Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Under 'Medicare For All' Model, Employers Wouldn't Have To Pay For Health Insurance. But That Doesn't Mean Wages Will Go Up.
Hidden in the larger debate over 鈥淢edicare for all鈥 is a fundamental economic question: Who pays for work-based health insurance? For the 157 million Americans who get health insurance through their work 鈥 or through the job of a spouse or parent 鈥 the answer may seem obvious, evident right on pay stubs. Employers pay most of it, and workers pay some. Last year, work-based coverage per person cost $7,188, with employees directly contributing 18 percent on average. Family coverage cost $20,576, of which employees paid 30 percent. (Frakt, 2/3)
Politics pose a significant risk to U.S. health-care stocks. Investors should look past it. Sen. Bernie Sanders has gained ground in the Democratic presidential race and is now tied with former Vice President Joe Biden among the party鈥檚 primary voters nationally, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.聽 Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in third place. Sen. Sanders has proposed a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. health-care system known as Medicare for All. He could possibly gather more steam with a strong showing in Monday鈥檚 Iowa caucus. (Grant, 2/2)
A narrow majority of Americans favors a national 鈥淢edicare for All鈥 health plan, according to a new poll, but even more like a public option. The poll, released聽Thursday聽by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that 56 percent of respondents said they want Medicare for All, while 68 percent said they favored a public option that competes alongside private insurance.聽(Weixel, 1/30)
Perhaps no issue has divided the field of Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls more than "Medicare for All." Liberal candidates favor the sweeping proposal, which would replace private health insurance with a single government-run plan. Moderate candidates have embraced less drastic measures they say would achieve broader healthcare coverage while allowing individuals to choose their plan. Here is where the top eight contenders stand on Medicare for All. (2/1)
The Iowa caucuses serve as the official kickoff of the presidential primary season. Based on early donations flowing into candidates' coffers, hospital and insurance executives favor moderate Democratic hopefuls who oppose single-payer healthcare reform. A Modern Healthcare review of publicly available federal campaign finance records of more than 60 healthcare industry chief executives showed that the majority have not yet given to a presidential candidate. (Cohrs, 1/31)
As a local advocate for Americans living with disabilities, Emmanuel Smith does not mince words when it comes to the upcoming caucus."I think it's important for people to understand it's not eight people in a one-room schoolhouse and cornfield somewhere. These are packed, packed, packed gymnasiums, government buildings, really anywhere that we can find to pack people in. And it's two hours of that and it's loud and it's frustrating and people are confused," Smith, who has brittle bone disease, suffers from chronic pain and uses a wheelchair, told ABC News. (Parks, Sergi and Scanlan, 1/31)
Health care has consistently polled as the No. 1 issue voters care about in Iowa. With Monday's caucuses less than 72 hours away, decision time is rapidly approaching for voters like Hurst who are not just weighing which candidate to back, but what health care should look like in the future. (Greene, Jones, Westerman and Glenn, 1/31)
