healthcare providers in rural areas. Rural NC communities have long had problems attracting medical professionals or retaining them after certain loan repayment benefits run out. Despite state and federal programs designed to help keep needed health care […]
Medicaid Expansion Cancer survivor pleading for help with health insurance ‘angry and hurt’ over Tillis staffer’s response September 16, 2020 WRAL RALEIGH • DURHAM • FAYETTEVILLE Share Tweet Summary: WRAL has breaking news that is shocking and disappointing. A staffer for Thom Tillis told a constituent and cancer survivor that healthcare was like an expensive shirt; “Yeah, just like if I want to go to the store and buy a new dress shirt. If I can’t afford that dress shirt, I don’t get […]