XAVIER BECERRA

The Biden administration is moving to make it easier for caregivers to take in family members in the foster care system, requiring states to provide them with the same financial support that any other foster home would receive.

Donald Trump lost heavily Democratic California by over 5 million votes in the 2020 election.

The Biden administration has announced that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household.

An association that lobbies for health care facilities says President Joe Biden’s decision to require nursing homes to comply with federal rules on staffing levels will cost them billions of dollars.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders are hailing it as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug.

The National Institutes of Health is starting some studies to test possible treatments for long COVID.

Paperwork problems and procedural issues are the driving force behind a surge of people losing Medicaid health care coverage in states.

A judge on Tuesday prohibited several federal agencies and officials of the Biden administration from working with social media companies about “protected speech,” a decision called “a blow to censorship” by one of the Republican officials whose lawsuit prompted the ruling.

The Biden administration is urging states to slow down their efforts to remove people from Medicaid.

The Commerce Department is launching the application process for cities to receive a total of $500 million in grants to become technology hubs.

A first-of-its-kind federal investigation has found two hospitals put a pregnant woman's life in jeopardy and violated federal law by refusing to provide an emergency abortion when she experienced premature labor at 17 weeks.

The White House has proposed a federal rule to limit how law enforcement and state officials collect medical records if they investigate women who flee their home states to seek abortions elsewhere.

The Justice Department is appealing a Texas court ruling that would halt approval of a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the U_S_ In its appeal Monday, the Justice Department called the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”.

The nation’s top health official says a court ruling threatening the availability of a main drug used in medication abortion was “not America.”.

The Biden administration plans to break up the network that runs the nation's organ transplant system.

President Joe Biden says his administration is focused “intensely” on lowering health care costs.

The Biden administration says it is creating a new task force to crack down on an explosion of the illegal exploitation of migrant children for labor in the U.S. Hundreds of companies that employed nearly 4,000 children last year were found in violation of federal labor laws, a dramatic increase in the last five years.

The Biden administration is estimating that it could collect as much as $4.7 billion from insurance companies with newer and tougher penalties for submitting improper charges on the taxpayers’ tab for Medicare Advantage care.

Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Florida on Sunday to speak about abortion on the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

The federal government plans to end in January the public health emergency it declared earlier this year after an outbreak of mpox left more than 29,000 people across the U.S. infected.

As more Americans struggle with depression and anxiety, the cast of “The West Wing” teamed up with the Biden administration on Thursday to share a simple message: you are not alone.

President Joe Biden’s education secretary has tested positive for COVID-19.

Millions of Americans can begin selecting their 2023 health insurance plans on HealthCare.

The Biden administration says the worst-of-the-worst nursing homes will now face tougher penalties if conditions don’t improve at their facilities.

The federal government wants to expand all-hours mental health and substance abuse care in communities around the country.

More families who are offered expensive health insurance premiums from their employers will get a discount if they sign up instead for coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace this fall.

President Joe Biden has announced a new initiative that would eventually allow consumers to see a more complete price on airline tickets before they buy them.

Planned Parenthood leaders from across the country are meeting in California to discuss how to defend abortion rights.

A federal report says nursing homes and debt collectors are flouting a law that prohibits them from requiring friends and family of care home residents to be responsible for costs of the facilities.

States around the country are making it easier for newborn moms to keep Medicaid in the year after childbirth, a crucial time when depression and other health problems can develop.

A federal judge has barred Idaho from enforcing a strict abortion ban in medical emergencies, clearing the way for hospitals to continue treating ectopic pregnancies and other pregnancy-related complications normally for now.

An Arizona judge is considering whether to allow the state to enforce a near-total ban on abortions that has been blocked for nearly 50 years.

U.S. regulators have finalized a long-awaited rule that's expected to allow millions of Americans to buy hearing aids without a prescription.

The number of people living in America without health insurance coverage hit an all-time low of 8 percent this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.

President Joe Biden is set to name top officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to serve as the White House coordinators to combat the growing monkeypox outbreak.

California's public health officer says officials are pressing for more vaccine and closely monitoring the spread of the monkeypox virus.

Attorney General Merrick Garland headlined a White House event bringing together pro bono lawyers, bar associations and public interest groups to discuss how best to offer legal services and protections for women seeking abortions.

U.S. regulators say they are no longer considering authorizing second COVID-19 booster shots for all adults under 50 this summer.

Top U.S. health officials say the country's monkeypox outbreak can still be stopped despite rising case numbers and limited vaccine supplies.

When it comes to the thorniest issues confronting his administration, the instinct from Biden and his White House is to often speak about what he can’t do, citing constraints imposed by the courts or insufficient support in a Congress that is controlled by his own party.

Quick help for suicide thoughts and other mental health emergencies will soon be as easy as 9-8-8.

The Biden administration is warning pharmacies not to discriminate against women who may seek reproductive health prescriptions, including some that might be involved in ending a pregnancy.

The Biden administration is telling hospitals that they “must” provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk.

