Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Off To The Midterm Races ... Health Care Playing Big In State-Wide And Congressional Contests
Now locked in a competitive statewide Senate race against Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, McSally finds herself blistered by campaign attack ads and having to explain her past votes and current views on health care and the Affordable Care Act, which has grown in popularity in recent years. About 20 million more Americans gained health insurance after the act passed. McSally told The Arizona Republic on Saturday that she's being "character assassinated" by her critics on health care. (Wingett Sanchez and Innes, 10/29)
[Rep. Annie] Kuster is a staunch supporter of the Affordable Care Act. [Republican nominee Steve] Negron thinks it should be replaced with something better. But while the Republican candidate [for New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District] is critical of the law as ineffective in its goal to provide affordable premiums, he would not immediately repeal it unless there was a plan ready to replace it with, he said. That should be up to Congress, he said. Other ideas Negron supports: ending restrictions on cross-state insurance policies to lower costs, and introducing cost transparency to allow consumers to better compare care. (DeWitt, 10/29)
Democrats and Republicans spent months making trips to Puerto Rico, jostling for endorsements from island politicians and cutting Spanish-language TV ads that reached as far as San Juan. But one week from Election Day, there isn鈥檛 much evidence that Puerto Ricans who came to Florida after Hurricane Maria will end up shaping the state鈥檚 high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate, where Republicans Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott are running against Democrats Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson. (Daugherty, Ostroff and Vassolo, 10/30)
Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed oppose Question 1, which would limit the number of patients assigned to hospital nurses at one time, while 32 percent said they are voting for it. Many respondents, however, said it was not the multimillion-dollar ad campaign surrounding the question that swayed them but the input from a nurse they personally know. (Stout, 10/29)
[Nurse staffing reports] provide a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes pressures caregivers can feel juggling acutely ill patients. They also have become a tool in the battle over Question 1. (Kowalczyk, 10/30)
