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For the upscale urban audience at a campaign town hall here, it would have been enough for Stacey Abrams to pitch Medicaid expansion as a moral issue — the health-care-as-human-right argument that appeals to progressives everywhere. Instead, Ms. Abrams, the Democrat in the tossup race for Georgia governor, stuck to the pragmatic line of reasoning she has pushed in making Medicaid expansion a top priority of her campaign: It will help save the state’s struggling rural towns without busting its budget, since the Affordable Care Act requires the federal government to pay 90 percent of the cost. (Goodnough, 10/20)

For nearly a decade, opposition to former President Barack Obama's health care law has been a winning message for Republicans. But this year, residents in several conservative states are bypassing legislatures that have refused to expand Medicaid, one of the pillars of Obama's health overhaul. Voters in three Republican-dominated states — Idaho, Nebraska and Utah — will decide in November whether to expand the health insurance program to more lower-income Americans. (Schulte and Mulvihill, 10/21)

Voters in four states will decide Nov. 6 whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, with the initiatives spurring some $20 million in political spending and testing the public’s appetite for expansions in states where the ACA remains unpopular. Top spenders in the campaigns are groups linked to the tobacco industry and the Koch brothers, which are aligned against the initiatives, and hospitals and union-back advocacy groups, which are in favor of them. (Armour, 10/20)

Nebraskans will vote in November on whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The state’s Republican legislature and governors have refused to expand Medicaid after states were given that option in 2012 by the Supreme Court. The ballot initiative, modeled after Maine’s 2016 ballot measure, would expand coverage for an estimated 90,000 Nebraskans. (Sreenivasan, 10/21)

Questions about the future of Obamacare and protections for sick people are dominating congressional races all over the country, but in Iowa, the focus is decidedly more local: Did the state err when it let private insurers run its Medicaid program? It’s become a pivotal question in the tight governor’s race pitting Democrat Fred Hubbell against Gov. Kim Reynolds. (Goldberg, 10/19)

Joe Manchin looked like a solid bet for reelection after he voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. But Mitch McConnell might have sealed the deal. Facing some of the toughest campaigns of their careers, the West Virginia Democrat and his moderate colleagues believe they've received an unexpected gift from the Senate GOP leader. In a triumphant post-Kavanaugh media tour last week, the Kentucky Republican waxed about his regret over the missed opportunity to repeal Obamacare and the need to reform entitlement programs to rein in the federal deficit. (Everett, 10/21)

Candidates vying for governors’ seats across the Midwest are facing tight races in a test of the loyalty of voters who propelled Donald Trump to victory in 2016. States where governorships could flip from red to blue in the November midterms include Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa. Recent polls have shown Democrats in each state pulling even or ahead. Nationwide, 33 states have Republican governors, while 16 have Democrats. Alaska’s governor is an Independent. Thirty-six of those seats are up for grabs this year. (Maher, 10/21)

Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and her GOP rival, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, sparred over how they would improve health care in an hour-long debate Thursday night that featured familiar themes. ...Hawley said he’s sticking with his involvement in a federal lawsuit that would do away with the Affordable Care Act, including its provisions requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions without raising their premiums. Hawley said, however, he is committed to still protecting people with pre-existing conditions, and cited his young son’s chronic hip and joint problem as an example. (Lippmann, 10/19)

Republican Leah Vukmir charged that implementing a "Medicare-for-all" program backed by Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin would "create chaos of epic proportions." ...At a news conference after the hourlong clash, Baldwin was asked about the line that was similar to one used by Democrats against House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville. (Glauber, 10/19)

Democratic congressional leaders on Saturday slammed President Trump for calling Democrats "obstructionists" on immigration reform and accused the president of attempting to "change the subject" away from a national conversation on health care. In a statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Republicans of "making a mess" of the U.S. health-care system. (Bowden, 10/20)

Kaiser Health News: News Analysis: Politicians Hop Aboard ‘Medicare-For-All’ Train, Destination Unknown

After decades in the political wilderness, “Medicare-for-all” and single-payer health care are suddenly popular. The words appear in political advertisements and are cheered at campaign rallies — even in deep-red states. They are promoted by a growing number of high-profile Democratic candidates, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York and Rep. Beto O’Rourke in Texas. Republicans are concerned enough that this month President Donald Trump wrote a scathing op-ed essay that portrayed Medicare for all as a threat to older people and to American freedom. (Rosenthal and Luthra, 10/22)