Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Lessons On Why 'Medicare For All' Is Right Thing To Do; Single Payer Has To Make Good Business Sense
The Hill: It's Time For Legislators To Prove Democracy Exists By Passing Medicare For All
If you try to get between a nurse and their patient, you will lose. I think of registered nurses like Sandy Reding when I hear this smart advice. Last year, when admitting staff tried to keep her pediatric patient from going into surgery because the family had no insurance, Sandy fought tooth and nail until that child finished the surgery. Reding is just one of thousands of National Nurses United nurses who have spent decades fighting for Medicare for All as a way to protect patients not just from illnesses and injuries — but from the broken, profit-driven system in which they are forced to seek care. (Bonnie Castillo, 3/3)
San Jose Mercury News: Medicare For All Needs Stronger Financial Story
However laudable the goal might be, any proposal must address political reality: The United States will never move toward a single-payer health care system unless it makes good business sense. Any viable plan must achieve the co-equal goals of driving down costs while improving health care outcomes for all. (3/3)
Deseret News: What Is Left For Utahns Who Support Full Medicaid Expansion?
For six years now, Medicaid expansion advocates in Utah have pushed for the state to embrace full expansion. And each year, from 2013 until two weeks ago, the Utah Legislature has actively thwarted even limited attempts to expand Medicaid. In 2018, it finally approved a proposal for partial expansion — one dependent on the executive branch allowing Utah to cut corners on the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress. Unsurprisingly, that waiver never came and that partial expansion was never put into effect. (Lauren Simpson, 3/2)
Detroit News: Give Work Requirements A Chance
A few weeks ago, the governor announced her intent to alter the state’s commitment to Medicaid work requirements. Michigan’s requirement is newly approved and has yet to be applied, but our governor is predicting failure before the program has an opportunity to succeed. I am a firm believer that you always find what you are looking for in life and the governor’s latest action demonstrates her desire to see the program fail rather than support a policy to help able-bodied Michiganders build a bridge to independence. (Mike Shirkey, 3/2)
The Washington Post: Here’s A Way Maryland Can Stabilize Obamacare, Despite Federal Sabotage
As the Trump administration has torn holes in the Affordable Care Act, Maryland and a handful of other states have repaired the policy fabric within their borders — and achieved stability in their individual health-care markets. With tangible success in hand, the state’s General Assembly should now double down. Maryland lawmakers last year designed a “reinsurance” program to help restrain the risk in health-care insurance premiums. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) got a federal waiver to make it happen. The policy is largely credited with cutting premiums in a year when they otherwise might have spiked. (3/1)
