Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
GOP Needs To 'Go Back To Drawing Board,' American Medical Association Says
The head of the American Medical Association (AMA) delivered a sharp warning Thursday to congressional Republicans, telling them to go 鈥渂ack to the drawing board鈥 on their ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill and warning that the bill's current version would take needed coverage away from people.聽Dr. Andrew Gurman, the president of the AMA, the country鈥檚 largest doctors group, delivered an 鈥渦rgent call to congressional leaders to go back to the drawing board鈥 on their bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare, legislation the GOP has dubbed the American Health Care Act. (Sullivan, 3/16)
The leading general in the battle to protect the Affordable Care Act isn鈥檛 a grizzled veteran or even a storied health care professional 鈥 he鈥檚 a young, fresh-faced policy wonk with a whole lot of optimism. Last month, Frederick Isasi took the helm of Families USA, the consumer group that has been one of the staunchest supporters of the health care law in Washington. He鈥檒l fill the shoes of former executive director Ron Pollack 鈥 a longtime health care advocate who at 72, after 33 years at the helm of the organization, shows a few more of the scars he has earned as a weathered fighter in the health care wars. (Mershon, 3/20)
Andy Slavitt, who helped rescue the HealthCare.gov website after its botched roll out in fall 2013 and became a top health-care official in the Obama administration, is launching a new effort to bring bipartisanship back to health-care restructuring. He knows it might take a while to catch on. (Eilperin, 3/16)