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ashoup
In Capitol Hill, Administration, News

2018 Is the Year of Health Care

To: Interested Parties

From: Brad Woodhouse, Campaign Director, Protect Our Care

Subject: 2018 Is the Year of Health Care

Date: January 2, 2018

In 2017, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress waged a war on our health care – from ACA repeal to Medicaid cuts to health care sabotage. Under their planned agenda, costs would rise, coverage would fall and millions of Americans would lose protections against abuses from insurance companies.

The story of 2018 is a simple one: it will be the year the politics of health care will haunt Republicans at the polls. Poll after poll shows that health care is the number one issue on voters’ minds and that they strongly oppose the GOP war on health care. Relatedly, the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever, and more than 8 million people have already signed up for coverage in open enrollment.

Now, some Republicans want to keep their war on health care going.  They do so at their political peril.

The American people see health care as their top issue.

  • 48 percent in a recent Associated Press-NORC poll rated health care as their top concern for 2018, a number double-digits ahead of the second issue, taxes.
  • Health care topped people’s concerns in a POLITICO/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll. The number one issue people wanted Congress and President Trump to address was to renew funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
  • Health care was the most important issue to people in a recent Economist/YouGov poll (18 percent), followed by Social Security (17 percent).

The American people reject President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ approach to health care.

  • The recent AP/NORC poll had President Trump’s approval/disapproval on health care at 30/70. More voters disapprove of his performance on health than any other issue.
  • According to the November 2017 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, “The majority of the public (60 percent) – including majorities of Democrats (89 percent) and independents (57 percent) – do not trust President Trump to do what’s best when it comes to health care in this country.”
  • FOX News polling showed only 33% of voters approve of President Trump’s work on health care while 60% disapprove.  

And it will cost Republicans politically if they continue their war on health care, like it did last November.

  • The latest Quinnipiac poll showed 41% of voters as being less likely to vote for a Senator or Member of Congress who backed the GOP’s health care plan with only 19% more likely to support them.
  • Health care was the most important issue for people who voted in the Virginia gubernatorial race in November, more than double any other issue, and Ralph Northam beat Ed Gillespie by 54 points, 77-23, among these voters.
  • In Maine, voters backed a referendum to endorse a key element of the Affordable Care Act by an 18-point margin (59-41), the first time the ACA had ever been on the ballot.

The Affordable Care Act is more popular than it has ever been.

  • Pew Research Center: “Today, more Americans say the 2010 health care overhaul has had a mostly positive than mostly negative effect on the country (44% versus 35%), while 14% say it has not had much effect. Overall support for the health care law also has grown since last year. Currently, 56% of the public approves of the law while 38% disapproves, according to a new national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Nov. 29-Dec. 4.”
  • A Public Policy Poll for Protect Our Care found that 57% say they approve of the Affordable Care Act to just 36% who say they disapprove – a 21 point gap. This is up 5 points from a September poll done for Save My Care, where approval was 54/38.
Sean England
In Capitol Hill, News

Fact Sheet on Health Repeal in Senate Passed Tax Bill Spotlight — Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA)

Spotlight: Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA)

Senate Republicans passed a tax bill on Friday night that repeals health care to pay for another massive tax break for the wealthiest and corporations. What the repeal of the individual mandate in the Senate bill means is simple: while the wealthy and corporations get a tax break, middle-class families will get double digit premium increases, 13 million people will lose their coverage, older Americans will get an age tax and $25 billion in Medicare funding will be cut.

The bill passed by the House did not include the repeal of the individual mandate. The House should insist that it stays out. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) has one opportunity left to take a stand against any inclusion of the individual mandate in the final bill which, if passed with the repeal of the individual mandate, would cause 287,000 people to lose coverage in Virginia including 28,800 in Rep. Comstock’s district, raise premiums on middle-class families by $2,140 and impose an age tax of up to $1,600 on older Virginians, and cut $546 million in Medicare funds to Virginia all to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

SENATE REPUBLICANS JUST VOTED TO REPEAL HEALTH CARE — RAISING PREMIUMS BY DOUBLE DIGITS FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES, RIPPING AWAY COVERAGE FOR 13 MILLION AMERICANS, IMPOSING AN AGE TAX ON OLDER AMERICANS AND GUTTING MEDICARE BY $25 BILLION — ALL TO PAY FOR SPECIAL TAX BREAKS FOR MILLIONAIRES AND BIG CORPORATIONS

