There are at least seven Democratic candidates who are going hard on health care in their 2018 campaign ads and it reflects the party's thinking for one way they could win back the House.
Why it matters: According to internal DCCC polling, "Democrats in Congress have a massive 28-point advantage over Republicans in Congress on the issue of healthcare." And those who are already using it in their ads span the country from Utah to New York to Illinois.
Everybody wants to control health care costs — until it’s time to actually control health care costs.
Driving the news: The bipartisan budget deal unveiled yesterday in the Senate would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Independent Payment Advisory Board. It’s merely the most recent time Congress has voted, with bipartisan support, to chip away at programs that aimed to slow the growth in health care spending, or at least help balance the federal checkbook.
Consumers could soon face surprising increases in how much they have to pay for their prescription drugs, thanks to changes in the way health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers process coupons from drug manufacturers.
Why it matters: Midterm elections are coming up in the fall. High drug prices have enraged people across the political spectrum, and voters who already have trouble affording their prescriptions could be hit with another surprise.
Even if Jeff Bezos, Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett come up with ways to lower their own corporate health care costs, it’s highly unlikely their new health care venture will move the needle on overall health spending or other dimensions of the health cost problem.
The odds: Bezos, Buffett and Dimon are big names — big as they come — but the history of health care is littered with business titans who have declared war on health care costs. Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase may be able to get their own costs down, but that doesn't mean they can do it for anyone else.
The West Wing has thoroughly marginalized the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Politico reported yesterday, pushing aside seasoned policy staff while presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway relies on political aides to craft the White House’s response to the opioid crisis.
Why it matters: ONDCP is a part of the administration, similar to the White House budget office, and would normally be running point on issues like opioids. The opioid crisis is ravaging American communities at a shocking rate. It has gone on so long, and gotten so severe, that it clearly needs a public-policy response.
