Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cigna-Humana Merger Might Only Happen If Trump Wins Election
Bloomberg: Cigna-Humana Merger Plan May Hinge On Election, Analysts Say
Prospects for a potential merger between health insurers Cigna Group and Humana Inc. hinge on the upcoming US presidential election, analysts said. While the Biden administration has moved to block some large health-care deals, talks would be “only tangibly moving forward if Trump wins” in November, Stephens analyst Scott Fidel wrote in a research note. (Tozzi, 10/21)
Roll Call: For Harris, Mental Health Access A Key Policy Priority
Vice President Kamala Harris has signaled that, if elected president, she’ll work to increase mental health care access — but she acknowledges that addressing what has become an increasingly complex issue could be a heavy lift. The issue, she said in a podcast last month, “is probably one of the biggest public policy failures in our country.” (Heller, 10/21)
The Guardian: Can Harris’s Proposed ‘At-Home Medicare’ End The Dreaded ‘Spend Down’ Of Senior Assets?
A new proposal for “at home Medicare” by the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, could help ease the burden of the cost of elder care for many families, experts say. However, Republicans have already criticized the proposal as too expensive, a reminder of the political difficulties of enacting healthcare expansions in the US. (Glenza, 10/21)
Politico: They’re In Health Care And They’re For Harris
Some 500 women health care leaders are rallying support for Vice President Kamala Harris in the final weeks before the election. “We have seen what happened in the first administration under Trump, so we have very clear evidence of — the direction away from science, away from access to care — and we’re deeply concerned,” said Missy Krasner, who led health care projects at Google and Amazon and served as a special adviser to the national coordinator for health information technology in the George W. Bush administration. (Ollstein and Messerly, 10/21)
The New York Times: The Many Links Between Project 2025 And Trump’s World
Former president Donald J. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he had nothing to do with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy initiative to reshape the federal government. Mr. Trump has said that he has not read its proposals and does not know who is behind it. But Project 2025 has numerous ties to Mr. Trump and his campaign, a New York Times analysis has found. The people behind Project 2025 are no strangers to the former president. The Heritage Foundation’s president, Kevin D. Roberts, and a co-founder, Edwin J. Feulner, have each personally met with Mr. Trump. And the analysis of the Project 2025 playbook and its 307 authors and contributors revealed that well over half of them had been in Mr. Trump’s administration or on his campaign or transition teams. (Shao and Wu, 10/22)
