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.
The banking system relies on public trust; unfortunately for Facebook's cryptocurrency ambitions, the social media Goliath doesn't have an abundance of it.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) adds her own critiques of Facebook's proposed digital currency Libra, and states that it's the responsibility of Congress to potentially break apart tech firms that appear to acquire too much power.
The Republican National Committee and key party leaders have pushed back against condemnation of President Trump's racist tweet he directed at four Democratic Congresswomen of color.
Amid an investigation by Health Canada, CannTrust has halted sales of its cannabis and products. Although CannTrust's regulatory snag does not directly impact U.S. cannabis supply, Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg said that any turbulence in Canada's nascent industry could be cause for concern for its neighbor to the south.
President Donald Trump said the government will investigate Google following an accusation by tech billionaire Peter Thiel that the company is working with China and committing treason.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, July 16, 2019.
More Americans are going to college than at any time in history. And more are graduating with a student debt burden that will follow them for years. Cheddar asked every 2020 Democratic candidate how they will handle student debt. Here's what they said.
To boost voter participation, Nevada launches telecaucus to allow people to vote over the phone. Shelby Wiltz, Nevada Dems caucus director, joins Cheddar to talk about the caucus process and voter participation in 2020.
After President Trump issued a thread of xenophobic tweets calling on four Congresswomen of color to "go back" to where they came from, he defended his comments again on Twitter and in remarks to reporters at the White House.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, July 15, 2019.
