Here’s a look at some of the day’s top stories from WTOP:
U.S. launches airstrikes near Irbil and Mosul Dam
The U.S. is widening its air campaign in Iraq.
The latest attacks are aimed at helping Iraqi forces regain control of the strategic Mosul dam. The Islamic State extremist group took control of the dam less than two weeks ago. Military officials say U.S. forces conducted nine strikes Saturday and another 16 on Sunday. Kurdish forces have reportedly captured part of the dam.
Groups claim insurance discrimination in new forms
Leading patient groups say insurance companies are beginning to find ways around anti-discrimination provisions which are a central goal of the nation’s health care law.
The insurance industry responds that critics are confusing legitimate cost-control with bias. Some state regulators, however, say there’s reason to be concerned about policies that shift costs to patients and narrow their choices of hospitals and doctors. More than 300 patient advocacy groups recently wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to complain about some insurer tactics that “are highly discriminatory against patients with chronic health conditions and may
