Obamacare enrollment hits 4 million
Los Angeles Times
February 25, 2014
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-obamacare-enrollment-hits-4-million-20140225,0,3967173.story#axzz2uRLkhhMN
Enrollment in health plans sold on marketplaces created by President Obama’s healthcare law has hit 4 million, the administration announced Tuesday, marking another milestone in the law’s implementation. The number suggests sign-ups have continued at a brisk pace in February, with about 700,000 people selecting an insurance plan so far this month.
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Study Questions Benefits of 'Medical Home' Programs for Chronically Ill
The Wall Street Journal
February 25, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304834704579405444193946228
Health-policy experts often talk up the notion of a "patient-center medical home"—in which a medical practice actively manages patients' chronic conditions to improve their health and avoid hospitalizations—as the ideal model for transforming the U.S. health-care system. But a study of one of the earliest and largest medical-home pilots found that after three years, patients' health improved in only 1 of 11 measures. There was no change in hospital or emergency-room use, and no significant cost savings.
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Obama: Health insurance enrollment at 4 million
The Washington Post
February 25, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/obama-health-insurance-enrollment-at-4-million/2014/02/25/6ed63040-9e76-11e3-878c-65222df220eb_story.html
President Barack Obama says about 4 million people have signed up for health insurance through federal or state marketplaces set up under his health care law. The White House has set an unofficial goal of 7 million enrollees by the end of March. Obama on Tuesday urged his most vocal supporters to help sign up as many people as possible for the federal health care law by that deadline.
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AP Exclusive: Health law cybersecurity challenges
The Washington Post
February 25, 2014
http://www.news.nom.co/ap-exclusive-health-law-cybersecurity-8169517-news/
As the Obama administration raced to meet its self-imposed deadline for online health insurance markets, security experts working for the government worried that state computer systems could become a back door for hackers. Documents provided to The Associated Press show that more than two-thirds of state systems that were supposed to tap into federal computers to verify sensitive personal information for coverage were initially rated as “high risk” for security problems.
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Planned Parenthood applauds high court decision on abortion law
The Hill
February 24, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/abortion/199040-planned-parenthood-applauds-scotus-for-not-reviewing-abortion-law
Planned Parenthood applauded the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday not to review a lower court’s ruling that allows women in Arizona to access its health centers’ services.  “This ruling is a victory for Arizona women and their families,” said Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, in a statement. “The men and women of this state have the right to see the health care provider they deem is best for them. Thousands of low-income women rely on Planned Parenthood for breast and cervical cancer screenings, birth control, and other basic health care.  Politics should never interfere with a woman’s access to vital services.”  In 2012, a federal district court in Arizona ruled that a state law violated the federal Medicaid Act, which protects patients’ healthcare decisions.
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Obama’s claim that 7 million got ‘access to health care for the first time’ because of his Medicaid expansion
The Washington Post
February 24, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/02/24/obamas-claim-that-7-million-got-access-to-health-care-for-the-first-time-because-of-obamacares-medicaid-expansion/
“We’ve got close to 7 million Americans who have access to health care for the first time because of Medicaid expansion.” – President Obama, remarks during dinner with the Democratic Governors Association, Feb. 20, 2014.  The Fact Checker has written several times about the fuzziness of the Medicaid numbers issued by the Obama administration. But it is like playing whack-a-mole. Every time we rap someone for getting it wrong, the same problem pops up someplace else.
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Obama Administration Proposes 1.9% Cut In Medicare Advantage Payments
Kaiser Health News
February 24, 2014
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/February/21/Medicare-Advantage-plans-federal-payment.aspx
An Obama administration announcement about payment rates for Medicare Advantage plans in 2015 has set off a dispute about how large – or small – the changes really are.  Late Friday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced proposed rates that officials said could mean payment reductions of 1.9 percent for the private plans in the program.  But insurers, who have led a fierce lobbying campaign against payment reductions, say the Medicare Advantage plans would sustain a far deeper cut. That's because the lower payment rates will be combined with new health law fees on health plans, a phase-out of the "star rating" system that helped buffer the reductions for Medicare Advantage plans in prior years and Medicare cuts in the automatic federal spending cuts known as "sequestration."
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Week ahead: Team Obama to push healthcare enrollment
The Hill
February 24, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/199028-week-ahead-team-obama-to-push-healthcare
The Obama administration will pull out all the stops this week to encourage ObamaCare sign-ups as the clock runs out on the 2014 enrollment period.  With roughly five weeks left before the deadline, Vice President Biden will make two talk-show appearances to promote the healthcare law to viewers who may have tuned out other advertising.  Biden is scheduled to appear on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Monday and “The View” on Tuesday, where ObamaCare will be the central topic of discussion.  The Affordable Care Act could also get free publicity from Michelle Obama’s media blitz marking the fourth anniversary of her Let’s Move! campaign.  The first lady will almost certainly urge the uninsured to sign up for coverage at one of a long list of healthy-eating events this week.
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GOP intent on highlighting health care woes
The Washington Post
February 24, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/gop-intent-on-highlighting-health-care-woes/2014/02/24/97e108c4-9d2d-11e3-8112-52fdf646027b_story.html
House Republicans intent on highlighting the woes of President Barack Obama’s health care law need to look no further than their own back yards, some of which are traditionally liberal strongholds.  Maryland’s online health care exchange has been plagued by computer glitches since its rollout last year, reflected in abysmal enrollment numbers well below projections through January. The state’s lone Republican in Congress, Rep. Andy Harris, has asked the inspector general of the federal Health and Human Services Department to investigate.
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Shumlin: 'Websites get fixed'
Politico
February 23, 2014
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2014/02/shumlin-websites-get-fixed-183803.html?hp=l5
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin says the problems with the Affordable Care Act rollout are getting fixed — and that Republicans were boxing themselves in politically by focusing on failures instead of the successes.  “Websites get fixed. We’re fixing ours. They’re fixing theirs. The federal exchange is working better," the Democratic governor said on “Fox News Sunday." "The problem with the Republican governors in my view on this one is: Listen, I have people come up to me every day and say, ‘Thank you, governor. I finally have health care I can afford.’”  Sitting on a panel with Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, Shumlin said the refusal of some GOP governors — including Walker — to accept federal money was driven solely by animus toward President Barack Obama.
