Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Medicare For All' Supporters Gear Up To Make Their Case As Proposal Loses Some Of Its Luster With Voters
The Associated Press: Groups Push For 'Medicare For All' Support As Primaries Near
"Medicare for All" has played a role in nearly every stage of the Democratic presidential campaign, but there's been some quibbling over how that phrase is defined. With just weeks until the first 2020 contests, several groups are organizing grassroots efforts aimed at convincing voters they should back candidates who fully support the legislation from which the phrase is derived. This week, as candidates descended on Iowa for Tuesday's debate at Drake University, U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Mark Pocan, co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, planned a Medicare for All town hall in Des Moines. (Kinnard, 1/15)
Elsewhere on the campaign trail —
The Hill: Bloomberg Vows To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes If Elected President
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg on Tuesday said he would ban the sale of all flavored e-cigarettes and raise taxes on traditional cigarettes if he wins the White House. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, said he would also push to reduce the amount of nicotine in traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to "nonaddictive levels." (Hellmann, 1/15)
CalMatters: Trump Hits And Misses As He Campaigns For Re-Election — Against California
The president clearly enjoys needling the nation’s most populous state. Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has taken aim at California for its policies on immigration and environmental protection, its left-leaning cultural institutions, its poverty rate (which, if you factor in the cost of living, is the highest in the nation), its crime rate (which isn’t), its most recent choice of governor and its alleged tolerance of voter fraud (a charge that’s completely unfounded). (Christopher, 1/14)
