Sen. Orrin Hatch: Affordable Care Act disastrous — We need real change
Senate Finance Committee
March 23, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=8cb2d249-5056-a032-52c4-e9cc70e391ab
This weekend marks the four-year anniversary of President Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement — Obamacare. But don’t expect many Utahns or Americans anywhere to be doing much celebrating. In his push to gain support for Obamacare before it became law, President Obama traveled the country telling Americans that, If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. Unfortunately, as many have found out the hard way, that’s simply not true. And as we've all come to learn, those claims were so wrong that the fact-checking website Politifact named President Obama’s promise the 2013 Lie of the Year.
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Voices: Afraid to apply for health care for their kids
USA Today
March 23, 2014
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/23/voices-gomez-immigration-affordable-care-act/6652529/
For Esperanza Cuevas, the phone call has become disturbingly common. Undocumented immigrants balk at registering their U.S.-born children under the Affordable Care Act, because they fear furnishing the information will lead to their deportation. Last month, Cuevas let ACA navigators use her Miami mattress store to explain the situation to people in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. Undocumented immigrants cannot participate in the new health care program, but they have to provide their information if they want to register their U.S.-born children, who qualify because they are U.S. citizens.
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High court with vocally devout justices set to hear religious objections to health-care law
The Washington Post
March 23, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/high-court-with-vocally-devout-justices-set-to-hear-religious-objections-to-health-care-law/2014/03/23/ff54147a-af97-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572_story.html
There’s something that makes the current Supreme Court different from some of its recent predecessors. The justices got religion. Or at least they seem more open about their faith, appearing before devout audiences and talking more about how religion shaped their lives or guides them now. As the court this week weighs religious conviction vs. legal obligation in the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act, those who study the court say the change is hard to quantify but easy to notice. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. are devout Catholics who faced questions during their confirmation hearings about how their faith would affect their jurisprudence. Justice Clarence Thomas is a former seminarian who says God saved his life.
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Even while overseas, the Obamas urge Americans to get covered
The Washington Post
March 23, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/23/even-while-overseas-the-obamas-urge-americans-to-get-covered/
While Barack and Michelle Obama will be overseas this week, the White House is ensuring they will have a virtual presence in targeted media markets across the country before the Affordable Care Act's initial enrollment period ends March 31. On Monday, the president will be attending a nuclear security summit in the Netherlands; meanwhile Univision’s radio show “El bueno, la mala y el feo” (the good, the bad and the ugly) will air an interview with him in which he jokes about doing tequila shots and urges Latinos to sign up for insurance even if some members of their family are not legal immigrants.
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With clock ticking, a busy week at WH
The Hill
March 23, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201480-with-clock-ticking-a-busy-week-at-white-house
The Obama administration will be focusing on direct appeals to young people and mothers during the final week before a March 31 ObamaCare enrollment deadline. A senior administration official said President Obama will take part in the campaign during his trip overseas, along with first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Cabinet members, who will participate in events, radio interviews and outreach efforts with websites that reach young adults. Before leaving for the Netherlands on Sunday, Obama issued a statement marking the fourth anniversary of his signing of the Affordable Care Act, saying it is “now last call for 2014.” “Since I signed the Affordable Care Act into law, the share of Americans with insurance is up, and the growth of health care costs is down, to its slowest rate in fifty years – two of the most promising developments for our middle class and our fiscal future in a long time,” he said.
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High court to weigh limits of religious liberty in ObamaCare case
The Hill
March 23, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/court-battles/201433-high-court-to-weigh-limits-of-religious-liberty-in-o-care-case
President Obama’s signature healthcare law is headed back to the Supreme Court in a high-stakes case that could redefine the limits of religious freedom in the United States. The high court on Tuesday will hear challenges to ObamaCare’s contentious “birth control mandate,” which requires companies to offer contraceptive services to workers as part of their insurance coverage. If successful, the challenge could peel away a significant portion of the mandate, potentially affecting preventive health coverage for millions of women and striking a major blow to the law itself. But the court’s ruling could also have far-reaching implications for religious liberty by allowing companies to claim First Amendment rights that the government says are reserved for individuals.
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Lawmakers spar over birth control mandate
The Hill
March 23, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201477-lawmakers-spar-over-birth-control-mandate
Just days before the Supreme Court takes up a challenge to ObamaCare's birth control mandate, House lawmakers sparred over the implications of the case for the law, the country and Americans' constitutional rights. "Do we really want a corporation to be able to have its own religious views and impose them on its employees?" Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) asked in an interview on ABC's "This Week" program. "This is about the free exercise of religious beliefs in your business," Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) countered moments later.
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GOP governor: Medicaid expansion is a conservative ideal
The Hill
March 23, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicaid/201461-gop-governor-medicaid-expansion-is-conservative-ideal
Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich is defending his decision to expand Medicaid in the state, saying the move is a logical reflection of conservative values. "I think it's entirely consistent with conservative and Republican philosophy, and I'm really pleased we're doing it," Kasich, who's often mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential contender, said in an interview on the "Fox News Sunday" program. Kasich's assessment runs starkly counter to that coming from many conservatives – including many members of Ohio's Republican legislature – who characterize ObamaCare's broad Medicaid expansion as a case of big-government overreach that will add to deficits and discourage work on the part of beneficiaries. Many Republican governors have simply declined to adopt the expansion.
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Obama: ‘Last call’ for O-Care enrollment
The Hill
March 23, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201453-obama-last-call-for-obamacare-in-2014
President Obama early Sunday marked the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act and made a final pitch for people to enroll as a March 31 deadline approaches, saying it is “now last call for 2014.” “Since I signed the Affordable Care Act into law, the share of Americans with insurance is up, and the growth of health care costs is down, to its slowest rate in fifty years – two of the most promising developments for our middle class and our fiscal future in a long time,” he said in a statement. “More Americans with insurance have gained new benefits and protections – the 100 million Americans who’ve gained the right to free preventive care like mammograms and contraception, the eight million seniors who’ve saved thousands of dollars on their prescription drugs, and the untold number of families who won’t be driven into bankruptcy by out-of-pocket costs, because this law prevents insurers from placing dollar limits on the care you can receive,” Obama added.
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Dems ramp up offense on ObamaCare
The Hill
March 23, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201426-dems-ramp-up-offense-on-obamacare
The White House and congressional Democrats are ramping up a coordinated effort to celebrate ObamaCare’s fourth anniversary this weekend, looking to go “on offense” ahead of the final week of open enrollment. The effort includes a social media campaign by members of Congress and administration officials, enrollment events featuring lawmakers and Senate floor speeches marking the four-year anniversary. The tightly coordinated final push was the result of work between the White House and House and Senate “healthcare strike teams,” which were created in the aftermath of the botched ObamaCare rollout to push back against a flood of bad headlines.
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Names of Health Plans Sow Customer Confusion
The New York Times
March 22, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/us/names-of-health-plans-sow-customer-confusion.html?_r=0
As Americans race to sign up for health insurance in the final days of open enrollment, many consumers and consumer advocates say the names of plans are unhelpful, confusing and in some cases misleading. A number of insurers sell their plans under names like Select, Preferred, Premier, Exclusive, Enhanced, Essential, Essential Plus, Prime, Ultimate and Deluxe. Multiple offerings from one company may have the same benefits and cover the same share of a consumer’s costs, but go by different names. “Sometimes the names are downright deceptive,” said Betsy M. Imholz, a lawyer at Consumers Union. “Calling a plan ‘exclusive’ makes it sound super-duper, but it may mean that you have a very limited choice of doctors or hospitals.”
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Obamacare enrollment rides a bus into the Mississippi Delta
Politico
March 22, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obamacare-enrollment-mississippi-delta-104906.html
In the poorest state in the nation, where supper is fried, bars allow smoking, chronic disease is rampant and doctors are hard to come by, Obamacare rolls into town in a lime green bus. It took some real convincing by the Obama administration and a leap of faith by one state Republican official to get one of the nation’s largest insurance companies — Humana — to set up shop across Mississippi. Virtually no other insurer was willing to do so, discouraged by the acute health needs here and most elected officials’ outright hostility to the law.
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Biden: GOP governors will eventually take Medicaid expansion
The Washington Post
March 22, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/21/biden-gop-governors-will-eventually-take-medicaid-expansion/
Vice President Biden predicted Friday that Republican governors who have declined the federal Medicaid expansion will eventually be forced to reverse course and take the expansion because of political pressure. Speaking to the National Association of Community Health Centers in Washington, Biden criticized the GOP governors who have declined the extra funding but said he expects them to come around. "I'm convinced, as a practitioner of the so-called art of politics, that they ... will not be able to sustain the heat," Biden said. Republican governors have been split on the expansion, with some taking it and others declining it. Those who have declined it say they are concerned that the federal money will dry up after a couple years, leaving their state to pick up the slack -- among other reasons.
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Hatch Statement in Advance of Four-Year Anniversary of ObamaCare
Senate Finance Committee
March 21, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=91128f7a-6a0c-427b-8270-7cd7cb81b212
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement today in advance of Sunday’s four-year anniversary of the president’s signature domestic policy achievement, ObamaCare, being signed into law: “Contrary to the wishful thinking of Washington Democrats, the American people can’t be fooled. Four years later and hard-working families are getting hit with higher premiums and fewer choices. Seniors enrolled in Medicare are now at risk of losing their plans, benefits, and doctors. And, American job creators are being forced to navigate an endless web of bureaucratic red tape that leaves them with less certainty and more confusion. No matter how you spin this, it’s four years later and Americans are reminded of the failures of a misguided health law and of countless broken promises coming out of this White House.”
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Camp Statement on Fourth Anniversary of ObamaCare
Committee on Ways and Means
March 21, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=373629
Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the following statement in advance of the fourth anniversary of President Obama signing ObamaCare into law on March 23, 2010. “This law has failed the American people. Instead of lower costs and greater options, Americans are left with broken promises and unanswered questions. Today, families and individuals are paying more for health care, seeing their hours and paychecks cut, and are losing the doctors and health coverage they have and like. And while the Administration has handed out special favors to their political friends and big business, the average hardworking taxpayer is seeing no relief from the law’s mandates and burdens. Adding insult to injury, just recently, Secretary Sebelius confirmed that Americans should expect to see even higher costs next year. I believe that all Americans deserve relief from this fatally-flawed law. Americans deserve a health care system that works for them.”
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Insurance Chief Suggests Adding A New, Lower Level Of Health Plan
NPR
March 21, 2014
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/03/21/292560366/insurance-chief-suggests-adding-a-new-lower-level-of-health-plan
Rather than letting people keep their old health plans that don't comply with the new requirements of the Affordable Care Act, the head of the group that represents the nation's health insurance companies is floating an alternative: weakening the requirements. "If you take 10 categories of coverage," said Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, in an interview taped for C-SPAN's Newsmakers, "no matter how meritorious each and every one of those benefits may be ... you have a giant step up" from what many people had before, and wanted to pay for. Those 10 categories make up the "essential benefits" that nearly every plan now must cover to be considered compliant with the law.
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Dems offensive play on ObamaCare
The Hill
March 21, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201416-hhs-touts-o-care-drug-savings
The Obama administration is out with new numbers touting consumer savings under the healthcare law, a move that will help boost Democrats' effort to go on offense on ObamaCare. Nearly 8 million seniors saved $9.9 billion on prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act since the law was enacted in 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Friday. ObamaCare achieves the savings by slowly closing Medicare's "donut hole," a gap in coverage that forces beneficiaries to pay the full cost of their medications out of pocket. As of this year, people on Medicare will pay only 47.5 percent of the cost of brand-name drugs that fall in the coverage gap, according to the Medicare Rights Center. This phase-out will end in 2020, with seniors' contributions decreasing every year until then.
