Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: What To Do With CHIP; Deal With Threats To Obamacare Before Single Payer
Forbes: Children's Health Insurance Program Demands Quick, Bipartisan Passage
CHIP was a shared vision of Republicans and Democrats alike. It seems like ancient history now, but, in 1997, I joined with members from both sides of the aisle to debate health care policy forcefully but productively. Led by Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), we crafted the CHIP language. Bipartisan action, so crucial to the health of the country and the economy, was never more important than when it came to insuring America’s children. Now, two decades later, that progress is in jeopardy. CHIP is set to expire on September 30. (Bill Frist, 9/14)
National Review: Continue To Fund Children’s Health Care, But Coordinate The Programs Better
CHIP, which helps states provide health-care coverage to low-income kids, is better structured than Medicaid to ensure that funds are targeted to those who need assistance most. Now, after the Affordable Care Act has created an entitlement to subsidized coverage through the exchange, CHIP-eligible families are often torn between two programs that fit together poorly. If a few minor flaws in its design are fixed, however, CHIP can fill a gap and enhance the rest of America’s health-care safety net. (Chris Pope, 9/18)
The Washington Post: Before Tackling Single-Payer, Save Obamacare
Before supporters of universal health coverage get all wrapped up debating a single-payer system, they need to focus on a dire threat to the Affordable Care Act likely to come up for a vote in the Senate before the end of the month. The latest repeal bill is an offering from Republican Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (La.) that would tear apart the existing system and replace it with block grants to the states. Block grants — flows of money for broad purposes with few strings attached — are a patented way to evade hard policy choices. All the tough decisions are kicked down to state capitals, usually with too little money to achieve the ends the block grant is supposed to realize. (E.J. Dionne, 9/17)
The New York Times: Complacency Could Kill Health Care
I haven’t yet read Hillary Clinton’s “What Happened,” but it seems pretty clear to me what did, in fact, happen in 2016. These days, America starts from a baseline of extreme tribalism: 47 or 48 percent of the electorate will vote for any Republican, no matter how terrible, and against any Democrat, no matter how good. This means, in turn, that small things — journalists acting like mean kids in high school, ganging up on candidates they consider uncool, events that suggest fresh scandal even when there’s nothing there — can tip the balance in favor of even the worst candidate imaginable. (Paul Krugman, 9/18)
Baltimore Sun: Medicaid Cuts Shift Burdens To States
Thanks to massive grassroots mobilization efforts, our state narrowly averted disaster when Congress failed to pass any version of Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal that would have restructured Medicaid and left thousands of my constituents without health care coverage. Stopping health care repeal was a huge victory, but the fight is not over yet. Even deeper cuts to Medicaid have been proposed in the 2018 budget resolution, which would slash health care by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years to pay for billions in tax breaks to the rich and corporations over that same period. (Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, 9/17)
The New York Times: The Best Health Care System In The World: Which One Would You Pick?
“Medicare for all,” or “single-payer,” is becoming a rallying cry for Democrats. This is often accompanied by calls to match the health care coverage of "the rest of the world." But this overlooks a crucial fact: The “rest of the world” is not all alike. The commonality is universal coverage, but wealthy nations have taken varying approaches to it, some relying heavily on the government (as with single-payer); some relying more on private insurers; others in between. (Aaron E. Carroll and Austin Frakt, 9/18)
The Washington Post: A Century Ago, Women Fought For Access To Contraception. The Trump Administration Threatens To Undo Their Work.
Trump administration officials vow that they are going to take care of the health of moms and babies. But their pledge to cut funding to Planned Parenthood promises to do the opposite. The proposed cuts have focused not just on the procedure of legal abortion (which is, of course, another column), but also on eliminating access to contraceptives. These proposals ignore a fundamental truth: Access to birth control is central to women’s health. In fact, it always has been. (Lauren MacIvor Thompson, 9/15)
