Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Democratic Candidates Delve Into Health Care At Debate
The Washington Post: At The Democratic Debate, Only Clinton Promises No Middle Class Tax Increases
Hillary Clinton was the only one of the three Democrats on stage Saturday night willing to pledge that she wouldn’t raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year. ... Her chief rival Bernie Sanders said he wants to move to a “Medicare for all” health-care system under which taxes would increase for many middle-class Americans. But Sanders argued the overall cost of care would go down for most people by “thousands of dollars” because they would no longer pay premiums or co-pays. (Wagner, 12/19)
The Associated Press: FACT CHECK: Clinton's Video Claim Doesn't Hold Up
In the Democratic debate on Saturday presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders talk about rising premiums and out-of-pocket costs for the privately insured after enactment of Obama's health care law and single-payer health care systems. (12/20)
USA Today: Analysis: Democratic Candidates Did What They Came To Do At Third Debate
The Democratic debate ranged from the battle against ISIS to the debate over health care and the Black Lives Matter movement. At the end of the evening, each of the three candidates may have achieved what they had hoped to do when they arrived. (Page, 12/20)
CNN: Obamacare Glitches Are Back
Two years ago, the Obama administration called the near-total, initial meltdown of the Obamacare federal exchange a technical "glitch." The term was widely ridiculed at the time, especially since it took weeks to fix the exchange's website, healthcare.gov. At Saturday night's Democratic debate, front-runner Hillary Clinton called soaring health care costs and deductibles "glitches" resulting from the Affordable Care Act. (Luhby, 12/20)
STAT: Democrats Pledge To Tackle Opioid Addiction, Heroin Epidemic At Debate
At the third Democratic debate on Saturday, all three presidential candidates called for smarter prescribing of painkillers as a way to combat a growing opioid and heroin epidemic in the United States. (Joseph, 12/19)
