Health Care | Michigan
Lawsuit Pushed By the Trump Admin Could Leave Thousands in Macomb County Without Health Care
An ongoing lawsuit -- supported by the Trump Administration -- winding its way through a federal appeals court has the potential to dismantle the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, upending the economic security and well-being of millions of Americans in the process. In Macomb County, Michigan, that could spell disaster.
During the 2019 open enrollment period, over 30,000 Macomb residents enrolled in a plan on the exchanges, and since the passage of the ACA, over 58,000 residents have gained coverage under the law’s Medicaid expansion.
Health Care | Michigan
As Calhoun County Continues to Suffer From the Opioid Crisis, No Additional Federal Funding in Sight
Beginning in the 1990s, pharmaceutical companies -- such as Purdue Pharma -- assured doctors, patients and families that their new medication to relieve pain was non-addictive.
They lied.
Since the 90s, over-prescribed opioids, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, have flooded American households, taking hundreds of thousands of lives by overdose and fueling a public health crisis across the country. And recently, in regions like Calhoun County, Michigan, the opioid epidemic has taken a turn for the worse, leaving some to argue that not enough is being done at the federal level to address the crisis.
Health Care | Michigan
Trump Admin Turns Back on Lake County Residents, Local Public Health Crisis
Lake County residents are facing very real public health challenges, raising concerns about proposed federal budget cuts and their potential impact on residents in one of Michigan’s vulnerable counties.
According to the 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment issued by Michigan’s District Health Department #10, Lake County ranked 79th out of 83 counties on “health outcomes” -- a measure of how long people live and how healthy they feel while alive. In the same report, residents of Lake County ranked last of 83 counties across Michigan in how healthy they reported feeling.
Health Care | Pennsylvania
Despite Campaign Promises, President Trump Aims to Gut Funding From Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid for Pennsylvania Families
During his campaign for president in 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly stated that, if elected, he would not make cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, essential healthcare and retirement programs utilized by tens of millions of low-income and senior Americans every year.
“I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” Trump said in 2015.
But for all his promises, that’s exactly what President Donald Trump is trying to do.
Economy | Pennsylvania
Hundreds of Pennsylvania Workers Laid Off by Companies While CEOs Reap Rewards of Trump Tax Bill
Three companies with operations in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, laid off hundreds of workers since the start of 2018, sending jobs out of the country and closing plants while paying their CEOs multimillion-dollar salaries.
An analysis by the American Ledger shows that the tax cuts passed by the then-Republican Congress and signed by Trump in 2017 gave executives a boost but squeezed middle-class workers in this county, centered around Wilkes-Barre in the Pocono Mountains.
Trade | Pennsylvania
Trump’s Trade War is Wreaking Havoc On the Economic Security of Erie County Dairy Farmers
In March 2018, dairy farmers in Erie County, Pennsylvania, received an unanticipated notice in the mail. Dean Foods, a local dairy processor in the area, which bought products from over 40 dairy farmers across Pennsylvania, gave farmers a 90-day notice that they would no longer be purchasing their products.
Two months later, Dean Foods closed its Meadowbrook Dairy, and laid off over 100 employees in favor of shipping their business to a Wal-Mart-owned dairy operation in Indiana.
Infrastructure | Pennsylvania
Despite Campaign Promises, Trump Has Failed to Deliver Pennsylvania Turnpike Fixes
In a campaign rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania in November 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump promised Pennsylvanians he would pass an infrastructure plan to fix the Pennsylvania Turnpike, stating “My infrastructure plan will provide help for… did you ever hear of a place called the Pennsylvania Turnpike? Needs some help. Needs some work.”
But nearly three years into President Trump’s first term, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is saddled with record debt and a crumbling infrastructure, and the president has yet to pass a single plan, or lift a finger to help rebuild it.