Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pelosi Zeroes In On Health Care As A Winning Issue For 2020, Directing Focus Away From Impeachment
The Hill: Pelosi: Dems Will 'Fight Relentlessly' Against Trump's ObamaCare Repeal Attempts
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) denounced President Trump on Monday for reviving plans to repeal and replace ObamaCare, saying Democrats would “fight relentlessly” against it. “The American people already know exactly what the President’s health care plans mean in their lives: higher costs, worse coverage and the end of lifesaving protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” Pelosi said in a statement. (Sullivan, 6/17)
Bloomberg: Impeach Trump? Pelosi's Dems Prefer Health Care Focus For 2020
Pelosi said more than 140 House Democrats held home-district events on health care over the weekend. This focus is especially important for moderate Democrats eager show voters they’re trying to deliver on their campaign promises even as some of their colleagues push ahead with investigations of Trump’s business, associates and administration. “When we won the election in November, it was health care, health care, health care,” Pelosi said Monday at an event at East Los Angeles College in her home state of California. “People said ‘why was health care so important in the election?’ It was because it was so important in peoples lives.” (Litvan, 6/18)
The Hill: Trump's Health Care Focus Puts GOP On Edge
President Trump has put the issue of health care back on the political front burner, providing ammunition to Democrats and worrying Republicans who think a new battle over ObamaCare will hurt their party in next year’s elections. Senate Republicans, defending 22 seats next year, thought they had put ObamaCare repeal behind them when they told Trump earlier this year that they have no intention of acting on a health care overhaul before the election. (Bolton, 6/18)
CQ: Democrats Eager For Health Care Talk In Debates, Poll Finds
Health care is the top issue Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters hope the 23 presidential candidates will discuss during the party's first debates next week, a new poll shows. Health care was the topic that most Democratic voters — 87 percent — in the Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday said was “very important” for candidates to discuss in the debates on June 26 and 27. The topic beat out issues affecting women, climate change and gun policy as the next concerns that most people called “very important” for the discussions. (McIntire, 6/18)
Kaiser Health News: Democratic Voters Want To Hear Candidates’ Views On Health, But Priorities Vary
Nearly 9 out of 10 Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents said it is very important for candidates to discuss health issues. But 28% said they want candidates to focus on “lowering the amount people pay for health care,” and about 18% said Democrats should talk about “increasing access to health care,” the Kaiser Family Foundation poll reported. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) That divide extends to specific health care proposals, mirroring the split on the issue among Democratic politicians. About 16% of the voters leaning Democratic said the party should discuss “protecting the [Affordable Care Act] and protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” while about 15% said they want candidates to talk about “implementing a single-payer or Medicare-for-all system.” (Luthra, 6/18)