Congressional Budget Office: Republican Tax Bill Will Result In 13 Million More Uninsured People. “The number of people with health insurance would decrease by 4 million in 2019 and 13 million in 2027.” [CBO, 11/8/17]

Center For American Progress: Senate Tax Bill Will Result In 287,000 More Uninsured In Virginia, 28,800 More In Rep. Comstock’s District.[Center for American Progress, 11/16/17, 12/5/17]

CBO: Average Premiums Will Increase By 10 Percent In Most Years Of The Next Decade Due To The Republican Tax Bill. “Average premiums in the nongroup market would increase by about 10 percent in most years of the decade (with no changes in the ages of people purchasing insurance accounted for) relative to CBO’s baseline projections.” [CBO, 11/8/17]

Center For American Progress: Marketplace Premiums For A Typical Middle-Class Family In Virginia Will Rise By $2,140 In 2019. [Center for American Progress, 11/16/17]

CBO: Healthier People Less Likely To Purchase Health Coverage, Raising Costs For Everyone Else. “Those effects would occur mainly because healthier people would be less likely to obtain insurance and because, especially in the nongroup market, the resulting increases in premiums would cause more people to not purchase insurance.” [CBO, 11/8/17]

AARP: Premiums For People Over 50 Would Increase Up To $1,500 Nationally, And Up To $1,600 In Virginia, Because Of Health Care Repeal In The Republican Tax Bill. “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as reported by the Senate Finance Committee on Nov. 16, 2017 includes a new provision that would both reduce health care coverage and increase costs for millions of Americans. Older adults ages 50–64 would be at particularly high risk under the proposal, facing average premium increases of up to $1,500 in 2019 as a result of the bill.” [AARP, 11/21/17]

CBO: Republican Tax Bill Would Trigger A $25 Billion Cut To Medicare.“Without enacting subsequent legislation to either offset that deficit increase, waive the recordation of the bill’s impact on the scorecard, or otherwise mitigate or eliminate the requirements of the PAYGO law, OMB would be required to issue a sequestration order within 15 days of the end of the session of Congress to reduce spending in fiscal year 2018 by the resultant total of $136 billion. However, the PAYGO law limits reductions to Medicare to four percentage points (or roughly $25 billion for that year), leaving about $111 billion to be sequestered from the remaining mandatory accounts.” [CBO, 11/14/17]

Center For American Progress: Virginia Would See A $546 Million Cut In Medicare Funds. [Center for American Progress, 11/16/17]

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL): Republicans Need To Cut Medicare Next To Pay For Tax Cuts. “‘I analyze this very differently than most,’ Rubio told the crowd. ‘Many argue that you can’t cut taxes because it will drive up the deficit. But we have to do two things. We have to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future,’ the senator said.” [Financial Advisor Magazine, 11/30/17]

Center On Budget And Policy Priorities: “Senate Tax Bill Would Add 13 Million To Uninsured To Pay For Tax Cuts Of Nearly $100,000 Per Year For The Top 0.1 Percent.” “The savings from eliminating the mandate would come entirely from reducing health coverage. For example, the federal government would spend less on premium tax credits because fewer people would sign up for marketplace coverage, less on Medicaid because fewer people would enroll, and less on the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance because fewer employees would enroll in job-based coverage. These savings are what let Senate leaders make their full corporate rate cut permanent…The benefits of corporate rate cuts go overwhelmingly to high-income households.” [CBPP, 11/15/17]

PASSING ALEXANDER-MURRAY AFTER VOTING FOR REPEAL IS LIKE INSTALLING GUARDRAILS ON THE HIGHWAY AFTER YOUR CAR HAS GONE OVER THE CLIFF

CBO: Passing Alexander-Murray After The Repeal Of The Individual Responsibility Provision Would Not Undo The Damage. “In your letter of November 21, 2017, you asked about the combined effects of simultaneously passing the BHCSA and legislation that would repeal the requirement that most U.S. citizens and noncitizens who lawfully reside in the country have health insurance meeting specified standards. Specifically, you asked if legislation that combined the provisions would change the agencies’ previous estimates of the number of people with insurance coverage or premiums in the nongroup insurance market. In the estimate for the BHCSA, the agencies wrote that, relative to the Summer 2017 baseline, the legislation would not substantially change the number of people with health insurance coverage, on net.” [CBO, 11/29/17]

There Is No Guarantee Alexander-Murray Would Pass The House, Let Alone Become Law. There is no guarantee Alexander-Murray would pass the House, let alone become law. Speaker Ryan dodged questions about its fate in the House. House conservatives called it a “nonstarter.” And President Trump has been all over the map on this issue his word cannot be trusted.

