Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: GOP Incoherence On Health Law Cost Them In Midterms; Time To Shore Up The ACA
The Wall Street Journal: A Democratic House
The other liability for Republicans was their failure to repeal and replace health care. Democrats played on voter fears of repeal but the GOP could never point to the benefits of a replacement they didn’t pass. Then too many Republicans simply ran away from the subject, giving Democrats an open field. The late Senator John McCain delivered the final blow against reform, but the general GOP incoherence on the subject was also to blame. (11/7)
The Washington Post: The First Five Things The Democrats Should Do With Their House Majority
Specifically, the new Democratic House majority should devote its first 100 days to passing five pieces of legislation, then dare the Senate and the Trump White House to follow suit or be called out for their refusal to act. ...Second, legislation to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, expand its coverage and patch up the gaps that the Trump administration has punched in it. Put aside the big debate over comprehensively changing the system for later; deliver on the core promise of most Democratic campaigns in 2018. (Ronald A. Klain, 11/7)
The New York Times: What Lawsuit To Gut Obamacare? Oh, That One
On Sept. 5, just as the Senate hearings for Brett Kavanaugh grabbed the nation’s attention, Judge Reed O’Connor, of the United States District Court in Fort Worth, heard oral arguments in a multistate, Republican-led lawsuit to destroy the Affordable Care Act, including key provisions aimed at protecting coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions. If the judge finds the states’ position persuasive — and he has given some indications in hearings that he does — he can invalidate the whole law. With Republican candidates throughout the country hailing the need to protect coverage for pre-existing conditions and promising to do so if elected, the lawsuit was a linchpin of Democrats’ efforts to denounce Republican hypocrisy and deception. But to the surprise of many, two months after that hearing, Judge O’Connor has yet to rule. (Cristian Farias, 11/6)
Boston Globe: Not A Blue Wave, But An Important Splash
Other than Trump, there was one other notable issue in these midterms. After a succession of election cycles in which the Affordable Care Act weighed down Democrats, ACA-repeal efforts became an albatross for Republicans. That’s because voters belatedly came to appreciate the benefits the law bestowed, including the vital guarantee that people couldn’t be discriminated against in insurance coverage based on preexisting conditions. Tuesday’s results will end, at least for the short term, any serious effort to repeal the ACA. (Scot Lehigh, 11/7)
The Washington Post: Trump’s Hilarious Obamacare Gaffe Reveals The GOP Bind On Health Care
After weeks of Republicans claiming that they’re the ones who truly want to protect people with preexisting conditions despite having spent the past eight years fighting furiously to eliminate those protections, the health-care mendacity reaches its apotheosis with President Trump claiming that Democrats have a nefarious plan to eliminate Obamacare, which he and Republicans will save. Yes, it’s amusing. But it actually highlights an interesting question: What exactly are Republicans going to do about health care, and the Affordable Care Act in particular, after the election is over? (Paul Waldman, 11/6)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri’s Rural Residents Need Better Health Care Options
There are people all across Missouri who are struggling to access health care, but the situation is much worse for those living in rural communities and small towns.While about a quarter of Missourians living in metro areas like St. Louis and Kansas City are uninsured, 35 percent of those living in rural areas — the communities throughout most of our state — are uninsured. While the uninsured rate in big Missouri cities fell modestly after the Affordable Care Act was implemented, the rural uninsured rate has barely budged, according to a new report from researchers at Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina. (Aaron Griffin and Jen Bersdale, 11/6)
