Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Democrats' Draft Platform Includes Nod To Public Option, New Abortion Goal
The Washington Post: Democrats Release Draft Of Platform, With Shifts To Left On Death Penalty, Abortion, Taxes
The Democratic National Committee released the latest draft of its 2016 platform late Friday afternoon, a week after Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) promised to fight "on the floor of the convention" if more progressive planks did not make it in. ... [On health care] there's more for Sanders here, in one half-sentence: "Americans should be able to access public coverage through Medicare or a public option." Sanders campaigned on a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health-care system, and this nods at that, without promising it in four years. ... For the first time, the 2016 Democratic platform says that the party will attempt to repeal the Hyde Amendment (which bars the use of federal funds for most kinds of abortion) and the Helms Amendment (which prevents foreign aid from being spent on abortion). (Weigel, 7/1)
