XAVIER BECERRA

Most uninsured Americans are eligible for subsidized health coverage, but surveys show many still aren't aware of it.

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.

You're now entitled to up to eight over-the-counter at-home tests per month, and it must be fully paid for by your health insurer.

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.

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

Medicare officials were instructed Monday to reassess the standard monthly amount due to a reduction in the cost of a drug that caused half the premium jump.

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

U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra on Monday ordered Medicare to reassess a big premium increase facing millions of seniors this year, attributed in large part to a pricey new Alzheimer's drug with questionable benefits. Becerra's directive came days after drugmaker Biogen slashed the price of its $56,000-a-year medication, Aduhelm, to $28,200 a year — a cut of about half. “With the 50% price drop of Aduhelm on Jan. 1, there is a compelling basis ... to reexamine the previous recommendation,” Becerra said in a statement about his directive to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

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.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo accused the Biden administration Tuesday of "actively preventing the effective distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments" in the United States.

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.

The head of a Senate panel that oversees Medicare says the Biden administration should use its legal authority to cut back a hefty premium increase soon hitting millions of enrollees, as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers call for action amid worries over rising inflation. Last month, Medicare announced one of the largest increases ever in its “Part B” monthly premium for outpatient care, nearly $22, from $148.50 currently to $170.10 starting in January. The agency attributed roughly half the hike, about $11 a month, to the need for a contingency fund to cover Aduhelm, a new $56,000 Alzheimer's drug from Biogen whose benefits have been widely questioned. “Rather than assessing the current $21.60 per month ... premium increase in full, I urge you to reduce the amount,” Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote health secretary Xavier Becerra.

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

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says health providers who have exploited a complicated system to charge exorbitant rates will have to bear their share of the cost — or close.

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.

As part of the settlement, the company has agreed to notify workers within one day of new Covid cases.

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.

These services can make the difference between being able to live at home with family or landing in a nursing facility. But state Medicaid programs don't always pay for them.

U.S. health officials are laying out plans to let most Americans buy hearing aids without a prescription.

As health care workers face increased levels of pandemic burnout, the Biden Administration is looking to help states recruit and retain clinicians in underserved areas.

Saturday, October 9, 2021 & Sunday, October 10, 2021 | “The Zoo” returns on Animal Planet

Yesterday, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra co-hosted a listening session with stakeholders on the bipartisan COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was signed into law by President Biden on May 20. The session was moderated by Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. The diverse set of stakeholders represented the wide impact of increased hate and bias, and mutual support among impacted communities. Secretary Becerra, Attorney General Garland and Associate Attorney General Gupta closed the listening session by thanking the advocacy organizations for their participation, thoughtful dialogue, and commitment to advancing justice. Stakeholders who would like to provide recommendations on the guidance are encouraged to submit their public comments to the Justice Department and HHS at COVID19HateCrimesGuidance@hhs.gov.

Is the Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden administration ignoring what politicians refer to as "the science" when it comes to natural immunity from the coronavirus?

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.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra speaks to the press after taking a tour of a vaccination site at Community of Hope, a community heath center, on May 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Thursday unveiled the Biden administration's road map to lowering the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. The plan, summarized in a 29-page document, supports legislation that allows the U.S. government to negotiate lower prices on the costliest drugs each year and pass those savings on to private insurers. Current rules prohibit the HHS from negotiating drug prices on behalf of Medicare — the federal government's health insurance plan for the elderly. It would reduce regulatory barriers to getting a new drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration and incentivize drugmakers to develop medications that are already on the U.S. market, ensuring competition and forcing other companies to lower prices, according to the administration.

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 Department of Health and Human Services will require nearly a third of its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine while the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded its vaccination mandate.

The Department of Health and Human Services will require nearly a third of its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine while the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded its vaccination mandate.

This follows similar orders recently issued by the VA and U.S. military.

The vaccine requirement from HHS comes just days after the Pentagon issued mandated the shots or all service members to get immunized.

