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To retake the presidency in November, the Democrats will need to win the electoral college. The clearest path to do that is to win the swing states that had the closest margins in the 2016 election. Fortunately, the Democrats have a playbook to follow from the 2018 midterm election. There are many factors that led to Democratic victories in the crucial swing states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2018, and it’s always hard to isolate any single cause. But the successful Democrats all talked about healthcare — with a focus on fixing the Affordable Care Act and reinforcing Medicare. (Seth Hill, 2/6)

President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday was meant to outline his administration’s successes and his vision for the upcoming year. With his reelection campaign getting underway, the prepared speech his team sent to reporters included a line focused on a central issue for voters: health care. “I have also made an ironclad pledge to American families,” he was expected to say. “We will always protect patients with preexisting conditions — that is a guarantee.” (Philip Bump, 2/5)

Providing complete coverage to the most vulnerable — the elderly and the poor— makes sense, but the emphasis should be on ridding Medicare and Medicaid of billions of dollars in fraud and waste, not expanding them to larger and larger groups.Instead, our lawmakers should focus on the more practical idea of providing catastrophic/preventive health coverage to the millions who lack insurance as well as to those who might someday lose it. (Marc Siegel, 2/6)

As a small-business owner of 15 years, I’ve watched as health care costs have skyrocketed, taking more and more out of patients’ pockets and shrinking the bottom lines of small businesses like mine. Many presidential candidates have put forward health care plans that nibble around the edges, but without a comprehensive plan to overhaul health care, it’s just a Band-Aid on a broken system. It’s time we stopped pushing the costs of health care on patients and small businesses to line the pockets of giant insurance companies. (Anthony Davis, 2/5)

Medicaid expansion is also vital to protect health care for our state’s rural residents. Since 2014, 10 rural hospitals in Missouri have closed — most recently, Pinnacle Regional Hospital in Boonville just this month. Its Overland Park owner also operates a hospital by the same name in Johnson County. (O'Dell, 2/6)