Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Hits The Road To Talk Up Health Care Efforts
Columbus Dispatch: President Joe Biden In Ohio: COVID-19 Stimulus Boosts Health Care For Americans
President Joe Biden sold the twin pillars of his American Rescue Plan and the Affordable Care Act as forging the way toward making affordable health care a right during remarks Tuesday at the James Cancer Hospital on the Ohio State University campus. Speaking on the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act while he served as vice president to Barack Obama, Biden stressed the steps the relief act takes to expand health care and make insurance coverage more affordable.
AP: Biden Expands 'Obamacare' By Cutting Health Insurance Costs
“We have a duty not just to protect it, but to make it better and keep becoming a nation where health care is a right for all, not a privilege for a few,” Biden said at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “Millions of families will be able to sleep a little more soundly at night because they don’t have to worry about losing everything if they get sick.” (Jaffe and Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/23)
AP: Becerra Visits Nevada, Stumps For Pandemic Aid And Obamacare
In his first trip since being confirmed, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited Nevada on Tuesday to talk up the Affordable Care Act and efforts underway to expand coverage and reduce the cost of health care. The secretary is one of several surrogates that President Joe Biden dispatched to drum up support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which includes funding for people who lost health care coverage amid the pandemic. The package builds on the Affordable Care Act by expanding tax credits and subsidies to lower health care costs. (Metz, 3/24)
The Hill: Biden Adviser Clashes With MSNBC Host: 'Clearly You Have Health Insurance'
Biden adviser Cedric Richmond clashed with MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan on air Thursday during a discussion about the health care provisions in the recently passed $1.9 trillion stimulus package. During the conversation, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, Hasan asked Richmond why the stimulus package spends an estimated $35 billion on covering COBRA costs for around 2 million unemployed people for six months. He called COBRA an “inefficient, overpriced way of giving people health care.” (Schnell, 3/23)