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

A group of Republican lawmakers penned a letter to Merrick Garland and Xavier Becerra claiming that the pair had violated federal conscience-protection laws.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra argued that the federal government is entitled to know who in the United States has been vaccinated, responding to anger from GOP House members who say the Biden administration is infringing on personal liberty.

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.

COVID funding meant for the National Institutes of Health will instead cover pandemic-related costs for minors and staff along the U.S.-Mexico border.

While visiting an uptown Charlotte vaccination site with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Gov. Roy Cooper said the state’s slight uptick in COVID-19 cases is likely due to the variant.

While visiting an uptown Charlotte vaccination site with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Gov. Roy Cooper said the state’s slight uptick in COVID-19 cases is likely due to the variant.

While visiting an uptown Charlotte vaccination site with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Gov. Roy Cooper said the state’s slight uptick in COVID-19 cases is likely due to the variant.

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 Department of Health and Human Services will continue to house migrant children at four emergency sites, including a tent camp at the Fort Bliss Army base.

The number of children held at the Fort Bliss Customs and Border Protection facility has dropped 40%, according to the Biden administration.

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.

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. The focus is a group health officials term the “movable middle” — some 55 million unvaccinated adults seen as persuadable, many of them under 30. “We’re not just going to do the mass vaccination sites," said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

CBS News has reported that migrant children held at Fort Bliss are constantly monitored for self-harm, escape attempts and panic attacks.

Manchin's backing is pivotal and would allow a new spending bill can pass without any GOP votes. He wants to raise corporate taxes as well.

Oklahoma senator James Lankford (R.) confronted Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra Thursday over the department’s replacement of "mothers" with the term "birthing people."

A partisan ad war has erupted in West Virginia as both sides are trying to pressure Joe Manchin over elements of his party's agenda.

Attorneys who’ve been able to visit migrant children at emergency shelters opened by the Biden administration told Yahoo News they are especially concerned about conditions at Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army base where thousands of kids are being housed in massive tents.

Without mentioning China, the US health secretary says experts must be allowed to evaluate the virus source.

The move comes amid concerns about subpar conditions and prolonged stays at Fort Bliss, a makeshift housing facility holding more than 4,500 unaccompanied minors.

As deadly violence continues to escalate in the Middle East, social media in real time has illustrated the shifting perceptions of young Americans on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The hackers who carried out the massive SolarWinds intrusion were in the software company's system as early as January 2019, months earlier than previously known, the company's top official said Wednesday. The SolarWinds hack, which was first reported last December and which U.S. officials have linked to the Russian government, is one in a series of major breaches that has prompted a major cybersecurity focus from the Biden administration.

