Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Economic Downturn Provides 'National Study' Of How The Health Law Performs
The New York Times: Obamacare Faces Unprecedented Test As Economy Sinks
The Affordable Care Act, the landmark health law that has been a subject of caustic debate for more than a decade, is being tested as never before, as millions of Americans lose their jobs and medical coverage in the midst of the nation’s gravest health crisis in a century. The law is offering a vast majority of newly unemployed people a path to stopgap health coverage, providing a cushion that did not exist during the last crushing recession — or ever before. But the crisis has also highlighted fundamental weaknesses with its patchwork system — ones magnified by Republican efforts to undermine and dismantle it, but also seized on by some Democrats pushing for a sweeping overhaul. (Goodnough and Abelson, 6/27)
The Washington Post: Bottomless Pinocchio: Trump’s Claim That He Will ‘Always’ Protect Those With Preexisting Conditions
Just as the number of weekly coronavirus cases reached a new high in the United States, the Trump administration filed a legal brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act. About 20 million people covered through the act could lose their health insurance if Trump succeeds, among many other consequences bearing directly on the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Key provisions of the health-care law prohibit insurers from denying coverage to people who are already sick, those with “preexisting conditions.” (Rizzo, 6/29)
The Hill: Overturning The ACA Will Make COVID-19 Much Worse
Donald Trump won’t wear a mask in public or suspend his in-person rallies and pushes to re-open the economy. As infuriating as Trump’s COVID-19 response has been for its incongruence with public health recommendations, the real outrage is his persistent attempts to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Rosemarie Day and Deborah Gordon, 6/28)
The New York Times: What Texas Would Look Like Without Obamacare
Texas had the highest uninsured rate in the country before the Affordable Care Act, and still does today. This is largely because Texas does not participate in the health law’s expansion of Medicaid. Yet even without the expansion, Obamacare brought about substantial increases in coverage for Texans. A Texas without Obamacare is one where about a million more people are uninsured. (Kliff, 6/26)
