Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Tweets, Tough Talk And A Trump Fact Check By Bernie Sanders
Roll Call: Trump Calls Schumer 'Head Clown' Over Obamacare Stance
President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday harshly accused Democrats of refusing to talk with Republicans about an Obamacare replacement plan, using a series of tweets to brand Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer as his party’s “head clown.” The latest Trump broadside on one of his foes came via the same platform many others have: Twitter. In a series of posts on the social media site around 7 a.m. ET, the president-elect again exhibited behavior that breaks with just about every one of his predecessors in recent memory. (Bennett, 1/5)
The Associated Press: AP Fact Check: Trump’s Hit-And-Miss ‘Obamacare’ Tweet
Taking a swipe at “Obamacare” on Twitter, President-elect Donald Trump correctly identified two of its most pressing problems — a spike in premiums and high deductibles. But he failed to acknowledge the subsidies that soften the hit for many consumers, though not all. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/4)
Morning Consult: Democrats Dare GOP To Repeal Obamacare Sans Replacement
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said it is Republicans’ obligation to have a replacement at the ready when they move to repeal the law. He called the Republican plan a “full-scale assault on the three pillars that support the American health care system.” “We’re gonna say, let’s see the Republican plan,” Schumer said. “We want to cover these 20 million — we did already.” “To repeal and delay is an act of cowardice — it means they don’t know what they’re doing,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) added. (Reid, 1/4)
The Hill: Sanders Calls Out Trump: He's A Liar If He Cuts Medicare, Social Security
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Wednesday called on President-elect Donald Trump to announce he would veto any legislation to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, or admit that he "lied" to the American people. "Let me quote somebody who I suspect I will not often be quoting," Sanders said while speaking on planned GOP changes to ObamaCare alongside other lawmakers. "On May 7, 2015, Donald Trump tweeted, ‘I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid.’ Now the point is Trump didn’t just say this in passing; this was a cornerstone of his campaign. He said it over and over and over again.” (Seipel, 1/4)
