Different Takes: Weigh True And False Claims About Medicaid, Medicare-For-All As Both Will Dominate Midterm Races
Editorial pages focus on issues surrounding Medicaid and Medicare-For-All.
The Wall Street Journal:
Wisconsin ObamaCare Howlers
Part of the fun of running for office appears to be taking creative liberties with your opponent’s record, so get ready for a fiction-filled autumn. An early ObamaCare misdirection out of Wisconsin is one that Republicans nationwide will have to anticipate. Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Tony Evers is running an ad blaming Governor Scott Walker for high health-care premiums in the Badger State. Mr. Walker’s supposed sin: Not taking the Affordable Care Act’s bribe to expand Medicaid to able-bodied adults up to 138% of the poverty line. “Minnesota’s governor took the funds,” the ad says, and “Wisconsin families now pay nearly 50% more than Minnesotans for the same health care.” (8/29)
New England Journal of Medicine:
Mitigating The Risks Of Medicaid Work Requirements
In January 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a letter to state Medicaid directors “to assist states in their efforts to improve Medicaid enrollee health and well-being through incentivizing work and community engagement.” As of June 2018, four states — Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, and New Hampshire — had received CMS approval for Section 1115 waivers to implement and evaluate work requirements for nonelderly adults enrolled in Medicaid. Work requirements are moving forward in Arkansas, Indiana, and New Hampshire. However, a federal district court blocked Kentucky’s implementation of such requirements, determining that the secretary of Health and Human Services had not adequately considered how the waiver would affect the state’s ability to provide coverage to Medicaid enrollees. Six other states have proposed new Medicaid work requirements in pending waiver applications to CMS, and Virginia recently approved Medicaid expansion with plans to implement work requirements through a Section 1115 waiver. (John Z. Ayanian, Renuka Tipirneni and Susan D. Goold, 8/29)
Columbus Dispatch:
Medicaid Expansion Has Improved Ohioans' Health
The recent report on Ohio’s Medicaid expansion shows that the program is working as intended and is cost-effective, pointing the way for the General Assembly and next governor to support its continuation. The expansion’s positive health and economic outcomes resulting from increased access to care — all of which are documented in the report — are welcome news to Ohio’s philanthropic community, which focuses on the same goals of improved health status and economic security for all residents of Ohio. (Claudia Herrold, 8/30)
The Star Tribune:
Minnesotans, Don't Fall For The Ruse On Democrats' Health Care Intentions
With health care on the top of many voters’ minds this election season, it’s important that people are fully informed on where both parties stand on this important issue. Apparently, to my surprise, the Star Tribune Editorial Board wants us to pay no mind to the radical single-payer government takeover that many Democrats on the state and federal level are actively campaigning on, and the billions in tax increases it would take to pay for it. (Greg Davids, 8/28)
