Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Defense Of The Senate GOP Plan: A Means To 'Better Health Care;' Pathway To Relief
Lexington Herald Leader: Senate Offers A Plan For Better Health Care
Too many families in Kentucky who liked their insurance plans or their doctors soon found they weren’t able to keep them. When families are kicked off their plan, they must find a new insurer, often at a higher price. When families must change doctors, they often lose a bond of trust they developed with a physician who’s familiar with their medical history. And when insurers flee the exchanges, it leaves families with fewer options for their health care. In fact, Kentuckians in nearly half of our counties now have only one option on the Obamacare exchanges — and, as we all know, one option isn’t really an option at all. (Sen. Mitch MCConnell, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal: ObamaCare’s Victims Need Relief Now
America faces an urgent crisis in its health-care system. Costs are skyrocketing and choices are disappearing on the individual and small-group markets. Many people now confront the real challenge of having no choice in their health coverage. (HHS Secretary Thomas E. Price, 6/27)
The Washington Post: The Senate Health-Care Bill Will Give Us Better Care And A Better Economy
The much-ballyhooed Senate Republicans’ health-care reform — officially the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 and better known as Obamacare repeal-and-replace — is now the center of public debate. Much of the discussion has focused on issues of timing — the “secretive” process by which the bill was developed, the putative “jamming” of the bill forward for a floor vote and now a delay of the vote until after the July 4 recess. But to begin: What’s actually in the BCRA? (Douglas Holtz-Eakin, 6/27)
The Washington Post: Lawmakers Have A Rare Chance To Transform Medicaid. They Should Take It.
President Trump called on Congress earlier this year to give governors around the country “the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.” As administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, I share the president’s vision: to ensure that Medicaid works for those it was designed to serve. (Seema Verma, 6/27)
Boston Globe: The Left’s Health Care Rhetoric Is Unhinged
In my view, the keening about how the GOP bills will strike people dead is sheer hysteria. Liberals always claim that if conservative policies prevail — on health care, on fossil fuels, on welfare reform, on abortion rights, on the Second Amendment, even on rent control — more people will die. (Jeff Jacoby, 6/27)
