Broker Regulation

Pounding away with executive actions, the White House is laying out new steps to cut fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, keeping up its campaign of acting without Congress as President Barack Obama tends to diplomacy and relaxation far from Washington.

The weight of a Supreme Court decision isn't likely to settle the contentious debate over health care in America, a nation disdainful of big government and historically unable to guarantee affordable basic coverage to all its citizens.

Members of Congress' deficit-reduction supercommittee face daily pressure from groups defending programs like Social Security, veterans benefits and defense spending from cuts. This week will offer something different: Millionaires insisting that their own taxes be raised.

A consumer advocate group wants to be part of an insurance-industry discussion on whether to exempt broker and agent compensation from a health reform law that aims to cut wasteful insurer spending.

The Supreme Court on Monday promised an extraordinarily thorough springtime review of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul more than five hours of argument, unprecedented in modern times in time for a likely ruling affecting millions of Americans just before the presidential election.

The No. 2 Republican in the House said Monday he's still confident that a bipartisan deficit "supercommittee" will be able to reach agreement even though there's little more than a week to go before its deadline.