Medicare Again Front And Center In Closing Days Of 2018 Campaigns
Republicans seek to turn the tables on charges that they are undermining preexisting conditions, so they’re hammering the plans championed by some Democrats to expand Medicare. In California, a large nursing union shifts strategies to take its "Medicare for all" message to a national audience.
California Healthline:
GOP’s Latest Campaign Punch On Health Care Relies On Classic Hook: Medicare
Democrats throughout the election season have been hammering Republicans over votes and lawsuits that would eliminate insurance protections for preexisting conditions for consumers. But now Republicans are working to change the health care conversation with a tried-and-true technique used by both parties over the years: telling seniors their Medicare coverage may be in danger. (Rovner, 10/30)
The Sacramento Bee:
California Nurses Move 'Medicare-For-All' Fight Nationally
The union representing 100,000 nurses across California has shifted its “Medicare-for-all” campaign from California to the national stage, perhaps relieving political pressure on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom to fulfill what the union sees as his top campaign promise: Delivering a single-payer health care system in the nation’s largest state. The California Nurses Association, which led the coalition behind the high-profile 2017 push for a single-payer system, has re-branded its campaign with the slogan “Fight to Win Medicare-for-All!” Its social media feeds reflect the new national scope of their efforts. (Hart, 10/27)
In other midterm elections news —
Los Angeles Times:
More Than $100 Million Spent On Battle Over Dialysis Industry Profits In California
A war between a healthcare union and the dialysis industry it wants to organize has morphed into one of the most expensive ballot measure campaigns in California history. Proposition 8, sponsored by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers, would shrink the profits of hundreds of dialysis clinics across California. (Luna, 10/29)
Bloomberg:
Health-Care Companies Pour $46.7 Million Into Midterm Vote
The health-care industry has given $46.7 million to candidates in the midterm elections this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, pouring money into a tightly fought battle between Democrats and Republicans over control of Congress. Of the money given by health-care political action committees -- the official political arms of companies and industry or professional associations -- 57 percent went to Republicans. (Dodge, 10/29)
The Washington Post:
Fact Checker: Democrats Hype Estimates Of People With Preexisting Conditions
If Democrats have their way, the midterm elections will turn on the issue of preexisting conditions. As we have documented, some House Republicans have even sought to diminish the impact of their votes in favor of the House GOP plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act by falsely citing our fact checks. But Democrats, in pressing their advantage on the issue, have gone too far in claiming how many people potentially would have been affected if the GOP bill had been enacted into law. Some of their tweets and statements are even undercut by a report issued Oct. 24 by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Kessler, 10/30)