THE LEADING EXPERTS — PATIENT GROUPS, INSURERS, DOCTORS AND HOSPITALS — AND MORE THAN 2,400 FAITH LEADERS AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OPPOSE HEALTH REPEAL

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, And 16 More Leading Patient Groups: People With “Serious Health Care Needs” And With Pre-Existing Conditions “May Not Be Able To Afford Coverage.” “Many individuals with serious health care needs, including patients with chronic or major health conditions, who by definition, have a pre-existing condition, may not be able to afford coverage.” [The Hill, 11/28/17]

America’s Health Insurance Plans, American Academy Of Family Physicians, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Federation Of American Hospitals: Leading Industry Groups Warn Of “Serious Consequences” Should The Mandate Be Repealed. “As providers of healthcare and coverage to hundreds of millions of Americans, we are committed to assuring everyone has access to a range of high quality, affordable coverage options so they can access the care they need, regardless of pre-existing conditions. To achieve this critical goal, we are urging you to maintain the individual mandate unless and until Congress can enact a package of reforms to adequately assure a balanced risk pool and prevent extraordinary premium increases.” [Letter, 11/14/17]

More Than 2,400 Faith Leaders: “That The Number Of Uninsured Individuals Would Increase By 13 Million By 2025…Violates Our Faith Teaching.” “The individual mandate is critical to keeping individual market coverage affordable and keeping the individual market stable. By repealing the individual mandate, legislation will cause catastrophic losses in health coverage. The CBO estimates that the number of uninsured individuals would increase by 13 million by 2025, which violates our faith teaching.” [Letter, 11/29/17]

Sean England
In Uncategorized

Protect Our Care Releases “Health Care Wins” Video After Support for Health Care Dominates Big…


Last night, in races across the country, health care proved to be among the most decisive issues. It won in Maine, where the Affordable Care Act was on the ballot for the first time and Medicaid expansion was decisively approved. It won in the Virginia gubernatorial race, where it was the number one issue on the minds of voters. It played an important role in the New Jersey gubernatorial race. It won in numerous Virginia House of Delegates races. And it won across the country, helping those who are pro-health care expansion win races in New Hampshire, Florida and Georgia.

As the political analysts and reporters on cable and local news noted, health care is a winning issue for Democrats. This Protect Our Care video shows just how important an issue it is.

Sean England
In Uncategorized

Support For Health Care Dominates 2017 Elections

From the night’s most important race — Virginia voters overwhelmingly cited health care as the most important issue and picked Ralph Northam by 54 points — to the Affordable Care’s first time on a state ballot — Maine voters “easily approved” a referendum expanding Medicaid — health care was the dominant issue across the country in the 2017 elections.

In New Hampshire, Mayor-Elect Joyce Craig broke with the incumbent mayor to endorse Medicaid expansion and won a decisive victory; in Virginia delegate races, candidate after candidate backed Medicaid expansion and came away with upset wins; and in Florida, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, an outspoken supporter of the Affordable Care Act, was re-elected in a hotly-contested race. And as the AP reports, with Utah and Idaho looking to expand Medicaid too, last night could be just the start…

Washington Post: In Virginia, the network exit poll asked respondents which one of five issues mattered most in deciding their vote for governor: 39 percent said health care, far more than any other issue. And health-care focused voters favored Northam by a giant 77 percent to 23 percent margin in preliminary exit polls.

Axios: Exit polls in Virginia showed that health care was the №1 issue for a plurality of voters — and 78% of those voters broke for Democrat Ralph Northam. Virginia already had a Democratic governor. The party’s immense gains in the state legislature, where past efforts to expand Medicaid failed, are what move it closer to reality.

