In brief: Obama approval ratings low over the past year

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s Gallup tracking poll numbers are about to hit an ignominious milestone – a solid year with more people disapproving than approving of his performance.

One year ago, Obama’s approval numbers and disapproval numbers were bouncing around. His last positive result came Sept. 23-25, 2013, when 47 percent approved and 46 percent disapproved, according to Gallup’s website.

Then a series of fall crises hit – the government shutdown, the disastrous rollout of healthcare.gov and Obama’s admission that he failed to keep his “if you like it, you can keep it” promise. Obama hasn’t had a single day above water since then, though he came within a point a couple of times.

Recently, Obama’s approval rating has seen an uptick in Gallup from a couple of ugly 38 percent prints in early September. It stood at 44-51 this week. But other polls showed broad weakness for the president, particularly as a series of foreign policy crises have hit in recent months.

Judge grants delay in Boston bomb trial

BOSTON – A judge granted a two-month trial delay on Wednesday for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev but denied a defense request to move his trial from Boston.

Judge George O’Toole ruled that the trial will begin Jan. 5 instead of Nov. 3. He said there’s no reason to assume in advance that a fair jury cannot be selected in Massachusetts.

Defense attorneys had asked that the trial be moved to Washington, D.C., citing extensive media coverage in Boston and evaluations of public sentiment by their experts. They also asked for a trial delay until at least September 2015, saying they have not had time to prepare for a November trial and had been given less time than was granted in many other federal death penalty cases.

Tsarnaev, 21, has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Number of uninsured patients down 30%

WASHINGTON – The number of uninsured patients admitted to hospitals has dropped markedly this year, reducing charity care and bad debt cases, particularly in states that have expanded Medicaid coverage under the new federal health care law, a government report released Wednesday concluded.

The report from the Department of Health and Human Services said hospitals in states that have taken advantage of new Medicaid eligibility levels have seen uninsured admissions fall by about 30 percent. The report estimated that the cost of uncompensated hospital care will be $5.7 billion lower in 2014.

The announcement of the findings is part of the Obama administration’s continuing effort to persuade states that have declined to expand their Medicaid coverage to reconsider their objections. So far, 27 states and the District of Columbia have agreed to provide Medicaid to people with income higher than poverty levels, as permitted under the health care law.

The report comes seven weeks before the start of a new round of open enrollment, a critical test for the health care law.