Paige Winfield Cunningham
Articles by Paige Winfield Cunningham
Sebelius urges Senate to reject contraception amendment
The Obama administration is urging the Senate to reject a GOP attempt to overturn a contraception coverage mandate, with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius calling the amendment "dangerous and wrong." Published March 1, 2012
Medicare cost-cutting board in GOP sights
After voting last fall to scrap a long-term care program in President Obama's health care law, House Republicans homed in Wednesday on their next major target in the law by advancing legislation that would repeal a Medicare cost-cutting panel and winning support for the move from a leading Democrat. Published February 29, 2012
Feds uncover $375B Medicare fraud sceme
Federal officials said Tuesday they have unearthed the largest Medicare fraud scheme ever discovered, arresting a ring of Dallas-area health care professionals on suspicion of collecting $375 billion for phony medical claims. Published February 28, 2012
White House vows to stay involved in Afghanistan
Even as another day of anti-U.S. violence saw seven NATO troops hurt in Afghanistan, the Obama administration on Sunday vowed to remain heavily involved in the country and defended the president's handling of a crisis sparked by the inadvertent burning by American troops of Muslim holy books. Published February 26, 2012
Parties eye advantage in contraceptives fight
The uproar over President Obama's contraception-coverage mandate has become a tug of war over who will get to frame the fight: Republicans, who have called it a war on religious freedom, or Democrats, who insist that it's really about women's health. Published February 23, 2012
Federation on front lines of health law battle
As the Supreme Court prepares for an epic legal clash next month on the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law, Dan Danner admits to a certain feeling of vindication. Published February 22, 2012
Religious colleges join fight over contraceptives
As Capitol Hill skirmishes over the Obama administration's contraception mandate, the battle is expanding into courtrooms, with more religious colleges joining a growing wave of lawsuits charging that the requirement for employer insurance to provide free contraception violates religious freedom. Published February 20, 2012
Catholic Bishop joins contraception mandate debate
Pointing to growing unease that President Obama's proposed contraception coverage rule doesn't protect religious freedom sufficiently, a Catholic bishop told Congress on Thursday the church will throw its weight behind House legislation releasing any employer from the mandate on religious or moral grounds. Published February 16, 2012
Self-insuring faith groups exempt from contraceptive order
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that self-insuring religious employers will be exempted from a contraception coverage mandate, clearing up a question raised by Catholic groups and other opponents who continued protesting the rule this week. Published February 15, 2012
No end near in uproar over insurance coverage of contraception
President Obama's efforts last week have failed to quell the fury over his decision to require most health plans to cover contraception. Republicans are still promising a fight in Congress, and two leading Catholic groups remain on the fence although the administration thought they had been won over. Published February 14, 2012
Obama plan cuts preventive, long-term health care funds
Facing budgetary pressures in his annual spending plan, President Obama has proposed cutting resources from a key part of his health care law — a preventive care program designed for Americans to maintain good health. Published February 13, 2012
Huge House majority backs insider trading ban
The House overwhelmingly passed legislation banning insider-trading on Thursday, sending it to a conference where lawmakers will try to reconcile the bill with a more restrictive version passed by the Senate. Published February 9, 2012
Cantor strips stricter lobbying rules from STOCK Act
House Republicans will try Thursday to push through a popular bill that ensures insider-trading rules apply to members of Congress after GOP leaders ditched a provision to expand the definition of who qualifies as a lobbyist. Published February 8, 2012
Stock Act amendment affects Wall Street traders
The House plans to vote Thursday on its version of a bill to crack down on congressional insider trading and political intelligence peddling, even as the version that passed the Senate last week has raised concerns it could turn the act of calling a congressional staffer about a bill into a lobbying activity. Published February 7, 2012
Business group states case against health care mandate
President Obama can't expand health care coverage and then mandate every American purchase coverage to subsidize the added costs, a group suing to block Mr. Obama's health care law said Monday as it laid out arguments in advance of a landmark Supreme Court case scheduled to be heard next month. Published February 6, 2012
Senate passes insider trading ban for its members
Ending a week that began with consensus but fractured into contention, the Senate voted Thursday to strengthen insider trading bans for its members, and in the process agreed to ban bonuses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives. Published February 2, 2012
House votes to repeal part of health care law
The House voted Wednesday to repeal a part of President Obama's health care law deemed unsustainable by his own administration, sending the bill to the Senate, where Democrats have indicated they aren't ready to kill the long-term care program. Published February 1, 2012
Stock Act passage stalled by amendments
Hoping for swift passage of rare bipartisan legislation, the Senate failed to reach a deal late Tuesday on an insider-trading bill, despite its broad support, when it was stalemated by legislators who insisted that unrelated amendments be included. Published January 31, 2012
Stock Act advances to debate in Senate
The Senate paved the way Monday to begin debating a crackdown on members of Congress using insider knowledge for personal gain — a bill expected to pass easily if lawmakers don't muddy the waters with extra amendments. Published January 30, 2012
Romney tiptoes a fine line on health care
Mitt Romney's opponents say his Massachusetts health care law is so similar to President Obama's that he'll be unable to draw distinctions as the GOP's presidential candidate, but a new poll out last week finds that voters don't see the two laws the same. Published January 29, 2012
