Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Reviews Of The GOP's Health Plan Implosion
Kansas City Star: Americans Want Health Care That Works For All
I continue to believe that most Americans think everyone should have health care. And while the current law is far from perfect and would benefit from some bipartisan improvements, it is by any measure — coverage, cost, continuity of care — vastly superior to the law Republicans proposed and then couldn’t pass last week. (Kathleen Sebelius, 3/25)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Collapse Of Trumpcare A Victory For Republicans Who Pushed Back To Protect States Like Ohio
The dramatic collapse today of efforts by House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump to force House Republicans to pass Ryan's jury-rigged repeal of Obamacare was a victory not just for common sense but also for those Republicans who stood up to Trump. Among them: Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who, along with several other Republican senators, sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier this month outlining the plan's likely harm to the millions of Americans covered by Medicaid expansion, in Ohio and other states -- and to the states themselves. (3/24)
Miami Herald: Healthcare Bill, And GOP, Fail Miserably
But, and pardon the tortured mix of metaphor, Republicans had the ball in their court, for seven years now, and fumbled it — most spectacularly on Friday. That’s when their controversial bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, failed to win the necessary 216 votes to pass. House Speaker Paul Ryan recommended pulling it. President Trump, the biggest loser, agreed. The bill, a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign and that of scores of new Republican lawmakers, went down. Obamacare rules — until Republicans get serious. That’s great news for millions of Americans, and Floridians especially. The bill would have left almost 2 million state residents without health insurance and forced many others to pay thousands more for coverage. Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen told her local constituents she would vote No, while her more cowed Miami colleagues kept mumbling about having to study the situation. (3/25)
The Kansas City Star: Congratulations, Republicans. This Health Care Defeat Is Really A Win.
Cheer up, Republicans. Sometimes, what looks and feels like a loss is really a win. Usually it takes a while for the all-for-the-best benefits of a short-term defeat to sink in. But the health care bill that the Republicans pulled at the last minute on Friday would have quickly made the GOP nostalgic for the days when they could take bows for show votes repealing the Affordable Care Act for the umpteenth time. Had the bill passed, Republicans would have lost both politically and in human terms as the bill devastated many of the very voters who believed President Donald Trump’s campaign promise that “everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.” (3/24)
The Des Moines Register: Rep. David Young: GOP Health Process Was Obamacare All Over Again
Congressman David Young has seen this movie before — and he didn’t like it the first time. Young, an Iowa Republican, compared the process House GOP leadership followed to replace the Affordable Care Act with the method Democrats used to enact it back in 2010. (Kathie Obradovich, 3/25)
Chicago Tribune: Why Health Care Can't Be Fixed
Bill Clinton tried to fix America's health care problems and was shot down by Congress. Barack Obama got his solution enacted only to find most people didn't like it. Republicans who voted repeatedly to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something far better have found it fiendishly hard to agree on how. (Steve Chapman, 3/24)