WASHINGTON — In a federal shelter in Dallas, migrant children sleep in a windowless convention center room under fluorescent lights that never go dark. At a military base in El Paso, Texas, teenagers pile onto bunk cots, and some say they have gone days without bathing. And in Erie, Pennsylvania, problems began emerging within days of the shelter's creation: “Fire safety system is a big concern,” an internal report noted. Some of the hot water heaters were not working, and lice was “a big issue and seems to be increasing.” Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Early this year, children crossing the southwestern border in record numbers were crammed into Customs and Border Protection’s cold-floored, jail-like detention facilities. They slept side by side on mats with foil blankets, almost always far longer than the legal limit of 72 hours. Republicans declared it a crisis. Democrats and immigration groups denounced the conditions, which erupted into an international embarrassment for President Joe Biden, who had campaigned on a return to compassion in the immigration system. The administration responded by rapidly setting up temporary, emergency shelters, including some that could house thousands of children. But the next potential crisis is coming into view. “I know the administration wants to take a victory lap for moving children out of Border Patrol stations — and they deserve credit for doing that,” said Leecia Welch, a lawyer and the senior director of the legal advocacy and child welfare practice at the National Center for Youth Law, a nonprofit law firm focused on low-income children. “But the truth is, thousands of traumatized children are still lingering in massive detention sites on military bases or convention centers, and many have been relegated to unsafe and unsanitary conditions.” Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, put the best face on the situation in an interview Friday. Conditions at the emergency facilities varied, he said. “It’s site by site.” On Thursday, he visited the department’s shelter at the convention center in Long Beach, California, where nearly 700 children, mostly ages 12 and under, are staying, a fraction of the 20,000 migrant minors in government custody. “I was not only gratified to see that it’s working, but I was actually uplifted by what I saw,” Becerra said. It was his first shelter tour since he was confirmed in mid-March. There is broad agreement that the emergency shelters, run by the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, are an improvement over the Border Patrol facilities. But interviews with children’s advocates and a review of weeks of internal reports obtained by The New York Times paint a picture of a shelter system with wildly varying conditions, some of which are far below the standard of care that the Biden administration has promised. “No foster care system in America would allow kids to remain in these sorts of places for weeks or months,” said Welch, who has been visiting shelters and interviewing children about their stays. None of the shelters is open to the public, and Welch said she and members of her team were not permitted to take photographs there. Her organization monitors the government’s adherence to a 1997 settlement that set conditions for how immigrant children are detained in the United States. Many groups working with the federal government to provide care are not allowed to talk about what they see. One of the children Welch met was a 10-year-old girl who had arrived at the border alone because her mother had been kidnapped on their journey north. She spent nearly three weeks in Border Patrol custody this year before she was transferred to the shelter in Erie, Pennsylvania. The heat was broken in three rooms, including one with an isolated child who was sick with COVID-19 and complained about being cold. There were not enough clothes for the children to wear in Pennsylvania’s chilly early springtime. And the shelter was understaffed, with volunteers “overextended, stressed and fatigued,” according to a government assessment. Cleaning was infrequent, as was trash removal. Gas leaked inside and outside where the children were living. The shelter closed April 26. Another shelter that opened in Houston closed months before the date officials had planned. The building, which housed 500 girls ages 13 to 17, had problems from the start, Welch said. She described the shelter as a warehouse with no access to the outdoors, where children went for days without bathing. The food made them sick, and some had fainting spells from not eating. They were not allowed to go to the bathroom after 10 p.m., she said. These emergency shelters are not bound by the law that sets a standard of care, and they are ordinarily overseen by the refugee office. The network of licensed shelters, with room for fewer than 10,000 children, is not big enough to handle the surge of migrants this year. Even that limited capacity decreased during the Trump administration, Biden aides say. The emergency facilities were supposed to house migrant children for very short stays, but minors are remaining in Department of Health and Human Services custody for about a month. “These facilities were designed and ramped up with the goal of achieving prompt reunification with parents, sponsors and legal guardians,” said Maria Odom, senior vice president for legal programs at Kids in Need of Defense. But a significant shortage of case managers charged with placing the children with family members and other sponsors is extending the stays in these shelters. The government has hired contractors to fill those roles in some of the shelters, and federal employees from other agencies have volunteered to help. But it is far from enough. Modest improvements recently have meant that more children are being discharged from government care each day than are being transferred in from Border Patrol. On Monday, 427 children were released from government custody, and 358 were transferred in, according to recent data. But unaccompanied children are still coming to the border; under Biden administration policy, they are being let in, not turned away as they were under the Trump administration. At an emergency shelter in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Michelle Saenz-Rodriguez, an immigration lawyer, described a facility intended to hold 2,000 children, mostly teenage boys. “It is literally a big ballroom with no exterior windows and typical fluorescent lighting” that never turns off, she said. For weeks, internal documents have indicated an unmet need for urgent mental health consultations for the children. At times, there have been no mental health staff members on site. The Dallas shelter is closing at the end of the month because the lease is expiring, as is another emergency shelter in San Antonio. The Biden administration is looking to house more children at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, which has the largest emergency shelter in the network with room for more than 5,000 children. According to internal documents, the administration is planning to house up to 10,000 children there, half of whom would be 12 and under. About 4,400 teenagers currently live there. “I am flabbergasted to learn that Fort Bliss will increase capacity to 10,000 beds,” said Ellen Beattie, a director at the International Rescue Committee. She added that it was “hard to imagine this being in the best interest of the children there.” The government typically preferred to shelter younger children in smaller facilities, Beattie said. Living conditions at the Fort Bliss shelter, which is made of soft-sided tents, are less than desirable. Welch, who visited late last month, said it smelled like a high school locker room. She spoke to children who had not received clean clothes in days. Welch described precarious “bunk cots” for children to sleep in that can collapse when they are playing. The linens did not appear to be laundered regularly, she said. While there is an option to play soccer outside in the Texas heat, some of the children told her they did not want to because they did not know when they would receive clean clothes. The children “generally describe not feeling cared for and a sense of desperation,” Welch said. The Trump administration was widely criticized for the tent city it opened in Tornillo, Texas, on desert land outside El Paso, that held more than 2,800 children and teenagers in 2019. “But Fort Bliss is much worse in every respect,” Welch said, adding, “It goes against everything we know about the proper care and treatment of traumatized children.” After the Erie shelter closed, the 10-year-old girl, who stayed in the crowded Border Patrol facility for nearly three weeks, was transferred again, this time to a small emergency shelter in a remote location in Albion, Michigan, Welch said. The girl and the other children in the shelter were loaded into vans and not given any explanation for why they were moving more than 300 miles away, Welch said. She visited the shelter last week, when there were 190 children, 12 and under. The facility was nearly 70% full. The children sleep in bunk beds in a cabin for 14, Welch said. There is a living area, a small kitchen and a space to play games, like Connect Four. “They’re not being mistreated,” Welch said. “But a lot of the kids are really sad, because they want to be with their families, and they don’t understand why it’s taking so long.” Becerra said he blamed the immigration system for the situation. “If we’re going to have to function with this broken immigration system, let’s at least do it right, let’s do what we can,” he said. “I don’t know what their ultimate fate will be,” he added. “But I do know this — that while they are in my custody, they are going to be safe, and they’re going to be cared for.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

