Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
On The Campaign Trail, Ben Carson Rises In Polls, Wades Into Medicare, Abortion Politics
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Ben Carson Would Reshape, Not Eliminate, Medicare And Medicaid
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on Sunday suggested he would reshape Medicare and Medicaid but said he wouldn’t eliminate the government health programs entirely. The former neurosurgeon, speaking on the Sunday-morning political shows, struggled to answer specific questions about his plans for the programs. A campaign spokesman declined to provide details about Mr. Carson’s proposals and said the campaign hasn’t yet released a formal plan. (Kendall, 10/25)
Reuters: Candidate Carson Touts U.S. Health Savings Accounts For Elderly
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, who is making inroads against front-runner Donald Trump, on Sunday denied he would end the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly, saying he would provide the option of using a government-backed savings account to buy health insurance. Interviewed on "Fox News Sunday," Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, said, "The program that I have outlined using health savings accounts ... largely eliminates the need for people to be dependent on government programs" like Medicare. (10/25)
Fox News: Carson Says He Doesn't Want To End Medicare, Defends Against Another Trump Attack
Ben Carson said Sunday that he no longer wants to dismantle Medicare and defended the policy switch, while also responding to the latest attack from fellow Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Carson, who leads Trump in Iowa, according to new polls, acknowledged that months ago he indeed wanted to end Medicare but said he changed his mind after talking to a lot of economists. (10/25)
The New York Times: Calm Manner Has Ben Carson Rising In Polls
Donald J. Trump, who is rarely at a loss for words, admitted “I don’t know what’s going on” when confronted by Ben Carson’s surge past him in early-voting Iowa, where Mr. Trump had led the Republican presidential field for months. ... On Facebook, Mr. Carson answers nightly questions from his 4.3 million “friends,” covering personal topics (his ailing mother is “much better”), policies like a recent suggestion that he would end Medicare (he denied it) and the campaign (the debates are “just a boxing match”). (Gabriel, 10/25)
The Associated Press: Carson: Can A Man Of Great Surgical Skill Lead A Nation?
[T]he White House is a long way from the operating room, where the doctor with the technical skill unquestionably is the one in charge, not the best deal-maker or diplomat seeking consensus. Carson's lack of executive experience produces deep skepticism from critics in both parties. Yet he's among the leaders in the Republican presidential campaign. In a new Associated Press-GfK poll, Carson has the highest positive and lowest negative rating of any Republican sized up by registered GOP voters, with 65 percent giving him a favorable rating and just 13 percent rating him unfavorably. ... Pediatricians were dismayed when Carson questioned whether children get too many vaccines at once, even as he disputed any link with autism. And though he opposes abortion rights, Carson has defended co-authoring a 1992 study that used fetal tissue, telling CNN there's a difference between performing abortions and using tissue someone else already stored. (Neergaard and Peoples, 10/26)
The Washington Post: Ben Carson Likens Abortion To Slavery, Wants To See Roe V. Wade Overturned
Ben Carson argued Sunday that abortion should be outlawed in almost all cases, and he likened women who terminate their pregnancies to "slave owners." Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether a woman should have the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, Carson, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, acknowledged upfront that the choice of words would be controversial. (Williams, 10/25)
The Huffington Post: Ben Carson Once Again Compares Something To Slavery, This Time Abortion
Dr. Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon-turned-insurgent presidential contender, compared abortion to slavery on Sunday, adding that he does not support exceptions for rape and incest when it comes to outlawing the practice. (Stein, 10/25)
In other news related to the abortion policy debate -
The Associated Press: Abortion Proponents Complain After New Videos Posted Online
A trade group for abortion providers is asking a top House Republican to investigate after secretly recorded videos were posted online by a conservative blogger who wrote that he got the footage from a congressional source. The National Abortion Federation said Friday that the videos were recorded at recent meetings by the Center for Medical Progress, a small group of anti-abortion activists. The center’s furtive recordings of Planned Parenthood officials discussing their retrieval of fetal tissue have sparked an uproar by conservatives and unsuccessful efforts by congressional Republicans to cut Planned Parenthood’s federal funds. (Fram, 10/23)
