Medicare for All enthusiasts tend to be young and white, according to a poll by the right-leaning group One Nation.
One Nation survey of 1,211 registered likely “non-hard partisan” voters in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin conducted April 13-17, 2019; margin of error ±2.8 percentage points; Chart: Axios Visuals
Why it matters: Politically, it means embracing Medicare for All may not be very helpful for Democrats hoping to make inroads with older and minority voters.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals added a new question on Wednesday to the high-stakes lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act's survival: Whether Democratic attorneys general or the House of Representatives have the legal standing to defend the ACA in court.
What it means: The court is asking whether it ought to kick out the entire pro-ACA side of the case. Technically Texas (with a group of other red states) is suing the Trump administration, but the Trump administration says it agrees with Texas' position. Blue states and House Democrats stepped in so that somebody would be arguing the pro-ACA position.
Some conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups are lining up against Congress' leading solution to surprise medical bills, saying it's too much government interference.
What they're saying: "If government rate setting is viewed as a 'patient protection' in these circumstances, it will lead to efforts to 'protect' patients through government rate setting in others," the Heritage Foundation's Doug Badger wrote.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio were the only candidates on the Democratic debate stage who said they would eliminate private insurance.
Our thought bubble from Axios' Caitlin Owens: "There's now no confusion as to whether these 10 candidates would support abolishing private insurance, whereas some had been wishy washy about it before."
In a narrow 8-6 vote today, a federal vaccine advisory panel shot down its 2014 recommendation that all adults 65 and older get a pneumococcal vaccine called Prevnar 13. Instead, the panel said seniors should get the vaccine based on conversations with their clinicians.
Why it matters: Seniors can still get the shot, but the vaccine won't be universally recommended — to the dismay of the vaccine makers. Pfizer sells Prevnar 13, and the drug company's stock shot down 2% once investors learned of the vote.
For the first time in decades, the number of overdose deaths in the U.S. may finally be falling, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing provisional government data.
Why it matters: That would be a strong and promising sign that the current addiction epidemic — fueled by prescription opioids, heroin and illegal fentanyl — has at least stopped getting worse.
The pharmaceutical industry has already shelled out more than $200 billion for acquisitions during the first half of 2019, capped off yesterday by AbbVie's $63 billion buyout offer for Allergan.
The big picture: This year's deal-making has already surpassed 2017 and 2018, as drug companies plan for patent losses and jockey for lucrative assets that are advancing in clinical trials, including gene therapies.