The announcement, which effectively reverses a Trump-era rule, springs from last summer's landmark Supreme Court decision banning employment discrimination against LGBTQ people.

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.

Three Asian American activists founded Stop AAPI Hate, the anti-Asian hate reporting center, to track the growing number of incidents against the community.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has moved to ban menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products in a decision that Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said reflects the Biden administration’s “commitment to improve the health of all Americans and to tackle health disparities in our most marginalized communities.”

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.

Florida continues to lead the nation in the number of people taking advantage of a special enrollment period for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

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.

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.

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.

The 50-49 vote makes the 63-year-old Becerra the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services. 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. But the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, among other industry and professional groups, supported his nomination. 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.

His confirmation was among the most partisan, with only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, supporting him. Romney said he hasn’t heard from the White House at all on Cabinet appointments. And you had to be, I think, a little more cooperative with your colleagues.”AdvertisementSenators differentiated between communication with the White House and with the nominees themselves. Romney said he’s heard from people who know the nominees but has not heard from the White House. White House officials never wanted to pursue an overt lobbying campaign to win over Republican senators, according to people on Biden’s team.

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 – Students who were defrauded by their colleges and received only partial relief from their federal loans could now see them fully canceled, the Biden administration announced Thursday, reversing a Trump administration policy. 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. In addition to having their loans fully canceled, students will be reimbursed for any payments made on the loans and have their eligibility for federal student aid reinstated. The borrower defense to repayment program allows students to have their federal loans canceled if they were defrauded by their colleges. Sen. Patty Murray, who heads the Senate committee overseeing education, said DeVos used “faulty math” to deny student full relief.

Xavier Becerra, nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, answers questions during his Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, February 24, 2021. The Senate confirmed Xavier Becerra as Health and Human Services secretary on Thursday as the U.S. aims to contain Covid-19 and achieve a semblance of normal life by summer. Becerra, California's attorney general, won approval by a narrow 50-49 margin in a Senate evenly split by party. Becerra touted his work as California's attorney general to make Covid treatments more widely available and crack down on opioid manufacturers. Becerra won a four-year term in 2018.