President Joe Biden’s top health official says that “every option is on the table” when it comes to helping women access abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

The Biden administration has started shipping testing kits for monkeypox to commercial laboratories, in a bid to speed diagnostic tests for suspected infections for the virus that has already infected at least 142 people in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending tests to commercial labs, including Aegis Science, Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and Sonic Healthcare, which it said would significant expand the nation’s health system’s capacity to...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of America’s pandemic response through two White House administrations, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

President Joe Biden’s top health official has again tested positive for COVID-19, less than a month after he came down with virus symptoms while on a trip to Germany.

President Joe Biden says he wasn't briefed on the prospect of nationwide shortages of infant formula for about two months.

Medicare recipients will get a premium reduction — but not until next year.

Germany’s health minister is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is not over yet.

President Joe Biden’s top health official has tested positive for COVID-19, the latest member of his Cabinet to be infected with the virus.

Former President Barack Obama will be returning to the White House on Tuesday for his first public event there since he left office in 2017.

When the end of the COVID-19 pandemic comes, it could create major disruptions for U.S. health care.

Thousands of patients in Ukraine are receiving lifesaving medicines to treat HIV and opioid addiction through a U.S.-funded group still operating amid the Russian invasion.

A federal agency says it's running out of money to cover medical bills for COVID tests and treatments for uninsured people and will stop taking claims at midnight Tuesday.

COVID-19 patients now have new treatments they can take at home to stay out of the hospital — if doctors get the pills to them fast enough.

With the nation yearning for a new normal after its long struggle with the coronavirus, U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra is warning that vaccines, tests and treatments will be “stuck on the ground” unless Congress provides additional funds the White House has demanded.

The Biden administration is telling Congress it needs an additional $30 billion to press ahead with the fight against COVID-19.

The Biden administration says it has purchased enough doses of a yet-to-be approved antibody drug to treat 600,000 patients with COVID-19.

The Biden administration says a government grant program to help prevent additional harm to people who use illicit drugs will not pay for safer pipes to smoke crack or meth.

President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the powerful Food and Drug Administration has stalled in the narrowly divided Senate.

People looking for health insurance in the grip of the omicron surge have through Saturday to sign up for taxpayer-subsidized private coverage under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

Medicare says it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug whose benefits have been widely questioned.

Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for those on their plans.

U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra is ordering Medicare to reassess a big premium increase facing millions of enrollees this year.

Federal health officials are pressing nursing home workers to get their booster shots amid a spike in COVID-19 cases among staffers and a concerning lag in booster vaccination for residents and staff.

People in crisis and those trying to help them will have a new three-digit phone number, 988, to reach the national suicide prevention network starting in July.

The Biden administration is asking the Supreme Court to block lower court orders that are keeping President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for health care workers from going into effect in about half of the states.

The Biden administration’s plan for health insurers to reimburse consumers for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests is recalling the model of a bygone era when the companies processed large volumes of claims from individuals — with paper receipts.

Consumers seeking government-subsidized health insurance for next year have through Wednesday to sign up if they want their new plan to start Jan. 1.

The head of a Senate panel that oversees Medicare says the Biden administration should cut back a hefty premium increase soon to hit millions of enrollees.

California corrections officials have begun limiting medical parole only to inmates so ill they are on ventilators.

The British government is investigating whether built-in racial bias in some medical devices led to Black and Asian people getting sick and dying disproportionately from COVID-19.

The Biden administration is helping to distribute several billion dollars in aid for winter heating and utility bills.

The Biden administration is encouraging local school districts to host clinics to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to kids and information to parents on the benefits of the shots.

The Biden administration is putting final touches on long-sought consumer protections against so-called “surprise” medical bills.

Opposition from some leading moderate Democrats over a $3.5 trillion budget proposal championed by the party's most liberal, progressive wing has left the party grappling with deeper ideological questions.

Opposition from some leading moderate Democrats over a $3.5 trillion budget proposal championed by the party's most liberal, progressive wing has left the party grappling with deeper ideological questions.

The Biden administration is launching a new health office that will prod hospitals to cut carbon emissions, aiming to provide greener, more environmentally friendly medical care.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services is requiring employees who provide care for patients to get their COVID-19 shots.

Some of the children who crossed the Mexican border alone are placed in foster homes, where families make them homecooked meals, take them on bike rides and tuck them in at night.

The Biden administration has given a rare look inside an emergency shelter it opened to house migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone.

The Biden administration is putting into place consumer protections against “surprise” medical bills enacted in bipartisan legislation signed last year by former President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration says the number of unaccompanied migrant children housed at its largest emergency shelter has dropped by more than 40% since mid-June.

Thrown off-stride to reach its COVID-19 vaccination goal, the Biden administration is sending A-list officials across the country, devising ads for niche markets and enlisting community organizers to persuade unvaccinated people to get a shot.

With COVID-19 cases declining and vaccinations increasing, governors across the U.S. are wrestling with decisions about when to declare an end to the emergency declarations they have issued and reissued throughout the pandemic.

