Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Brutal Town Hall For Moderate Who Helped Resuscitate GOP Plan Captures Snapshot Of Voters' Wrath
The New York Times: In New Jersey, Democrats Hope No Good Health Care Compromise Goes Unpunished
It took a moderate Republican from New Jersey to wrestle a compromise out of his party’s hard-right naysayers and resuscitate the House health care plan. And for that, he may pay dearly. Less than a week after Representative Tom MacArthur helped legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act clear a gridlocked House, he faced hundreds of outraged constituents and protesters on Wednesday in his district’s Democratic stronghold. He has to defend the measure bearing his name that would undermine protections for patients with pre-existing conditions. (Huetteman, 5/10)
The Associated Press: Republican Who Revived Health Bill Faces Onslaught Of Anger
Rep. Tom MacArthur faced hundreds of angry voters for nearly than five hours, seeking to both sell and defend the health plan that has drawn widespread outrage and fears among those worried they may be at risk of not being able to afford coverage. (5/10)
The Washington Post: ‘I Didn’t Come Here To Defend The President Tonight.’ Republican Who Rescued Health-Care Bill Faces Voters.
The mood was toxic from the start. Protesters lined up outside the town’s Kennedy Center event hall for hours before the 6:30 p.m. start time: an assemblage of local activist groups, including chapters of Indivisible, New Jersey Citizen Action and Our Revolution. Tax March, a group that grew out of protests demanding the president’s tax returns, inflated a balloon that approximated a chicken with golden, Trump-like hair; nearby, dozens of protesters lied down in a “die-in,” as a man wearing a Trump puppet head pretended to tee off on them. In the sky, a plane flew by, trailing letters that spelled out “MacArthur Tax Cut for 1% No Care.” MacArthur’s town hall was designed to weed out interlopers. District residents stood in line — at start time, it stretched as long as a football field — for one of the scarce seats inside. MacArthur entered the room through a curtain, with a sound system playing Coldplay’s anthem “A Sky Full of Stars.” Despite some of the trappings of a rally, there was little applause. (Weigel, 5/10)
Politico: MacArthur Endures Town Hall Trial-By-Fire
It was a prime example of the anger, confusion and raw emotion surrounding the GOP’s replacement health care plan, and a glimpse at why the party’s House majority suddenly seems in jeopardy in 2018. (Hutchins and Jennings, 5/11)
The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: N.J. Residents Angrily Confront MacArthur Over Health-Care Bill
Tom MacArthur, the South Jersey congressman who helped revive the GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, came under fire Wednesday from constituents who expressed fear that they and others might lose health coverage if the bill is signed into law. At an emotionally charged town-hall meeting in heavily Democratic Willingboro, MacArthur, a second-term Republican, heard from exasperated residents in his district, including a man with a heart condition who worried he wouldn’t be able to afford insurance in a high-risk pool if he were to lose his job; a woman on Medicaid recovering from drug addiction, concerned she would end up “in jail, prostitution,” or dead without coverage; and a man whose wife had breast cancer. (Seidman, 5/10)
The Hill: GOP Lawmaker With Key Role In ObamaCare Repeal Faces Angry Town Hall
Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) effectively saved the House GOP’s effort to repeal and replace the healthcare law by crafting a compromise amendment. But his constituents didn’t gather here to give him a hero’s welcome. Instead, MacArthur coolly listened to nearly five hours of constituents in this suburban New Jersey town telling him he was an “idiot,” a “liar,” and had “blood on your hands.” (Marcos, 5/10)
Politico: Republicans Flub Defense Of Health Care Vote
House Republicans celebrated passing legislation to repeal Obamacare last week — but apparently forgot to figure out how to talk about the feat back home. The result has been a messaging mess, as lawmakers returned to their districts for a weeklong recess to face furious Obamacare defenders. (Cheney, 5/11)
Arizona Republic: 'Die-In' Rallies Protest 'Trumpcare' Across Arizona, U.S. This Week
People across the U.S. who are frustrated that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act are expressing their anger by pretending to drop dead outside their representatives' offices. At least 48 "die-in" rallies are scheduled in 21 states this week, according to paybackproject.org, which hosts a schedule of protests for people looking to "pay back" the 217 Republicans in the House who voted for "Trumpcare" on May 4. (White and Barahona, 5/10)
Politico: Democratic Group Argues Elusive GOP House Targets Are Vulnerable On Health Care
A new polling memo from a Democratic outside group argues that three Republican House members who have been targeted in past elections and represent districts President Donald Trump carried — Reps. Rod Blum (IA-01), Bruce Poliquin (ME-02) and Fred Upton (MI-06) — are newly vulnerable after the passage of the House GOP Obamacare repeal. (Bland, 5/10)
