Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
On Medicaid, Some In GOP Must Pick: Against Trump Or Against Constituency
NBC News: House Republicans Representing Large Shares Of Medicaid, SNAP Beneficiaries Face Tough Budget Test
There are a handful of House Republicans who represent parts of the country where sizable shares of the populations receive government assistance from Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to an NBC News analysis of the most recently available Census Bureau data. The lawmakers from the 10 GOP-held districts with the highest percentages of Medicaid or SNAP beneficiaries span the ideological and geographical spectrum. They include members from deep-red districts, such as Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, as well as those in competitive battlegrounds, such as Reps. David Valadao of California. (Zanona, Kapur and Kamisar, 2/21)
Politico: David Valadao Treads Lightly On Medicaid As Obamacare Vote Haunts Him
[California] Rep. David Valadao’s vote to repeal Obamacare may have cost him his seat in 2018. He’s not eager to repeat that mistake. The Republican representative, whose Central Valley district is being bombarded with TV ads pressuring him not to slash Medicaid, is parrying the Democratic-led campaign by withholding his support for a House resolution to cut at least $1.5 trillion from the federal budget — a goal that would be impossible to meet without reductions to the popular health care program. (Jones, 2/20)
KFF Health News: GOP Takes Aim At Medicaid, Putting Enrollees And Providers At Risk
Medicaid is under threat — again. Republicans, who narrowly control Congress, are pushing proposals that could sharply cut funding to the government health insurance program for poor and disabled Americans, as a way to finance President Donald Trump’s agenda for tax cuts and border security. Democrats, hoping to block the GOP’s plans and preserve Medicaid funding, are rallying support from hospitals, governors, and consumer advocates. (Galewitz, 2/21)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Medicaid In The Crosshairs, Maybe
President Donald Trump has said he won’t support major cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program for people with low incomes, but he has endorsed a House budget plan that calls for major cuts, leaving the program’s future in doubt. Meanwhile, thousands of workers at the Department of Health and Human Services were fired over the holiday weekend, from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with possibly more cuts to come. (Rovner, 2/19)
In related news —
AP: Kids’ Disability Rights Cases Stalled As Trump Began To Overhaul Education Department
It was obvious to Christine Smith Olsey that her son was not doing well at school, despite educators telling her to leave it to the experts. The second-grade student stumbled over words, and other kids teased him so much he started to call himself “an idiot.” Though her son had been receiving speech and occupational therapy, Smith Olsey said his Denver charter school resisted her requests for additional academic support. She filed a complaint with the state and then, in September, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. In January, her son’s case came to a halt. (Hollingsworth, Binkley and Ma, 2/20)
