As Washington debates whether the country should repeal the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, applicants are rushing to get covered, reportedly driving applications to a record high.
“I’m glad that the people understand the importance of getting coverage,” Donna Christensen, the former delegate for the U.S. Virgin Islands’ at-large district, told Cheddar on Wednesday.
But many still remain uninsured. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 28.2 million people under the age of 65 did not have coverage in 2016.
For context, that's a smaller proportion than before Obamacare passed. The federal agency said that the percentage of people uninsured now stands at 9 percent, compared to 16 percent in 2010.
Many uninsured and current beneficiaries of the Act worry that a repeal would be in place by 2019 and that time is running out. However, Christensen argues that this is not the case. She says it’s going to be very hard for Congress to repeal ACA.
“The Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land,” the ex-congresswoman said, stating that she doubts a repeal would ever happen.
“It was not easy to get the law passed, but it’s going to be more difficult to take it away,” Christensen said.
She encouraged the uninsured to seek coverage by December 15th this year, pointing out that benefits will be valid into the next year.
Congressional Budget Office director Keith Hall put out a blog post on the federal agency’s website on Wednesday. He says that according to the CBO’s most recent baseline, repealing Obamacare's individual mandate would reduce the nation’s federal budget deficit by $338 billion within the next decade. That's less than the previous estimate of $416 billion, made last December.
While Postmaster General Louis DeJoy halted operational changes at the USPS, California Rep. John Garamendi claims the concerted effort to destroy the post office was orchestrated by the Trump administration in order to steal the November election.
A day after Michelle Obama’s passion wowed Democrats on the opening night of the party's national convention, Joe Biden will draw on a collection of his party’s most experienced leaders.
The Postmaster general says he is halting some operational changes until after the November election.
President Donald Trump says he'll pardoned Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement, who was arrested for voting in 1872 in violation of laws permitting only men to vote.
As the USPS rolls back its operational capacity, House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is calling ono the postal chief to testify in front of congress. Andrea Thomas Haile, CEO of Vote.org, talks steps states can take to work around USPS limitations.
There was no central meeting place or cheering throng during the all-virtual Democratic National Convention on Monday night. But it was an opportunity for Democrats — and some Republicans — to rally behind Joe Biden, the party's presidential nominee.
As eviction moratoriums are lifted and extra federal unemployment assistance dries up, there is a broad consensus among housing experts that an evictions crisis is inevitable.
The Democratic Party will convene, sort of, amid a pandemic that has upended the usual pomp-and-circumstance of presidential nominating conventions.
The Department of the Interior has approved an oil and gas leasing program within Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
