Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some Republicans Keep Low Profile To Avoid Fireworks From Constituents Over Health Bill
The New York Times: Senate Republicans Lay Low On The Fourth, Or Face Single-Minded Pressure
It is a tough summer for Senate Republicans, who are trying to combine a long-promised repeal of the Affordable Care Act with a replacement that has, in legislation drafted so far, been as popular as sunburn. Protesters have held sit-ins at Senate offices, phone lines have been jammed and editorial writers have blasted their states’ congressional delegations. Planes have even flown admonitory, if occasionally poorly conceived, banners over state capitals. Republican senators have had to decide whether public appearances would be fruitful or the crowds hostile. Many lawmakers seem to have given up on town hall-style meetings and parades. Others are still braving them, knowing they may get an earful on the health care bills. (Robertson, Philipps, Bidgood and Cochrane, 7/4)
The Washington Post: At Parades And Protests, GOP Lawmakers Get Earful About Health Care
For the 15th year, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) spent July 4 marching through this town of 1,331, a short boat ride away from Canada. She walked and waved, next to marching bands and Shriner-driven lobster boats. Her constituents cheered — and then asked whether she would vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act. “There was only one issue. That’s unusual. It’s usually a wide range of issues,” Collins said in an interview after the parade. “I heard, over and over again, encouragement for my stand against the current version of the Senate and House health-care bills. People were thanking me, over and over again. ‘Thank you, Susan!’ ‘Stay strong, Susan!’ ” (Weigel, Carpenter and O'Malley, 7/4)
Boston Globe: Back Home, Mainers Are Urging Susan Collins To Stay Strong
As she sat at the right hand of President Trump at the White House this week, US Senator Susan Collins’s prominent position on a white-hot national stage could hardly have been more conspicuous. And to hundreds of Mainers who want New England’s only Senate Republican to more forcefully wield her blend of quirky independence as a bipartisan beacon, the seating chart in the executive mansion could not have been more hopeful. (Farragher, 6/30)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Parades Become Backdrop For Debate On GOP Push On Health Care
Critics of GOP plans in Congress to overhaul the Obama health law tried to put Republicans on the defensive on Tuesday at various parades around the nation marking Independence Day, as Republicans in Congress continue to look for a deal on a Senate health care bill, and opponents try their best to derail those legislative efforts. (Dupree, 7/4)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Congress On Break As Clock Ticks On GOP Health Care Deal
While the House and Senate are not in legislative session in Washington, D.C. this week, the clock keeps ticking on GOP efforts to overhaul the Obama health law, as top Republicans are hoping the week away from the halls of the U.S. Capitol will allow them to thread the needle, and find a deal that can muster a bare majority of votes for approval of a health care bill. (Dupree, 7/2)
The New York Times: Trump Backers ‘Furious’ That Senator Stood Against Health Care Bill
Senator Dean Heller’s biting denunciation of the Republican health care bill last week infuriated the White House and helped unravel his party’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act days before a vote was expected in the Senate. Now Mr. Heller is facing an intense backlash in Nevada, his home state, where there is talk of a primary race challenge against him next year and a pair of the state’s wealthiest Republican donors are fuming. (Martin and Vogel, 6/30)
The Associated Press: Louisiana Senator Finds Health Care Frustration At Town Hall
A town hall meeting held by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy to talk about flood recovery in Louisiana's capital city was at times derailed Friday by people trying to pressure the Republican to vote against the Senate GOP's proposed rewrite of the national health care bill. (6/30)
The Dallas Morning News: Opponents In Valley Let Sen. Ted Cruz Have It, And He Thinks It's 'Wonderful'
A day before Sen. Ted Cruz heads to a town hall in McKinney, the Texas Republican heard from protesters in McAllen who oppose the Senate's attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Cardona, 7/4)
Richmond Times Dispatch: Gillespie Wants More Pop In Fireworks, But Handles Health Care Bill With Care
Speaking on the back deck of a home in South Richmond, [Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed] Gillespie called Friday for the state to loosen restrictions on “consumer grade fireworks,” now prohibited in the state because of public safety concerns... However, Gillespie declined to take a definitive position on the Better Care Reconciliation Act, introduced by U.S. Senate Republican leaders a week ago but delayed until after the holiday in part because of concerns about its effect on state Medicaid programs. (Martz, 6/30)
The Huffington Post: Republicans Asked For ‘Obamacare Horror Stories.’ It Didn’t Go Well.
That sure didn’t go as planned. Indiana Republicans called for people to share “Obamacare horror stories” on social media, but the only horror many people expressed was at the idea of losing it if the GOP repeal plan passes Congress. (Mazza, 7/4)
The Wall Street Journal: GOP Senators Weigh Higher Health Premiums’ Possible Effect On Midterms
Republican senators are confronting a political challenge that is increasingly hard to ignore as they engage with voters during the July Fourth recess: Under their health-care overhaul, average premiums for a midlevel insurance plan would jump by 20% next January. (Armour and Peterson, 7/4)
Politico: Democrats Pressure 2020 Senators On Health Care Vote
With few Senate Republicans up for reelection in 2018, Democrats and other groups looking to defeat the GOP's plan to repeal Obamacare are looking to 2020 to pressure politically vulnerable senators. Save My Care, a progressive group dedicated to defeating repeal attempts, is out with new surveys from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showing the GOP proposal, which would cut Medicaid funding and repeal Obamacare's tax increases, is deeply unpopular in Iowa, North Carolina and Colorado — three swing states where Republican Senate wins in 2014 helped the GOP gain control of the chamber. (Robillard, 7/3)
The Associated Press: GOP Voters Blame Congress, Not Trump, For Lack Of Progress
In firm control of the federal government, President Donald Trump and his Republican Party have so far failed to deliver on core campaign promises on health care, taxes and infrastructure. But in New York's Trump Tower cafe, the Gentry family blames Congress, not the president. (7/3)
