Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
COVID On Capitol Hill
Roll Call: Lawmakers Want Widespread COVID-19 Testing On The Hill
Lawmakers continued to press for widespread testing in the Capitol complex Friday as another member announced they had contracted COVID-19. Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., told reporters on a press call that he had not heard any reports of progress on Senate-wide testing and called it “an abomination.” Murphy, the ranking Democrat on the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, said, “The cost is likely negligible in the grand scheme of things. So the issue here is not, is not, cost. The issue is a Republican Senate majority that just doesn’t want to let people know the extent of the spread in the White House, and in their caucus.” Murphy’s call for more testing comes as another member of Congress, Illinois Republican Rep. Mike Bost, said the COVID-19 test he sought after experiencing symptoms was positive. (Cioffi, 10/9)
AP: GOP US. Rep. Bost Of Illinois Tests Positive For COVID-19
U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois has tested positive for COVID-19, the latest lawmaker now confirmed to have the virus. The Republican whose district covers most of deep southern Illinois tested positive late Thursday, according to a statement from his office Friday. He had experienced “a mild cough and a rapid loss of both taste and smell,” prompting him to take the test. (10/11)
In other news from Capitol Hill —
Dallas Morning News: What You Need To Know About Sen. John Cornyn And The Affordable Care Act
Sen. John Cornyn is running for reelection to his fourth term in the Senate as the nation grapples with a deadly pandemic, making health care policy as important as ever in U.S. history. At a time when testing positive for the coronavirus counts as a preexisting condition and thousands are losing their jobs, many Americans are worried that their access to affordable health care could be at stake right when they need it the most, especially with the Affordable Care Act on the line. (Thompson, 10/9)
KHN: With Senate Control At Stake, Trump And COVID Haunt Ernst’s Fight To Keep Her Seat
The week that Iowa reported its 90,000th confirmed case of COVID-19, Sen. Joni Ernst sat behind a plexiglass partition and told a debate audience watching from home what she thinks about masks. “Even though they’re homemade, they work,” said Ernst, an Iowa Republican, showing off a mask emblazoned with the logo of Iowa State University, the largest university in the state. But what about requiring people to wear masks when they cannot safely distance themselves? On that, she sided with the state’s Republican governor and President Donald Trump, contradicting evidence that states with mask mandates have seen bigger drops in coronavirus cases than those without: “We know that it doesn’t work,” she asserted about mandates. (Huetteman, 10/12)
The Hill: Senate Democrat Raises Concerns Around Universal Health Services Breach
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Friday raised concerns around a recent cyberattack on hospital chain Universal Health Services (UHS) that resulted in the data of millions of customers potentially being compromised. In a letter to UHS Chairman and CEO Alan Miller, Warner, who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked a series of questions in relation to a ransomware attack on UHS last month that crashed systems at hospital facilities across the nation. (Miller, 10/9)
