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Health care is a top issue for voters in this fall's presidential election, with Americans still divided over the Affordable Care Act. Yamiche Alcindor and Lisa Desjardins explain the policies of President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, and William Brangham talks to Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania and the Hoover Institution’s Lanhee Chen for analysis. (9/8)

Keeping the Affordable Care Act (ACA) -- with improvements -- is the big centerpiece of Joe Biden's healthcare platform. Biden's plan calls for keeping the ACA in place but also adding a "public option," which Biden says will be "like Medicare." "As in Medicare, the Biden public option will reduce costs for patients by negotiating lower prices from hospitals and other healthcare providers," Biden says on his campaign website. "It also will better coordinate among all of a patient's doctors to improve the efficacy and quality of their care, and cover primary care without any co-payments. And it will bring relief to small businesses struggling to afford coverage for their employees." (Frieden, 9/8)

Health care defined the 2018 midterms, with Democrats across the spectrum crediting a consistent message about defending Obamacare, protecting people with pre-existing conditions and reining in prescription drug prices as the key to taking back the House of Representatives. So while it is no surprise that the coronavirus is by far the most popular topic in political advertising this year — dominating the presidential, Senate and House races with nearly 40 percent of all political ads — it is also unsurprising to see health care becoming a central advertising issue, particularly in congressional races. (Corasaniti, 9/8)

A Democratic doctor campaigning for Senate in Kansas is betting she can leverage her health care record into a stunning November upset — the latest sign that policies like drug prices, “surprise” medical bills, and health insurance costs remain top of mind for American voters. The surprisingly close race, in an otherwise deep-red state, is hyper-focused on health care: The Democratic nominee, Barbara Bollier, is a former anesthesiologist and bioethicist, and has campaigned aggressively on policies to expand the state’s Medicaid program, allow Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices, and outlaw “surprise” medical bills. The Republican, Rep. Roger Marshall, is a practicing OB-GYN who figured prominently into his party’s 2017 attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and continues to campaign on a “repeal and replace” health care platform. (Facher, 9/9)