Trump work requirement rewrites health care rules
for the poor
WASHINGTON — Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the program’s half-century history.
Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said requiring work or community involvement can make a positive difference in people’s lives and in their health. The goal is to help people move from public assistance into jobs that provide health insurance. “We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome,” she said.
But advocates said work requirements will become one more hoop for low-income people to jump through, and many could be denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork. Lawsuits are expected as individual states roll out work requirements.
“All of this on paper may sound reasonable, but if you think about the people who are affected, you can see people will fall through the cracks,” said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for the poor.
Created in 1965 for families on welfare and low-income seniors, Medicaid now covers more than 70 million people, or about 1 in 5 Americans. The federal-state collaboration has become the nation’s largest health insurance program.
Missouri governor admits having affair but denies blackmail
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — When Eric Greitens sought Missouri’s highest office in 2016, his resume seemed hard to top: former Navy SEAL, former Rhodes scholar and founder of a veterans’ charity. Most important, he said during the campaign, was his role as “a proud husband and father.”
On Thursday, the square-jawed Republican governor fought allegations that he photographed his hairdresser naked while having an affair with her and threatened to publicize the image if she spoke about their relationship. The top prosecutor in St. Louis quickly launched an investigation. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers asked the attorney general to investigate as well.
Greitens acknowledged being “unfaithful” in his marriage but denied taking any naked photos and blackmailing the woman to stay quiet.
The governor and his wife released a statement late Wednesday after St. Louis television station KMOV aired a bombshell report that he had a sexual relationship with the hairdresser in 2015. The report included allegations from the woman’s ex-husband, who secretly recorded a conversation with his ex-wife discussing the affair.
The affair was “a deeply personal mistake,” the Greitens’ statement said. “Eric took responsibility, and we dealt with this together honestly and privately.”
Walmart boosts starting pay,
closing dozens
of Sam’s Clubs
NEW YORK — Walmart confirmed Thursday that it is closing 10 percent of its Sam’s Club warehouse stores — a move that a union-backed group estimated could cost thousands of jobs — on the same day the company announced that it was boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers and handing out bonuses.
The world’s largest private employer said it was closing 63 of its 660 Sam’s Clubs over the next few weeks, with some shut already. Up to 12 are being converted into distribution centers to handle online orders, the company said late Thursday.
It did not disclose how many people would lose their jobs, but said some workers may be placed at other Walmart locations. Making Change at Walmart, a campaign backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, estimates that 150 to 160 people work at each Sam’s Club store, meaning the closures could affect about 10,000 people.
Lauren Fitz, 22, said she was at her other job as a church secretary when a colleague texted to say that the Sam’s Club where they both worked in Loveland, Ohio, had closed. Fitz had been pleased earlier to read the news that Walmart was boosting starting salaries and offering bonuses.
“I thought, ‘This is really cool.’ And then to find out that my store is closing,” said Fitz, who said she had worked as a sales associate in the jewelry department for two months. At home, she got a call from her manager and had a letter in the mail saying the store had closed and she could seek employment at another Sam’s Club or Walmart store.
From wire sources
Rescuers ‘searching for a miracle’ in California mudslides
MONTECITO, Calif. — More than two full days after mudslides ravaged the coastal town of Montecito, the search for the missing became an increasingly desperate exercise Thursday, with growing doubts about whether anyone would be found alive. Seventeen people from ages 3 to 89 were confirmed dead, and more than 40 others were unaccounted for.
“In disaster circumstances there have been many miraculous stories lasting many days and we certainly are searching for a miracle right now,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. He noted that some people had been rescued Thursday.
Santa Barbara fire Capt. Gary Pitney said most if not all rescues conducted Wednesday and Thursday were of people who were safe but just wanted to get out of the area.
“These were people that were sheltered in place that had needs that just took a while to get to some of them,” Pitney said. “They were OK but they wanted to get out.”
The air smelled of sewage and ash as more than a dozen firefighters climbed through rubble in the backyard of a mansion that had been torn apart. Some rescuers used poles to probe the muck for bodies, while others waded chest-deep in the mire. Two black Labrador retrievers swam around a debris-filled swimming pool, trying to pick up any scent.
House OKs spy program after Trump tweets spark confusion
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s puzzling tweets about a key U.S. spying law threw the House into temporary disarray Thursday, but lawmakers ended up renewing the law — with a new restriction on when the FBI can dig into the communications of Americans swept up in foreign surveillance.
During a hectic morning of House votes and presidential tweets, Trump’s national intelligence director also issued new guidance for how officials can find out the names of Americans whose identities are blacked out in classified intelligence reports.
Trump has said previous rules were far too lax and led to damaging leaks about top aides, a claim fiercely contested by Democrats.
The new guidelines on “unmasking” Americans, however, were a side show to the House showdown over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, reauthorizing a collection program set to expire on Jan. 19. The bill passed 256-164 and is now headed to the Senate. It would extend for six years the program, which includes massive monitoring of international communications.
Trump has said he’ll sign the renewal, but his first tweets Thursday suggested he had suddenly turned against the program, alarming intelligence officials.
James Franco wins early at Critics’ Choice Awards
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — James Franco, who had new sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him earlier in the day, was among the early winners at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Thursday, but the actor wasn’t on hand to accept his award.
Franco won best actor in a comedy film for his starring turn in “The Disaster Artist” at the end of an hourlong pre-telecast during which a dozen awards were presented.
The film wasn’t deemed the best comedy, though: That award went to “The Big Sick” once the telecast began on the CW network.
Actress Olivia Munn is hosting the gala at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, where a cast of celebrity presenters are announcing film and TV critics’ picks for the best work of 2017.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” was a triple winner, winning best drama series and acting awards for star Elizabeth Moss and supporting actress Ann Dowd. “Big Little Lies” also claimed three awards: acting honors for Nicole Kidman, Alexander Skarsgard and Laura Dern.
