Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Claim That Democrats' 'Medicare For All' Plan Would Obliterate Current Program Doesn't Hold Up To Facts
The Associated Press Fact Check: Trump Distorts Democrats' Health Care Ideas
Forget "Obamacare." President Donald Trump has found a new target when it comes to ideas from the Democrats for the nation's health care system. In rallies for the November midterm elections, Trump is going after "Medicare for All," the rallying cry of Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats. Trump is trying out attack lines echoed by other Republicans that a government-run system would wreck the existing and enormously popular Medicare program for seniors and disabled people. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/9)
Politico: House Republicans Distort And Dissemble In Slashing TV Ads
Attacks ads have always been a staple of campaign season. But Republicans have twisted facts in some ads to an extraordinary degree as they fight to save their House majority, weaving narratives about Democratic candidates that are misleading at best — or blatantly false at worst. ... Some Republican candidates have launched similar attacks impugning the motives or patriotism of their opponents. West Virginia Republican candidate Carol Miller ran a clip of her Democratic rival, Richard Ojeda, saying “the United States of America is not the greatest country.” One vet in the spot accuses Ojeda, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, of “stepping on the graves of every dead soldier.” What Ojeda actually said is that U.S. isn't the greatest country because homelessness is rampant, the health care system is lacking and the opioid epidemic has been allowed to fester. Ojeda issued his own ad in response, talking about the names of fallen soldiers tattooed his back. (Bade, 10/9)
The Associated Press Fact Check: Indiana Candidates Make Misleading Claims
The Associated Press fact checked the first Indiana U.S. Senate debate Monday evening among Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly and his challengers Republican Mike Braun and Libertarian Lucy Brenton. Donnelly, a moderate Democrat who has been in Congress since 2006, is considered one of the country's most vulnerable incumbents in his race against Braun, a Republican who's modeled his campaign as a political outsider and businessman after President Donald Trump. ... Braun has suggested otherwise. He has previously called for Congress to scrap the entire Affordable Care Act, which would wipe away protections that prohibit insurers from denying coverage or charging more in premiums to people with pre-existing conditions. An estimated 1.1 million people under the age of 65, in Indiana have a pre-existing condition, according to a 2015 report from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. (Seitz, 10/9)
Des Moines Register: Fact Check: Iowa Congressman David Young And Pre-Existing Conditions
U.S. Rep. David Young and his Democratic opponent, Cindy Axne, have been sparring over whether he has tried to protect Iowans with pre-existing health conditions. Axne focuses on the Republican Iowa congressman's votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The 2010 law, also known as Obamacare, barred insurers from denying coverage or charging higher premiums to Americans with health problems, such as diabetes, cancer, mental illness or high blood pressure. (Leys, 10/8)