Washington — The nomination of Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is likely to clear the Senate after a pair of key senators, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Susan Collins of Maine, announced their support. Collins was the only Republican to join Democrats in the vote, which came after she and Manchin announced their support for Becerra's nomination. "Although there are issues where I strongly disagree with Mr. Becerra, I believe he merits confirmation as HHS Secretary," the Maine Republican said in a statement. Manchin, meanwhile, said he believes Becerra "will be a leader for every American and West Virginian." It's unclear whether any Republican will join Collins in voting to confirm Becerra, as many have claimed he lacks the experience to lead the department.

Washington — The nomination of Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is likely to clear the Senate after a pair of key senators, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Susan Collins of Maine, announced their support. Collins was the only Republican to join Democrats in the vote, which came after she and Manchin announced their support for Becerra's nomination. "Although there are issues where I strongly disagree with Mr. Becerra, I believe he merits confirmation as HHS Secretary," the Maine Republican said in a statement. Manchin, meanwhile, said he believes Becerra "will be a leader for every American and West Virginian." It's unclear whether any Republican will join Collins in voting to confirm Becerra, as many have claimed he lacks the experience to lead the department.

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.

Becker, a California woman charged with murder after delivering a stillborn baby with methamphetamine in his body, may be released on bail after being held in Kings County jail since late 2019. Chelsea Becker, 26, has been in a Kings County jail since her arrest in November 2019, unable to raise $2 million bail. Kings County Superior Court Judge Robert Shane Burns on Tuesday granted her attorneys' request to release her to an out-of-county residential treatment center pending trial. Attempts in California in the 1990s to use the law to prosecute pregnant women failed. ——This version corrects the name of the Kings County Superior Court judge to Robert Shane Burns.

Also pictured is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, third from right. Among Biden’s 23 nominees with Cabinet rank, just 13 have been confirmed by the Senate, or a little over half. On Tuesday, Biden's Cabinet was thrown into further uncertainty when his nominee to lead the White House budget office, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration after her nomination faced opposition from key senators on both sides of the aisle. That must change.”The Biden administration has prioritized confirming those nominees who are key to national security, the economy and public health decisions. The Biden administration has not been completely hamstrung by the slow pace of confirmations, however.

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. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s pick for health secretary is taking heat from Republicans for his actions in support of abortion rights. By a show of force, they're trying to deny a president who supports abortion rights his choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services with the coronavirus pandemic still untamed. Becerra, 63, was a reliable Democratic vote for abortion rights during more than 20 years representing a Los Angeles-area district in the U.S. House. She disagrees with his support for abortion rights but finds common ground elsewhere.

Also pictured is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, third from right. Among Biden’s 23 nominees with Cabinet rank, just 13 have been confirmed by the Senate, or a little over half. On Tuesday, Biden's cabinet was thrown into further uncertainty when his nominee to lead the White House budget office, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration after her nomination faced opposition from key senators on both sides of the aisle. That must change.”The Biden administration has prioritized confirming those nominees who are key to national security, the economy and public health decisions. The Biden administration has not been completely hamstrung by the slow pace of confirmations, however.

He’s being hired to run federal health policy — to negotiate with other politicians, write regulations and manage a sprawling bureaucracy. Becerra has “zero experience in anything related to healthcare,” Cruz claimed. President Trump’s last Health and Human Services boss, Alex Azar, was a lawyer and former lobbyist for a pharmaceutical firm. Cruz has voted against nine of the 10 (he let Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III slip through). A president’s Cabinet doesn’t need a virologist at Health and Human Services, an architect at Housing and Urban Development, or a fighter pilot running the Pentagon.

The label of Haaland as a "radical" by Republican lawmakers is getting pushback from Native Americans. The exchange, coupled with descriptions of the Interior secretary nominee as “radical” — by other white, male Republicans — left some feeling Haaland is being treated differently because she is a Native American woman. “As much as I would love to see a Native American be on the president’s Cabinet, I have concerns about her record. Critics also have targeted Vanita Gupta, an Indian American and Biden’s pick to be associate attorney general, and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Health and Human Services secretary. That was seen in Haaland's response when asked about her motivation to be Interior secretary.