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Four Years Later: What American Families & Job Creators Are Saying About Obamacare
Senate Finance Committee
March 20, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=8cbe2698-cbf3-4f1a-9a8a-95e4d462c597
“Fear and uncertainty,” “immediate confusion,” “premiums will double,” “re-evaluating jobs,” and “fewer choices” is how American families, job creators, and health care experts are talking about the President’s signature domestic policy, ObamaCare, which was signed into law nearly four years ago on March 23, 2010. Take a look: “The Wake County Public School System is calling Obamacare a potential risk. Two weeks ago, the UNC System told ABC11 that Obamacare has schools across the state re-evaluating 8,500 jobs.” (“Some employers concerned about Obamacare's effect on budgets,” (ABC11 WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham, NC, 03/19/14)
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Issa questions Treasury's authority to delay ObamaCare employer mandate
The Hill
March 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201294-issa-questions-treasury-authority-to-delay
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is questioning the Department of Treasury’s authority to delay ObamaCare’s employer mandate and alleging that the White House initiated the delay for political reasons. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday, Issa, along with Reps. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), requested all correspondences pertaining to the delay between Treasury, the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services. “The Committee is concerned that, as part of its role in the law’s implementation, the Department of Treasury is intentionally disregarding core statutory requirements of the law,” the letter reads in part. “These concerns are compounded by serious questions about the constitutionality of the Department’s actions.”
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In Book, Architect of Health Law Predicts a Shift Away From Employer Coverage
The Hill
March 20, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/us/politics/health-overhaul-may-spell-end-to-employer-coverage-author-emanuel-predicts.html
Ezekiel J. Emanuel, who helped devise the Affordable Care Act, has a vision for how it will eventually work. Democrats hope it will not materialize anytime soon. Mr. Emanuel expects the law to produce an unadvertised but fundamental shift in where most working Americans get their health insurance — specifically, a sharp drop in the number of employers who offer coverage to their workers. That scale of change would dwarf what took place last fall, when a political firestorm erupted over President Obama’s “if you like your plan you can keep it” pledge.
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Pelosi: Health law is a ‘winner’ for Democrats
Politico
March 20, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/pelosi-health-law-is-a-winner-for-democrats-104850.html
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the health care law is a “winner,” when asked whether it’s a winning or losing issue for Democrats in swing districts this year. “You’ll have to ask the member, but I believe it’s a winner,” she told reporters as she marked this Sunday’s fourth anniversary of the law’s passage. Pelosi maintained that the Florida House special election last week, in which Democrat Alex Sink was defeated by a Republican in a race where the health care law was a major issue, showed that Democrats are “ready for the next putt” because the final results were close.
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Opposition to O-Care near its all-time high
The Hill
March 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201311-o-care-opinions-holding-steady-despite
Opposition to President Obama's healthcare law is close to its all-time high as the reform reaches its fourth birthday. A new survey by the Pew Research Center found that 53 percent disapprove of ObamaCare, compared with 41 percent who approve. Disapproval has not markedly risen over the last six months as the rollout encountered its most severe technical and policy problems. But the consistency of public opposition to healthcare reform is creating challenges for the White House and Democrats as they seek to keep the Senate in November. The survey offers insight into the public's opinion of ObamaCare, just as Republicans are ramping up campaign attacks over the law.
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Pelosi: We 'couldn't be prouder' of O-Care
The Hill
March 20, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201299-pelosi-we-couldnt-be-prouder-of-obamacare
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi defended the president's healthcare law as "a winner" despite worries of increasing premiums and the drag it could have on Democrats this fall. Four years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, Pelosi defended the hiccups of its implementation in a rare recess-week press conference. The California Democrat pushed back on the idea that ObamaCare would hinder Democrats' hopes in this year's midterms, saying, "I believe that it's a winner."
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God Meets Profit in Obama Contraceptive Rule Court Case
Bloomberg
March 20, 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-20/god-meets-profit-in-obama-contraceptive-rule-court-case.html
Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.’s 600 U.S. craft shops close each Sunday, posting a notice that employees are spending the day with their families and at worship. It’s a visible sign that the company is as focused on honoring God as it is on making money. That dual mission is at the core of an ideological showdown over President Barack Obama’s health-care law, set for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court next week. Hobby Lobby, a family-owned business that says it looks to the Bible for guidance, is seeking a religious exemption from the requirement that employers cover birth control as part of worker-insurance plans.
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Wyden open to 'doc fix' with war savings
The Hill
March 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/201235-wyden-interested-in-war-spending-as-sgr-pay-for
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is interested in using war savings to pay for an overhaul of Medicare's flawed physician payment system. A Wyden staffer emphasized to provider groups Wednesday that her boss is "very open" to making Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds an offset for repealing Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR). The statement came in an email from Karen Fisher, a professional staff member with Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, to K Street interest groups, and discussed the likelihood of a permanent "doc fix" this month. The email was obtained by The Hill.
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McConnell calls for banning abortions after 20 weeks
The Hill
March 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/201213-mcconnell-calls-for-banning-abortions-after-20-weeks
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) used the anniversary of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell’s trial to call for legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks. It is time for America to join the ranks of most other developed nations around the world and restrict abortion at least at the point at which science tells us that unborn babies are capable of feeling pain,” McConnell said Tuesday. “Let’s take up this important pro-life legislation and send it to the president.”
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Pelosi, Dems doubling down on ObamaCare
The Hill
March 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/201205-pelosi-dems-doubling-down-on-obamacare
House Democratic leaders are doubling down on their bet that President Obama's healthcare reform law will benefit them politically at the polls in November. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has scheduled a Thursday press conference — rare for a congressional recess week — to highlight the fourth anniversary of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which Obama signed into law on March 23, 2010. The move is just the latest signal that Pelosi and her caucus, who have hardly shied away from the ACA in the face of political attacks from the right, instead intend to embrace the law and highlight its benefits in hopes that voters will respond amiably.
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Senators ask for clarity on mobile medical apps
The Hill
March 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medical-devices-and-prescription-drug-policy/201204-senators-ask-for-clarity-on
A bipartisan group of senators asked the Obama administration Wednesday whether additional legislation would ease its task in regulating mobile medical applications. The group of six lawmakers praised the Food and Drug Administration for adopting a risk-based approach to governing the apps, and asked the agency to provide more details about its plans for rule-making. The letter asked whether additional statutory definitions could help "clarify any uncertainty with respect to assigning risk level of medical software." “While the FDA’s final guidance has provided clarity on the agency’s approach to regulation of mobile medical applications, we believe more transparency is needed to avoid stakeholder confusion over how a wider range of medical software might be appropriately regulated,” the senators wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.
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Sebelius to meet with business leaders
The Hill
March 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201169-sebelius-to-meet-with-top-business-leaders
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will meet Wednesday with the chief executive officers of several major U.S. companies, a source with knowledge of the meeting confirmed. The sit-down with members of the Business Roundtable, a powerful association of CEOs, comes as the administration nears the end of its blistering first enrollment period under ObamaCare. The meeting's likely topic is the healthcare law, though a representative for the Business Roundtable would not offer confirmation. The Obama administration has taken several steps to ease pressure on companies as they cope with new mandates under the reform.
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Oversight Committee letter
The Hill
March 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201146-oversight-committee-letter
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) will refocus to ObamaCare on Wednesday, summoning a former top administration official back to Capitol Hill to clarify testimony on HealthCare.gov security concerns. In a letter obtained exclusively by The Hill, Issa seeks a second interview with Tony Trenkle, the former chief information officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who left last November after eight years with the agency for a job with IBM.
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Administration Plays to Young in Health Push
The New York Times
March 19, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/us/politics/racing-to-deadline-white-house-plays-to-young-in-health-care-push.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DCorrections%26region%3DTopBar%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2Fhealth%2Blaw%2F24hours%2F&_r=0
Russian troops were rolling through Crimea when Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff and a foreign policy expert, was deployed on a mission to do media outreach. But the focus of Mr. McDonough’s calls to local talk radio stations was not geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe, it was health care. Mr. McDonough chatted with Andy Baskin and Jeff Phelps, hosts of a popular sports talk radio program on WKRK-FM (92.3) in Cleveland, about the coming N.F.L. draft, basketball at the White House and his days playing college football in Minnesota. Mr. McDonough then pitched a new website featuring games, videos and superstar athletes explaining the benefits of health insurance: a sports-themed portal to HealthCare.gov.
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Reports, experts dispute Medicare Advantage ads
USA Today
March 19, 2014
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/19/medicare-advantage-enrollment-going-up-fees-stable/6525455/
Claims made in a recent series of TV ads by the trade group for American insurance companies are disputed by the chief federal Medicare watchdog organization and the companies' own corporate filings, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The ads from the Coalition for Medicare Choices, a subsidiary of America's Health Insurance Plans, say the Obama administration wants to cut too deeply from the Medicare Advantage program and those cuts would harm senior citizens on Medicare. "The last time the Medicare Advantage program was cut significantly, millions of seniors across the country saw higher premiums, a reduction in benefits and loss of coverage," said a memo released Monday from America's Health Insurance Plans, which referred to cuts in 1997.
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GOP health plan could be road to nowhere
Politico
March 18, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/gop-health-plan-could-be-road-to-nowhere-104783.html?hp=f1
Here’s the dirty secret about the House Republicans’ efforts to replace Obamacare: They haven’t even decided if they will hold a vote. Not to mention, the House GOP would still have to repeal Obamacare in order to implement whatever alternative health care plan they release, which isn’t going to happen as long as President Barack Obama is sitting in the Oval Office. In the next few weeks and months, the House Republican Conference — with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) playing the key role — will spend lots of time talking about crafting its own health care plan, one that would be positioned as an alternative to the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
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Christie, Obamacare advocate clash
Politico
March 18, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/christie-obamacare-advocate-clash-104774.html?hp=r9
Republican Gov. Chris Christie got into a testy exchange with an Affordable Care Act advocate at a town hall-style event in New Jersey on Tuesday, accusing her of misleading people about his position. Christie gained his reputation as a colorful straight-talker largely through interactions with critics like these — but the potential White House hopeful has displayed that side less since a traffic scandal shook his administration earlier this year. Events like the one on Tuesday have helped him re-enter the spotlight in front of relatively friendly crowds, although this was the second consecutive gathering where hecklers interrupted Christie and were escorted out.
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Number of staffers with health coverage emerges as issue in race for governor in Md.
The Washington Post
March 18, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/number-of-staffers-with-health-coverage-emerges-as-issue-in-race-for-governor-in-md/2014/03/18/fc88938a-aea0-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html
In Maryland’s Democratic primary for governor, you’re more likely to be getting help with health insurance coverage if you work for the campaigns of Anthony Brown or Heather Mizeur than Doug Gansler. Brown, the state’s lieutenant governor, and Mizeur, a delegate from Montgomery County, both offer employer-sponsored plans to staff members on their gubernatorial campaigns. Seventeen of Brown’s 25 employees are covered, as are five of Mizeur’s 12 paid staffers, according to campaign spokesmen.
