Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

AP: 'Obamacare' Enrollment Opens, As Republicans Threaten The Health Insurance Program Used By Millions Americans can start signing up Friday for health care coverage offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace for 2025, days before a presidential election that could threaten eligibility and raise costs for millions of those in the program. The future of ‘Obamacare’ has emerged as a key issue in the closing days of the presidential campaign, with a top GOP leader promising this week to overhaul the program should Republican Donald Trump win the presidency. (Seitz, 10/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Says Obamacare 'Sort Of Sucks' But He Won't End It Donald Trump said the Affordable Care Act “sucks” but denied that he wanted to end the healthcare law, commonly known as Obamacare. Vice President Kamala Harris has charged that Trump and Republicans want to kill the politically polarizing program, which broadened health coverage for Americans and protected people with pre-existing medical conditions. (Andrews, 11/1)

USA Today: 'No Obamacare:' Mike Johnson Says Republicans Will Overhaul Health Care If Trump Wins House Speaker Mike Johnson told a crowd of supporters Monday night that there will be "no Obamacare" if former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans win the upcoming election on Nov. 5. Republicans will propose “massive reform” to the Affordable Care Act if they win control of both chambers in Congress and the presidency, Johnson, R-La., said at a campaign event for Republican House candidate Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania on Monday evening. “Health-care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda,” Johnson said about Republicans' plans. He added that the GOP wants to take a “blowtorch to the regulatory state,” with healthcare among the key sectors they plan to focus on. (Waddick, 10/30)

Health care in the Election...

CBS News: How Trump And Harris' Health Care Stances And Policy Plans Compare For The 2024 Election Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have different stances on health care policy in America, although in the 2024 presidential election, health care has not played as prominent a role in the campaign as it did in 2016 or even in 2020. In those campaigns those on the left proposed a radical overhaul of Obamacare, while Republicans sought to repeal it. (Watson and Tin, 10/30)

NPR: 3 Health Care Issues At Stake In The Presidential Election As the 2024 election heads into its final weeks, the direction of policies affecting the health of millions of Americans is at stake. The next president and Congress will have the power to put their mark on major health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid that combined cover nearly 150 million Americans. They’ll be able to direct resources for how the United States fights the drug overdose crisis and how the country prepares for the next pandemic. (Levi, 10/28)

The New York Times: How A Second Trump Term Could Recast Public Health The Covid pandemic dominated the last years of Donald Trump’s presidency, and the discontent it caused most likely contributed to his loss in 2020. But on the campaign trail this year, Mr. Trump rarely talks in depth about public health, dwelling instead on immigration, the economy and his grievances. Still, Project 2025, the blueprint for a new Republican administration shaped by many former Trump staff members, lays out momentous changes to the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. (Mandavilli, 10/31)

Modern Healthcare: Why Healthcare Issues Matter Despite Low Priority In 2024 Election The point of campaign rhetoric is to convince people to vote for one side or the other, catering to hopes those words will turn into policy. The ads and news clips blaring at voters are impossible to avoid. But what happens when a vital issue is all but missing from the debate? That’s a question stakeholders in the healthcare industry need to at least consider this election season when immigration, inflation, crime, abortion and the fate of democracy are the dominant themes on the hustings. (McAuliff, 10/28)

Stat: Donald Trump's Health Care Policy Plans, From Medicaid To Abortion A second Trump presidency could mean significant changes to health care access and costs, even if former President Trump is still working out the details. (Owermohle, 10/28)

For a Deeper Dive...

NBC News: DACA Recipients Are Able To Sign Up For Obamacare For The First Time When Camila Bortolleto was 9 years old, her parents brought her from Brazil to the U.S. Bortolleto’s parents are undocumented, but in 2013 she was approved for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allowed her to get a job and, with it, job-based health insurance. ... DACA recipients have been barred from receiving government-funded health insurance. That changed Friday, when tens of thousands of DACA recipients became able to sign up for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act for the first time. (Lovelace Jr., 11/1)

The New York Times: Republicans Shift Message On Abortion, Sounding More Like Democrats Across the country’s most competitive House races, Republicans have spent months trying to redefine themselves on abortion, going so far as to borrow language that would not feel out of place at a rally of Vice President Kamala Harris. Many Republicans who until recently backed federal abortion restrictions are now saying the issue should be left to the states. At least a half-dozen Republican candidates have put out direct-to-camera ads declaring their opposition to a federal abortion ban. Instead, they say, they support exceptions to existing state laws and back protections for reproductive health care, such as I.V.F. (McCann and Li, 10/31)

PhillyVoice: What Are The Pros And Cons Of High Deductible Health Insurance Plans? Many people may consider high deductible health insurance plans that offer lower monthly premiums – the amount one pays the insurance company for the policy – but have higher deductibles than traditional HMO and PPO plans. High deductible plans have become more appealing over the last decade as health care costs and premiums have risen, experts say. Nearly 30% of workers with health insurance enrolled in high deductible plans in 2023, compared to 20% in 2013. (Harris Bond, 10/31)

Axios: Hospitals, Clinics Among America's Most Violent Workplaces Hospitals and clinics remain among the most violent workplaces in America, continuing to strain health workers in the aftermath of the pandemic experience. The situation is bad enough that the American Hospital Association and the FBI last week announced that they're collaborating on resources to help hospitals make threat assessments and work to mitigate risks. (Goldman, 10/30)

Axios: Insured Americans Can't Predict Drug Costs: Survey More than half of insured Americans say they can't predict how much their covered prescription drugs will cost, according to an annual survey by the pharmaceutical industry trade group PhRMA. The results, shared first with Axios, come as the drug industry is pressing for more transparency regulations on pharmacy benefit managers and insurers in the lame-duck period following the election. (Goldman, 10/28)

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A few years ago I started a weekly e-mail for friends and colleagues who want to keep up on major federal health policy developments but did not have time to plod through all the minutiae--they were busy doing important things like running organizations and taking care of patients! Much to my surprise, it became pretty popular. I have now converted to a weekly newsletter format so you can manage your own subscription preferences and forward to others that might be interested.

These summaries represent my judgement on health policy issues that may not on the front pages, but are relevant to clinicians, administrators, and educators. I monitor many news sources and clipping services to identify content for this newsletter and I try hard to be as factual, balanced, and non-partisan as possible. While the articles are written by others (with credit attributed), the choice of what to include is entirely mine. If you are interested in receiving a daily summary of health policy news, you might consider signing up for the KHN Morning Briefing. If you enjoy podcasts, I suggest What the Health? and Tradeoffs.

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD