Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans’ members, a new federal watchdog report says.

The investigators allege that some insurers effectively set up “ghost networks” of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is turning to an unconventional approach to lowering drug prices in the United States: striking deals directly with big pharma companies in an attempt to bring U.S. prices in line with what other countries pay.

Trump and the nation’s health care officials have touted these “most-favored nation” ...Read more

SEATTLE — It's October. Halloween decorations are up. Leaves are changing colors. Pumpkin spice lattes are back. And it is time to think about floods.

The state has nailed the timing for its flood awareness month, with a level 1 Flash Flood threat for parts of southern coastal Washington starting Friday. Unfortunately, this year, October ...Read more

North Korea said it successfully tested a new hypersonic weapon system in its latest show of force “against potential enemies” as world leaders, including President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, prepare to gather in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next week.

“The new weapon system was tested ...Read more

Twenty-two days into the federal government shutdown, an appellate court has granted the Department of Justice’s request to pause a lawsuit over the environmental impact of the Florida Everglades’ makeshift immigration detention center, Alligator Alcatraz.

In a two-sentence order on Wednesday, the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit Court of ...Read more

The Trump administration announced sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil producers, rolling out its first major package of financial punishments on President Vladimir Putin’s economy as part of a fresh bid to end the war in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department blacklisted state-run oil giant Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC because of “Russia’s ...Read more

Democratic mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani and his chief rival, Andrew Cuomo, tore into each other Wednesday on the debate stage over their respective careers in state government, with both men accusing one another of being ineffective in wielding power in Albany to address New York City’s affordability crisis.

Affordability has been a ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Members of the House Democratic Veterans Caucus said in a statement Wednesday that recent comments by Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., were “disgusting” and that the former leader of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus should immediately apologize for suggesting that congressional Democrats hated the military and served solely for ...Read more

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with Donald Trump as they grow more worried the U.S. leader could undermine the self-ruled democracy’s interests in talks with China, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump has said Taiwan will likely be on the agenda when he’s expected to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — North Carolina Republicans have completed their mid-decade redraw of the state’s congressional map, placing a Democrat-held seat in the state’s northeastern corner in jeopardy.

The GOP-led state House gave final approval to the new lines on Wednesday, a day after Republican state senators backed the revised map, under which ...Read more

Early voter turnout exceeds expectations in California’s Nov. 4 special election over redrawing the state’s congressional districts, a Democratic-led effort to counter Republican attempts to keep Congress under GOP control.

“We’re seeing some pretty extraordinary numbers of early votes that have already been cast, people sending back in...Read more

WASHINGTON — The University of Virginia became the latest college to strike a deal with the Trump administration, settling civil rights investigations that threatened the school’s federal funding and cost its former president his job.

As part of the accord, the university agreed to provide the government with data on its admissions and ...Read more

OLYMPIA — Republican candidates running for state Senate this year say they have a plan to push back on progressive policies coming out of Olympia: forming a bipartisan coalition of moderates that could work together to block certain legislation and tax increases.

The possibility of a new moderate coalition comes with a few key swing Senate ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Three of the country's most powerful judges met in Pasadena on Wednesday for a rare conclave that could rewrite the legal framework for President Trump's expansive deployment of troops to cities across the United States.

The move to flood Los Angeles with thousands of federalized soldiers over the objection of state and local ...Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he anticipated a “similar playbook” playing out in his hometown of San Francisco after Customs and Border Protection deployed 100 agents to the Bay Area on Wednesday, following similar campaigns in Portland and Los Angeles.

Newsom told reporters in Stockton that it was likely President Donald Trump would next storm ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — A local immigration lawyer said three of her clients who were legal residents of the U.S. were taken in Wilder, Idaho, on Sunday.

Hundreds of law enforcement agents over the weekend swarmed La Catedral Arena as part of what the FBI said was an investigation into illegal horse race betting. While court records showed agents have...Read more

The last day North Carolina lawmakers will be in town until late November — or possibly even before the new year — was marked again by disagreement over Medicaid funding and raises for public employees.

Both issues are tied to the broader budget negotiations between the House and Senate, which are both led by Republicans and have been at a ...Read more

NEW YORK — Democratic mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani plans to ask Jessica Tisch to stay on as NYPD commissioner if he wins next month’s election, two sources familiar with the matter told the Daily News on Wednesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Tisch will accept the offer, and a spokeswoman referred to a statement the commissioner...Read more

President Donald Trump has expanded his drug war beyond the Caribbean with an attack on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean that his administration charges was carrying narcotics — and said Wednesday he was “totally prepared” to escalate the situation even further with land attacks.

“There are very few boats traveling on the water. So...Read more

A 24-year-old woman nearly died after she swallowed water tainted with sewage flowing from a pipe that dumped about 85,000 gallons of raw waste into Lake Tahoe’s azure waters, according to documents and the victim.

The woman, who requested anonymity to protect her medical privacy, enjoyed wakeboarding and surfing near Carnelian Bay and Dollar...Read more