Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate's Proposal Was Doomed From The Start, But Missteps Along The Way Didn't Help
The New York Times: How The Senate Health Care Bill Failed: G.O.P. Divisions And A Fed-Up President
President Trump was fed up with the grind of health care legislation, and at a dinner with Republican senators on Monday at the White House, he let them know it. He told the lawmakers how annoyed he was with one Republican who was not there, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who had gone on television over the weekend to oppose a Senate health care bill that once held the promise of victory for Mr. Trump. It is one thing to vote no, Mr. Trump told the group, according to one of the guests. It is another, the president said, to go on all of the Sunday shows and complain about it. The scene on Monday night was an exasperating end for Mr. Trump to a month of negotiations between the White House and Senate Republicans in an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic legacy. (Steinhauer, Thrush and Pear, 7/18)
The Washington Post: A Republican Party At War With Itself Hits The Wall On Health Care
By any measure, the collapse of the Senate health-care bill represents an epic failure for the Republican Party and a major embarrassment for President Trump. The crusade that animated — and bound — conservatives for seven years proved to be a mirage, an objective without a solution. Power comes with consequences. There is no way to spin to those who were promised that the Affordable Care Act would be repealed and replaced once Republicans held full power in Washington that what has happened is the fault of forces outside the party. This has been a GOP undertaking from start to finish. It is as though Republicans unknowingly set a trap and then walked into it without having prepared escape routes. (Balz, 7/18)
The Washington Post: Republicans’ Health-Care Split Goes All The Way To The Party’s Soul
At the heart of the failed Senate effort to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act were irreconcilable differences over the proper role of entitlements and how far the party should go to pursue its small government mantra. Both wings of the GOP revolted — senators who rejected steep cuts to Medicaid, a health program for low-income Americans, and others who felt the cuts were not deep enough. (Paletta, 7/18)
NPR: Trump's Big Repealing Deal: 8 Thoughts On The Senate's Health Care Meltdown Moment
So what happened after seven years of prioritizing the promise to repeal Obamacare? And what does it all mean for what's next? (Elving, 7/19)
The Washington Post: ‘It’s An Insane Process’: How Trump And Republicans Failed On Their Health-Care Bill
Vice President Pence arrived at the National Governors Association summer meeting with one mission: to revive support for the flagging Republican plan to rewrite the nation’s health-care laws. He failed. Instead of rousing cheers on the waterfront in Providence, R.I., Pence was greeted with an icy air of skepticism Friday as he pitched the legislation, which would reduce federal Medicaid funding and phase out coverage in dozens of states. (Costa, Snell and Sullivan, 7/18)
The Wall Street Journal: Why Obamacare Passed But The GOP Health Bill Failed
In 2010, Democrats passed a sweeping health-care bill that polls showed to be unpopular with no support from the other party. In 2017, Republicans sought to do the same. Each party touted the respective merits of its bills, but here is a look at some of the differences that meant one passed and the other stumbled. (Bendavid, 7/18)
Modern Healthcare: Third Time Was Not The Charm For McConnell's Vow To End Obamacare
In less than 14 hours, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's plan to hold a repeal-and-delay vote on Obamacare died. Three of the five female Republican senators said they would not agree to open debate on a bill that would cut off subsidies for low- and moderate-income buyers in the individual market and end the Medicaid expansion. With that, the Senate's effort to repeal Obamacare without a replacement lacked majority support, even with an assist from the vice president. (Lee, 7/18)
Kaiser Health News: Analysis: GOP Failure To Replace The Health Law Was Years In The Making
Seven years of Republican vows to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act came to a crashing halt Tuesday, when it became clear that the Senate could not muster the necessary votes for any of three separate proposals that have been under consideration. The failure, at least for now, breaks one of the key promises Republicans have made to their voters since 2010, when the ACA first became law. (Rovner, 7/18)
Kaiser Health News: Watch: 7 Moments That Battered The GOP Health Bills
The U.S. health care debate is not for the faint-hearted. For the second time in less than a decade, Americans have been asking tough questions about proposed big changes in how they get health insurance. Here are seven memorable moments from the debate over whether to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (7/19)