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Obama to Hispanics: We won’t deport relatives because you enroll in ObamaCare
The Hill
March 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201076-obama-makes-o-care-pitch-to-hispanics-the
President Obama on Tuesday sought to assure legal immigrants that they can sign up for ObamaCare without worrying that “the immigration people” will come for family members who are in the country illegally. In an interview with Univision Deportes, a Spanish-language sports radio show, Obama said immigration officials won’t have access to the personal information that consumers provide when signing up for healthcare on the new exchanges. “Well, the main thing for people to know is that any information you get, you know, asked with respect to buying insurance, does not have anything to do with … the rules governing immigration,” Obama said. “And you know, you can qualify if you’re a legal resident, if you are … legally present in the United States.
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GOP lawmaker: ObamaCare rule helps insurers, not consumers
The Hill
March 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201064-gop-rep-challenges-hhs-over-obamacare-rule
An ObamaCare rule change is drawing fire from a Republican lawmaker who says it will raise profits for insurance companies and hike executive pay. In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Tuesday, Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) said changing the ObamaCare spending formula to allow insurers to use more premium dollars on administrative costs will take a bite out of consumers. “This is deeply concerning, as it could result in higher out of pocket costs for consumers solely for the benefit of the insurance industry,” Black wrote in the letter.
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Lawmaker: ObamaCare will 'collapse' around Obama
The Hill
March 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/healthcare/201055-lawmaker-obamacare-will-collapse-around-obama
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) predicted Monday that ObamaCare will fall apart on its own, through a combination of rising healthcare premiums that people are seeing, and the several enforcement delays imposed by the Obama administration. "Eventually, all of this is going to collapse around them, but they are just enacting so much pain on the American people as we get to that," she told NewsMax TV on Monday. Blackburn, one of the more vocal opponents of ObamaCare in the House, said the failure of younger, healthier people to sign up for insurance under the law is a major factor that will lead to higher premiums and the collapse of the law.
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ObamaCare: Another Day, Another Delay
Senate Finance Committee
March 18, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=b8845bcf-39d1-420c-b40b-dff9d2c0c1fc
ObamaCare, the president’s signature domestic policy achievement, turns four at the end of the week. But after so many missed deadlines, delays and unilateral changes to the new law the American people have more cause for confusion than celebration. Here’s a quick look at the growing list of shifts in deadlines and major adjustments to key parts of the law that have left consumers, job creators, and insurance companies, alike, wondering what’s actually working with ObamaCare:
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White House going all-in with March Madness for ObamaCare
The Hill
March 18, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201028-white-house-going-all-in-with-march-madness
The White House is hitching its final ObamaCare enrollment push to the wildly popular NCAA basketball tournament, pouring loads of resources into March Madness-related media appearances. The tournament, which kicks off Tuesday and ends in early April, is perfectly timed for the administration’s enrollment push ahead of the March 31 deadline. It also aligns with President Obama’s interests – he’s a big time basketball fan.
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Tax Reform Déjà Vu
Committee on Ways and Means
Mach 18, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=373185
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., has unveiled his Tax Reform Act of 2014, the most comprehensive tax reform proposal in nearly three decades. The Camp plan is a bold, even radical, proposal which has shocked many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and outraged many business interests. The Camp plan is an impressive blueprint for how to simplify the tax system, reduce tax rates, reform our international tax rules and broaden the base by closing a long list of tax loopholes. The need for major tax reform is acknowledged by most economic and tax policy experts. The U.S. corporate tax rate is the highest in the industrialized world, international rules impede our global competitiveness, and the combination of high tax rates and too many deductions, exclusions, and carve-outs impedes economic growth and job creation.
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HealthCare.gov hits a blip
Politico
March 18, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/healthcare-gov-outage-104786.html?hp=r8
HealthCare.gov went down for at least 30 minutes Tuesday, an outage blamed on “human error.” Although resolved quickly, the occurrence was an immediate reminder of how much is riding on the federal enrollment website’s smooth functioning in the final two weeks of the 2014 enrollment season. On Monday, administration officials described a sharp increase in sign-ups during the first half of March that brought the total to 5 million people nationwide. HHS was quick to emphasize Tuesday that the “brief outage” had nothing to do with too many visitors. “This issue was not related to volume,” agency spokeswoman Joanne Peters said. “We have a waiting-room system in place to deploy should volume reach high levels. That system has not been needed today.”
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CMS Launches Wyden Initiative to Strengthen Hospice Care
Senate Finance Committee
March 18, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=a8a06c4c-2ebc-4623-b2af-78c4debb1a68
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., applauded the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for moving forward with his initiative to increase access to hospice care for Medicare beneficiaries. Today, CMS launched the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM). The MCCM, authorized by the Affordable Care Act, will test whether more seniors who qualify for coverage under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, would choose to receive the services typically provided by a hospice if they could also continue to receive curative care. “This initiative represents a fundamental change in the way health care is delivered,” said Wyden, who authored the legislation authorizing the program. “Patients and their families should have every choice available to them when faced with life-threatening illness. Allowing Medicare coverage to continue while under hospice care means that patients no longer have to make a false choice between hospice and curative care.”
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Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort Underway to Advance Medicare Post-Acute Reform: House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees Release Draft Legislation
Committee on Ways and Means
March 18, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=373213
Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Ranking Member Sandy Levin (D-MI) along with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) released a discussion draft titled, Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act of 2014). The IMPACT Act of 2014 takes a crucial step toward the modernization of Medicare payments to post-acute care (PAC) providers and a more accountable, quality-driven PAC benefit. The draft can serve as the core building block for future Medicare PAC reforms.
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Medicare Care Choices Model
CMS
March 18, 2014
http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Medicare-Care-Choices/
Through the Medicare Care Choices Model, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will provide a new option for Medicare beneficiaries to receive palliative care services from certain hospice providers while concurrently receiving services provided by their curative care providers. CMS will evaluate whether providing hospice services can improve the quality of life and care received by Medicare beneficiaries, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce Medicare expenditures.
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White House to begin Obamacare March Madness Monday
CNN
March 17, 2014
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/16/white-house-to-begin-obamacare-march-madness-monday/?iref=allsearch
As hoop heads across the country prepare for the Big Dance, President Barack Obama's administration is banking on a new March Madness-focused campaign to help boost Obamacare enrollment. To coincide with the start of NCAA basketball tournament, a White House official says the administration is launching an all-encompassing push around the annual basketball bonanza that will feature athletes, coaches, and others, in hopes of spurring more Americans to sign up for health care before the March 31 deadline.
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Thousands Of Young California Immigrants Eligible For Coverage -- Though Often They Don’t Know It
Kaiser Health News
March 17, 2014
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/March/17/Thousands-of-young-California-immigrants-eligible-for-coverage.aspx
Carlos Velazquez’s skateboard slipped out from beneath his feet and he spiraled onto the ground, landing hard on his left arm. He decided not to go to the doctor after the 2012 accident, resorting to over-the-counter pain medication and home remedies. The reason: He and his mother had overstayed their visas when he was a child, so he wasn’t eligible for government-funded health insurance. And he couldn’t afford a private plan. A few months later, his arm still hurt and wouldn’t straighten. He went to a place he knew he wouldn’t be turned away – the emergency room at Los Angeles County-run Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. But by then, Velazquez’s bone, which had been broken, was permanently crooked.
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House Republican leaders craft their vision for an alternative to health-care law
The Washington Post
March 17, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-republican-leaders-craft-their-vision-for-an-alternative-to-health-care-law/2014/03/16/b98db274-ab7e-11e3-98f6-8e3c562f9996_story.html
House Republican leaders are adopting an agreed-upon conservative approach to fixing the nation’s health-care system, in part to draw an election-year contrast with President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The plan includes an expansion of high-risk insurance pools, promotion of health savings accounts and inducements for small businesses to purchase coverage together.
The tenets of the plan — which could expand to include the ability to buy insurance across state lines, guaranteed renewability of policies and changes to medical-malpractice regulations — are ideas that various conservatives have for a long time backed as part of broader bills.
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Obamacare meets March Madness
Politico
March 17, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obamacare-march-madness-104722.html?hp=r2
With the arrival of college basketball’s March Madness, the White House is looking to capitalize on the annual tournament to encourage Americans to enroll in Obamacare. The promotional effort will include athletes and coaches as well as administration officials, according to a White House official, and will begin on Monday. Sunday was “Selection Sunday,” the day the teams in the tournament are announced and the schedule and bracket are released.
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Poll: Two thirds satisfied with healthcare system
The Hill
March 17, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200952-poll-two-thirds-satisfied-with-us-healthcare
Two thirds of people in the United States say they’re satisfied with the country’s current healthcare system, a new poll indicates. Sixty-six percent say they’re satisfied with how the healthcare system is working for them, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. By contrast, 32 percent say they’re dissatisfied. Levels of satisfaction were largely determined by whether those surveyed have health insurance. Seventy-two percent of people with insurance say they are satisfied with the healthcare system while 26 percent of them say they are not.
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RNC chair: Obamacare 'main target'
Politico
March 16, 2014
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2014/03/rnc-chair-obamacare-main-target-185189.html
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Obamacare "complete poison" on Sunday and vowed the GOP would continue to target the new health law in upcoming races. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," he called the Affordable Care Act the "main target" for Republicans. And he said that David Jolly's victory over Democrat Alex Sink in last week's special congressional race in Florida's 13th District was largely due to opposition to Obamacare. In a wide-ranging interview with host Candy Crowley, Priebus defended the party's outreach toward women and minorities and defended fellow Republicans Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
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Pfeiffer: No way White House delays O-Care's individual mandate
The Hill
March 16, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200934-pfeiffer-no-way-wh-delays-individual-mandate
The White House is vowing that it will not delay the individual mandate portion of the healthcare reform law. Republicans have called on the administration to delay that central plank of ObamaCare, after the administration delayed several other portions of the new law. But White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer on Sunday was categorical in ruling it out. Asked by David Gregory on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he could rule out a delay in the individual mandate, Pfeiffer said, “Yes I can.”
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Help me: Obama prods young on O-Care
The Hill
March 15, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200888-help-me-one-more-time-obama-prods-young-on-o
The White House is hoping young people will come to President Obama’s aid one more time over ObamaCare, just as they did when they supported him strongly in both his presidential election victories. The administration is engaged in an all-out push to increase young people’s enrollment in ObamaCare with just two weeks left before the deadline to acquire insurance. Young people have signed up at a significantly lower rate than the administration had hoped, raising fears among Affordable Care Act advocates.
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White House scales back surgeon general push
The Hill
March 15, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/200911-white-house-recalibrating-surgeon-general-vote
The White House is considering delaying or withdrawing its nominee for U.S. surgeon general, The New York Times reported Friday. The vote for Vivek Hallegere Murthy could fail in the Senate over backlash from his gun control advocacy and vulnerable Democrats who don't want to take another tough vote on a controversial nominee. As many as 10 Democrats could vote against the president of Doctors for America, according to reports. Last month, the NRA sent a letter to members of Congress voicing its opposition to Murthy for a number of positions he has advocated, including banning semi-automatic weapons, licensing requirements for ammunition sales and a gun buyback program.
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GOP to Obama: Don't break promises
The Hill
March 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200904-gop-medicare-advantage-cuts-result-in-broken-promises
Republicans are warning President Obama not to create "hundreds of thousands of broken promises" by going forward with cuts to Medicare Advantage, a private health insurance alternative for seniors. In Saturday's GOP address, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) said the proposed cuts would conflict with Obama's message that he does not want to get between people and their doctors. "Because of Obama Care, many seniors enrolled in the popular Medicare Advantage program are paying higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs,” Johnson said. “Many are losing access to their physicians. And many more will, unless the president takes action."
