Democrats Can Claim Victory on Health Care
Shifts in the debate over Obamacare, including increased coverage for lower-income Americans, are likely to be enduring.
A winning issue for Democrats.
Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North AmericaDemocrats did their utmost to make the 2018 U.S. midterm elections about health care, with an assist from Republican efforts to dismantle the increasingly popular Affordable Care Act. They appear to have succeeded, at least in part.
Intense focus on Republican efforts to erode the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions helped propel Democrats to a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010, if not control of the Senate. Even if it wasn’t quite a blue wave, this election has arguably shifted the country’s health-care debate and reality in a way that will have a lasting impact. A GOP-led repeal of Obamacare is off the table, quite possibly for good. Democrats can also cheer another likely result: the expansion of Medicaid coverage to more low-income Americans.