Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
At August Recess Town Hall Meetings, Colo. Sen. Faces Health Policy Heat
U.S. Sen. Gardner took the stage at the second of three town halls Tuesday to a mixture of cheers and boos and, despite efforts by his aides to encourage attendees to ask a wider variety of questions, faced many inquiries on health care. They centered on his lack of support for single-payer care, what he’d do to prevent the disadvantaged from losing Medicaid and his reasons to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, when many his constituents don’t want him to. (Douglas, 8/15)
Sen. Cory Gardner was hammered for supporting Obamacare repeal during a series of raucous town halls on Tuesday, where constituents repeatedly criticized his role in a closed-door partisan process to draft the failed GOP health bill. Gardner, who’s responsible for protecting the GOP majority in the Senate in 2018, faced heated criticism over the repeal effort that collapsed just a few weeks ago, even as congressional leaders try to pivot to tax reform when they return from the lengthy recess next month. (Pradhan, 8/15)
Coloradans pressed Sen. Cory Gardner on health care during the Republican’s first solo, in-person town hall in more than a year. Gardner wasn’t the only Republican senator who faced angry constituents this week, as Sen. Johnny Isakson held a contentious town hall in Georgia on Monday. The two Republicans heard a similar tune from their respective crowds, as people voiced concerns over healthcare. (Stewart, 8/15)
