What the 2018 Midterm Elections Mean for Health Care

The Democrats’ consistent focus and messaging on health care and the risks that the Republicans posed to protections provided by the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—especially coverage protections for people with pre‐existing conditions—proved to be a winning theme for the 2018 midterm elections. Although the directional effects of the election outcome were widely predicted before the election was even held on November 6, the exact numbers of Republicans and Democrats elected remained in dispute far longer than seems reasonable with recounts, runoffs, and court challenges. As expected, Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives and Republicans retained control of the Senate, adding two seats to expand their previous narrow margin of 51‐49.