Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Democrats Probe Whether HHS Videos Panning Health Law Veered Too Close To Advocacy
The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Accuse HHS Of Using Improper Tactics In Health-Law Battle
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and his department have been publicly panning the Affordable Care Act. Democrats call the campaign an improper use of federal resources to undermine the health law. The disagreement amounts to a low-profile skirmish on health care unfolding in the shadows of the attention-grabbing battle playing out on Capitol Hill. If Republicans in Congress fail to enact a sweeping health-care overhaul, Dr. Price’s battle with Democrats will take on far greater importance as the primary arena for the partisan back-and-forth on health care. (Armour and Hackman, 7/24)
The CT Mirror: Murphy Demands Answers From Price On Anti-Obamacare Videos
Sen. Chris Murphy and two of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate, are questioning whether Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price misused taxpayer money through advertising and public relations efforts aimed at undermining the Affordable Care Act. In a letter that was also signed by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Cory Booker, D-N.J., Murphy asked Price to detail how much money HHS is spending to produce and distribute dozens of anti-Obamacare videos available on the department’s official social media accounts. (Radelat, 7/24)
