Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Political Perspectives: The Trump Administration's 'Below-The-Radar' War On Obamacare; Analyzing John McCain's Controversial Health Care Vote
The New York Times: Killing Obamacare Softly
Unable — at least so far — to kill the Affordable Care Act outright, the Trump administration has conducted a sustained war of attrition designed to inflict fatal damage on Obamacare. This war, often operating below the radar, entails the use of a quintessentially conservative strategy, and the cooperation of Congressional Republicans. In a way, it’s pretty simple: You cut the budget, impose debilitating regulations, track the subsequent missteps and then attack the program as a failure. (Thomas B. Edsall, 7/27)
The Des Moines Register: Don't Call John McCain A Hypocrite For Health-Care Vote
Sen. John McCain’s dramatic return to the Senate on Tuesday and his speech castigating the body’s malaise resonated with many Americans. “We’re getting nothing done,” he said. No kidding, everybody else responded. The Arizona Republican, who returned to Washington just days after surgery and being diagnosed with brain cancer, pleaded for a return to bipartisan work on legislation. “Let’s trust each other. (Kathie Obradovich, 7/26)
Stat: No Respect For John McCain's Vote On The Senate Health Care Bill
I had hoped that the recent experience of having ready access to complex diagnostic services and surgery — involving expensive technology possibly developed with taxpayer-subsidized research and paid for by the generous health benefits that members of Congress receive — would have impressed upon McCain the vulnerabilities that we all have to unexpected health care crises. I expected that this experience would have caused him to reconsider his role in enabling the headlong Republican rush to eliminate the possibility for tens of millions of his fellow citizens to get the same kind of rapid, excellent treatment he received. (Renée M. Landers, 7/26)
The Wall Street Journal: ObamaCare’s GOP Preservers
The Senate voted 45-55 Wednesday not to repeal ObamaCare with a two-year delay to replace it, and the only consolation for Republicans is the clarity of seeing who voted to preserve and protect rather than repeal and replace. Congress had passed and sent to Barack Obama’s desk a similar measure in 2015, with support from every current Senate Republican except Susan Collins of Maine. This time seven voted no, including Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who aren’t up for re-election until 2022 and 2020, respectively. If you’re going to renege on your political promises, better to do it early, we suppose. (7/26)
Reuters: Want Congress To Fast Track Health Reform? Write Bills To Support Business Rather Than People.
With John McCain’s support, and a tie-breaking vote by Vice-President Mike Pence, the Republican party managed to bring the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) to the Senate floor for debate. Originally proposed in March 2017, made it out of committee in record time. The Senate rejected the bill Wednesday, but Republican leaders are now trying to gain support for a slimmed-down version. It’s unclear exactly what the “skinny” bill would include, but so far all versions of the Republican health plans include variations of measures to decrease government support of Medicaid by approximately 850 billion dollars over the next 10 years and leave 20-25 million more Americans without health insurance. Many of them substantially increase average premiums. (Michael Rosenbaum, 7/26)
USA Today/Investors Business Daily: What Should GOP Do Next On Health Care? How About Getting Advice From Hillary Clinton
Once the GOP gets tired of the circular firing squad over its failure to pass an ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill, it might want to take a look at how Hillary Clinton handled a similarly embarrassing health care disaster during her husband's presidency. Despite the fact that Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and the White House in 1993, Clinton couldn't even get her Health Security Act to the floor of the Senate. The main reason for her failure — aside from her political ineptitude — was a series of "Harry and Louise" ads put out by the insurance industry. (John Merline, 7/26)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republican Subtext On Women And Health Care
Health care is a human right, rather than a product to be sold. Every woman, no matter her circumstance, should have the ability to seek treatment when she needs it. (Julie Henszey, 7/26)
Arizona Republic: I Get All The Health Care I Need While Poor Workers Struggle. That's Unfair.
Health care for the wealthy and not for those who struggle to make ends meet isn’t real fair, now is it? The polls are terrible, the protests are constant and many Republicans have nagging doubts about the drive to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with large tax cuts for people who already have way more money than they could possible spend in several lifetimes. (Jennifer Anne Moses, 7/26)
