As the 2020 campaign ramps up, Democrats may be able to rally their base by talking about universal coverage and making health care a right through Medicare-for-all. Republicans may be able to motivate their core voters by branding progressive Democratic ideas as socialism.
The catch: But it’s the candidates who can connect their plans and messages to voters’ worries about out of pocket costs who will reach beyond the activists in their base. And the candidates aren’t speaking to that much, at least so far.
Health care companies reported larger profits in the final quarter of 2018, compared with the same period in 2017, and the Republican tax overhaul helped pad their bottom lines, according to an Axios analysis of financial documents.
The intrigue: Like other industries, many health care companies took sizable charges in the final quarter of 2017 as they repatriated overseas cash. Now, firms are feasting on lower tax rates — and in some cases, are getting federal tax refunds.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) sent a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr Monday urging him to reconsider the Justice Department's decision to strike down the Affordable Care Act and defend the remainder of the ACA.
What she's saying: "Rather than seeking to have the courts invalidate the ACA, the proper route for the administration to pursue would be to propose changes to the ACA or to once again seek its repeal. The administration should not attempt to use the courts to bypass Congress," Collins said in her letter.
A major misconception on Capitol Hill right now is the notion that Mick Mulvaney is behind President Trump's decision to back a lawsuit to demolish the Affordable Care Act.
After a week of talking to sources who've discussed the matter privately with Trump, it's clear that this health care push is coming from the president himself. These people say Trump thinks it's a great idea to try to brand the GOP as "the party of health care” by backing the controversial litigation and pushing for legislative change.
President Trump is cutting against historical and political norms on a trifecta of big issues at the heart of U.S. domestic, economic and security policy.
Driving the news:
Trump is seekingto kill "Obamacare" through the courts over the objection of his own attorney general and top GOP congressional leaders.
The White House is publicly pushing the Fed to cut interest rates, something prior administrations never contemplated doing.
The presidentis again publicly threatening to close ports of entry on the U.S. southern border. "I'm not playing games," Trump said Friday in Florida.
