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Morning Briefing

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Thursday, Oct 4 2018

Full Issue

Focus On ACA Or Go All In For 'Medicare For All'? Democrats Divided Over Path To Take On Health Care

For the first election in years, Democrats see health care as a winning issue -- one to go on the offense over instead of defending their votes. But they party's candidates lack coherency in their approach. Some push a "Medicare for All" plan while others think shoring up the health law should take priority. Meanwhile The Washington Post Fact Checker looks at ads targeting Democrats over "Medicare for All."

Shortly after her primary victory in New York, Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declared her goal of giving Medicare to all Americans. Some fellow Democrats like Ken Harbaugh aren鈥檛 convinced. The Navy veteran, who is challenging Rep. Bob Gibbs (R., Ohio), says the party should focus on bolstering the Affordable Care Act, not starting from scratch with Medicare for All. 鈥淲e need a much quicker fix, which is shoring up the ACA,鈥 he said. (Armour, 10/4)

With a sick child on the couch, holding a teddy bear, a mother calls to make a doctor鈥檚 appointment. She pulls out her health-insurance card and then with her voice breaking, says: 鈥淲hat do you mean you don鈥檛 take that anymore? But it鈥檚 through my work.鈥 The ad, via the National Republican Campaign Committee, concludes by claiming that the Democratic candidate, Xochitl Torres Small, 鈥渢akes from us to give it all to Washington.鈥 (Kessler, 10/4)

One of [U.S. Rep. Jared] Polis鈥 marquee campaign promises has been establishing universal coverage for Coloradans. A longtime supporter of 鈥淢edicare for all,鈥 Polis is among a handful of Democrats across the country running on such a promise. The Democrat has also released a bevy of additional proposals, including a 100-day health care road map for the first year in office. The [state Treasurer Walker] Stapleton campaign鈥檚 ambitions have been more tempered. The Republican issued three priorities for health care, including seeking a federal waiver to allow insurance companies to sell plans inside Colorado that would only cover 鈥渃atastrophic鈥 events. (Garcia and Seaman, 10/3)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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