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Virginia and other states wrestle with whether to expand Medicaid under Affordable Care Act
The Washington Post
February 23, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-and-other-states-wrestle-with-whether-to-expand-medicaid-under-affordable-care-act/2014/02/23/b0b1e0fe-9b0b-11e3-9080-5d1d87a6d793_story.html
It was a purely symbolic vote, but Gov. Terry McAuliffe desperately wanted it to go his way.  The Democratic governor summoned at least four Republican delegates to his office one by one last week, twisting their arms to support expanding Medicaid in a floor vote the GOP was forcing just for show.  The effort backfired. Not only did the House trounce expansion later that day, but one of the four accused McAuliffe of threatening to kill a jobs program in his economically distressed district if he did not go along.
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Impact Of Medicare Advantage Cuts On Seniors Sharply Disputed
Kaiser Health News
February 23, 2014
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/February/24/Medicare-Advantage-React.aspx
Seniors enrolled in Aetna’s Medicare Advantage plan In Baltimore County, Md., saw their monthly premiums rise from $33 to $51 this year.  Enrollees in HealthNow New York, a Medicare HMO in upstate Erie County, saw their premiums jump from zero to $28 a month.  Those in UnitedHealthcare’s plan in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, pay $15 more to see a specialist this year, bringing their total co-pay to $45.   The health insurance industry points to these examples as some of the more extreme cases of beneficiaries feeling the sting of federal funding cuts to Medicare Advantage plans that cover nearly 16 million senior citizens. They say the Obama administration’s additional proposed 1.9 percent in cuts to the plans for 2015, which was announced Friday, will mean millions more will see reductions in benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs.
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Governors: ‘Obamacare’ here to stay
The Washington Post
February 23, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/governors-obamacare-here-to-stay/2014/02/23/396ffd9e-9ced-11e3-8112-52fdf646027b_story.html
The explosive politics of health care have divided the nation, but America’s governors, Republicans and Democrats alike, suggest that President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is here to stay.  While governors from Connecticut to Louisiana sparred Sunday over how best to improve the nation’s economy, governors of both parties shared a far more pragmatic outlook on the controversial program known as “Obamacare” as millions of their constituents begin to be covered.  “We’re just trying to make the best of a bad situation,” said Republican Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa, who called the health care law “unaffordable and unsustainable” yet something he has to implement by law. “We’re trying to make it work as best we can for the people of Iowa.”
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Health care law’s small-business marketplace not attracting many small businesses
The Washington Post
February 23, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/health-care-laws-small-business-marketplace-not-attracting-many-small-businesses/2014/02/21/64eb830c-9a32-11e3-b931-0204122c514b_story.html
After a slow start, the pace of enrollment is starting to pick up on the health-care law’s new insurance marketplace for individuals and families, with more than 1 million people signing up for coverage last month, including strong showings in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.  It’s a very different story, though, for people trying to enroll through the insurance exchanges designed for small employers.  Small-business owners, who were supposed to gain more choices and cheaper rates from the new online-health-insurance portals, have been slow to select plans through marketplaces since the rollout started last fall. In part, some say, that is because luring employers to the marketplaces has taken a back seat to fixing technical problems and recruiting individuals and families.
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Court: Notre Dame must adhere to ObamaCare birth control mandate
The Hill
February 22, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198972-court-rules-against-notre-dame-on-birth
The University of Notre Dame must provide birth control to employees and students after a federal appeals court ruled Friday, a move the school says will force it to violate its religious beliefs.  In a blow to religious colleges and universities across the country, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago denied Notre Dame's request for an injunction to the ObamaCare birth control mandate that requires the school to provide coverage for contraception.  The injunction would have given Notre Dame a temporary reprieve from the birth control mandate, as the Roman Catholic school challenges the rule in court. But the appeals court ruled 2-1 that the school will have to comply with the rule, even before it hears the court's final decision.
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Hatch on Medicare Advantage Annoucement
Senate Finance Committee
February 21, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=02b4909b-577e-4a6c-9ce6-3566c1aa70fd
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement today after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed cuts to the Medicare Advantage (MA) program:  “These Medicare Advantage cuts are misguided, threaten a successful program for seniors, and must be overturned.  Medicare Advantage is extremely popular for a reason – run through the private market, seniors gain access to high-quality and coordinated care with additional benefits that they otherwise wouldn’t get.  Regrettably, this administration continues to undermine this critical program.”  The MA program, which provides coverage for almost 15 million seniors, allows beneficiaries to gain access through a private insurance plan to not only traditional Medicare in-patient and out-patient care, but additional benefits like vision care and better overall care coordination.
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CMS proposes 2015 payment and policy updates for Medicare Health and Drug Plans
CMS
February 21, 2014
http://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2014-Press-releases-items/2014-02-21-02.html
Beneficiaries can get greater protections, value, and care in the Medicare services they receive through the proposed policies released today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The 2015 Advance Notice and draft Call Letter takes important steps to improve payment accuracy for Medicare Advantage (Part C) for 2015.  The proposed changes for 2015 are smaller than those implemented in 2014 – a year in which CMS expects to exceed its 5 percent enrollment growth projection in Medicare Advantage for 2014.  Since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, Medicare Advantage premiums have fallen by 10 percent and enrollment has increased by nearly 33 percent to an all-time high of approximately 15 million beneficiaries.  Today, nearly 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.  Furthermore, enrollees are benefiting from greater quality as over half of enrollees are now in plans with 4 or more stars, a significant increase from 37 percent of enrollees in such plans in 2013.
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Quality Data Added to Physician Compare Website, Patients Get More Information to Help Find a Doctor
CMS
February 21, 2014
http://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2014-Press-releases-items/2014-02-21.html
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that for the first time, quality measures have been added to Physician Compare, a website that helps consumers search for information about hundreds of thousands of physicians and other health care professionals.  The site helps consumers make informed choices about their care.  “Patients and their families need facts to help them in making important decisions about health care, and choosing the right physician is one of the most important decisions they face,” said CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.  In the first year, 66 group practices and 141 Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) now have quality data publicly reported on Physician Compare.   The data are reported at the group practice and ACO level.
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Next edition of electronic health record technology certification criteria issued
HHS
February 21, 2014
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/02/20140221a.html
The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) today issued proposals for the next edition (the “2015 Edition”) of electronic health record (EHR) technology certification criteria.  This proposed rule marks the first time ONC has proposed an edition of certification criteria separate from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ “meaningful use” regulations. The proposals represent ONC’s new regulatory approach that includes more incremental and frequent rulemaking. This approach allows ONC to update certification criteria more often to reference improved standards, continually improve regulatory clarity, and solicit comments on potential proposals as a way to signal ONC’s interest in a particular topic area.
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HHS announces new Medicare cuts
The Hill
February 21, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/198957-hhs-announces-new-medicare-cuts
The Obama administration ignited a new election-year controversy Friday when regulators handed down fresh cuts to Medicare Advantage (MA).  Next year, plans in the program will see their payments cut by at least 2 percent on average between ObamaCare and a regular annual update, the announcement stated.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) argued that the reductions will help to strengthen the program — an increasingly popular alternative to traditional Medicare — and guard against waste.  "We are making certain that plans are providing value to Medicare and taxpayers," said CMS principal deputy administrator Jonathan Blum in a statement.  Though widely anticipated by the healthcare world, Friday's reductions represent a blow to insurers and Republican lawmakers. The two groups had lobbied hard in recent weeks to ward off any changes to MA payment rates.
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White House pushes for black enrollees
The Hill
February 21, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198939-white-house-pushes-for-black-enrollees
The Obama administration is engaged in a “final coordinated push” to enroll blacks in ObamaCare, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Friday.  Jarrett said blacks have a “disproportionately low rate of coverage,” and called enrolling them the administration’s “top priority.”  “We still have a long way to go and we want to make sure we take advantage of every opportunity for outreach,” she said in a Friday conference call with reporters and three mayors that preside over large black communities: Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, Calif., Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and A.C. Wharton of Memphis, Tenn.  An estimated 6.8 million African-Americans lack healthcare coverage. The 2014 enrollment deadline closes on March 31.
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Health groups fight Republican push to deregulate medical technology
The Hill
February 21, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/healthcare/198933-health-groups-fight-republican-push-to-deregulate-medical
Health groups are pushing back against congressional Republicans for efforts they say would deregulate medical technology that is crucial to the well-being of patients.  In a letter to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), about a dozen health and public interest groups asked the Senate Health Committee chairman to fight the Preventing Regulatory Overreach To Enhance Care Technology (PROTECT) Act, which they argue could prevent the Food and Drug Administration from reviewing certain medical devices.  "This would put the health of millions of Americans at risk," the groups wrote in the letter.  "We strongly urge you to oppose this bill because it could deregulate medical technology crucial to patient health, causing patients unnecessary risk," they added.
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Manchin: I’d vote to repeal ObamaCare
The Hill
February 21, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198907-manchin-id-vote-to-repeal-obamacare
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Friday that he’d vote to repeal ObamaCare, as long as he could fix it at the same time.  “I will vote tomorrow to repeal [ObamaCare], but I want to fix the problems in it,” Manchin, a vocal critic of the healthcare law’s rollout, said at a town hall in Beckley, W.Va., according to the The Register-Herald.  In an email to The Hill, Manchin said that despite his comments, he does not support repealing the law.  “I have never supported repealing the Affordable Care Act because I came to Washington to find solutions to our country’s problems,” he said. “We cannot go back to the days when millions of Americans were uninsured and nearly twenty percent of our GDP was spent on healthcare, while only being ranked 43rd in the world in health and wellness outcomes.”  Still, Manchin said the law has “many flaws,” and that those parts that can’t be fixed and should be eliminated.
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Camp Statement on ObamaCare Medicare Advantage Cuts
House Ways and Means Committee
February 21, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=370450
Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement after the Obama Administration announced how it will implement the over $300 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage included in the President’s health care law.  "Americans across the country are feeling the pain of ObamaCare, and today the Administration confirmed that seniors will be the next victims of this law. Despite this Administration’s continued attempts to mask over $300 billion in cuts, the hard truth is now apparent – millions of seniors who rely on the Medicare Advantage program will lose the plans, benefits, doctors and financial protection they currently have.
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First lady encourages young 'knuckleheads' to get healthcare
The Hill
February 21, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/198885-first-lady-encourages-young-knuckleheads-to-get-healthcare
First lady Michelle Obama called on young “knuckleheads” to sign up for healthcare, saying they are not invincible.  Appearing on “The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon, Obama said young people have the perception they are invincible, but “life happens.”  “And a lot of young people think they are invincible, but the truth is young people are knuckleheads,” she said. “They are the ones who are cooking for the first time and slicing their finger open. They are dancing on the bar stool.”  She was quick to point out the federal healthcare exchange website is functioning better than it was in the early days of the rollout last year.   “It’s working!” she said, adding that young people could get healthcare for “less than the cost of gym shoes.”
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Senate, House Leaders Express Concern for, Question Legality or Proposed Medicare Part D Changes
Senate Finance Committee
February 20, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=fea97786-37fe-4a01-bd97-b6196cd53fde
Senate and House Committee leaders yesterday called on the administration to withdraw its proposed changes to the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, the leaders question the legality of the proposed regulation and warn of the harmful effects the changes would have on America’s seniors. The letter was signed by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI).
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Obama drops Social Security cut
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/198815-obama-abandons-cut-to-social-security
Yielding to pressure from congressional Democrats, President Obama is abandoning a proposed cut to Social Security benefits in his election-year budget.  The president’s budget request for fiscal 2015, which is due out March 4, will not call for a switch to a new formula that would limit cost-of-living increases in the entitlement program, the White House said Thursday.  "This year the administration is returning to a more traditional budget presentation that is focused on achieving the president’s vision for the best path to create growth and opportunity for all Americans, and the investments needed to meet that vision," a White House official said.  Obama last year proposed the new formula for calculating benefits as an overture to Republicans toward a "grand bargain" on the debt.
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GOP debuts new Medicare attack line
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/politics-elections/198816-gop-debuts-new-campaign-attack-line-on-medicare
Republican campaign officials are using the Obama administration's proposed changes to Medicare Part D to launch new attacks against vulnerable Democrats.  The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) sought to link the new conflict over prescription drug policies to 26 Democratic candidates in statements released Thursday.  The statements accused members like Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) of allowing the federal government to interfere with seniors' healthcare and sought to tie new rules in Part D to ObamaCare.  "First ObamaCare and now Medicare Part D. … Seniors are being thrown a one-two punch from Ron Barber and House Democrats who have supported this failed law," said NRCC Communications Director Andrea Bozek in a release.  The statements are a sign that Republicans are honing their healthcare attack lines, as election season heats up.
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Biden heads to 'The View's' couch
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198823-biden-to-talk-obamacare-with-ladies-from-the
Vice President Biden will join the ladies from "The View" on Tuesday to drum up support for ObamaCare.  In his fourth appearance on the show, Biden will discuss the importance of enrolling in the health exchanges before the March 31 deadline, according to an ABC spokesperson.  “Vice President Biden always proves to be an engaging, informative and candid guest,” host Barbara Walters said in a statement. “I am delighted and honored to welcome him back to the program.”  Biden is making his rounds on the talk show circuit and is scheduled to appear on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" on Monday.  It’s also a big month of television for the first family.
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FDA agrees to deadlines on food safety overhaul
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/court-battles/198839-fda-agrees-to-deadlines-on-food-safety-overhaul
The largest American food safety update in 70 years will be complete by spring 2016 under the terms of a settlement announced Thursday between food safety advocates.  Seven separate rules under construction at the Food and Drug Administration are designed to shift the national food safety net from a system geared to respond to illness outbreaks to one designed to prevent them.  The regulations are required by the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, which set a 2012 deadline for them to be finalized. But the process has been fraught with delays, which prompted the Center for Food Safety (CFS) to file a lawsuit against the FDA over the missed statutory deadlines.  A consent agreement filed Thursday in federal district court in Oakland, Calif., cements a new, staggered set of deadlines for the rules.
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Analysis warns of higher drug costs in some O-Care plans
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198846-analysis-warns-of-higher-drug-costs-in-o-care
Consumers who use specialty medications may face higher costs on ObamaCare's marketplace plans, many of which include co-insurance rather than copayments for the drugs, a new analysis warned.  Researchers with consulting firm Avalere Health found that 59 percent of silver-level plans on the new exchanges charge policyholders a percentage of the cost of specialty drugs rather than a fixed copay.  Twenty-three percent of these plans have co-insurance rates of 30 percent or more of the cost of the drugs on the highest formulary tier, the analysis found. This rate increased to 60 percent among the lower-premium bronze plans, researchers said.  The findings indicate that some patients will face higher or unexpected out-of-pocket costs on the exchanges when it comes to paying for specialty drugs.
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Dems warm up to Medicare Advantage
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/198851-dems-warm-up-to-medicare-advantage
Senate Democrats are mounting a surprisingly strong defense of Medicare Advantage, a private insurance option that their party used to deride as a wasteful giveaway to insurance companies.  Nineteen Senate Democrats this week signed a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) warning of dire consequences for seniors if cuts to Medicare Advantage (MA) go through as expected later this month.  The rising tide of Democratic support is led by heavyweights including Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Michael Bennett (D-Co.), as well as vulnerable Democrats facing reelection such as Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).  Liberals have historically lampooned the alternative to government health insurance as receiving outsized federal support in comparison to Medicare. In keeping with this, the Democratic-led Congress that passed the healthcare reform law partially paid for it by enacting $200 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage over 10 years.
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GOP probes Accenture's ObamaCare contract
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198852-gop-probes-accentures-obamacare-contract
Republican lawmakers are looking into the Obama administration's decision to hire Accenture to finish work on ObamaCare's troubled federal enrollment site.  GOP leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote to the tech services company on Thursday asking for details on its HealthCare.gov contract and any related projects.  Leaders also asked for all communications between Accenture, the White House and federal health officials.  "Testimony ... suggests that your company will not only be responsible for fixing HealthCare.gov, but also for building the payment and financial management systems the [marketplace] requires, which have not yet been completed," the letter stated.  Accenture is under serious pressure to finish these projects by the middle of next month. Administration officials have said that unless the firm meets its deadline, the healthcare law will be in jeopardy and the entire healthcare industry threatened.
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EPA to overhaul pesticide regs
The Hill
February 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/pending-regs/198864-epa-to-overhaul-pesticide-regs
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new regulations to safeguard the nation’s millions of agricultural workers against pesticide poisoning.  A draft rule unveiled Thursday would establish mandatory annual training regulations, additional requirements for the posting of “no entry” signs and buffer areas around treated fields and a prohibition on the handling of pesticides by children under the age of 16.  “We can’t turn our backs on the people who feed the nation,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “They need to be protected.”
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How Obamacare Could Unlock Job Opportunities
The Washington Post
February 20, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/magazine/how-obamacare-could-unlock-job-opportunities.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140220&tntemail0=y&_r=0
During college, Lauren Braun worked at a health clinic in Peru, where she spent an inordinate amount of time tracking down mothers in an effort to get them to bring their children in for vaccinations. The experience was frustrating, but through it Braun came up with a business plan: Make silicone bracelets that function as punch cards, to remind mothers about upcoming appointments. Back in the United States, she consulted with mentors and perfected the idea, but then, she set it aside after graduation, going to work for a large health-insurance company, taking a salary and benefits over the uncertain life of an entrepreneur.  A year and a half later, she got word that her bracelet company, Alma Sana, might have a life after all: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had awarded her $100,000 to test the idea. Braun was O.K. with the 60 percent pay cut she would take by quitting her day job. But she did not want to lose her health insurance.
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California Health Insurance Enrollments Rise, but Hispanics Still Lag
The New York Times
February 19, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/us/california-health-insurance-enrollments-rise-but-hispanics-still-lag.html?ribbon-ad-idx=9&rref=us&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&pgtype=article
With six weeks left in the open enrollment period for insurance under President Obama’s health care law, more than 828,000 Californians have signed up for private coverage through the state’s online health care exchange, state officials announced Wednesday.  Home to about 15 percent of the nation’s uninsured, California accounted for more than 20 percent of the 3.3 million people who enrolled in plans nationwide under the new law, the Affordable Care Act, during the first four months of open enrollment. About a quarter of the state’s enrollees have been young adults, ages 18 to 34, on par with national rates.
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Expanded Medicaid will be subject of forced vote by Republicans in Va. House
The Washington Post
February 19, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/expanded-medicaid-will-be-subject-of-forced-vote-by-republicans-in-va-house/2014/02/19/e77fe636-98b2-11e3-b931-0204122c514b_story.html
House Republicans will force a vote Thursday on whether to expand Medicaid, briefly plucking the contentious issue out of a massive state budget bill in a move meant to show overwhelming GOP opposition to Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s top legislative goal.  The House will subject the expansion plan to an up-or-down floor vote — something the measure would not ordinarily get since it is part of the two-year, $96 billion state spending plan.  Supporters of expansion dismissed the planned vote as a meaningless gimmick. Even after its expected defeat Thursday in the House, the plan to expand Medicaid will live on in the Senate’s proposed budget.  But the move is an effort to strengthen the House’s hand for negotiations with the Senate, where Democrats and a few moderate Republicans in that evenly split chamber support expanding the health-care program for the poor and disabled. The vote is yet another indication that House Republicans have only stiffened their opposition to expansion, despite the energetic outreach from McAuliffe (D) and the creation of a “private option” plan meant to be more palatable to Republicans.
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Biden: Health care sign-ups may fall short of goal
The Washington Post
February 19, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/biden-health-care-sign-ups-may-fall-short-of-goal/2014/02/19/40772cf4-99cb-11e3-b1de-e666d78c3937_story.html
Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that it would be a good start for the federal health care law if 5 million to 6 million people sign up by the end of March, an acknowledgement that enrollments might fall significantly short of the Obama administration’s unofficial target of 7 million.  Biden, who was attending a private fundraiser in Minneapolis, made a brief unannounced stop at a coffee shop and visited with a handful of women who have signed up for coverage. Open enrollment under the federal law ends on March 31, after which people without insurance are subject to federal tax penalties.  Biden acknowledged the rocky rollout of the administration’s Affordable Care Act website and the difficulty people have had in signing up. Minnesota has been among the numerous states, along with the federal Healthcare.gov site, to experience rampant technical problems that hampered enrollment.
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OSHA enacts food safety whistle-blower protections
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/labor/198752-osha-enacts-food-safety-whistleblower-protections
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration published regulations Wednesday to protect from retaliation any workers who report violations under the Obama administration’s sweeping food safety overhaul.  OSHA issued a final interim rule, meaning the regulations take effect immediately but interested parties and members of the public can submit comments for the next 60 days.  The rule protects any workers who report violations under the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011. The statute is still under construction, as the Food and Drug Administration works to complete several regulations that together represent the largest food safety overhaul in 70 years.  The law is intended to shift the nation’s food safety net from a system that responds to illness outbreaks to one that prevents them. The regulations extend to every corner of the food industry, including farms, factories, import operations and even pet food.
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Calif. beats ObamaCare sign-up goal weeks early
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198744-calif-we-beat-o-care-enrollment-goal
California announced Wednesday that it has beat its 2014 ObamaCare enrollment goals with roughly five weeks left before the first sign-up period closes.  Covered California, the state's health insurance marketplace, registered 728,410 people before the end of January and about 100,000 more in the first two weeks of February, officials said.  Another 877,000 patients were determined eligible for Medicaid in the state, which opted to expand the low-income health insurance program under the Affordable Care Act, the announcement continued.  "These enrollment numbers mean that with six weeks to go, California has already exceeded its projected base enrollment for the 2014 open-enrollment period," said Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee in a statement.  "While this is a strong showing, our goal is not pinned to meeting projections, but to making sure every Californian gets covered," he added.
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Schwartz leads House letter to Obama against Social Security cuts
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/198734-schwartz-leads-house-letter-to-obama-against-social-security-cuts
Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and 116 other House Democrats on Wednesday sent President Obama a letter urging him to drop cuts to Social Security and veterans benefits from his budget due out March 4.  They told Obama he should abandon efforts to cut a fiscal deal with the GOP because the party is not willing to raise taxes.  “Your Budget for Fiscal Year 2014 proposed a comprehensive $1.8 trillion deficit reduction package that sought to replace sequestration and reflected the compromise you offered to House Speaker John Boehner in December 2012 ... Since then, however, the Republican majority has consistently refused to discuss a balanced approach that would include increased revenues and the closing of tax loopholes,” they wrote.  The missive is the latest salvo in the battle over the cuts, which pose a dilemma for the president.  Obama included a new measure of inflation in last April’s budget as an olive branch to the GOP. The "chained" consumer price index would reduce yearly cost-of-living increases for seniors.
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Ex-Olympian under fire for soda ad
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/nutrition/198707-ex-olympian-under-fire-for-soda-ad
Michelle Kwan shouldn’t be allowed to do advertisements for Coca-Cola while sitting on a presidential fitness and nutrition council, a leading healthcare nonprofit said Wednesday.  The D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest lambasted the Obama administration over the former Olympic figure skater’s ad, arguing that allowing her to endorse the sugary drink undermined the integrity of President Obama’s Council on Fitness, Nutrition and Sports.  “The President's Council is one of the premier platforms the federal government has for promoting its official advice on nutrition,” CSPI Director Jim O’Hara sad in a statement.  “Therefore the Council has an obligation to protect the integrity of its public health messages. Allowing makers of sugar drinks or junk foods to rent Michelle Kwan or other Council members is unacceptable.”  Kwan is holding a regular Coke — not a Diet Coke or no-calorie Coke Zero — in the website ad.  The nonprofit says Kwan and at least five other athletes on the panel are current or former “endorsers of sugar drinks.”
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Judge dismisses lawsuit against O-Care subsidies
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198695-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-against-o-care
A federal judge in Virginia dismissed a lawsuit arguing that ObamaCare subsidies are only legal in states that run their own insurance marketplaces under the healthcare law.  Tuesday's late-breaking decision represents another blow to the theory, pushed by opponents of the Affordable Care Act who say the law did not intend for federally run exchanges to distribute healthcare tax credits.  If accepted in court, this argument would dismantle much of the taxpayer assistance available under ObamaCare. The federal government is running exchanges in 34 states.  But so far, two district courts have ruled for, rather than against, subsidies in those marketplaces.   Judge James R. Spencer from the Eastern District of Virginia wrote Tuesday that the argument against the tax credits had a "certain common sense appeal" but falls apart based on a lack of legislative history.  "When statutory context is taken into account, Plaintiffs' position is revealed as implausible," Spencer wrote.
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Koch group features leukemia patient in Michigan ObamaCare ad
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/198688-koch-group-features-leukemia-patient-in-michigan-anti-obamacare
Americans for Prosperity, the conservative group bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers, is featuring a leukemia patient who says she lost her insurance coverage in a new ad attacking Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) on ObamaCare.  The ad is a particularly emotional one from the group, which has spent tens of millions of dollars nationwide hitting Democratic Senate candidates on ObamaCare with ads featuring women who say the policy has hurt them.   "I was doing fairly well fighting the cancer, fighting the leukemia, and then I received the letter: My insurance was canceled because of ObamaCare. Now the out-of-pocket costs are so high it's unaffordable. If I do not receive my medication, I will die," says Michigan resident Julie Boonstra in the ad. "I feel lied to. It's heartbreaking for me. Congressman Peters, your decision to vote for ObamaCare jeopardized my health."  The group has spent more than $1 million in advertising attacking Peters, who is vying with former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R) for retiring Sen. Carl Levin's (D-Mich.) seat. The race is increasingly looking like a toss-up — Land has led Peters by a narrow margin in most recent polling.
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Chamber boosts McConnell on ObamaCare in new ad
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/198684-chamber-of-commerce-boosts-mcconnell-on-obamacare-in-new-ad
The Chamber of Commerce is up with its second ad in the Kentucky Senate race, touting Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) commitment to fighting ObamaCare.  “Most of us don’t get caught up in politics,” women narrators say, trading off lines. “Between kids, bills, work there’s just no time for it. But this ObamaCare mess is scary."  The narrator goes on to declare ObamaCare results in patients losing doctors and unaffordable premiums. And she declares that McConnell is “leading the fight to fix this ObamaCare mess.”  “Mitch McConnell is fighting for us and for Kentucky’s future. Right now, that’s what we need,” the ad closes.  The Chamber is putting a “significant” sum of money behind the new ad. Their first in the race focused on coal and touted McConnell as a fighter for the industry from Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
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An $150B end to 'doc fixes'?
The Hill
February 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/198668-congress-seeks-150b-to-end-doc-fixes
Congress is tangling with doctors, hospitals and seniors organizations as it seeks to push through a long-sought change to Medicare that carries a $150 billion price tag.  Doctors cheered this month when committees in the House and Senate released a framework for a permanent “doc fix” that would repeal a flawed payment formula under Medicare that Congress has routinely patched since the late 1990s.  But excitement about the breakthrough on the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) was tempered by the fact that lawmakers left the most difficult question unanswered: how to cover the $150 billion cost.  “The challenge at the end of the day is that Congress has to come up with the pay-fors but they are going to have to balance this appropriately,” said Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven, president of the American Medical Association. “It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be a heavy lift. We understand that.”  Now industry groups are digging in for a protracted lobbying battle that could determine who is left paying the tab once Congress decides to act.
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Who will help the newly insured?
Politico
February 18, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/obamacare-newly-insured-103645.html?hp=r2
Newfound health benefits often come with newfound questions. But most states have either spurned or run out of federal funding for consumer assistance programs aimed at guiding Obamacare’s newly insured through the complexities of using their coverage.  Some states with GOP governors never sought Affordable Care Act dollars for these programs. Most states that did have almost used up the federal cash and are struggling to keep programs afloat. Only 12 states and the District of Columbia now have active consumer assistance programs, and they’re basically on their own.  “These are a crucial resource to protecting people’s access to actual care,” said Cheryl Fish-Parcham, deputy director of health policy for Families USA. “Without funding, many of these programs will close.”
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Obama’s Vote-Getting Tactics Struggle to Find the Uninsured
The New York Times
February 18, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/us/proven-models-break-down-in-search-for-the-uninsured.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140218&tntemail0=y&_r=0
The hunt for the uninsured in Broward County got underway one recent afternoon when 41 canvassers, armed with electronic maps on Samsung tablets, set off through working-class neighborhoods to peddle the Affordable Care Act door to door. Four hours later, they had made contact with 2,623 residents and signed up exactly 25 people.  Many of their targets, people identified on sophisticated computer lists generated in Washington as unlikely to have health insurance, had moved away. Some were not home. Many said they already had insurance through Medicare, their parents or a job. A few were hostile at the mere mention of President Obama’s health care law.
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Kathleen Sebelius: No job loss under Obamacare
Politico
February 18, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/jobs-obamacare-kathleen-sebelius-103613.html?hp=l9
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says there is “absolutely no evidence” that the Affordable Care Act will drive down employment, despite a report from the Congressional Budget Office released Feb. 4 predicting fewer people would be working.  “There is absolutely no evidence, and every economist will tell you this, that there is any job-loss related to the Affordable Care Act,” Sebelius told reporters in Orlando, Fla., on Monday. “Part-time physicians are actually down since 2010, not up. The number of full-time workers continues to increase. I know that’s a popular myth that continues to be repeated but it just is not accurate.”
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Sebelius: ‘Absolutely no evidence’ of job losses under Obamacare
The Washington Post
February 18, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/02/18/sebelius-absolutely-no-evidence-of-job-losses-under-obamacare/
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that there is zero evidence of job losses occurring as a result of the new federal health-care law.  "There is absolutely no evidence -- and every economist will tell you this -- that there is any job loss related to the Affordable Care Act," Sebelius said in Orlando, according to video from WESH-TV.  Sebelius added: "I know that's a popular myth that continues to be repeated, but it just is not accurate."
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Dems side with GOP over Medicare cuts
The Hill
February 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/198651-dems-side-with-gop-on-medicare-cuts
Nineteen Democratic senators signed a letter Tuesday to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services warning of the dire consequences for seniors if cuts to Medicare Advantage go through as expected later this month.  The letter was signed by party heavyweights, including Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), as well as vulnerable Democrats facing reelection, such as Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Mark Begich (D-Ak.).  Twenty-one Republicans also signed the letter. The GOP has sought to make cuts to Medicare Advantage an election-year issue.  “We write to raise serious concerns about the Medicare Advantage (MA) 2015 rate notice and the impact further cuts may have on the millions of individuals enrolled in the program,” the senators write. “We are strongly committed to preserving the high quality health plan choices and benefits that our constituents receive through the MA program. Given the impact that payment policies could have on our constituents, we ask that you prioritize beneficiaries’ experience and minimize disruption in maintaining payment levels for 2015.”
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Dem leaders join HHS defense of subsidies in ObamaCare lawsuit
The Hill
February 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198630-dem-leaders-join-hhs-defense-of-obamacare
Democratic leaders on Tuesday joined the court battle over the validity of certain health insurance subsidies under President Obama's 2010 reform law.  A group of businesses and individuals have challenged the legality of the tax credits going to those who buy their coverage through federally managed insurance exchanges, arguing that the law explicitly limits those subsidies to people enrolling on state-run systems.  But behind Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the Democrats who authored the law maintain the subsidies were designed to benefit all eligible middle- and low-income people, regardless of where they live or which government entity runs their state's exchange.  “Congress did not provide that the tax credits would only be available to citizens whose States set up their own Exchanges," the lawmakers wrote in an amicus brief filed Tuesday by the Constitutional Accountability Center.
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Uproar over ObamaCare’s menu rules
The Hill
February 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/healthcare/198602-lawmakers-o-cares-menu-labeling-regs-go-too-far
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is asking the Obama administration to scale back draft regulations under ObamaCare that would force restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is close to finalizing a rule requiring calorie labels on vending machines and at restaurants and “similar retail food establishments.” Proposed in 2011, the regulations stem from the Affordable Care Act and are designed to combat obesity by helping consumers make healthier choices.  But the group of 24 lawmakers said the draft regulations, which apply to restaurants with 20 or more locations, go beyond Congress’ intent and would create painful new expenses for certain businesses, including delivery joints and eateries that specialize in made-to-order dishes.
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Sebelius: ‘No evidence’ ObamaCare costs jobs
The Hill
February 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198599-sebelius-absolutely-no-evidence-of-job-losses
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pushed back Monday against the idea that ObamaCare will lead to job losses.  “There is absolutely no evidence, and every economist will tell you this, that there is any job-loss related to the Affordable Care Act,” she told reporters in Orlando, Fla., according to media reports.  “Part-time physicians are actually down since 2010, not up," she added. "The number of full-time workers continues to increase. I know that’s a popular myth that continues to be repeated, but it just is not accurate.”  Democrats and Republicans have been slugging it out over the meaning of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that found ObamaCare will cost the nation the equivalent of 2.5 million full-time workers in the next decade.
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GOP bill would delay ObamaCare's individual mandate until 2016
The Hill
February 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/healthcare/198571-gop-bill-delay-obamacares-individual-mandate-until-2016
The chairman of the House Republican Study Committee has introduced new legislation to retroactively delay the individual health insurance mandate under ObamaCare until 2016.  The bill from Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) is in reaction to last week's decision by the Obama administration to delay part of the employer mandate for another year. The administration said companies with at least 50 but fewer than 100 employees will have until January 2016 before they are required to offer health insurance to their workers.  That move followed its July 2013 announcement that the mandate for all companies would be delayed until January 2015.  The Freeing Americans from Inequitable Requirements (FAIR) Act, H.R. 4064, would essentially delay the individual mandate to have insurance until the employer mandate is in full effect, without any exceptions. Scalise said it's only fair that the health law should be delayed for everyone, not just companies.
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Barack Obama: You can call it ‘Obamacare’
Politico
February 17, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/barack-obama-obamacare-103589.html?hp=r7
It may not be polling well, but President Barack Obama isn’t too worried about the Affordable Care Act’s nickname, Obamacare, or the health care law’s impact on his legacy.  “I like it. I don’t mind,” the president told former NBA star Charles Barkley in an interview that aired Sunday about the term Obamacare. “And I tell you, five years from now, when everybody’s saying, ‘Man, I’m sure glad we got health care,’ there are going to be a whole bunch of people who don’t call it Obamacare anymore because they don’t want me to get the credit.”  The president also took the opportunity to remind viewers that the deadline for coverage is March 31 and encouraged young people to enroll.
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Republicans open investigations into ObamaCare’s disaster sites
The Hill
February 17, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198474-republicans-open-investigations-into
Republicans are launching investigations into three state-run ObamaCare exchanges that are failing disastrously.  Lawmakers are setting their sites on exchanges in Oregon, Maryland and Massachusetts, where Democratic governors embraced the healthcare law, and are demanding to know why their expensive online portals remain useless more than four months after launch.  On Wednesday, four Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a review of the $304 million in federal grants that Oregon received to build its broken website.  “The catastrophic breakdown of Cover Oregon is unacceptable, and taxpayers deserve accountability,” wrote the group of lawmakers led by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.).
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Va. Senate panel proposes alternative to Medicaid expansion
The Washington Post
February 16, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-senate-panel-proposes-alternative-to-medicaid-expansion/2014/02/16/cc697196-94d9-11e3-83b9-1f024193bb84_story.html
Senate budget leaders said Sunday that they were rejecting Medicaid expansion as they approved a state spending plan that would nevertheless tap $2 billion a year in federal Medicaid funding to extend health insurance to low-income and disabled Virginians.  Instead of expanding Medicaid as it has traditionally operated, the Senate Finance Committee proposed helping up to 400,000 Virginians buy private insurance through a program that would be known as “Marketplace Virginia.”  Expansion of traditional Medicaid could probably get through the evenly divided Senate, where every Democrat and a handful of moderate Republicans have expressed support. But with the GOP-dominated House opposed to increasing Medicaid rolls, Senate budget leaders touted their approach as an outright rejection of expansion.
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Democrats' new 2014 plan: Neutralize Obamacare
Politico
February 16, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/democrats-obamacare-2014-103550.html
Democrats know their biggest problem in this year’s midterm election is Obamacare. So top party operatives have settled on a strategy to try blunting the GOP’s advantage: Tell voters Republicans would make the problem worse — raising prescription drug prices, empowering insurance companies and even endangering domestic violence victims.  The battle plan, details of which were in a memo obtained by POLITICO, recognizes the unpopularity of the Affordable Care Act. But it also banks on voter fatigue with the GOP’s relentless demands for repeal and counts on poll-backed data that show many Americans would rather fix Obamacare’s problems than scrap it altogether.
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On Health Act, Democrats Run in Fix-It Mode
The New York Times
February 16, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/us/politics/on-health-act-democrats-run-to-mend-what-gop-aims-to-end.html?_r=0
The ad supporting Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, Democrat of Arizona, opens with a montage of Americana Main Streets, followed by the green fields and dirt roads of the West — the “small towns and wide-open spaces,” the narrator explains, where Ms. Kirkpatrick “listens and learns.”  His voice remains tranquil even as he turns to a more cutting message about President Obama’s signature health care law: “It’s why she blew the whistle on the disastrous health care website, calling it ‘stunning ineptitude’ and worked to fix it,” he says, before adding, “Ann Kirkpatrick: Seeing what’s wrong, doing what’s right.”  As Democrats approach the 2014 midterm elections, they are grappling with an awkward reality: Their president’s health care law — passed with no Republican votes — remains a political liability in many states, threatening their ability to hold on to seats in the Senate and the House.
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Obama creating 'a government of one'?
The Hill
February 16, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/healthcare/198518-sen-lee-accuses-obama-of-violating-constitution
President Obama is creating a “government of one” by ignoring the Constitution and further delaying ObamaCare’s employer mandate, according to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).  The Republican senator said on “Fox News Sunday” that the president seemed to be flouting the law in order to improve Democrats’ chances in the 2014 midterm elections.  “The president knows this is wrong and it’s not defensible,” Lee said.  “He’s violating the Constitution. He’s exercising power that doesn’t belong to him; it belongs to the American people.”  Lee added that president’s decision last week was “a shameless power grab that’s designed to help the president and his particular party achieve a particular outcome in an election. And that’s wrong.”
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Dems push Walmart to give up cigarette sales
The Hill
February 15, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/other/198491-dems-push-walmart-to-give-up-cigarette-sales
A group of Democrats are urging Walmart to follow CVS Caremark and discontinue selling tobacco products.  The seven Democrats said Walmart, the nation’s biggest retailer, is also the nation’s biggest seller of cigarettes.  “We recognize the legality of selling and profiting from tobacco products; however, Walmart’s position as the nation’s largest retailer of any kind puts your company in a unique position to contribute to the health and well-being of all Americans<” the Democrats said in a letter to the company.  The letter’s signatories included Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the number two Democrat in the Senate.  The letter stats that three quarters of adult smokers want to quit, and quotes former Walmart CEO Lee Scott as saying a “tremendous number” of Walmart shoppers smoke.
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Senate Dems warn Obama on Social Security, Medicare cuts
The Hill
February 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/198434-senate-dems-warn-obama-on-social-security-medicare-cuts
Senate Democrats on Friday told President Obama they don’t want to see cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid in his annual budget.  Sixteen senators wrote to the president as fears persist among liberals that Obama will once again offer some entitlement cuts in his budget, which is set to be released March 4.  In last April’s budget, Obama proposed changing the way the government calculates inflation. The change to the chained consumer price index (CPI) would have reduced retirement benefits as well as increasing some taxes.   Obama also proposed increasing means testing for outpatient and drug benefits under Medicare.
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White House says it doesn't know how many in ObamaCare have paid
The Hill
February 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198428-white-house-says-it-doesnt-know-how-many-in
The White House on Friday said it doesn’t know how many enrollees of the 3.3 million reported enrollees in ObamaCare had paid their premiums.  "The contract between an individual and an insurance company is a private contract," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. "That is something that is determined by the insurance company and the enrollee. Right now, insurance companies, for that reason, have the most up-to-date, comprehensive and reliable information on the number of people who have paid their premiums."  The New York Times reported that around 20 percent of consumers who selected a plan under ObamaCare did not pay and thus failed to obtain coverage. If 20 percent of the 3.3 million who enrolled failed to make a payment, the number of ObamaCare participants would drop by about 600,000, to 2.7 million.
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Be My ... healthcare?
The Hill
February 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/198425-send-an-adorable-care-act-valentine-ofa-tells
President Obama’s nonprofit group Organizing for Action sent supporters an email Friday encouraging them to send an “Adorable Care Act" valentine.  “Treat yourself right this Valentine’s Day. Get pamPURRED with health care,” one says, featuring a bucket of kittens.  “Remember giving out valentines in grade school?" OFA Organizing Director Sara El-Amine wrote in the email. "This is a holiday that gives us all an excuse to send cute messages to anyone we want. This year, there's no better way to let friends know you care than by sharing an Adorable Care Act valentine."  The email links to a webpage allowing people to select an e-card for Valentine's Day featuring baby animals including kittens, puppies, pandas, polar bears and badgers.  “You’re beary special to me, so please get covered!” says the polar bear card.
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Analysis: Higher taxes, fewer workers under GOP health plan
The Hill
February 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/198421-analysis-higher-taxes-fewer-workers-under-gop-healthcare-plan
The alternative to ObamaCare proposed by Senate Republicans would raise taxes on the middle class and create similar disincentives to work as President Obama’s law, according to a new analysis.  Writing in Forbes magazine, economist John Graham said The CARE Act, released by Republican Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Tom Coburn (Okla.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah) last month, “has many merits,” but suffers from “some of the same drawbacks as ObamaCare.”  “The CARE Act would institute changes to marginal-income tax rates that would increase disincentives to work for many, especially those in prime earning years,” Graham wrote.  Last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) dropped a political bombshell with a report that found ObamaCare would cost the nation the equivalent of 2.5 million full-time workers over the next decade.  The nonpartisan CBO found that, under ObamaCare, the equivalent of 2.3 million workers would be lost by 2021, compared to its previous estimate of 800,000, and that 2.5 million workers would be lost by 2024.
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