Tag: healthcare

Voters consistently rank health care as their top political concern. What does that mean for Minnesota’s House races?

Ask any candidate for Congress in Minnesota this year about health care, and they’re almost certain to tell you it’s one of the most important issues in their districts — if not the single most important issue.

Opinion polling backs that up: a recent CBS News poll found that 70 percent of Americans think health care is a very important issue, a larger share than any other top issue. A similar conclusion has been reached by plenty of other polls conducted over the last few months, which also find that health care is foremost in voters’ minds, even above the economy and headline-grabbing topics like immigration.

Just because seemingly everyone agrees health care should be a top focus, though, doesn’t mean they agree on what parts of the issue to focus on: for the most part, Democratic and Republican candidates are telling voters very different stories when it comes to the politics of health care.

View the complete September 28 article by Sam Brodey on the MinnPost website here.

Phillips is a champion for affordable health care

To the editor:

Why did Third Congressional District Rep. Erik Paulsen use a big money super PAC mouthpiece to mock DFL nominee Dean Phillips, instead of directly addressing affordable health care issues facing his constituents?

An advertisement claims that Phillips did not provide health care to his employees at Penny’s Coffee. Paulsen’s campaign then echoed the claim in an ad with a similar tone. These are misleading and false, as numerous local media outlets have reported.

First off, Paulsen does not know of the pressures of maintaining a small business, especially during the tumultuous first year of a company. If anyone is qualified to speak on such issues, it is Phillips. Continue reading “Phillips is a champion for affordable health care”

Housley and Health Care: A Casual Disregard for Doing the Work for Minnesotans

Karin Housley has demonstrated a casual disregard for doing the work to learn about the issues that affect Minnesota families. Let’s now look at her inability to explain what she would do on health care.

Earlier this year, Housley was asked at a local event how she would save the health care system. Unable to name a single policy or idea, Housley said, “First, we have to get more Republican senators in the United States Senate. That’s number one.” Then, still unable to name a specific policy or idea, she said again, “So what we really need is to get Republicans in power across the board and get more Republican senators so we can change the health care system.”

That is not a solution. It’s the answer a person gives when they have not done the work to solve problems. The result? Housley is led by powerful special interests and party leaders who do not have Minnesota’s best interest at heart.  Continue reading “Housley and Health Care: A Casual Disregard for Doing the Work for Minnesotans”

Republicans hoped voters would forget they tried to kill Obamacare. They bet wrong.

Credit: Joe Raedle, Getty

Earlier this month, over a year after Republicans tried multiple times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I asked people in the Twittersphere if their representatives in Congress had voted for repeal and, if so, if they held a town hall to explain their vote and put forward a better vision for health care. Within 24 hours, over 500 people had tweeted back their experiences.

The responses reflected not just people who disagreed with their member of Congress, but people who felt ignored by them. The list of those who chose to vote and disappear in 2017 is long, including many who now find themselves in highly contested races — among them Republicans Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Dana Rohrabacher and Mimi Walters of California, Peter Roskam and Mike Bost of Illinois, Steve Chabot and Steve Stivers of Ohio, and Bruce Poliquin of Maine.

Sensitive to criticism for avoiding their constituents, some lawmakers have taken to holding a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” style of constituent meetings. They often label them town halls, but in reality they are either paid events or telephone calls with limited capacity where only “random” questions are accepted. Few sound satisfied with these interactions. It’s certainly not representative democracy at its finest.

View the complete September 21 article by Andy Slavitt on the Courier-Express website here.

Health Care Is On The Ballot & Voters Trust Democrats Over Republicans

Today House Republicans are meeting to prepare a bill that would delay or repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, and House Republican leadership said health care repeal will be a priority if they keep the majority.

Health care is on the ballot in the midterm elections. While Republicans will continue their sabotage, Democrats are fighting to increase access and affordability. That is why voters trust Democrats over Republicans on health care.

House Republicans are preparing legislation to further dismantle the ACA. That bill would cost more than $50 billion over the next decade.

The Hill: “House GOP legislation that would delay or repeal certain parts of ObamaCare will cost $51.6 billion over the next decade, according to a new government analysis.” Continue reading “Health Care Is On The Ballot & Voters Trust Democrats Over Republicans”

The Cost of Trump’s Inaction on Prescription Drug Prices

The following article by Madeline Twomey was posted on the Center for American Progress website May 9, 2018:

Credit: Getty/The Washington Post/Jabin Botsford

On May 11, President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver a speech addressing prescription drug prices. The details of the speech have not been released, but he is expected to discuss proposals to combat rising drug costs.

As president-elect, Trump famously said that the drug industry was “getting away with murder.” As a candidate, he campaigned on ideas to address these rising costs directly, such as allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with drug companies. However, while in office, President Trump and his administration have taken no serious action on the issue. Even worse, the pharmaceutical industry appears to have a firm grip on the administration, wielding influence in top positions. Continue reading “The Cost of Trump’s Inaction on Prescription Drug Prices”

White House report uses fuzzy logic to tout ‘insurer profitability’ in Obamacare

The following article by by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website April 6, 2018:

The president misleadingly correlates insurance company’s rising stock prices to profits related to Obamacare, but they are not one in the same. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Health insurer profitability in the individual market has risen due to substantial premium increases, government premium tax credits that pay for those premium increases, and the large, government-funded, Medicaid expansion. Since ACA implementation on January 1, 2014, health insurance stocks outperformed the S&P 500 by 106 percent.”
— executive summary, “The Profitability of Health Insurance Companies,” White House Council of Economic Advisers, March 2018

This fact check has been updated. Continue reading “White House report uses fuzzy logic to tout ‘insurer profitability’ in Obamacare”

Health Insurance Marketplaces Offer More Low-Cost Options than Ever Before

The following article by Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website November 1, 2017:

AP/LM Otero
A health network patient navigator, center, helps a man with documents during an Affordable Care Act enrollment event at a library in Texas, February 2015.

Today is the first day of open enrollment for 2018 coverage through the health insurance marketplaces. Consumers have from November 1 to December 15 in most states to switch plans or select new coverage. The marketplaces are open for business and will offer a wide range of affordable plans, including more low-cost plans than ever before for subsidized consumers, despite a turbulent past year for the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Center for American Progress finds that the average marketplace consumer shopping on the HealthCare.gov website will be able to choose among multiple issuers and about 26 different plans. There is at least one issuer participating in every county in the country, and 71 percent of HealthCare.gov enrollees live in counties where two or more issuers will be offering 2018 coverage. (see Table 1) Continue reading “Health Insurance Marketplaces Offer More Low-Cost Options than Ever Before”

Senators Reach Bipartisan Deal on Health Care

The following article by Mary Ellen McIntire was posted on the Roll Call website October 17, 2017:

Alexander, Murray have an agreement on stabilizing insurance marketplaces

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander and ranking member Patty Murray have a tentative deal on legislation to stabilize the insurance marketplaces. (Tom Williams/Roll Call File Photo)

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander said he has reached an agreement with Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the panel’s ranking Democrat, on a limited deal to stabilize the individual health insurance markets.

Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, briefed GOP senators on that deal during their weekly policy lunch Tuesday.

President Donald Trump said at an appearance at the White House on Tuesday that administration officials have been involved in the Alexander-Murray talks and signaled he supports what he described as a one- or two-year package.

He called it a “short-term deal” that is needed to “get us over this hump” until Republicans might find a way to send him a measure to partially or completely repeal the Obama-era law.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer spoke positively of the agreement, saying, “Two years of cost sharing provides real stability to the system and we want to make sure that happens.”  Continue reading “Senators Reach Bipartisan Deal on Health Care”