It’s Almost Time To Vote … Experts Opine About How It’s All Played Out, What Could Happen Next
Polls will open for the midterm elections in less than 24 hours. Already there's an effort to look at how the health care debate has unfolded -- fact-checking statements, measuring what people understand about catch phrases such as Medicare-for-all, handicapping what might happen to Obamacare if the GOP retains control of the House and Senate, and predicting how the health care sector might come out in the end.
The Washington Post:
Midterm Elections: Mapping Out What Issues Americans Care About
We’re left wondering what issues have an enduring impact. Health care does, it turns out. We’ll get to other issues in a moment, but after Google provided us with search data for more than a hundred politics-related issues, there was one obvious pattern. In almost every county in almost every month for the past year, health care topped the charts. Medicare and Medicaid were perennially popular, as was mental health. (Van Dam, 11/3)
Politico:
Would Republicans Take Another Shot At Obamacare?
Republicans who just endured months of withering attacks over health care will face an immediate high-stakes decision if, against all odds, they keep control of the House and Senate: whether to mount one more bid to kill Obamacare that's almost certain to fail. The GOP believes it can't just walk away from an eight-year pledge to repeal the law, a promise the party's base still wants Republicans to keep despite Obamacare's relative new popularity. If an election-night shocker keeps Republicans in power — rebuking the conventional wisdom that voters will punish them for their Obamacare attacks — they might be emboldened to mount another repeal push without risking reprisals at the polls next time around. (Cancryn, 11/5)
The Associated Press:
AP Fact Check: Trump's Fabrications On Medicare, Immigrants
In the final days before pivotal midterm elections, President Donald Trump is painting a distorted picture of immigration while exaggerating his record of achieving economic gains for non-whites and improving health care for veterans. ... Meanwhile, on health care, Trump falsely suggests that Democrats would seek to destroy Medicare if they take control of Congress and overstates improvements he made to the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Woodward and Yen, 11/5)
Kaiser Health News:
Quick: What’s The Difference Between Medicare-For-All And Single-Payer?
Across the country, catchphrases such as “Medicare-for-all,” “single-payer,” “public option” and “universal health care” are sweeping state and federal political races as Democrats tap into voter anger about GOP efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act and erode protections for people with preexisting conditions. Republicans, including President Donald Trump, describe such proposals as “socialist” schemes that will cost taxpayers too much. ... Voters have become casualties as candidates toss around these catchphrases — sometimes vaguely and inaccurately. (Young, 11/5)
The Hill:
DNC Chairman: Health Care Is 'Under Attack' Ahead Of Midterms
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez on Sunday said that "health care is under attack" from President Trump and the GOP, calling it the top issue ahead of this week's midterm elections. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Perez made a closing pitch to voters two days ahead of the midterms, saying that health care will be "on the ballot" on Tuesday. (Burke, 11/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Midterm Elections Could Test Health-Care ETFs
Investors this year have poured almost $9 billion into exchange-traded funds focused on health care, one of the main sectors that could feel an impact from the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 6, according to ETF analysts. “Year-to-date, health-care ETFs have gathered shy of $9 billion across the globe, compared with less than $1.5 billion of inflows in 2017,” says Antoine Lesne, head of SPDR ETF research and strategy, Europe, Middle East and Africa, at State Street Global Advisors. “Within the sector, biotech has attracted the greatest investor attention, with inflows north of $2 billion,” he says. (Akhtar, 11/4)
Other election coverage includes -
KCUR:
Missouri Stops More 'Mentally Incapacitated' People From Voting Than Anywhere Else
An investigation by APM Reports and KCUR found that between 2008 and 2016, Missouri purged more than double the number of voters for mental incompetence than any other state, followed by Kentucky (4,907) and Virginia (3,905). Proponents of these laws say they help protect the integrity of the election and prevent voter fraud, but critics say the one-size-fits-all nature of these laws discriminates against people with mentally illness by preventing them from exercising their constitutional rights. (Lowe, 11/5)
Los Angeles Times:
This Wrestling Villain Praises Hillary And Invokes Obamacare. Meet The Progressive Liberal, Who’s Body-Slamming His Way Through Trump Country
[Daniel] Harnsberger is the Progressive Liberal, a professional wrestler whose renewable energy politics and preening arrogance have riled supporters of President Trump across the Appalachian Mountains. He praises Hillary Clinton and invokes the Affordable Care Act. Worst of all he’s an outsider, a real estate agent from Richmond, Va., who drives south on weekends and slips on “blue wave” tights and a conceit that he’s better than out-of-work coal miners and Baptists with rifle racks in their pickups. (Fleishman, 11/4)