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HHS outlines policy changes to lift insurers
The Hill
March 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200902-hhs-outlines-policy-changes-to-boost-insurers
Federal health officials dropped regulations late Friday outlining how they plan to help insurance companies stuck with unanticipated costs due to ObamaCare's botched rollout. In a 279-page document, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) detailed adjustments to the healthcare law's "risk corridors" program, a means for shifting money from insurers who fare better under the new system to those who fare worse. Risk corridors have been decried by conservatives as a bailout that could leave taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars. The administration said Friday that it will implement the program in a budget-neutral way.
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HHS: No denying same-sex couples
The Hill
March 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/200845-hhs-no-denying-coverage-to-same-sex-couples
The Obama administration on Friday clarified that health insurance companies will not be able to deny coverage to same-sex spouses if those same benefits are offered to other couples. The Department of Health and Human Services said the nationwide rule would go into effect next year. "In other words, insurance companies will not be permitted to discriminate against married same-sex couples when offering coverage," said Matthew Heinz, director of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender outreach at the department. "This will further enhance access to healthcare for all Americans, including those with same-sex spouses."
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Millions May Avoid Obamacare Penalty as Deadline Looms
Bloomberg
March 14, 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/millions-may-avoid-obamacare-penalty-as-deadline-looms.html
Obamacare’s requirement that all Americans carry insurance or face penalties, part of the effort to gain universal coverage, may not be much of a rule at all. Millions of people may be exempt from the requirement known as the individual mandate under rules issued by the Obama administration. Homeless people or homeowners who’ve been foreclosed upon can apply for an exemption. So can those whose utilities have been shut off, who have suffered domestic violence or who have experienced a death in their families.
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Twelve Dems break ranks in vote to delay ObamaCare mandate
The Hill
March 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/votes/200821-x-dems-break-ranks-in-vote-to-delay-obamacare-mandate
The House voted Friday to delay the individual mandate to buy health insurance under ObamaCare for five years, an idea that found support from 12 Democrats after frantic leadership efforts to keep their members in the "no" column. Members approved the bill in a 237-182 vote that also saw one Republican vote against the bill. Democrats were under pressure to fall in line against the bill after a stinging loss in a Florida special election this week, which heightened fears that the healthcare law will sink the party in the midterm elections.
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Camp Floor Statement: H.R. 4015, the “SGR Repeal and Provider Payment Modernization Act”
House Ways and Means Committee
March 14, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=372918
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to strongly support H.R. 4015, the “SGR Repeal and Provider Payment Modernization Act,” as amended. The Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Senate Finance Committees have worked in a bipartisan manner to develop permanent physician payment fix repeal. Years of hearings, discussion drafts and ongoing dialogues with stakeholders have resulted in H.R. 4015, a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the SGR replacement policy. This bill has over 100 co-sponsors, has the support of 18 Members of the House Doctors Caucus and 600 national and state organizations representing physicians and other professionals.
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Ben Sasse aided firm implementing Obamacare
Politico
March 14, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/ben-sasse-nebraska-obamacare-affordable-care-act-104664.html?hp=r2
Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse has built his Senate campaign on his opposition to Obamacare — but he once consulted for a firm that was working to implement it. Sasse provided early “strategic advice” to former Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt’s health care consulting firm while the firm pitched itself to clients in early 2010 to help implement the Affordable Care Act. Sasse is listed, along with his photograph and biography, as a “senior advisor” under the heading “Leavitt Partners team” in PowerPoint presentations from April and May 2010 in which Leavitt’s firm sold its Obamacare expertise.
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Obama: Enough people have joined to make ObamaCare 'stable'
The Hill
March 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/200810-obama-enough-people-have-joined-to-make-o-care-stable
President Obama said Friday that enough people have already signed up for ObamaCare that he is “confident” his signature legislative accomplishment will function properly. “At this point enough people are signing up that the Affordable Care Act is going to work,” Obama said in a WebMD interview. “The insurance companies will continue to offer these plans. We already have 4 million people, over 4 million people, signed up." The president said he expects “a larger number” still to be enrolled by March 31. “The pool is already large enough, the number of people who have signed up is large enough, I’m confident the program will be stable,” Obama said.
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Dem leaders whip members into line on GOP ObamaCare bill
The Hill
March 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200784-dem-leaders-whip-members-into-line-on-o-care
Democrats are furiously whipping their caucus against a Republican bill that would pay for a bipartisan Medicare fix by delaying ObamaCare’s individual mandate. That’s a change: Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) did not whip a similar Republican bill earlier this month to remove the penalty for not buying insurance in 2014. The bill passed the House and picked up 27 Democratic votes in the process. But Democrats desperately need to circle their wagons around the healthcare law after a devastating setback in Florida this week, where their loss in a special election exacerbated worries that ObamaCare will sink the party in this year's midterm elections.
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Camp: BRT Analysis Shows Tax Reform Draft Will Increase Wages, Grow the Economy and Encourage Investment
House Ways and Means
March 13, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=372847
Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement in response to an independent economic analysis commissioned by Business Roundtable (BRT) and conducted by Rice University Professors John Diamond and George Zodrow that shows the Tax Reform Act of 2014 would grow the economy and increase wages for American workers. “American workers and job creators are facing a weak economy and stagnant wages because of our overly complex tax code. Tax reform that makes the code simpler and fairer by lowering tax rates will unleash America’s economic potential. The BRT study underscores this point, showing that tax reform will increase take-home pay for American workers, grow the economy and increase investment in the U.S. – putting our country on a path to stability and growth.”
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Wyden Urges Needed Medicare Reforms
Senate Finance Committee
March 13, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=e4e63ba6-91bb-4c62-992c-5b51adeb9eb8
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., spoke on the Senate floor in support of legislation that resolves longstanding problems with Medicare’s payment formula for physicians, and provides a wide range of reforms that improve care for seniors and increase transparency and accountability. “If Congress fails to fully repeal the flawed Medicare payment formula now, I believe there will be cuts to other providers, hospitals, home health care providers, drug companies, skilled nursing facilities,” Wyden said. “Now, I know that this isn't an easy vote for colleagues on either side of the aisle, but it means that we'll be able to accomplish what we were sent here to do - find a way to do what's best for seniors and the doctors who care for them.”
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The Northeast and the West are leading on Obamacare, in their own ways
The Washington Post
March 13, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/03/13/the-northeast-and-the-west-are-leading-on-obamacare-in-their-own-ways/
The Northeast is enrolling people in Obamacare plans at higher rates than any other region, according to data released this week. But a separate report finds that states in the West are furthest along at implementing the new law. The Northeast is home to the three states with the highest rates of enrollment, at least among people who are eligible to enroll, as mapped above. Vermont is the far-and-away leader with 54 percent of the eligible population enrolled in a plan, according to Health and Human Services Department data crunched by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In Rhode Island and Connecticut, 27 percent are enrolled. Maine has the seventh highest enrollment rate at 21 percent. Rates are lowest in the Midwest, where just under 11 percent are enrolled. More than 12 percent are enrolled in the South,and the West is home to an average state enrollment rate of nearly 14 percent.
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OVERNIGHT HEALTH: House advances bill to delay ObamaCare mandate
The Hill
March 13, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200781-overnight-health-house-advances-bill-to-delay
The House on Thursday advanced a bill to delay enforcement of the individual mandate under ObamaCare for five years, amid Democratic complaints that the bill would raise insurance premiums and leave millions uninsured. In a 228-184 vote, members passed a rule allowing floor consideration of the bill, which the House is expected to pass Friday. It was supported by three Democrats. The legislation, H.R. 4015, started as a bill to repeal scheduled cuts to Medicare physicians — members of both parties support this "doc fix" proposal. However, Republicans have added language to pay for the fix by delaying the individual mandate penalties, a change that many Democrats were expected to oppose.
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Doctors renounce GOP's permanent 'doc fix'
The Hill
March 13, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200727-doctors-renounce-gops-permanent-doc-fix
Doctors are taking the unprecedented step of reversing their support for a permanent "doc fix" to Medicare after Republicans said they would pay for the reform by undoing a central provision of ObamaCare. The American Medical Association (AMA), which has pushed for a decade for an overhaul to Medicare's flawed physician payment formula, renounced the legislative package due for a House vote this week in a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "I am writing to profess our profound disappointment that a strong bipartisan, bicameral effort to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate [SGR] has become a victim of partisan approaches to resolve budgetary issues," AMA CEO James L. Madara wrote on Thursday.
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GOP launches ObamaCare enrollment audit
The Hill
March 13, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200695-gop-launches-obamacare-enrollment-audit
Republican lawmakers are going around the Obama administration in their quest to know how many ObamaCare enrollees have actually finished signing up. In letters Thursday, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked every insurer participating in the federal marketplace to say how many new customers have paid their first bill, the final step in gaining coverage. The administration counts its enrollees as people who have signed up for plans but not necessarily those who have paid their first premium. Federal health officials say they don't have access to that data, a statement insurance companies dispute.
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White House reverses O-Care subsidy cuts
The Hill
March 13, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200690-white-house-reversal-saves-o-care-subsidies
The White House is reversing course and protecting ObamaCare's cost-sharing subsidies from cuts under the across-the-board budget sequester. The move is the latest executive action by the Obama administration to avoid bad consequences for the healthcare law, and is sure to elicit criticism from Republicans. The change was revealed in this week's report from the White House budget office explaining how the sequester will impact spending in 2015. Last year, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said the subsidies would face a roughly 7 percent cut under sequestration. Budget officials changed that in their latest report, removing the subsides from a list of programs the sequester will hit.
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So how many have paid ACA premiums?
Politico
March 13, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obamacare-affordable-care-act-health-insurance-premiums-104602.html?hp=f2
The White House insists it doesn’t know how many people are fully enrolled in Obamacare, but insurers say they’ve handed over enough data to show that the sign-up numbers are not as rosy as federal officials say. The latest administration figures show that 4.2 million people have selected health plans in the new insurance markets. Insurance industry officials at four of the big national health plans tell POLITICO that about 15 to 20 percent of people who have signed up have not yet paid their first monthly premium — the final step to get coverage.
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Camp Opening Statement: Hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
House Ways and Means
March 13, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=372547
Secretary Sebelius, thank you for joining us today for a discussion of the President’s 2015 Budget. It has been four years since ObamaCare became law of the land, and it has been a bumpy road since then. Millions of Americans are paying more for health care as a result of the law, a trend which will only continue to spike as a result of the failed health care Exchange launch. All across the country, low-and middle-income Americans are seeing smaller paychecks and working less. Towns, schools, restaurants and businesses are struggling to comply with the law, finding that they are forced to cut hours or hold off on hiring. Millions of Americans have discovered the plan they have and like has been cancelled, or that they can no longer rely on the care from their local doctor or hospital.
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Health Mandate Won’t Be Delayed, Sebelius Says
The New York times
March 12, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/us/politics/no-plan-to-extend-health-care-enrollment-deadline-or-delay-mandate.html?hpw&rref=politics&action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DAsia%2520Pacific%26region%3DTopBar%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2Fhealth%2Blaw%2F24hours%2F&_r=0
Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said Wednesday that the Obama administration would not extend the deadline for people to sign up for health insurance or delay the requirement for most Americans to have coverage. And she declined to say whether the administration was still committed to its original goal of enrolling seven million people in private coverage through federal and state exchanges by March 31. Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, Ms. Sebelius said categorically that the administration would not delay the “individual mandate,” under which most Americans must have insurance or pay a tax penalty. In addition, she said that officials would not extend the six-month open enrollment period, scheduled to end on March 31.
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Kathleen Sebelius: No more Obamacare delays
Politico
March 12, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/kathleen-sebelius-obamacare-premiums-104580.html?hp=l11
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that there would be no delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate, the penalty for violating it or the March 31 closing date of the enrollment period, the strongest statement yet that the administration has no plans for more major changes to the law in the final weeks of the first sign-up period. Asked by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) at a House hearing whether the administration would change its policy for enforcing the individual mandate after all the other delays, extensions and adjustments it has made to different provisions in the law, Sebelius bluntly replied, “No, sir.”
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No delay for the individual mandate
The Hill
March 12, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200624-overnight-health-no-delay-for-the-individual
The Obama administration will not delay ObamaCare's individual mandate or the March 31 deadline for enrolling in the new healthcare law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday. Sebelius ruled out the changes during testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee, where Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) noted the administration has made dozens of other changes or delays to the law. Republicans have denounced the administration's refusal to make changes to the individual mandate and enrollment deadline even as it made changes to the law to benefit other groups.
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Obama threatens to veto GOP 'doc fix' bill
The Hill
March 12, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200620-obama-threatens-to-veto-gop-healthcare-bill
President Obama is threatening to veto a Republican bill to reform Medicare's flawed physician payment system while delaying ObamaCare's individual mandate by five years. In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House praised the bill's efforts on Medicare but slammed the GOP for seeking to pull back the policy linchpin of the Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate "is essential to ensuring that the 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions can get coverage without being charged more or losing coverage when they get sick," the statement read. "This legislation would result in higher numbers of uninsured Americans, higher premiums for those who remain insured and fewer premium tax credits for middle-income families."
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In Speech, Hatch Outlines Opposition to Senate Democrats 'Doc Fix' Proposal
Senate Finance Committee
March 12, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=0d3173ab-59c3-447d-9707-c9960c198c74
In a speech on the Senate floor today, Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said efforts by Senate Democrats to advance bipartisan, bicameral legislation (S. 2000) to fully repeal and replace the broken the broken Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula without paying for it was “another partisan political ploy” and called on Congress to return to bipartisan, bicameral negotiations to find a responsible path forward. “Democrats want to pass a bill that has a roughly $177 billion price tag without even trying to offset any of the cost,” said Hatch. Sadly, these same Democrats don’t seem to care that they’ve quickly turned what was a true, bipartisan accomplishment into another partisan political ploy. This is deeply disappointing.”
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O-Care won't meet enrollment target, analysis predicts
The Hill
March 12, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200566-o-care-wont-meet-enrollment-target-analysis
A new analysis is predicting that 5.4 million people will sign up for ObamaCare coverage by the end of March, falling short of government projections. Consulting firm Avalere Health based its conclusion on the first open enrollment period in Medicare Part D, when 22 percent of voluntary sign-ups took place in the last month. Obama administration officials announced this week that 4.2 million people had signed up for private plans as of February 28. Avalere predicted that 1.2 million will sign up this month, bringing the total to 5.4 million enrollees for 2014. The figure would fail to meet projections by the Congressional Budget Office, which estimated that 6 million people would enroll in coverage by the end of March.
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HHS establishes new network to perform clinical studies
HHS
March 11, 2014
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/03/20140311b.html
HHS today established a network of five clinical research organizations that will design and conduct clinical studies needed to develop medical countermeasures – drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic tests that help protect health against bioterrorism, pandemic influenza, and other public health emergencies. The new clinical studies network will provide a full range of services required to plan, perform, monitor, and interpret clinical studies. The services include performing clinical studies that are required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the approval of a product for human use, comparing the properties of multiple products, or evaluating the potency of products stored in U.S. government stockpiles.
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Enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace climbs to 4.2 million in February
HHS
March 11, 2014
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/03/20140311a.html
Enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace continued to rise in February to a five-month total of 4.2 million. As in January, the percent of young adults who selected a Marketplace plan was 3 percentage points higher than it was from October through December (27 percent versus 24 percent). Based on enrollment patterns in other health care programs, it is expected that more people will sign up as we get closer to the March 31st deadline. “Over 4.2 million Americans have signed up for affordable plans through the Marketplace,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Now, during this final month of open enrollment our message to the American people is this: you still have time to get covered, but you’ll want to sign up today – the deadline is March 31st.”
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Health Care Enrollment Falls Short of Goal, With Deadline Approaching
The New York Times
March 11, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/us/almost-a-million-more-sign-up-for-health-coverage-in-february.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140311&nlid=58462464&tntemail0=y&_r=1
Almost a million people signed up last month for private health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, federal officials said Tuesday, bringing the total to date to 4.2 million but leaving the Obama administration well short of its original goal, with less than a month to go before the end of the open enrollment period. White House officials predict a surge in sign-ups just before the six-month enrollment period ends on March 31, but it will be a challenge to make up for the slow start that resulted from technical problems crippling the federal insurance marketplace in October and much of November.
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Pace of health exchange enrollment slows in February, figures show
The Washington Post
March 11, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/pace-of-health-exchange-enrollment-slows-in-february-figures-show/2014/03/11/6eb32e16-a93d-11e3-8d62-419db477a0e6_story.html
The pace at which Americans signed up for health plans slowed last month in the fledgling federal and state insurance marketplaces, according to new government figures showing that slightly fewer than 1 million people enrolled in February. The Obama administration said 943,000 Americans selected health plans, compared to 1.2 million in January. Overall, enrollment stood at 4.2 million as of the end of last month. Contrary to the Obama administration’s expectations, fewer people chose health plans last month than in either January or December. And the proportion of young adults — a critical demographic if the marketplaces are to function well — did not increase compared with January. The enrollment tallies suggest that administration officials and their allies, who have undertaken a blitz of outreach activities, face a significant challenge in reaching their enrollment goals by March 31, the end of the initial six-month sign-up period.
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Administration: 4.2 million people signed up for Obamacare plans through February
The Washington Post
March 11, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obamacare-affordable-care-act-104540.html?hp=f3
This time, there was no enrollment breakthrough for Obamacare — and the Obama administration needs a breakthrough. The new enrollment numbers released Tuesday weren’t a disaster — they showed that the sign-ups continue to climb. About 940,000 people selected Obamacare private insurance plans in February, bringing to the total to 4.2 million people since the enrollment season opened in October. Yet the pace of new sign-ups wasn’t appreciably stronger than in January, when 1.1 million people selected health plans. That appears to be largely because there were fewer days in February than there were in the previous month’s report, but it’s an explanation that doesn’t help support messaging about major momentum.
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House OKs religious exemptions to having a healthcare plan
The Hill
March 11, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/votes/200497-dems-gop-agree-on-religion-tweak-to-obamacare
House Democrats joined Republicans on Tuesday to pass legislation that would expand an exemption under ObamaCare for people who don't want health insurance for religious reasons. The Republican House has passed dozens of bills to chip away at ObamaCare over the last few years, some of which had support from more than 30 Democrats. But the bill up today was considered under a suspension of the rules, which meant that support from about 50 Democrats was needed in order for the bills to pass with a two-thirds majority vote.
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Republicans pull Medicare Part D bill
The Hill
March 11, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/healthcare/200487-republicans-pull-medicare-part-d-bill
House Republicans have announced they will not consider legislation to block an Obama administration rule that the GOP says would limit seniors' prescription drug choices under Medicare Part D. The announcement was made a day after the administration said it would not pursue the rule, after many criticized it. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Republicans could bring up the bill, H.R. 4160, at a later date if the administration decided to consider the rule again. "It's unfortunate that it took the threat of bipartisan congressional action to convince the administration to stop its attack on Medicare programs that work and the seniors who rely on them," Cantor said.
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ObamaCare enrollments dip
The Hill
March 11, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200475-obamacare-enrollments-dip-in-feb
ObamaCare enrollments fell from 1.1 million in January to 942,000 in February, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday. The administration remains optimistic it will see a surge of enrollees prior to the March 31 enrollment deadline. HHS said an “action-forcing” event, like the end of an open enrollment period, “often results in a spike in enrollment activity.” On a conference call with reporters, HHS assistant secretary Nancy Delew noted that February was a short month, and that January’s data included a few days from late December, when a flood of consumers rushed to sign up for coverage that started in the new year.
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Cancer docs call for Medicare payment fix
The Hill
March 11, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200442-cancer-docs-call-for-medicare-payment-fix
An influential cancer group is calling on Congress to fix Medicare's flawed physician payment system before an expected spike in demand for cancer treatment hits the U.S. healthcare system. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), in a report released Tuesday, said the number of new cancer diagnoses is projected to increase by up to 42 percent by 2025 as a result of the aging population. The group warned that access to cancer care at the community level is already under threat from a looming doctor shortage and cuts to Medicare payments under the sequester. ASCO President Clifford A. Hudis urged Congress to at least ease clinicians' minds by introducing more stability into Medicare payments.
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Tuesday: House tries bipartisan ObamaCare bills
The Hill
March 11, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/scheduling/200414-tuesday-house-tries-bilateral-obamacare-bills
The House returns to work in the afternoon on several suspension bills, including a package of three bills to tweak ObamaCare. Unlike past healthcare bills, the three up today have some level of bipartisan support, which gives them a chance to pass with a strong bipartisan majority that could create some momentum in the Senate. ObamaCare legislation up today would create new exemptions under the healthcare law for religious people, veterans, and emergency responders. Those bills are: — H.R. 1814, the Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act, — H.R. 3474, the Hire More Heroes Act, and — H.R. 3979, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act. A fourth healthcare bill is tentatively scheduled for today — H.R. 4160, the Keep the Promise to Seniors Act. This bill would block a rule from the Health and Human Services Department that Republicans say would limit pharmaceutical choices for seniors.
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Wyden, Hatch Welcome CMS Decision to Rollback Changes to Medicare Prescription Drug Program
Senate Finance Committee
March 10, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=f854106c-5506-4a08-abb0-684ede074b73
Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, welcomed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner decision to rollback its plans to overhaul the Medicare prescription drug program. “This is good news and shows that the administration shares our concerns about potential disruptions for seniors enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug program,” Wyden said. “By safeguarding beneficiary protections and choice, the guarantee that seniors’ drug coverage is accessible, comprehensive and affordable remains in place. I am also pleased by the acknowledgement of the need to reengage with seniors, insurers and other stakeholders before any policy changes.”
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Obama drops Medicare changes
The Hill
March 10, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200385-overnight-health-obama-drops-medicare-changes
The Obama administration is abandoning a surprise plan to alter Medicare’s drug coverage after withering criticism from Congress and K Street. Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner alerted lawmakers Monday that her agency would not go forward with a proposal to give insurers more leeway to limit the number of drugs they cover for Medicare beneficiaries. Critics argued that making the change, which was designed to save money, would have hampered seniors’ access to necessary drugs. Democrats worried the issue would hurt them in the midterm elections, and House Republicans had scheduled a vote this week on a bill blocking the regulation from going forward.
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Lawmakers appeal to HHS chief over FDA approval of new pain pill
The Hill
March 10, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/healthcare/200389-lawmakers-appeal-to-hhs-chief-over-fda-approval-of-new-pain-pill
Lawmakers are turning to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to overturn the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a controversial prescription drug that is scheduled to hit the market later this month. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is the most recent lawmaker to criticize the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approving Zohydro, which critics say is a highly addictive and easily-abused prescription drug. "Given the potentially imminent release of Zohydro later this month, it is imperative that you act as soon as possible to keep this dangerous drug off the market," Manchin wrote Monday in a letter to Sebelius, who overseas the FDA.
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Unions back proposed Medicare Advantage cut
The Hill
March 10, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200380-unions-back-proposed-medicare-advantage-cut
The labor movement is throwing its weight behind a proposed cut to Medicare Advantage (MA) that is fiercely opposed by insurers, doctor groups and Republican lawmakers. The AFL-CIO urged the Obama administration on Friday not to drop its proposed 2015 rate reduction, arguing the cut is necessary to rectify the funding imbalance between MA and traditional Medicare. "We believe it is in the best interest of today's and future Medicare beneficiaries and American taxpayers to establish greater parity between MA plan reimbursements and traditional Medicare costs," the federation wrote in a letter. "We urge [Medicare] to stay the course and continue to implement Medicare Advantage policies enacted through the [Affordable Care Act]."
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RNC building database of O-Care's canceled policyholders
The Hill
March 10, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200363-rnc-building-database-of-voters-who-had
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is building a database with the names of those who received insurance cancellation notices under ObamaCare, with the hope of capturing voters who believe they’ve been negatively affected by the healthcare law. An RNC spokesman wouldn’t provide any further details on the initiative for fear of giving away the strategy, but confirmed what Chairman Reince Priebus first told The Washington Examiner over the weekend. “Getting that information [on plan cancellations] and having good data as to who votes, who doesn't vote, voter registration, party affiliation, consumer characteristics, cross-referenced with that kind of information, I think, is important for us to have,” Priebus said.
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Wyden, Hatch Welcome CMS Decision to Rollback Changes to Medicare Prescription Drug Program
Senate Finance Committee
March 10, 2014
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=4cc040b0-f18c-446c-9da6-71d9c42db2e4
Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, welcomed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner decision to rollback its plans to overhaul the Medicare prescription drug program. “This is good news and shows that the administration shares our concerns about potential disruptions for seniors enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug program,” Wyden said. “By safeguarding beneficiary protections and choice, the guarantee that seniors’ drug coverage is accessible, comprehensive and affordable remains in place. I am also pleased by the acknowledgement of the need to reengage with seniors, insurers and other stakeholders before any policy changes.”
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Sessions demands Sebelius testify before Budget panel
The Hill
March 10, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/200327-sessions-demands-sebelius-testify-before-budget-panel
Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) asked his Democratic counterpart, Chairwoman Patty Murray (Wash.), to request that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tesify before the committee. “The Senate Budget Committee is long overdue for a hearing with the Secretary of Health and Human Services,” Sessions wrote in a letter to Murrray Monday. “Secretary Sebelius has never once testified before the Budget Committee on either the president’s budget or the president’s healthcare law.” Sessions said that despite the fact that healthcare spending is nearly one-third of the federal budget, Sebelius has not testified before the committee.
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Camp Statement on CMS’ Announcement on Medicare Part D Rule Changes
House Ways and Means Committee
March 10, 2014
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=372342
Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement in response to CMS’ announcement that it would not finalize certain rules related to Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. "I appreciate that CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner will not finalize controversial provisions of the proposed Part D rule. It was clear from the overwhelming number of comments from seniors, advocacy groups, Part D plans and Members of Congress that CMS' proposal would significantly alter the Part D program and could put in jeopardy seniors' access to affordable medications. While this announcement provides limited relief in the short-term, it should lay the groundwork for strong bipartisan support for legislation expressing Congress' disapproval of these proposals. As Part D approaches a decade of providing access to affordable prescriptions for seniors, Congress must redouble its efforts to work with all parties to ensure the long-term viability of the successful Part D program."
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Calling all moms: It’s Obamacare
Politico
March 9, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obamacare-moms-104464.html?hp=r1
Mother’s Day is coming early to the White House this year, at least where Obamacare sign-up is concerned. Open enrollment ends March 31, and President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and top administration officials all have events this week that aim to reach America’s moms, who typically drive health care decisions for their families — including the young adult children who are a key demographic for the new insurance exchanges. “Moms have a huge influence on their kids and families and are a key demographic for the ongoing effort to make sure Americans know the benefits they can access through the health law,” a White House official said. The idea is to leverage that mom voice to spread the word about the health law and the limited time remaining to enroll.
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Little-Known Health Act Fact: Prison Inmates Are Signing Up
The New York times
March 9, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/us/little-known-health-act-fact-prison-inmates-are-signing-up.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140309&nlid=58462464&tntemail0=y&_r=1
In a little-noticed outcome of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, jails and prisons around the country are beginning to sign up inmates for health insurance under the law, taking advantage of the expansion of Medicaid that allows states to extend coverage to single and childless adults — a major part of the prison population. State and counties are enrolling inmates for two main reasons. Although Medicaid does not cover standard health care for inmates, it can pay for their hospital stays beyond 24 hours — meaning states can transfer millions of dollars of obligations to the federal government.
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Dems see healthcare opening on Medicaid
The Hill
March 9, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200239-dems-see-healthcare-opening-on-medicaid
States run by Republican governors and legislatures are slowly adopting the Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare, boosting Democratic hopes they can run on the issue in the midterm elections. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has launched a petition on her website urging Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) to agree to the expansion, which she argues would bring health insurance to more people who cannot afford it. The issue is giving Landrieu a chance to run not only against her GOP opponent Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who opposes the extension, but against Jindall as well. She argues the expansion would close “the Jindal Gap.” “Our governor may not like the president, but this is not about the president,” she writes. “It's about providing health coverage for 240,000 Louisianans who work 40 or 50 hours a week, but still make too little to qualify for assistance in the new marketplace — and too much to qualify for Louisiana’s current Medicaid.”
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Cruz on O-Care repeal: ‘We’ll do it in 2017’
The Hill
March 9, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/200284-cruz-on-o-care-repeal-well-do-it-in-2017
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Sunday that Republicans will repeal the controversial healthcare law after President Obama leaves office in 2017. Cruz became of the face of an unsuccessful effort to eliminate the healthcare law last year that resulted in a government shutdown. Most Republicans backed off the repeal-or-shutdown position after sustaining political damage during the two-week standoff in October, but Cruz promised on Sunday during an appearance on ABC News’s “This Week” to continue trying to get rid of Obamacare during the remainder of the president’s term. “I’ll give you one scenario where it could [be repealed before Obama leaves office],” Cruz said. “If there’s one thing that unifies politicians in both parties is that their top priority is preserving their own hide. If enough congressional Democrats realize they either stand with ObamaCare and lose or they listen to the American people and have a chance at staying in office, that’s the one scenario we could do it in 2015. If not, we’ll do it in 2017.”
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Crist: ObamaCare has been ‘great’
The Hill
March 9, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/governor-races/200282-crist-obamacare-has-been-great-for-florida
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (D) said Sunday that President Obama’s controversial healthcare law has been “great” for residents of his state. Crist has sharply criticized the healthcare law in the past. But the former Republican governor and 2008 GOP vice-presidential short-lister is running for his old post this year as a Democrat this year. Crist said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he would have no problem running on the healthcare bill, which is known colloquially as ObamaCare, as he seeks to regain his former office. “I don’t think so at all,” Crist said when he was asked if the healthcare law was hurting Florida citizens, especially seniors, as Republicans have alleged.
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The Obamacare money under the couch
Politico
March 8, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obamacare-accounting-money-104410.html#ixzz2vUecjWoz
The Obama administration is dropping some new hints about how it has moved money around to fund Obamacare without Congress — but not nearly enough to put the controversy to rest. Forced to reveal more details under a provision tucked in this year’s bipartisan budget deal, the Department of Health and Human Services declared Friday how it used Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s authority to move about $1.6 billion in departmental funds around last year — the Cabinet secretary’s version of looking for change under the couch cushions and hitting the jackpot. But HHS didn’t say exactly how it spent the money, and it didn’t lay out the kind of detail Republicans sought. So now the Republicans will have to decide their next move, whether it’s just more records requests or new efforts to tie the Obama administration’s hands in future appropriations bills.
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AARP urges caution on Part D proposal
The Hill
March 7, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200244-aarp-urges-caution-on-part-d-proposal
The Obama administration has to beef up the appeals process in Medicare Part D before it rolls out changes to the program's protected drug classes, the nation's largest senior lobby said Friday. AARP tentatively backed parts of a proposed overhaul to Part D but urged caution when it comes to modifying protected-class status for some medications without adequate recourse for seniors who need better access to the drugs. "While AARP agrees with the premise of the need to periodically reevaluate and potentially modify some or all of the protected classes — which should improve plan sponsors' ability to better negotiate prices with drug manufacturers — we strongly urge [regulators] to take additional precautions prior to implementation that will help ensure this change does not negatively affect enrollee access," the group wrote in comments Friday.
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Conservative group targets Dems over insurance cuts
The Hill
March 7, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200203-conservative-group-targets-vulnerable-dems
A major conservative advocacy group is launching a $1 million campaign targeting vulnerable Democratic senators over cuts to Medicare Advantage. The American Action Network will run TV and Web ads seeking to pressure Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) to oppose cuts to the private insurance option that Democrats have historically derided as a wasteful giveaway to insurance companies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last month proposed a 2-percent cut to Medicare Advantage, which is set to be finalized on April 1. But stakeholders have mounted a massive campaign against Democrats, urging them to pressure the administration to drop the proposed reimbursement cuts, which are supposed to help pay for the Affordable Care Act.
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Republicans push for new IG to monitor ObamaCare
The Hill
March 7, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/healthcare/200189-republicans-push-for-new-ig-to-monitor-obamacare
Three dozen House Republicans on Thursday proposed a bill that would create a special inspector general to monitor the implementation of ObamaCare. Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) proposed the bill to ensure proper monitoring of the law and accused the Obama administration of keeping implementation data secret. "From the time the bill was being drafted in secret in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office to the healthcare law's current implementation, the public has been largely kept in the dark about a law that puts the federal government in charge of one-sixth of the economy and is wreaking havoc on Americans' personal healthcare decisions," he said. "Congressional oversight of the law has been dogged, but the administration has repeatedly stonewalled investigators and been less than forthcoming with the public."
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Huckabee to keynote anti-abortion gala
The Hill
March 7, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/abortion/200187-huckabee-to-keynote-anti-abortion-gala
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R ) will deliver the keynote address at a prominent anti-abortion gala next week, adding to speculation that he's preparing to mount a 2016 run for president. Huckabee is slated to speak Wednesday at the Susan B. Anthony List Gala in Washington, D.C., an event that's played host to other possible GOP presidential candidates including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) will also receive awards at the gathering. Huckabee's invitation follows a series of recent appearances in early presidential primary states. The Fox News host and erstwhile Baptist minister also spoke at CPAC this week and headlined the Republican National Committee's (RNC) winter meeting.
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Analysis: Individual mandate penalty will usually exceed $95 minimum
The Hill
March 7, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200186-analysis-individual-mandate-penalty-will
The penalty associated with the individual mandate will almost always exceed the $95 minimum that is frequently cited as the cost of failing to purchase insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a new analysis. Under current law, people who are able to buy a plan but don't will be fined up to 1 percent of their income, or a minimum of $95. From there, the penalty grows to $325 or 2 percent in 2015, and $695 or 2.5 percent in 2016. But according to an ACA Tax Penalty Calculator developed by The Tax Policy Center and The Urban Institute, the penalty for most people who decide against purchasing insurance will be more than $95. For instance, a single person with no dependents will only pay $95 if they make $19,000 a year or less. That fee jumps to $200 if they make $30,000, and $300 if they make $40,000.
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House to vote on 'doc fix' – with Obamacare funds
Politico
March 6, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/house-doc-fix-bill-obamacare-104377.html?hp=r4
House Republicans are planning to bring up a permanent “doc fix” bill next week — paid for by repealing the individual mandate in Obamacare. It puts House Democrats in an awkward position. They have to either vote against repealing a Medicare payment formula that has long vexed doctors — or against a key, but unpopular piece of the Affordable Care Act. And because the bill isn’t likely to come up in the Democratic-led Senate, the problem will still be unsolved. There’s been growing bipartisan support for a plan that would finally replace the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula for Medicare physician payments. That formula calls for deep cuts to physician pay, so Congress keeps having to scramble for short-term patches and temporary fixes. The current patch expires March 31.
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$1 million in ads to target Democrats on Medicare
Politico
March 6, 2014
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/medicare-ads-democrats-104374.html?hp=r5
Seizing on proposed Medicare Advantage cuts, the right-leaning American Action Network will unveil a $1 million ad campaign on Friday against three vulnerable Democratic senators and six House Democrats. Over the next two weeks, TV buys will be accompanied by mailings to swing voters and online ads directing voters to DontCutOurMedicare.com. The Obama administration has proposed what insurers estimate is a 5.9 percent rate cut for Medicare Advantage, with the new rule set to be finalized on April 7.
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New health insurance marketplaces signing up few uninsured Americans, two surveys find
The Washington Post
March 6, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/health-insurance-marketplaces-signing-up-few-uninsured-americans-surveys-say/2014/03/06/cdae3152-a54d-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html
The new health insurance marketplaces appear to be making little headway in signing up Americans who lack insurance, the Affordable Care Act’s central goal, according to a pair of new surveys. Only one in 10 uninsured people who qualify for private plans through the new marketplaces enrolled as of last month, one of the surveys shows. The other found that about half of uninsured adults have looked for information on the online exchanges or planned to look. The snapshots from the surveys released Thursday provide preliminary answers to what has been one of the biggest mysteries since HealthCare.gov and separate state marketplaces opened last fall: Are they attracting their prime audience?
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Companies Test Plans to Cut Their Health Costs
The New York Times
March 6, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/business/companies-turn-to-private-exchanges-to-control-health-care-costs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DEurope%26region%3DTopBar%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2Fhealth%2Blaw%2F24hours%2F&_r=0
At Walgreen, the giant drugstore chain, employees now have a much broader choice of insurers and plans. Once limited to two options, either from a local Blue Cross plan or UnitedHealthcare, workers can now choose among as many as 25 plans from five insurers, depending on where they live, including Kaiser Permanente, the well-known California-based H.M.O. As health care costs continue their steady climb, employers are looking for ways to slow the pace. A survey of large employers released on Thursday showed that companies were shifting more costs onto their employees but were also experimenting with concepts like private exchanges that allow companies like Walgreen to offer their workers more choices in health care plans.
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More Than One Way to Buy a Plan
The New York Times
March 6, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/news/affordable-care-act/2014/03/06/more-than-one-way-to-buy-a-plan/?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DEurope%26region%3DTopBar%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2Fhealth%2Blaw%2F24hours%2F
When the federal online marketplace for the Affordable Care Act stumbled out of the gate last fall, leaving would-be applicants unable to sign up for care or even to view their plans, three young programmers thought they might be able to help frustrated users. In October, they packaged reams of publicly-available data into a website, healthsherpa.com, that allowed users to immediately view exchange plans in their area. But the site was intended for research only; users still had to purchase them through the federal and state health exchanges or, in some cases, directly through insurers. That changed last week, when the programmers — Michael Wasser, George Kalogeropoulos and Ning Liang — added functionality to their website that allows people to actually sign up for plans on their site, and joined a group of so-called Web brokers who offer a way to enroll in qualified health plans that they say is quicker and simpler than using the federal exchange.
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Official at Helm of Federal Health Marketplace Is Resigning
The New York Times
March 6, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/us/politics/official-in-charge-of-federal-health-marketplace-is-resigning.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140306&nlid=58462464&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Gary M. Cohen, the official in charge of the federal health insurance marketplace, who repeatedly told Congress before its troubled rollout that it would work well, said on Thursday that he was resigning. Mr. Cohen is the chief architect of federal rules regulating the operations of private health insurance under the new health care law. He said he would leave his post to return to California at the end of this month, when the open enrollment period closes for individuals and families shopping for insurance. When Mr. Cohen addressed a conference of insurance company executives here on Thursday, he was asked about problems that continue to bedevil the new federal marketplace.
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OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Is ObamaCare reaching its targets?
The Hill
March 6, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200154-overnight-health-is-obamacare-reaching-its
ObamaCare isn’t achieving its primary goal of extending coverage to those who previously did not have health insurance, a new study found. The survey released Thursday by the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm found that only 27 percent of those who have selected a plan on the new exchanges didn’t previously have coverage. The Obama administration says 4 million people have selected a plan since the exchanges launched on Oct. 1, but has not said how many of those previously had coverage. At a healthcare industry conference on Thursday, Gary Cohen, a top official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said it’s not something the administration has the ability to track. A CMS official told The Hill that it’s an important metric the agency hopes to be able to report on in the future. Jonathan Easley at The Hill reports.
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Study: ObamaCare not reaching uninsured
The Hill
March 6, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200145-study-obamacare-not-reaching-the-previously
ObamaCare isn’t achieving its primary goal of extending coverage to the uninsured, according to a new study. The survey released Thursday by the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm found that only 27 percent of people who have selected a plan on the new exchanges didn’t previously have coverage. The Obama administration says 4 million people have selected a plan since the exchanges launched on Oct. 1, but has not said how many of them already had an insurance plan. At a healthcare industry conference on Thursday, Gary Cohen, a top official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said it’s not something the administration has the ability to track.
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GOP to tie individual mandate to doc fix
The Hill
March 6, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/healthcare/200136-house-may-tie-individual-mandate-to-doc-fix
The House will vote next week on legislation to delay ObamaCare's individual mandate and prevent a cut in Medicare payments to doctors. Republicans are putting the two bills together so that revenue generated by delaying the individual mandate could be used to pay for preventing a cut in doctor payments. House aides confirmed that GOP leaders are looking at combining the individual mandate bill to "doc fix" legislation sponsored by Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas). Merging the two bills could make the vote particularly difficult for Democrats, who would be forced to support a delay of the mandate that people buy health insurance or face a penalty, in order to vote for the popular doc fix.
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GOP docs slam proposed Medicare cuts
The Hill
March 6, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200126-gop-docs-slam-proposed-medicare-cuts
Republican doctors in the House are joining the chorus of stakeholders urging the administration to drop proposed reimbursement cuts to Medicare Advantage (MA). "Seniors deserve stability and consistency in their MA benefits," the lawmakers wrote to federal health officials. "We strongly urge you to keep 2015 MA payment rates flat to ensure that the 15 million seniors enrolled in MA will continue to receive uninterrupted access to these healthcare benefits." The letter is part of a growing push against further reductions to private Medicare, which saw cuts last year and under the Affordable Care Act. The Medicare agency proposed a 2 percent cut to plans in February that will be finalized on April 1.
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Calls increase for SGR repeal before month's end
The Hill
March 6, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/200125-calls-increase-for-sgr-repeal-before-months-end
Pressure is building on congressional leaders to hold votes to overhaul Medicare's flawed physician payment system before the end of March, when the current "doc fix" expires. A coalition of healthcare provider groups threw their support behind the push Thursday despite signals that lawmakers will resort to another patch this month rather than repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR). "Another 9-, 12-, or 21-month 'doc fix,' would do little to reduce uncertainty for providers and beneficiaries and do nothing to curb long-term growth in health costs," the groups wrote to House and Senate leaders. "Having advanced so far towards permanent reform, failure to act now could dim the prospects for such legislation later this year and for years to come."
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Sebelius headed to Capitol Hill
The Hill
March 6, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200119-sebelius-headed-to-capitol-hill
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is headed to Capitol Hill next week to testify about President Obama's 2015 budget, giving Republicans another chance to grill her about the latest ObamaCare delay. Sebelius will appear before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday to discuss Obama's proposal, which allocated $77.1 billion in discretionary spending for HHS and contained cuts to post-acute care, drugmakers and wealthier seniors on Medicare. But the secretary can also expect to field questions about Wednesday's announcement that insurers can continue to offer noncompliant health plans through 2017. HHS also stopped a temporary reinsurance fee from hitting the self-insured health plans most commonly used by unions, drawing fire from Republicans.
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Top CMS official to resign at month's end
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200070-top-cms-official-to-resign
A top official charged with implementing the Affordable Care Act will resign at the end of the month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Marilyn Tavenner told her staff in an email on Wednesday. Tavenner said Gary Cohen, who as director of the Center for Consumer and Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) set up the exchanges and established the regulations for insurance companies under ObamaCare, is leaving voluntarily to return home to California after less than two years on the job. Cohen is a former aide to Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and has also worked for the California insurance department. “Under Gary’s leadership, CCIIO established the rules which have made the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality for millions of Americans who now can have the security of health coverage without regard to their previous health condition, and can know that their insurance will cover all the most common services they will need,” Tavenner wrote.
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New O-Care regs slash fees for some unions
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/healthcare/200041-new-o-care-regs-slash-fees-for-some-unions
A slate of final Affordable Care Act regulations issued Wednesday would give some labor unions a partial reprieve from fees under the landmark healthcare law. Revamped standards issued by the Department of Health and Human Services include changes to “reinsurance fees,” designed to tax health plans from 2014 to 2016 and used to help stabilize the individual market as sick patients come on board. Labor and business groups alike have criticized the fees, uniting behind federal legislation calling for their repeal. As initially envisioned, the reinsurance fee was to generate about $25 billion in revenue over the three years, beginning this year with a $63 per person charge. The regulations issued Wednesday, however, change the way the fees will be collected and take steps to prevent more than one payment per enrollee.
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OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Vulnerable Democrats huddle over healthcare changes
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200031-overnight-health-vulnerable-democrats-huddle
The White House took the rare step of naming more than a dozen Democrats it worked “in close consultation” with ahead of a Wednesday announcement about changes to the Affordable Care Act. All of the Democrats the administration cited are up for reelection in 2014, and most are either vulnerable or find themselves early targets by the GOP for their past support of ObamaCare. The administration announced Wednesday it would allow insurers to continue offering health plans that do not meet ObamaCare’s minimum coverage requirements. Prolonging the “keep your plan” fix to accommodate for President Obama’s broken promise about the law will avoid another wave of health policy cancellations otherwise expected in critical weeks before Election Day in 2014.
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White House: Federal government won’t be bailing out insurers
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/200024-white-house-federal-government-wont-be-bailing
The risk corridors created under ObamaCare that Republicans have decried as a “bailout” won’t cost the federal government anything because they’ll be implemented in a “budget neutral fashion,” the Obama administration said Wednesday. The Affordable Care Act creates a temporary pool of money, known as risk corridors, to pay insurers who enroll a higher-than-expected number of sick patients through 2016. On Wednesday, the administration said it would only be making payments under the program if matching cash flows are coming in. At least some of the risk corridor payments will be funded by the insurers themselves, as the law requires companies with better-than-expected results to contribute to the pool. ObamaCare transfers the money from lower-risk plans to higher-risk plans to keep premium prices stable in the early stages of the law.
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27 Democrats support House GOP measure to delay ObamaCare penalty
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/votes/200012-27-dems-support-gop-bill-to-delay-obamacare-penalty
Twenty-seven Democrats on Wednesday sided with House Republicans on a bill to delay tax penalties for failing to buy health insurance this year under ObamaCare. The vote, which reflects growing Republican frustration with President Obama's selective implementation of the law, again shows some level of Democratic support for a legislative change to the law. Several House bills aimed at making the health law more transparent have also received support from a few dozen Democrats. Most of the 27 Democrats voting for the bill are seen as vulnerable in the November elections, and one of them, Rep. Gary Peters (Mich.), is running for the Senate this year.
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Van Hollen: GOP not giving up 'undermining' ObamaCare for Lent
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/199976-van-hollen-gop-not-giving-up-undermining
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Wednesday said he knows what Republicans are not giving up for Lent — attempting to repeal ObamaCare. Catholics give up something during Lent, which began on Wednesday and lasts until Easter. Van Hollen made the comment on Twitter as the House voted for the 50th time on legislation that would repeal the healthcare law. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) sponsored the bill, which would delay the individual mandate for one year. At the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting last week, Obama commented on the GOP’s next attempt to tweak the law. “They have been obsessed with repealing the Affordable Care Act. You know what they say: 50th time is the charm,” Obama said. “Maybe when you hit your 50th repeal vote, you will win a prize. Maybe if you buy 50 repeal votes, you get one free. We get it. We understand. We get you don’t like it.”
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Dems attack House GOP’s 50th O-Care vote
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/199975-dems-attack-over-house-gops-50th-obamacare
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats are fed up with House Republican efforts to repeal or alter the Affordable Care Act. Pelosi on Wednesday released a list of 50 Affordable Care Act accomplishments, as House Republicans prepared to vote on a bill that would eliminate the individual mandate penalty under ObamaCare in 2014. Democrats say Wednesday’s vote will be the 50th time House Republicans have attempted to repeal or make changes to the law that would effectively undermine it. The minority leader is countering with 50 ways she says the law is already benefitting Americans.
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Mike Pence salutes Sebelius's 'professionalism'
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/199968-mike-pence-salutes-sebeliuss-professionalism
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius received praise from an unlikely source on Wednesday, when conservative Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) commended her professionalism. In a warm letter to Sebelius, Pence thanked the secretary for a recent meeting in which the two discussed alternative ways to pursue ObamaCare's expansion of Medicaid. Pence is courting the Obama administration with the hope of using federal funds under the healthcare law to grow a state-run program that provides health savings accounts to low-income patients. "Thank you for the productive discussion," Pence wrote to Sebelius. "I am pleased with the progress we made on our shared goal of providing high-quality health coverage to more low-income uninsured Hoosiers … I greatly appreciate the professionalism you and your team have demonstrated throughout your discussions with our team."
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Anger builds over Medicare drug limits
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/199953-dozens-of-lawmakers-blast-proposed-drug-rules
Dozens of lawmakers from both parties pleaded with federal health officials Wednesday to drop their proposed changes to Medicare drug coverage. The latest bipartisan letter to the administration reflects almost unanimous opposition to a proposal that would allow insurers to limit coverage for certain types of drugs in Part D. Both Republicans and Democrats argue that the changes, motivated by cost concerns, would directly harm patients and undermine the success of Medicare's drug program. "We are extremely troubled by the proposed rule," lawmakers from the House Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means committees wrote Wednesday.
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GOP bill authorizes lawsuits against Obama
The Hill
March 5, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/government-oversight/199929-gop-bill-authorizes-house-senate-lawsuits-against
House Republicans are again taking aim at the Obama administration for its failure to enforce laws passed by Congress. Republicans serving on two committees have introduced legislation that would allow the House or Senate to authorize a lawsuit against the Obama administration. The ENFORCE the Laws Act is the latest GOP response to complaints that President Obama is willfully ignoring or altering federal law. As examples, Republicans have cited the several delays to ObamaCare provisions and Obama's 2011 decision to delay deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants who have not committed a crime.
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White House threatens to veto latest O-Care bill
The Hill
March 4, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/healthcare/199908-white-house-threatens-to-veto-latest-obamacare-bill
The Obama administration said late Tuesday it would veto a House Republican bill that would eliminate the individual mandate penalty under ObamaCare in 2014. GOP leaders are expected to bring up this bill tomorrow, which they say is needed to ensure individual Americans are treated fairly, compared to companies. The Obama administration has delayed the employer health insurance mandate until 2015 and 2016 but has not delayed the requirement that individuals buy a health plan this year. While Republicans say it's only fair to delay penalties for individuals, the White House said Tuesday that this delay would wreak havoc on the new healthcare system.
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Research, disease groups say Obama budget inadequate
The Hill
March 4, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/public-global-health/199882-research-disease-groups-say-obama-budget-inadequate
Powerful disease and research groups criticized President Obama's budget Tuesday as inadequate to ensure the United States's role as global research leader. Federal funding for research suffered under sequestration, and the 2015 budget's small increases for the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration do not go far enough in reversing those cuts, the groups said. "We simply cannot sustain our nation's research ecosystem, combat costly and deadly diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, and create quality jobs with anemic funding levels that threaten the health and prosperity of Americans," said Research!America President Mary Woolley in a statement.
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FCC launches health task force
The Hill
March 4, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/personnel-notes/199881-fcc-launches-health-tack-force
The Federal Communications Commission wants to help healthcare organizations adopt the latest technology and the fastest broadband Internet. Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the creation of a new task force on Tuesday that aims to find reasons why some doctors, clinics and hospitals might not be adopting so-called “wireless health” technology, which allow patients’ conditions to be tracked even while at home or work. That information can help detect the early signs of an illness and encourage people to live healthier lives. “We must leverage all available technologies to ensure that advanced health care solutions are readily accessible to all Americans, from rural and remote areas to underserved inner cities,” Wheeler said in a statement.
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Obama budget hits post-acute care, drugmakers
The Hill
March 4, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/199834-obama-budget-hits-post-acute-care-drug-makers
President Obama's latest budget proposal would hit post-acute care providers, drug companies and wealthier seniors on Medicare as part of $402 billion in estimated healthcare savings over the next decade. Familiar from previous White House budgets, the proposals appeared in a document notable for its continuity on healthcare spending for 2015. Nearly all of Obama's previous healthcare savings were repeated in the latest budget, including the increased means testing for seniors in Medicare that's proven controversial on Capitol Hill. Another proposal derided by Democrats — chained consumer price index (CPI) — was abandoned in the budget, raising questions about whether the administration would also forgo further Medicare means testing.
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Budget allots $5.5B for ObamaCare program decried as a ‘bailout’
The Hill
March 4, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/199831-budget-seeks-55b-for-obamacare-program-decried
The White House’s 2015 budget proposes spending $5.5 billion next year on an ObamaCare program that Republicans have labeled a “bailout” of the insurance industry. The Affordable Care Act creates a temporary pool of money, known as risk corridors, to pay insurers who enroll a higher-than-expected number of sick patients through 2016. ObamaCare transfers the money from lower-risk plans to higher-risk plans to keep premium prices stable in the early stages of the law. At least some of the risk corridor payments will be funded by the insurers themselves, as the law requires companies with better-than-expected results to contribute to the pool.
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Schumer to HHS: Stop painkiller until abuse-proof
The Hill
March 4, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/199812-schumer-to-hhs-stop-painkiller-until-abuse-proof
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY.) is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to overturn a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to allow a powerful painkiller to enter the market in a form that can be abused. “It is baffling that at the same time policy makers and law enforcement officials are waging a war on the growing prescription drug crisis, we are essentially rolling out the welcome mat to a new, more powerful, and easily abused super-drug,” Schumer said Monday. Zohydro ER — a form of the powerful painkiller hydrocodone that can contain up to 10 times as much of the powerful narcotic as Vicodin — came to market over the weekend without tamper-proof requirements.
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Wyden makes hospitals no promises on cuts
The Hill
March 4, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/199797-wyden-makes-hospitals-no-promises-on-cuts
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Tuesday gave hospitals no assurances that they would be spared from reimbursement cuts as part of overhauling Medicare's flawed physician payment system. Speaking to a gathering of the Federation of American Hospitals, the newly installed chairman said deciding which sectors will pay to repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) will involve "tough calls." "This is going to be a very challenging time," Wyden told the group. "There is no way to pretend anything else … We're going to have some tough budget calls." The remarks were cold comfort for hospitals, which are fighting to ward off further cuts as Congress moves to repeal the SGR. Committees in both chambers have rallied behind a reform bill that allows healthcare providers to move toward value-based payments. The challenge will be finding ways to offset the bill's $138 billion cost when the healthcare world is already stinging from other reductions.
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Consumers Allowed to Keep Health Plans for Two More Years
The New York Times
March 4, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/us/politics/obama-extends-renewal-period-for-noncompliant-insurance-policies.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140305&nlid=58462464&tntemail0=y&_r=1
The Obama administration, grappling with continued political fallout over its health care law, said Wednesday that it would allow consumers to renew health insurance policies that did not comply with the new law for two more years, pushing the issue well beyond this fall’s midterm elections. The reprieve was the latest in a series of waivers, deadline extensions and unilateral actions by the administration that have drawn criticism from the law’s opponents and supporters, many saying President Obama was testing the limits of his powers. The action reflects the difficulties Mr. Obama has faced in trying to build support for the Affordable Care Act and the uproar over his promise — which he later acknowledged had been overstated — that people who liked their insurance plans could keep them, no matter what.
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Obama administration rewrites some health-care policies
The Washington Post
March 4, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-administration-rewrites-some-health-care-policies/2014/03/05/7fa11912-a489-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it has rewritten an array of far-reaching rules under the Affordable Care Act, the most significant of which will let people keep bare-bones health insurance policies for three more years. The rule changes will touch essentially every sector affected by the 2010 health-care law. It will buffer more health plans in insurance exchanges from high patient costs, give states more time to decide whether to run their own marketplaces, and spare certain unions from a fee they have resented. The administration also is raising the possibility that small-business workers in some states might not be given a choice of health plans — potentially undermining a significant aspect of the law that federal health officials already have delayed once.
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2-year extension offered for canceled health plans
The Washington Post
March 4, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2-year-extension-seen-for-canceled-health-plans/2014/03/05/2f86f85e-a482-11e3-b865-38b254d92063_story.html
Warding off the specter of election-year health insurance cancellations, the Obama administration Wednesday announced a two-year extension for individual policies that don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. The decision helps defuse a political problem for Democrats in tough re-election battles this fall, especially for senators who in 2010 stood with President Barack Obama and voted to pass his health overhaul. The extension was part of a major package of regulations that sets ground rules for 2015, the second year of government-subsidized health insurance markets under Obama’s law — and the first year that larger employers will face a requirement to provide coverage.
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Obama administration permits further delay to health exchanges for small businesses
The Washington Post
March 4, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/obama-administration-again-delays-health-plan-flexibility-option-for-small-businesses/2014/03/05/238721f2-a48a-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html
The Obama administration on Wednesday gave states more time to implement a key feature of the new employer health care marketplaces and gave small businesses more time to comply with some of the new coverage requirements in the law. Under the Affordable Care Act, states are required to offer a health care exchange where small businesses can enroll in and pay for insurance plans, all online. Companies in states that declined to build their own portals would be able to access a similar network run by the federal government. In both cases, business owners were also supposed to be able to choose either a single plan or give their workers a choice between several plans — an option that is often too cumbersome to manage for small businesses. Making that “employee-choice” feature available on the exchanges was meant to give employers more flexibility and better control over their health costs.
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