Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Coronavirus makes Republicans look sick on health care
On Monday, when the Florida House briefly shut down because of coronavirus fears, Republicans did this:
They passed House Bill 1059, labeled as a “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” Among other things, it would make it easier for parents to refuse vaccinations for their children.
As researchers work furiously to develop a vaccine for the disease that is near pandemic stage and threatens the global economy, Republicans would make it harder to contain the next outbreak. Among the yes votes were state Reps. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, and Michael Caruso, R-Delray Beach.
Under current law, parents can refuse to vaccinate children for medical reasons or by using a religious exemption. There is no personal exemption.
But based on the recurrence of measles, which the United States had eradicated, Florida should end the oftenabused religious exemption. HB 1059 would take Florida in the opposite — and dangerous — direction.
Many health experts believe that this coronavirus — COVID-19 — will become endemic, reoccurring every season like the flu. A COVID-19 vaccine thus would become an annual procedure.
Many Americans, however, don’t even get the flu vaccine. For 2018-19, the coverage rate was just 45.3%. The rate for children was 62.6%.
One might argue that COVID-19 fears would force even skeptics to get vaccinated. But with President Trump calling the disease a “hoax” and many of his science-denying right-wing media allies echoing that theme, who knows?
Before the epidemic, Trump and congressional Republicans may have thought that they wouldn’t have to dwell on health care during their campaigns. Though the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this year on the GOP’s attempt — which Trump supports — to overturn the Affordable Care Act, the court won’t rule until 2021.
But they will have no such luck. Indeed, from Trump on down, the near pandemic has refocused attention on health care and made Republicans look like buffoons.
Last week, Trump tried to pass himself off as a public health expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He claimed that coronavirus tests were available nationwide. They weren’t.
This week, Trump’s Florida cheerleader — U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz — had to self-quarantine. During debate on the $8.3 billion coronavirus response bill, Gaetz wore a gas mask to mock the severity of the outbreak.
Closer to home, Gov. Ron DeSantis presides over bureaucratic paralysis as Florida responds to the epidemic. The main policies of the Florida Department of Health appears to be making virus testing as restrictive as possible and stonewalling the public on developments.
DeSantis’ fellow Republican, Sen. Rick Scott, demanded more transparency. In a letter to federal and state health officials, Scott called the lack of information about deaths in Lee and Santa Rosa counties “alarming.” But Scott has no high ground on this issue.
As governor, Scott — like Trump — cut money for public health. He refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Both actions made it harder for the state to fight the Zika virus outbreak in 2016.
And remember that Scott and DeSantis are jockeying to be Florida’s top Republican presidential candidate in 2024. Scott has every reason for trying to look good at the governor’s expense.
Finally, there’s Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump will dump from the ticket if he doesn’t make the administration’s coronavirus response look at least mildly competent. As a New York Times article put it, Pence is Trump’s “political janitor.”
Pence, however, made another mess on Monday. He claimed that because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had designated the coronavirus test an “essential health benefit,” all insurance plans would cover it.
Not really. A fellow at the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Institute for Health Policy told Kaiser Health News, “There are many things wrong with that statement.”
Ironically, by referring to “essential health benefit,” Pence was borrowing from the Affordable Care Act, for which his administration has no replacement if the courts abolish it. Cheaper plans that Trump has touted don’t come with that mandatory coverage.
Perhaps the Florida Senate will reject the “Parents Bill of Rights.” Perhaps congressional Republicans will see the threat that the Trump administration’s coronavirus stumbles pose for their party in November. As an issue, health care is coming at the GOP. What will be the party’s response?