All Dem (and doc) hands on deck to get Medicare drug negotiation/ACA subsidy boosts across the finish line

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It struck my eye last week  that Doctors for America, a physician advocacy group that supports single-payer healthcare, saw fit to call on member docs (via email) to lobby for what's left of the Democrats' reconciliation bill:

This is a decisive week in Congress with the Senate poised to vote on several crucial pieces of legislation, including allowing the HHS Secretary to negotiate for Medicare drug pricing, out-of-pocket caps in Part D, and rebates for price increases exceeding inflation. There are also new provisions to make vaccines free for Medicare beneficiaries, to stabilize premiums, and expand the Medicare low-income subsidy programs.

We hope the Senate will move forward with a meaningful reconciliation package that includes the drug price provisions before the August recess. But we need to apply pressure to do so.  Remind your senators to choose #PatientsOverPolitics and pass the reconciliation bill this week, including all of the health care provisions promised to the American people. 

Framing the battle for the House in New Jersey: Healthcare!

At BlueWaveNJ, I've been part of a team that's produced print handouts to frame the healthcare debate in three battleground congressional districts:

• NJ-3, where Obama admin alum Andy Kim is challenging Tom MacArthur, the "moderate" who brought the AHCA, Paul Ryan's ACA repeal bill, back from the dead with an amendment allowing states to re-introduce medical underwriting in the individual market.


• NJ-7, where Tom Malinowski, Obama's former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, is challenging Leonard Lance, a relative moderate who voted against the AHCA after voting to "repeal, defund or dismantle" the ACA (his words) more than forty times.

• NJ-11, where current House Budget Committee Chair Rodney Frelinghuysen is retiring, and Tea Party darling/state rep Jay Webber, a blood enemy of Planned Parenthood, is running against former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor Mikie Sherrill.

Of the three, Malinowski has the most detailed and thoughtful healthcare policy positions, including support for a broad Medicare opt-in plan like the Center for American Progress's  Medicare Extra plan. But the focus in each of these pieces is really on the Republican's buy-in  to Team GOP's recent attempts and current plans to dismantle existing healthcare programs -- the ACA, Medicaid, and, ultimately, Medicare -- and the Democrat's commitment to preserving what's already in place.

Below the fold, screenshots of each candidate contrast. At bottom, the front of each of these 5&8 "postcards." Going extra large for MacArthur, who's as responsible as anyone for repeal getting so close.