CNBC: The Virginia results increased the likelihood that the state will vote to expand Medicaid under Obamacare. Republicans had blocked outgoing Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe from achieving that goal. At the same time, voters in Maine took Medicaid expansion into their own hands by approving it in a referendum that overpowered opposition from Republican Gov. Paul LePage. Entrenching the expansion in a 32nd state — where Sen. Susan Collins has already cast a key vote against Obamacare repeal — makes Trump’s hope for reviving that effort even more remote.

Washington Post: Less than two months after Republicans’ latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act imploded, a purple state just made a decidedly blue-state move to essentially expand Obamacare. On Tuesday, Maine became the first state to expand Medicaid with a ballot initiative. And it passed overwhelmingly: Maine voters agreed to grant health care to an estimated 70,000 low-income residents by a nearly 20-percentage point margin by the time the measure was called by election watchers. In other words, a sizable number of voters in Maine just voted to do the exact opposite of what the state’s Republican governor and Republicans in Washington have been trying to do.

Richmond Times-Dispatch: The potentially stunning reversal of power in the House could break a political logjam over expansion of Medicaid in Virginia under the Affordable Care Act, if the federal law survives further attacks by Trump and Republicans in Congress. “It means that we will move forward with Medicaid expansion and have health care for everyone who needs it,” declared [Delegate-elect Debra Rodman], who made the issue a centerpiece of her campaign… “I will fight every day to protect our public schools, expand access to affordable health care, and create an economy that works for everybody,” [Delegate-elect Schuler VanValkenburg] said in his victory statement.

USA Today: Chris Hurst, 30, supported stricter gun safety measures, but centered his campaign around other issues including an expansion of Medicaid and increased funding for schools. Hurst was one of several upset winners in state House elections Tuesday that could tip the majority to Democrats when the final recounts are completed. “We can seize on this opportunity to expand Medicaid in the Commonwealth so that everybody who is working but living in poverty can have access to health insurance,” Hurst told a crowd of ecstatic supporters in Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech.

The Intercept: In a wide-ranging interview, [Delegate Bob Marshall] doubled down on hardline right-wing positions on issues like Medicaid expansion and transgender rights… When asked about blocking a Medicaid expansion that could benefit 400,000 people, he was defensive, suggesting that it’s simply too expensive. “Tell me which school program or transportation program you want to cut? You tell me, then I’ll tell you whether I agree with you or not,” he said, suggesting that expanding Medicaid would mean cutting other things. When asked why the state can’t just fund both things, given that the federal government is taking the lion’s share of Medicaid funding, he simply responded that it’s the same tax dollars. We followed up by asking about people who don’t receive care because they can’t afford it. “Excuse me, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Anybody can get emergency care at any hospital which services Medicaid, that’s a federal law,” he responded. We followed up once more, pointing out that people are going bankrupt from health care bills and that you can’t treat a long-term chronic condition through emergency room visits. “You are of an era that the only answers are coupled to federal money,” he said, pointing at us. But it appears that his era just ended.”

Politico: In his victory speech to supporters at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, Murphy tied his win to a backlash against the Trump administration. “We will stand firm for New Jersey’s values and push back against the mean winds blowing at us from Washington D.C.,” Murphy said, decrying “mean-spirited actions to gut our health care.”

New Hampshire Public Radio: The two candidates more or less saw eye to eye on the issue — that is, except when it came to re-upping Medicaid expansion. When asked by host Laura Knoy whether she’d advocate for keeping the state’s Medicaid Expansion program going, Craig replied, “absolutely,” saying it was crucial to addressing the drug epidemic. Gatsas on the other hand — said he wanted to wait to see what state lawmakers would do.

WMUR: Manchester voters have decided that the city will have its first-ever woman mayor in January, when Mayor-elect Joyce Craig takes the oath of office. The former alderman and school board member ousted four-term Mayor Ted Gatsas on Tuesday, winning nine of the city’s 12 wards.

Florida Politics: “Make no mistake, there is a fight in Washington D.C. about the future of health care,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. The mayor, facing a reelection election tomorrow that is too close to call, used the opportunity to tout his Healthy St. Pete initiative, which has been led by Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin.

WTSP: Rick Kriseman defeated Rick Baker with 51 percent of the vote to earn a second term as mayor.

AP: The referendum represents the first time since the law took effect that the question of expansion had been put in front of U.S. voters… This may not be the last state vote. Backers of Medicaid expansion in Idaho and Utah have started similar efforts to get the question on the 2018 ballots in their own states.

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