Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Kill The Bill, Don't Kill Us': Protests Erupt At Committee Hearing On GOP Health Measure
The Hill: Protests Erupt At GOP ObamaCare Repeal Hearing
Protests erupted at a Republican-led hearing on their ObamaCare repeal bill, leading Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to briefly recess the hearing, after police dragged several protesters out. "No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty," attendees chanted. Police surrounded the protesters and escorted them out of the room. Well over 100 people were arrested at the hearing and on Capitol grounds, police said later. (Roubein, 9/25)
The Washington Post: Protests Fill Senate Hallways As Cassidy-Graham Gets Its Hearing
In July, 56-year-old Joe Smith trekked 22 hours from his Harrison, Ark., home to protest the Senate Republicans’ attempt to repeal part of the Affordable Care Act. Thinking the fight was over, Smith went home. On Monday morning — after another 22-hour car and bus ride — Smith was back at the Senate, joining hundreds of protesters lined up outside the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing on Cassidy-Graham. “We can’t afford to lose our health care,” said Smith, who suffers from cerebral palsy, gets disability benefits and has insurance through Aetna. “Every time we go up here, I think it makes a difference. I personally think they shouldn’t do away with Obamacare, and I think they should fix it, so I’m here.” (Weigel, 9/25)
Kaiser Health News: Postcard From Capitol Hill: Health Care Hearing’s Action Was In Hallway
“Kill the bill, don’t kill us,” one woman screamed, inches from a U.S. Capitol Police officer’s face Monday afternoon in a marbled hallway of the U.S. Capitol at the start of the one and only public hearing on the GOP’s last-ditch effort to replace the Affordable Care Act. The protesters had begun lining up at 5:30 a.m. — some paid others to hold their places — and by 2 p.m., hundreds of people were waiting for a coveted seat for the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing in Room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Around lunchtime, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) strolled through, passing out slices of pizza to some in line. (Bluth, 9/25)
NPR: Graham-Cassidy Health Care Hearing Starts With Eruption Of Protests
Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, suspended the hearing for about 15 minutes while the demonstrators — some in wheelchairs — were dragged from the room. "If the hearing is going to devolve into a sideshow or a forum for simply putting partisan points on the board, there's absolutely no reason for us to be here," Hatch said. (Horsley, 9/25)
