Obamacare less popular than its synonym, the Affordable Care Act
Obama says he's happy to let Trump take up the healthcare reform mantle, even offering to let him call the replacement Trumpcare.
Obama came to embrace the eponymous act—which some labeled a blunder. But whether his fault or a miracle of the spin machine, Obamacare is much less popular than its real name, the Affordable Care Act. E.g., eighty percent of Republicans favor creating insurance pools, arguably the law's central innovation.
Jan 9, 2017Behavioral science shows that people are biased in favor of the status quo, and have a tendency to avoid cognitively onerous activities like reevaluating the health insurance plan they are on.
↩︎ STAT
Republicans dither over how best to dice up Obamacare
Even if Senate Republicans seem to be mellowing on the idea of going forward with an immediate repeal, an enormous range of benefits are at risk.
Susan Collins from Maine isn't ready without more information about the replacement, but that isn't so much of a surprise as the fact that Senators Paul, Cotton, and Corker agree they need to see a replacement before repeal.
But don't hold your breath: Trump's specter looms so large above the whole thing enrollment has already started going down.
Obamacare succeeded, in a sample of 15 million cases, in reducing readmission
Applying fees successfully changed behavior of hospitals with high rates of patients who had trouble after leaving care.
Jan 9, 2017Donald Trump’s Republican Congress convened only three days ago, and members are already finding that eliminating Obamacare will be far messier, politically, than devising and implementing it was for Democrats.
↩︎ The New Republic
Universal childcare remains a political goal—and it's almost been a reality twice
Hillary Clinton's goal was to double the child tax credit to spur childcare, an important public health investment, "the most important investment in lifelong health and well-being."
Universal childcare was almost a reality in the United States not once but twice, once in the '40s and then again in the '70s. Today, it remains highly inaccessible for working families, with “childcare deserts” in half the ZIP codes in a recent study.
Universal childcare remains a political goal, though of course we don’t have much to look forward to from the White House on that front.
The Editors' Longreads Picks
- An excellent essay on poverty and writing by Starr Davis. Updated May 31, 2022
- Novelist Héctor Tobar tries to understand the 1992 Los Angeles riots through the experiences of a single high school.
- Steven Johnson with a long assessment of the current state of A.I. and language. (The illusion has gotten very good.)
Welcome to The Morning News Tournament of Books, 2017 edition.
- Our championship match is decided in the Tournament of Books, with news of a Rooster surprise debuting this summer. Updated Mar 31, 2017
- In Thursday's action, Reyhan Harmanci sets up a colossal final.
- The Zombie round opens with Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald reading The Nix and The Underground Railroad.
Все ваши Белый дом принадлежит нам.
- "Will Putin expose the failings of American democracy or will he inadvertently expose the strength of American democracy?" Updated Mar 3, 2017
- Wilbur Ross just wanted to make some money in ethically gray areas (that should've prevented him from taking office).
- Jeff Sessions's spokeswoman can't help but continue to lie.
The oceans are under assault, and not just from the White House and friends.
- Trump's assault on the environment begins with American headwaters. Updated Mar 1, 2017
- Don't just blame the oil companies for destroying the oceans—blame sushi restaurants.
- Nothing escapes the deepest trenches of the ocean floor. Not light, not nutrients, not pollutants.