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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says Medicare will exist for many more years, thanks to new legislation that helped put the health care program for America’s seniors on stronger financial footing.

Seniors already are benefiting from that new health care law, said Obama, noting that many have received $250 rebates to help buy medicine, for example.

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(CNN) — U.S. Senate races in Kansas and Missouri and a ballot measure seen as a referendum on President Obama’s health care reform highlighted Tuesday’s primary elections.

Missouri’s Proposition C allowed voters to decide if residents should be allowed to opt out of mandatory health insurance, a key part of the administration’s health care plan.

The measure succeeded handily, winning by a three-to-one margin to allow residents to opt out.

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WASHINGTON — Actor Andy Griffith has a new role: pitching President Barack Obama’s health care law to seniors in a cable television ad paid for by Medicare.

The TV star — whose role as sheriff of Mayberry made him an enduring symbol of small-town American values — tells seniors that “good things are coming” under the health care overhaul, including free preventive checkups and lower-cost prescriptions for Medicare recipients.

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(CNN) – Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner was raging Thursday night on the House floor after it became clear that Republicans had enough votes to defeat a bill that provided health care to 9/11 first responder
Democratic leaders made a motion to suspend the rules, a maneuver that
prevented Republicans from offering amendments to the widely popular
James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

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(CNN) — The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs will hold a hearing Tuesday afternoon into the safety lapses at the John Cochran VA Medical Center in Missouri.

The hospital is under fire because it may have exposed more than 1,800 veterans to life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

The center in St. Louis, Missouri, recently mailed letters to 1,812 veterans telling them they could contract hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after visiting the medical center for dental work, said Rep. Russ Carnahan.

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(CNN) — Health care reform was “a long overdue victory for America’s consumers and patients” and Americans are “already seeing a wave of change,” President Barack Obama said Tuesday as he touted the success of his signature domestic policy initiative.

But health insurers must not use health care reform as an excuse to raise rates, and the government will make sure they don’t, Obama said.

He was speaking 90 days after the passage of the Affordable Care Act and patients’ bill of rights.

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(CNN) — Senate Democrats failed Thursday to overcome a Republican filibuster of a bill to extend unemployment benefits and prevent Medicare doctors from having their reimbursements cut.

All Republicans opposed ending debate on the wide-ranging bill, forcing further negotiations on specific provisions to seek a possible compromise.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid complained Republicans were simply stalling progress on the bill, and he and other Democratic leaders said the GOP filibuster showed Republicans were aligned with special interests such as oil companies and Wall Street hedge funds.

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WASHINGTON – Extra help is on the way for family members who give up their jobs to become caregivers for severely wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, courtesy of a bill signed Wednesday by President Barack Obama.

The bill, estimated to cost $3.7 billion over five years, also expands veterans care for women, the homeless, and those who live in rural areas.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — About 21 million Americans will be uninsured in 2016, when health care reform laws are fully implemented, with 4 million of them subject to a penalty for failing to buy insurance.

Those projections were released Thursday in a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO said that collections from the penalty will total $4 billion a year over the 2017-2019 period.

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WASHINGTON – It’s an eagerly awaited early benefit of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul: affordable coverage for Americans with medical problems who can’t get a private insurer to even take a look.

Starting in July, a special high-risk pool will offer coverage to uninsured people with pre-existing health conditions at a cost similar to what everyone else pays. It’s the first test of whether the administration can deliver on Obama’s vision within the budget Congress set.