The Biden administration says the government will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care, reversing a Trump-era policy.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is receiving criticism from lawmakers in his own party over his shifting economic reopening plan, with a group of Democrats from the state’s second most populous county threatening the possibility of a special legislative session.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge are scheduled to announce a joint effort to increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations. The announcement is expected to take place around 10:30 am EST

The Supreme Court has refused to consider Texas’ challenge to California’s ban on state-funded business trips to Texas and other states deemed to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

Federal officials have reversed Trump administration restrictions on using human fetal tissue for medical research.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., leaves the Senate chamber following a procedural vote on the nomination of Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden's pick to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 11, 2021. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is nominating Gayle Manchin, the wife of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, to be the co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, an economic development partnership involving the federal government and 13 states. Gayle Manchin, 73, has held multiple government positions linked to education in a state where her husband is a political force. A former teacher, she was on the West Virginia Board of Education from 2007 to 2015 and served a two-year term as its president. Manchin was also the state's secretary of education and the arts in 2017 and 2018, but was removed from the post by West Virginia Gov.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, March 25, 2021, that judges must consider suspects' ability to pay when they set bail, essentially requiring that indigent defendants be freed unless they are deemed too dangerous to be released awaiting trial. The court’s ruling allows cash bail, so long as defendants can afford it. Previously, judges set bail based on suspects’ criminal records and pending charges. AdWhile it considered the case, the high court in August took the extraordinary step of requiring California judges to follow a lower court ruling and set bail amounts based on what suspects can afford to pay. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday nominated Assemblyman Rob Bonta, a leading proponent of ending cash bail.

Nursing homes have to publicly disclose their vaccination rates for flu and pneumonia, but theres no similar mandate for COVID-19 shots. Nursing homes have been required since last May to regularly report cases and deaths among residents and staff to the government. Nursing homes are again allowing loved ones to visit, and hugs are included. The main nursing home industry trade group, the American Health Care Association, says it supports disclosure of vaccination data. Wyden and Crapo said current government policy that encourages nursing homes to voluntarily report vaccination data to the government has only led to “limited participation by the industry.”The government should require nursing homes to break down vaccination data by race and ethnicity, given disparities in vaccine acceptance.

President Joe Biden speaks with Vice President Kamala Harris about the southern border during a meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Washington. In delegating the matter to Harris, Biden is seeking to replicate a dynamic that played out when he served as President Barack Obama's vice president. As the first Black woman elected vice president, Harris arrived on the job as a trailblazer. The Biden administration has in recent weeks moved to open more than 10,000 new beds across the Southwest in convention centers and former oilfield camps. The White House faced criticism for limiting media access to Wednesday’s tour, keeping it to just one TV crew.

It's also spurring her and other Asian Americans to push for greater political influence in Washington and other power centers. President Joe Biden and his aides have been repeatedly pressed to include Asian Americans in his Cabinet. Ad“I think symbolism and representation matters, but only up to a point,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. “Those things all contribute to lower rates of political participation among Asian Americans, but people — mistakenly, I think — assume that Asian Americans are somehow less interested in U.S. civic life.”AdThat's evolving. “Asian Americans didn't necessarily grow up with that vocabulary of advocacy and how to fight for ourselves," Meng said.

I haven’t done any counting yet.”On health care, the numbers suggest that consumers' fears about medical costs could be eased by the new rescue package. States that run their own health insurance markets will offer the same enhanced assistance, although timetables for implementation may vary. Biden has opened up the health insurance markets as part of his coronavirus response. The higher health care subsidies are keyed to the pandemic and expire by the end of 2022. But it represents the biggest expansion of federal help for health insurance since the ACA's enactment.

A lawyer, not a doctor, his main experience with the health care system came through helping to pass the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and defending it when Donald Trump was president. AdBecerra also will also be the point man on Biden's health care agenda, which includes insurance for all Americans, deputizing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and tackling persistent racial and ethnic disparities in the health care system. Prescription drugs and health insurance will lead to major legislative battles. “It’s a different time and it’s a time of tremendous opportunity in health care,” he said. But during committee hearings several indicated a willingness to work with on prescription drugs, rural health care and other matters.

WASHINGTON – Thousands of students defrauded by for-profit schools will have their federal loans fully erased, the Biden administration announced Thursday, reversing a Trump administration policy that had given them only partial relief. The change could lead to $1 billion in loans being canceled for 72,000 borrowers, all of whom attended for-profit schools, the Education Department said. The borrower defense to repayment program allows students to have their federal loans canceled if they were defrauded by their schools. The Education Department said a total of 343,331 applications for relief under borrower defense had been received as of Feb. 28. Sen. Patty Murray, who heads the Senate committee overseeing education, said DeVos used “faulty math” to deny student full relief.

President Joe Bidens pick for health secretary is taking heat for his defense of abortion rights from a tag team of Republicans looking to define him and the new administration as out of the mainstream. Becerra now serves as California’s attorney general and previously represented the Los Angeles area for more than 20 years in the U.S. House. Republicans voiced concern about Becerra’s record in support of abortion rights. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Becerra as attorney general “aggressively crusaded in favor of abortion” and repeatedly inserted California into abortion litigation involving other states. Perceptions changed after Becerra was appointed California attorney general in 2017.