Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
For Years GOP Used Health Care As Political Weapon, But Election Suggests Tables Have Turned
The Wall Street Journal: Elections Results Suggest GOP Lost Edge on Health Care
The Republicans are losing their seven-year political advantage on health care, this week’s election results suggest, a shift that affects everything from candidates’ campaign messages to lawmakers’ policy choices to the level of enrollment for the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have won national and state elections for seven years by attacking the ACA. But this week, Virginia voters cited health care in exit polls as a major reason for delivering the governorship to Democrat Ralph Northam and Maine residents voted decisively to expand Medicaid. (Armour, 11/9)
The Associated Press: Virginia's Electoral Changes Boost Medicaid Expansion Odds
This week's groundswell of political change in Virginia has improved the odds of Medicaid expansion becoming law there. The long-stalled liberal priority gained new life after Democrats nearly wiped out Republicans' overwhelming majority in the House of Delegates. For years Medicaid expansion, a key part of former President Barack Obama's health care law, has been a non-starter in the Old Dominion. (11/9)
KCUR: KanCare Expansion Advocates Emboldened By Maine, Virginia Election Results
Medicaid expansion advocates say Kansas policymakers should take notice of elections this week in Maine and Virginia. In Maine, lawmakers sent five expansion bills to Republican Gov. Paul LePage in recent years. He vetoed them all. So Maine voters took matters into their own hands Tuesday by overwhelmingly approving a ballot initiative authorizing expansion. (Mclean, 11/9)
Bloomberg: Customers Defy Trump Attacks To Buy Obamacare, And Vote For It
President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly said Obamacare is failing, or even dead. Yet there are signs across the country that support for the law’s programs is stronger than opponents have portrayed. This week in Virginia, where Democrats won a competitive governors race, Two-thirds of voters there called health care a “very important” or the most important issue, according to one poll. In Maine, the state voted to expand Medicaid under the law, something their Republican governor had sworn not to do. (Edney and Tozzi, 11/10)
