Democrats Take The House. The GOP Keeps Control In The Senate. What Now?
Medicare, Medicaid, preexisting conditions, high prescription drug costs: These buzz words are not likely to go away once the election-day dust settles. But what are the chances that the two chambers can find a common path forward. News outlets examine whether anything can get done in the wake of this split decision.
The Washington Post:
Democrats Take House, Breaking Up GOP’s Total Control Of Government
“Tomorrow will be a new day in America,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared from the Democratic Party headquarters in Washington. “It’s about restoring the Constitutions’s checks and balances to the Trump administration. It’s about stopping the GOP and [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell’s assaults on Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the health care of 130 million Americans living with preexisting medical conditions.” Pelosi promised action on lowering the cost of prescription drugs and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, and pledged to pursue bipartisanship where possible. (Werner and DeBonis, 11/7)
Kaiser Health News:
Midterm Results Show Health Is Important To Voters But No Magic Bullet
Health care proved important but apparently not pivotal in the 2018 midterm elections on Tuesday as voters gave Democrats control of the U.S. House, left Republicans in charge in the Senate and appeared to order an expansion of Medicaid in at least three states long controlled by Republicans. In taking over the House, Democrats are unlikely to be able to advance many initiatives when it comes to health policy, given the GOP’s control of the Senate and White House. But they will be able to deliver an effective veto to Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, convert the Medicaid health care system for low-income people into a block grant program and make major changes to Medicare. (Rovner, 11/7)
Politico:
Redemption For Obamacare
Democrats ran on Obamacare and, finally, sailed to victory. The party that bet on surging enthusiasm for the Affordable Care Act flipped control of the House Tuesday night in what could amount to a major reset of the political direction on health care. Democrats also made gains at the state level, with wins in gubernatorial races that could prompt new expansions of Medicaid and energize lawmakers, who can claim they have a mandate to further build on a law that serves as the bedrock of their domestic agenda. (Ollstein and Cancryn, 11/6)
Stat:
Democrats Took The House. Here's What It Means For Health And Medicine
The victory puts Democrats in a far better position to test the far-reaching health care agenda they have campaigned on for well over a year, though their ambitions will almost certainly be curtailed by a Republican-held Senate and President Trump’s White House. ...Democrats, however, failed to regain control of the Senate, leaving open the question of whether the new House majority can negotiate with McConnell, who has made repealing the Affordable Care Act central to his party’s agenda and is seen as an ally of the pharmaceutical industry. (Facher and Joseph, 11/6)
Huffington Post:
The Republican Majority Is Dead And Obamacare Is Alive
Republicans fought the health care law and the health care law won. It was a close call, closer perhaps than many people realized. Had Republicans kept control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections, they would almost certainly have made another attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If anything, the result might have emboldened them, by convincing them that they could survive the kind of political backlash that their failed 2017 effort produced. But as of Tuesday evening, Republicans were set to lose their majority in the House of Representatives, with only the size of a new Democratic majority in question. And health care was a big reason why Republicans performed as badly as they did. (Cohn and Young, 11/7)
Politico:
What Can Get Done In A Divided Washington
Expectations that the two sides could work out a major deal on something like negotiating drug prices in Medicare are low — but there is hope in both parties that impactful incremental reforms, like increasing transparency around drugmakers' relationships with pharmacy benefit managers to ensure there is no collusion to keep prices high, could get bipartisan support. And Democrats won't give up without a fight on bold moves like government negotiation of drug prices, which Trump supported on the campaign trail in 2016. Pelosi met with PhRMA execs this summer and “took the opportunity to deliver a message about the seriousness of Democrats’ commitment to legislative action to bring down soaring prescription drug prices,” her spokesperson Henry Connelly said. (Cassella, Cook and Orr, 11/6)
Washington Examiner:
House Democratic Majority To Push Giving Medicare Power To Negotiate Drug Prices
With Tuesday night's victories in the House of Representatives, Democrats are set to make a run at a long-held goal of giving Medicare the authority to negotiate lower drug prices when they assume control. House Democrats have been infuriated that President Trump has done nothing to endorse the proposal even after touting it throughout the 2016 campaign. Trump’s administration has sought to install price controls for certain Medicare drugs, but it has stopped short of giving Medicare, and not private plans, the power to negotiate lower prices. (King, 11/6)
Politico Pro:
The Veteran House Democrat Leading The Party's New Health Care Offensive
House Democrats swept into power Tuesday night on the strength of vows to protect the Affordable Care Act and check the Trump administration. Now it's up to a longtime congressman from New Jersey to keep that promise. Rep. Frank Pallone will take the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Committee for the first time next year, thrusting him to the fore of a high-volume health care debate likely to form the backdrop of the 2020 presidential race. (Cancryn, 11/7)
Politico Pro:
GOP Senate Could See Grassley Revive Health Oversight
The prospect of another Republican-led Senate leaves a void atop the powerful Finance Committee, a coveted gavel Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) held for years and may want back. Grassley has played coy for months, telling reporters to ask him the day after the election if he wants to succeed departing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) as the chamber's top tax-writer — a position that also gives him power over Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs. (Roubein and Karlin-Smith, 11/7)