Donor-advised funds, which are akin to charitable investment accounts, aren’t now required to make any donations in any one year. It’s hard to run an organization like that.”AdArnold proposes a more modest solution — the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving. “It’s really a solution in search of a problem.”In the midst of last year's devastating pandemic recession, charitable giving rose modestly for the year. “Charitable giving has been a silver lining through this crisis and, frankly, through throughout history,” Westhoff said. AdCollins, who is holding out hope for his plan to require increased payouts, argues that the tax system's favorable treatment of foundations and donor-advised funds may provide the strongest rationale.

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2020, file photo, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. On Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, a federal judge ruled California could enforce a 2018 net neutrality law. Jerry Brown signed the bill in 2018, making California the first state to pass a net neutrality law. But in a separate lawsuit, the telecom industry asked a federal judge to keep blocking the law. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez denied their request, allowing California to begin enforcing the law. The law seeks to ban internet providers from slowing down customers' data streams based on the content they are viewing.

GOP questions Health Secretary nominee Xavier Becerra on his experience, abortion views at Senate confirmation hearing President Biden's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, testified at his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday. Republican lawmakers have criticized Becerra for a lack of experience as a health official and his support for abortion rights. Politico Pro health care reporter Alice Miranda Ollstein joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano with more on how Becerra responded to tough questions at the hearing.

(Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's Cabinet is starting to fill out, with nominees for agriculture secretary and United Nations ambassador gaining Senate approval Tuesday. “And that’s what we intend to do.”Schumer couldn’t resist a jab at former President Donald Trump, saying that all Biden’s nominees are “undoubtedly qualified for their positions, a stark departure from the caliber of nominees the Senate was made to consider during the previous administration.”But one of Biden's nominees, Neera Tanden to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget, is clearly in trouble in the evenly divided Senate. Currently California's attorney general, Becerra appeared Tuesday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “I'm not sold yet,” Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the health committee, said, addressing Becerra. ___INTERIORRep. Deb Haaland, Biden's nominee to lead the Interior Department, fielded sharp questions from Republicans over what some called her “radical” ideas that include opposition to fracking and to the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will be facing two confirmation hearings this week for his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. A former congressman with no public health experience, Republicans are not only seizing on this gap in his resume, but also attacking his work as California's top prosecutor. "He's a radical partisan, an activist, not a doctor," the announcer says in the ad, airing on Fox News Channel, among other networks. Because of the broad scope of HHS over health policy and health-care programs, Becerra's nomination is officially considered by both panels. "He also understands that reproductive health care — including abortion — is health care, and must be treated as such by our elected leaders and top health officials."

“To meet this moment, we need strong federal leadership," Becerra said at the first of two hearings on his nomination. AdAppearing before the Senate health committee, Becerra seconded President Joe Biden’s goals of 100 million vaccine shots in his first 100 days, increased coronavirus testing, ramped-up DNA mapping of the virus to track worrisome mutations and reopening schools and businesses. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the health committee, left no doubt that Becerra faces tough scrutiny. California took pride in viewing itself as the resistance to Trump, and Becerra embodied that ethos. AdLack of medical experience doesn't disqualify a nominee for HHS secretary, though it can be a plus.

Bush took office, Republicans are confident they have a ripe target in Xavier Becerra. It is Becerra’s perceived political and policy sins that are fueling the bid to block him. Gen. Xavier Becerra’s office and a Roman Catholic organization. AdvertisementThough recent Health and Human Services chiefs have included ex-governors with arguably no more medical experience than Becerra, Republicans say the pandemic era demands a doctor in the role. “These scattershot, logically inconsistent attacks are desperate.”It is only recently that Medicare for all has become Becerra’s heaviest political baggage.

More than a year after the initial coronavirus cases were uncovered in Wuhan, China, the origin of the virus remains a mystery.