Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives On What's Ahead As Obamacare Is Dismantled
In policy and political debates, we often forget the human impact of weighty choices. Abstract numbers, ideological arguments, 鈥渉e said, she said鈥 talking points and outright falsehoods 鈥 these are the currency of our public discourse. (Topher Spiro, 12/15)
Politico鈥檚 lead headline today blares: 鈥淒emocrats open to replacing Obamacare.鈥 The story accompanying that headline is more nuanced than that. But it does raise the prospect that some Senate Democrats might be going wobbly about the coming battle over repeal and replace. And it points out that Dems might find themselves under pressure to acquiesce to Republicans in ways that would produce a terrible outcome. (Greg Sargent, 12/15)
Not so long ago, Republicans took unbridled delight in mocking President Obama鈥檚 assertion that 鈥渋f you like your health care plan, you can keep it鈥 under the Affordable Care Act. The mockery was justified. Millions of Americans found their health insurance canceled, or suddenly too expensive to maintain, thanks to the law. PolitiFact went so far as to dub the president鈥檚 assertion the Lie of the Year for 2013. But now Republicans might wish they had toned it down a notch. (12/15)
Repeal Obamacare? Really? Repeal of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is a well-known priority of President-elect Trump and Republicans in Congress, bolstered by Trump voters. But, while 鈥測es or no鈥 polling about the possible repeal of the ACA tells us something about Republicans鈥 antipathy to the law, more detailed polling questions reveal a complex picture. (Jessica Schorr Saxe, 12/15)