Perspectives: Can Capitol Hill’s Grown-Ups Get Health Care Back On Track?; Learning Lessons From HillaryCare And The Current Conundrum
Editorial writers offer their thoughts on how members of Congress might be able to find a path forward on fixing the health care system.
Detroit Free Press:
Calling All Grown-Ups! Bi-Partisan Group Seeks To Get Health Care Unstuck
Finally, some good news: It appears there are at least 40 grown-ups in the U.S. House of Representatives. And they're looking for colleagues in both parties who want to be grown-ups, too. After years of impotent congressional dithering, 43 House lawmakers -- 21 Republicans and 22 Democrats -- have coalesced around a plan to stabilize state health insurance exchanges roiled by uncertainty and advance some modest Obamacare reforms that have attracted support from both parties. (Brian Dickerson, 7/31)
The Columbus Dispatch:
Health-Care Plan Back To Square One
Senate Republicans’ handling of the health insurance issue will go down among the most shameful episodes in the history of the world’s so-called “greatest deliberative body.” In the nearly 90 days since House Republicans passed and handed off the American Health Care Act, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has turned the Senate into a Marx Brothers movie. (8/1)
The New York Times:
The Americans Who Saved Health Insurance
Many Americans look back on the heroic political fights of the past — for suffrage, Social Security, civil rights, Medicare — and wonder why today’s politics never produce inspiring victories. Well, we just witnessed one. If one of the Senate or House health care bills had become law, millions of people would have lost their coverage. Ultimately, many would have been denied medical care. Birth defects, cancer, diabetes and other conditions would have gone untreated. (David Leonhardt, 8/1)
Forbes:
Diagnosing America's Health Care Mess: Part 1
With Republican repeal-and-replace efforts temporarily sidelined, now is a good time to step back and take a big picture view of exactly how we got into the mess we are now in regarding health care. What should be clear to people of all political persuasions is that Obamacare did not solve America's health care woes. (Chris Conover, 7/31)
The Wall Street Journal:
HillaryCare Lessons For Today
One of the greatest bonuses of my years in the Senate was getting to know Sen. John McCain. John has consistently served causes larger than himself, beginning with our country. The speech he gave on the Senate floor last week, followed by his “no” vote after midnight Thursday on a health-care bill nobody wanted to become law, was one of his finest hours. (Joe Lieberman, 7/31)
Los Angeles Times:
Here's How Trump Could Sabotage Obamacare
With the collapse (for now) of the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration faces a stark choice. Should it do whatever it can to make Obamacare work? Or should it sabotage the law in an effort to force Democrats to the bargaining table? Make no mistake about it: The choice is in President Trump’s hands. Contrary to Republican talking points, the Affordable Care Act is working. Millions have gained coverage, and the rate of the uninsured is at a historic low. (Nicholas Bagley, 8/1)
