Twenty-four million more Americans would be uninsured by 2026 under the House Republican health care bill than under Obamacare, including 14 million by next year, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said Monday.
The long-anticipated score immediately puts the writers and supporters of the GOP Obamacare repeal bill on the defensive. It is also certain to complicate the party’s already troubled efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
The CBO, along with the Joint Committee on Taxation, found that 5 million fewer people would be covered under Medicaid by 2018, and 14 million fewer people would enroll in the program by 2026. Meanwhile, 6 million fewer Americans would be covered in the individual market by 2018, but by 2026, only 2 million fewer people are expected to be covered. That’s in part because fewer employers would offer insurance to their workers, driving more people to the individual market.
In total, an estimated 52 million people would be uninsured by 2026 under the GOP plan, compared to 28 million who would lack insurance under the current law.
Joni Sledge, a founding member of the vocal group Sister Sledge, was found dead Friday in her home in Phoenix, publicist Biff Warren told CNN on Saturday. She was 60 years old.
The Sledge family was shocked by her death as she had not been ill, Warren said. The cause of death was unknown.
The group of sisters recorded the dance anthem “We Are Family” in 1979. Other hits were “He’s the Greatest Dancer” and “My Guy.”
“Yesterday, numbness fell upon our family. We are saddened to inform you that our dear sister, mother, aunt, niece and cousin, Joni passed away yesterday. Please pray for us as we weep for this loss. We do know that she is now eternally with Our Lord,” the band said Saturday in a statement posted on their website and Facebook page.
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Joni Sledge
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Click link below for article and gallery (People we’ve lost in 2017):
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reports the receiver signed a one-year deal with the Washington Redskins for $8 million.
The 6-foot-4 receiver couldn’t find the long-term, big-money contract, so, much like fellow wideout Alshon Jeffrey, he settled for a one-year “prove-it” contract.
The former quarterback busted out last season as the Cleveland Browns’ No. 1 receiver. The big-bodied, athletic playmaker earned 1,007 yards on 77 receptions and four touchdowns.
While he has the size, hands and speed to be a top-shelf receiver, Pryor still must improve his route-running acumen. The questions about Pryor’s continued growth at the position likely left him with fewer suitors on the open market than more experienced players with his athletic skills might have garnered.
Pryor’s stats down the stretch of last season waned as he dealt with a hand injury, but it’s fair to wonder if some teams viewed the struggles as defenses catching up with the new receiver.
A team of researchers led by an Italian surgeon say they are planning to perform the first human head transplant in 2017 and have even recruited a volunteer, but experts remain skeptical of the experimental procedure.
Dr. Sergio Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, Turin, Italy, has proposed in two published medical articles that a head transplant is possible, thanks to new technology.
The technology allows for the body to be cooled during surgery and there are new tools that create a cleaner cut on the spinal cord and machines that allow people to be on bypass during surgery.
The team wants to go through with the procedure in December 2017, according to new reports on AFP and Central European News. One surgeon reportedly involved in the procedure, Dr. Ren Xiaoping, said the team will go through with the surgery only if future research supports their plan.
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Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters
Valery Spiridonov, a man who has volunteered to be the first person to undergo a head transplant, attends a news conference in Vladimir, Russia on June 25, 2015.
A man carrying a backpack with mace and a letter for President Donald Trump was arrested Friday night after he breached security at the White House complex and was discovered by a Secret Service officer near the south entrance to the executive residence, officials said.
The incident happened just before midnight while the President was at the White House.
The suspect, identified in court records as Jonathan T. Tran, 26, of California, told the agency’s officers that he was there to see the President.
“No, I am a friend of the President. I have an appointment,” Tran said when approached by an officer, according to a report released Saturday by the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.
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Asked how he got there, Tran told officers: “I jumped the fence.”
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The arresting officers found two cans of mace and a passport on Tran, who appeared in D.C. Superior Court shortly before 5 p.m. dressed in a dark blue hoodie and khakis. He spoke only briefly, offering a faint “yes” when told his rights. He faces a charge of unlawful entry and will be arraigned in federal court on Monday.
Cities across the country were awash in red on Wednesday as thousands gathered to show support for International Women’s Day.
The rallies ― which mobilized men and women in New York, California, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., among other states ― was part of “A Day Without A Woman,” which organizers described as a day of “economic solidarity.”
Women were encouraged to take the day off and strike to “highlight the economic power and significance that women have in the U.S. and global economies,” Women’s March organizers said. Many people wore red to show their support for the movement.
The strikes were similar to last month’s A Day Without Immigrants, a nationwide protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
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mayoredlee/Instagram
At San Francisco City Hall, hundreds gather to honor International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
Pope Francis has said he is open to married men becoming priests to combat the Roman Catholic Church’s shortage of clergy.
In an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit, Pope Francis said the lack of Catholic priests was an “enormous problem” for the Church, and indicated he would be open to a change in the rules governing eligibility for the priesthood.
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“We need to consider if ‘viri probati’ could be a possibility,” he said. “If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities.”
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Viri probati is the Latin term for “tested men” or married men of outstanding faith and virtue.
If President Donald Trump and Republicans make good on their promise to angry rural voters to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, those voters may wind up a lot angrier.
And it won’t be good for their health or for the electoral prospects of the GOP.
Democrats, at least, certainly think so, and are looking at both fresh polling data and history for evidence that the GOP’s repeal and replace effort will also repeal Republican control of Congress.
For Jill Hanauer, who runs the progressive election research and strategy outfit Project New America, the landscape is starting to remind her of Colorado in 2004, when Democrats did especially well, running in part on a health care message.
“The way we really won in Republican-leaning districts of the state legislature was talking about the specifics of health care ― particularly breast cancer and prostate cancer and other cancer screenings and other prevention,” Hanauer recently told The Huffington Post. “Thirteen years later, those same issues are, I believe, going to tear this party potentially apart if they don’t smell the coffee.”
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Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
In labs around the world, robots are sprouting legs. Engineers are fine-tuning their abilities to walk, climb, and stay balanced so they can carry heavy loads or scout hazardous environments.
Just a few years ago, many of the elite robots at the DARPA Robotics Challenge struggled with simple tasks. But robots are becoming more nimble all the time, and the age of awkward, clumsy machines is receding.
Many of these impressive robots don’t look particularly humanoid — or friendly. Handle, the newest limbed robot from Boston Dynamics, has even been described as “nightmare-inducing” by company founder Mark Raibert. Others scuttle along with an unsettling resemblance to spiders, ostriches, and mammals.
But their freaky designs are meant to help these robots move about more easily, both in remote wilderness and human cityscapes. Soon, legged robots will walk among us, and their inventors are already planning how they will make our lives easier and safer. Here are a few of the newest generation of bizarre-looking but mobile robots.
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Agility Robotics is planning to use Cassie for future tasks including telepresence, inspecting industrial sites, and curb-to-doorstep package delivery. Agility Robotics
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
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Terrelle Pryor
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Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
James' World 2 