Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bill Clinton Backpedals After Calling Health Law 'Craziest Thing In The World'
Former President Bill Clinton put his wife in a tough political spot by re-injecting Obamacare into a policy-free presidential race 鈥 with just 35 days until Election Day and the media intensely focused on Donald Trump鈥檚 tax returns. (Cook and Ehley, 10/4)
Former President Bill Clinton ignited a mini-firestorm on Monday when he slammed the post-Obamacare U.S. health care system as "the craziest thing in the world." The comment seemed to be a devastating attack on President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement, which is strongly supported by his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. After a day of conservatives drawing attention to the lines, Republican presidential nominee聽Donald Trump聽tried to聽feed the furor with聽a聽tweet:聽"Wow, did you just hear Bill Clinton's statement on how bad ObamaCare is. Hillary not happy. As I have been saying, REPEAL AND REPLACE!" (Kapur and Tracer, 10/4)
Hillary Clinton sought to clean up after her husband who on Monday night referred to Obamacare, President Barack Obama鈥檚 signature legislative achievement, as a 鈥渃razy system.鈥 鈥淚 think he made it clear what he was saying,鈥 Clinton told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, when asked about her husband's remarks. 鈥淲ith respect to the Affordable Care Act, I鈥檝e been saying that we need to fix what鈥檚 broken and keep what works.鈥 (Griffiths, 10/4)
Bill Clinton tried to avoid muddling his message again as he campaigned for his wife in battleground Ohio a day after he described President Barack Obama's health care law and the resulting insurance markets as "the craziest thing in the world." This time, Bill Clinton only briefly mentioned health care in multiple appearances Tuesday in eastern Ohio, clearly stating his support for the law and arguing that more still must be done to expand access to insurance. (10/4)
Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday evening firmly declared his support for the Affordable Care Act, after causing a dust-up by referring to some of the effects of President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement as 鈥渢he craziest thing in the world." 鈥淚 want to say this one thing about the healthcare law, because that鈥檚 another thing they鈥檝e been trying to tangle in 鈥 I supported the Affordable Care Act. I support it today,鈥 he said while campaigning for his wife in Steubenville, Ohio on Tuesday. (Saba, 10/4)
Donald Trump seized Tuesday on comments Bill Clinton made about the federal health-care law known as Obamacare, and he suggested the former president has 鈥済one through hell鈥 with Hillary Clinton on 鈥渕any nights.鈥 Trump said Bill聽Clinton 鈥渃ame out and told the truth鈥 about the Affordable Care Act聽when he聽鈥渁bsolutely trashed鈥 it. (Sullivan, 10/4)
Republicans on Tuesday jumped on Bill Clinton鈥檚 reference to some of the gaps in the U.S. health system as an acknowledgment of shortcomings in the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The former president and husband of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was speaking in Flint, Mich., on Monday, when he noted that while the current system works fine for lower-income people, and while 25 million more people now have health coverage, other people are seeing their premiums doubled and coverage cut in half. (Armour, 10/4)
In other news, Democrats continue to blast Donald Trump for his comments on PTSD聽鈥
Hillary Clinton sharply criticized Donald Trump for his comments on military veterans and聽post-tramautic stress, which have drawn criticism聽for his suggestion聽that "strong" veterans don't have to worry about the disorder." Donald Trump's comments are not just ignorant, they're harmful," she said, raising concerns that such remarks聽increase聽the stigma surrounding mental health. (Megerian, 10/4)
Democrats on Tuesday seized on comments Donald Trump made suggesting that military members and veterans with mental health issues are not 鈥渟trong鈥 and 鈥渃an鈥檛 handle it,鈥 remarks they said render him out of touch and unfit to be commander in chief. The Republican presidential nominee, speaking to a group of veterans in Virginia on Monday, said that some troops see things in combat that 鈥渁 lot of folks in the room鈥 have seen many times. 鈥淎nd you鈥檙e strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can鈥檛 handle it,鈥 Trump said. (Zezima, 10/4)
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ripped Republicans on Tuesday, arguing they could have passed legislation to boost support for veterans but instead left Washington to campaign for Donald Trump.聽鈥淩epublicans should be ashamed of themselves for knocking off work a week early to campaign for Donald Trump, who thinks veterans with PTSD are not 鈥榮trong鈥 and 鈥榗an鈥檛 handle it,鈥 instead of passing a critical bill to address the epidemic of suicide among America鈥檚 veterans," the outgoing Senate Democratic leader said in a statement. (Carney, 10/4)