In election glow, Dems see health care as a winning issue

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FILE – In this June 10, 2013 file photo, Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., speaks in Trenton, N.J. Emboldened by election wins, Democrats are starting to see health care as an issue that gives them a political edge, particularly widening access to Medicaid for low-income people. “I honestly believe that if you had a referendum on expanding Medicaid in most of the states that don’t have it, it would win,” said Pallone, the senior Democrat on the House committee that oversees the program. “People know the value of Medicaid in a way that they didn’t before.”(AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) less

Photo: Mel Evans, STF

In this Feb. 21, 2017, file photo, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., speaks at a news conference in Seattle. Emboldened by election wins, Democrats are starting to see health care as an issue that gives them a political edge, particularly widening access to Medicaid for low-income people. “I think health care is a driving motivator for Democrats to elect people who will not take it away,” said Murray, ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) less

Photo: Elaine Thompson, STF

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., accompanied by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., right, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, after she and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., say they have the “basic outlines” of a bipartisan deal to resume payments to health insurers that President Donald Trump has blocked. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) less
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., accompanied by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., right, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 17, … more

Photo: Andrew Harnik, STF

WASHINGTON – Emboldened by election wins, Democrats are starting to see a political edge in health care, particularly widening Medicaid access for more low-income people.

In Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam promised a vigorous push as governor to expand Medicaid. Voters who said health care was important went decisively for Northam, according to political analysts. In Maine, voters defied Republican Gov. Paul Le-Page’s determined opposition by passing a referendum to expand Medicaid to cover an estimated 70,000 more residents.

“Democratic voters have a lot of reasons they are angry at President Trump and Republicans in Congress,” said GOP pollster Bill McInturff. “These voters are intensely focused on wanting to see health care coverage expanded, not cut back, and efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have contributed to their intensity and turnout.”

During Barack Obama’s presidency, health care was often seen as a political liability for Democrats. In 2010, they lost their House majority following the bitter battle to pass the ACA with no Republican support. In 2014, Democrats gave up the Senate a year after the Obama administration fumbled the rollout of HealthCare.gov.

A shift in opinion

But public opinion seems to have shifted amid widespread opposition to Trump-backed “repeal and replace” bills that would have left millions uninsured and made it harder for people with pre-existing health problems to get coverage. The GOP bills not only would have repealed the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, but also would have limited future federal financing for the entire program, even prompting opposition from some Republican governors.

“I think health care is a driving motivator for Democrats to elect people who will not take it away,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee “What’s happened in the past six months is that Medicaid went from a hidden thing to something everyone has heard about. Before, nobody said, ‘I’m on Medicaid.’ Now we know it’s our next-door neighbor.”

Medicaid is a federal-state health program that covers about 75 million Americans, or about 1 in 5. Beneficiaries include elderly nursing home residents, severely disabled people of any age, and many newborns and pregnant women. Under the ACA, it was expanded to cover more low-income adults, who in many cases work jobs that don’t provide health insurance.

Before Maine’s vote, 31 states and Washington, D.C., had expanded Medicaid under ACA. Now Maine-style referendum campaigns are planned in at least three states – Alaska, Idaho and Utah. In Alaska, which has expanded Medicaid, voters will be asked if they want to preserve the expansion even if Washington decides to roll back federal financing.

Powerful support

Medicaid expansion has the support of the hospital industry and the medical community, influential interest groups in just about every state.

Polling expert Robert Blendon says what’s changing is not so much that Americans have suddenly fallen for “Obamacare,” but that there’s a growing belief that government does have a responsibility to make coverage available and affordable.

“The Obamacare weapon was great for Republicans until you debated what the Republican alternative was,” said Blendon, who teaches at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “The alternative can’t be dropping people and taking away protection for pre-existing conditions.”

Using Medicaid to cover low-wage workers is popular with the public, he added, at a time when many jobs don’t come with benefits once considered standard.

The Trump administration seems to be moving in a different direction, however.

In an Election Day speech to state Medicaid officials, the top administration official overseeing the program took issue with Medicaid expansion.

“The thought that a program designed for our most vulnerable citizens should be used as a vehicle to serve working age, able-bodied adults does not make sense,” Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Tuesday.

Verma said the goal should be to help working-age adults “move up, move on, and move out,” underscoring the administration’s willingness to approve state requests for work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries.

Article source: http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/nation/article/In-election-glow-Dems-see-health-care-as-a-12342944.php