As Democrats swept the House, governorships, and state legislative seats across the country, one common theme emerged: health care won big. Candidates who ran on health care saw much success. Voters in three conservative states elected to expand Medicaid, voters elected governors in Maine and Kansas who ran on Medicaid expansion, and Wisconsin voters elected a governor who vowed to put an end to efforts that would restrict access to Medicaid.
Health care’s big night did not go unnoticed. Check out how it was covered:
Associated Press: Obama’s Health Insurance Overhaul A Winner In Midterms. “The personality looming over the 2018 midterms was President Donald Trump. The issue was health care, the top concern for voters as they decided how to cast their ballots. This week’s election showed a nation increasingly — if belatedly — in step with former President Barack Obama’s approach to it. Health care was the top issue for about one-fourth of voters, ahead of immigration and jobs and the economy, according to VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 115,000 voters and about 22,000 nonvoters conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.” [Associated Press, 11/8/18]
Bloomberg Editorial: A Wave Election For Health-Care Reform. “After an election campaign centered largely on health care, voters delivered their most emphatic message on the issue — not to Congress, but to the governments of red states. Expand Medicaid to cover a bigger share of the low-income population.” [Bloomberg, 11/8/18]
Mother Jones: “Biggest Winner: Obamacare.” “Biggest Winner: Obamacare. Democrats ran on health care and won. Several red states passed Medicaid expansion. The GOP’s lies about pre-existing conditions obviously didn’t stick. And Obamacare itself is now safe for another two years from Republican attempts to repeal it. I hesitate to say this since I’ve said it before, but I think this is the final hoorah. By 2020, Obamacare will be six years old. Republicans will have tried multiple times to repeal it and failed. They will have taken on pre-existing conditions and pre-existing conditions will have walloped them.” [Mother Jones, 11/7/18]
Vox: “Republicans Lost Their House Majority In The 2018 Midterm Elections, And They Can Thank Their Own Obamacare Repeal Efforts.” “Republicans lost their House majority in the 2018 midterm elections, and they can thank their own Obamacare repeal efforts. Democrats campaigned hard against Republicans for backing legislation last year that would unwind the law’s protections for preexisting conditions, and health care came in as the No. 1 issue for voters, according to exit polls…The president went along with the establishment Republican agenda, but repeal proved devastatingly unpopular when the GOP actually tried to pass it, and voters made them, and Trump, pay the price on Election Day. It seems an issue Trump doesn’t care all that much about and doesn’t even really seem to understand very well broke the GOP’s iron grip on Washington…That’s what Trump chose to spend his precious political capital on — an ideologically motivated crusade to cut federal benefits for millions of Americans, a policy platform that almost always leads to electoral disaster.” [Vox, 11/7/18]
Washington Post: On Tuesday Night, GOP Faced “Moment Of Reckoning” On Issue Of ACA. “The GOP faced a moment of reckoning on an issue that helped them ascend to power in 2010 and which some now believe has been part of their downfall…In television ads, stump speeches and debates, Democrats called out Republicans for trying to undo the ACA. They focused attention on the law’s protections for people with preexisting medical conditions and urged voters to envision the consequences of losing those safeguards.” [Washington Post, 11/7/18]
Alyssa Milano: “The American People Sent House Lawmakers A Message: When You Attack Our Health Care, We Will Kick You Out Of Office.” “On Tuesday night, the American people sent House lawmakers a message: When you attack our health care, we will kick you out of office. For nearly two years, Republicans in Congress and the White House repeatedly sabotaged black, white and brown Americans’ access to health care: They thought they could get away with attacking the Affordable Care Act and protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and they were wrong. Let’s be clear: The Republican Party attacked Americans’ access to health care — and it cost them the House of Representatives.” [CNN, 11/7/18]
Vox: “Medicaid Had A Stunning Victory At The Polls Last Night. “Medicaid had a stunning victory at the polls last night. Three red states — Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah — passed ballot initiatives that will expand the public health insurance programs. Two states — Kansas and Maine — elected governors that are likely to join the Medicaid expansion, too. And one state, Wisconsin, put a Democratic governor in office who could roll back plans to require Medicaid recipients to work.” [Vox, 11/7/18]
NPR: Medicaid Expansion — “A Winning Idea.” “Voters in three traditionally Republican states supported ballot measures to extend Medicaid benefits to more low-income adults. The results highlight the divide between voters, even in conservative states, who generally support providing health benefits to the poor, and conservative politicians who have rejected the expansion, which is a central part of the Affordable Care Act.” [NPR, 11/7/18]
Politico: Tuesday’s Big Winner: Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion. “Tuesday’s election will likely bring Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, which nearly two-thirds of states have adopted, to the most conservative parts of the country. It could soon come to Kansas, where Democratic Gov.-elect Laura Kelly defeated Republican Kris Kobach, a close ally of President Donald Trump. Kansas lawmakers approved Medicaid expansion last year, but then-Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed it.” [Politico, 11/7/18]
HuffPost: “Republicans Fought The Health Care Law And The Health Care Law Won.” “Republicans fought the health care law and the health care law won….And it was the GOP’s repeal effort specifically that ended up causing the party so many problems, in no small part because Democrats did everything they could to make it an issue. In district after district, state after state, Republicans came under withering attack for trying to take away Medicaid and, especially, for trying to take away protections for people with pre-existing conditions.” [HuffPost, 11/7/18]
Politico: “Democrats Ran On Obamacare And, Finally, Sailed To Victory.” “Democrats ran on Obamacare and, finally, sailed to victory. The party that bet on surging enthusiasm for the Affordable Care Act flipped control of the House Tuesday night in what could amount to a major reset of the political direction on health care. Democrats also made gains at the state level, wins in gubernatorial races that could prompt new expansions of Medicaid and energize lawmakers, who can claim they have a mandate to further build on a law that serves as the bedrock of their domestic agenda. Voters in three states also approved Medicaid expansion through the ballot, defying Republican officials who long refused the program. But Republicans kept – and enlarged – their Senate majority.” [Politico, 11/6/18]