Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives On Obamacare's Resiliance, The Insurance Market And Access To Care
RealClear Health: ACA Favorability Stays Positive As Trump Nears 100th Day In Office
With an increase of nearly 10 points in public approval polls over the past year, the Affordable Care Act has grown more popular as Donald Trump approaches the 100-day milestone of his presidency. In the RealClearPolitics polling average of public approval of the health care law, it sits at 6.7 percent favorability, with 49.1 percent approving to 42.4 percent disapproving. By contrast, Trump’s job approval rating is a -9.8 percent in the RCP average. (Ford Carson, 4/28)
The New York Times: Trumpcare 2.0: It’s Even Worse Than The Original
The original Trumpcare bill, whose spectacular failure embarrassed the White House, had a public approval rating of just 17 percent because it would have taken health insurance away from 24 million Americans, many of them poor, sick and elderly. The new version would further tighten the screws on vulnerable Americans by letting insurance companies charge older people and people with pre-existing conditions much higher premiums than they charge younger and healthier people. It would also give insurers the freedom not to cover essential health services like maternity care and cancer treatment. (4/28)
Arizona Republic: A Guide For The 'Resistance': How To Hold Your Own Raucous Town-Hall Meeting
In another twist not included in the national guide, "Indivisible" members in Arizona created an anti-Flake "theme song," a parody of pop star Taylor Swift's hit "Shake It Off." Flake, a first-term senator, is up for re-election in 2018 and has been the target of much of the local "Indivisible" movement's ire. Flake got blistered at his two-and-a-half-hour town hall in Mesa, which ran about an hour longer than scheduled. He got hammered over his opposition to Obama's signature health-care-reform law, the Affordable Care Act, his vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as Trump's Education secretary and a host of other issues. (Don Nowicki and Ronald J. Hansen, 4/27)
Los Angeles Times: He's Covered, He Makes His Payments And His Insurer Still Drags Its Feet
Most attention on the healthcare front has been focused on Republicans’ single-minded efforts to eviscerate Obamacare. Largely overlooked has been the frustration Americans with employer-based coverage often face in dealing with tight-fisted insurers. For the roughly 150 million workers and family members covered by employers, healthcare all too frequently is an obstacle course of denied claims, bureaucratic headaches and go-slow tactics intended only, or so it seems, to boost insurers’ bottom line. (David Lazarus, 4/28)
USA Today: Medicaid Cuts Are The Real 'Death Panels'
When the Affordable Care Act was debated in Congress, many falsely characterized as "death panels" the once-bipartisan idea of voluntary consultations about hospice and other end-of-life care options. Sarah Palin popularized the term, writing that "the sick, the elderly and the disabled” — including her own child with Down Syndrome — would have to prove they were “worthy of health care.” (Brendan Williams, 4/28)
