Democratic Leaders Reportedly Work Behind Scenes To Push Obamacare ‘Cadillac Tax’ Repeal
In other congressional news, Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., chair of a key House committee that handles health policy, is set to retire. The Associated Press reports on the Democratic roots of the next House Ways and Means chairman, Kevin Brady. The House select committee on Planned Parenthood will be stacked with women from both parties. And Congress continues to examine the failing health law co-ops.
The Hill:
Reid, Pelosi Pushing For Repeal Of ObamaCare's 'Cadillac Tax'
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are working behind the scenes to repeal one of the most controversial taxes in ObamaCare, multiple sources tell The Hill. Reid and Pelosi have been talking since the spring with President Obama about repealing the “Cadillac tax” on employer healthcare benefits, a senior Democratic aide confirmed on Friday. (Ferris, 11/7)
The Hill:
Chair Of Key House Health Panel To Retire
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) announced Friday he will not seek re-election, marking an end to his nearly 20-year career in the House. Pitts, who will have spent five years as chairman of the key health panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was first elected in 1997. Deeply religious and strongly anti-abortion, Pitts was the founding leader of the Republican Study Committee’s Values Action Team. The group formed the first year he served in Congress and has been a key liaison to the Christian right. (Ferris, 11/6)
The Associated Press:
Pa. GOP Rep. Joe Pitts To Retire
Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Joe Pitts announced Friday he will not seek re-election and will retire at the end of his 10th term. Pitts, 76, is one of the House's most ardent conservatives on social issues such as abortion. As chairman of a key health panel on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, Pitts helped pass legislation earlier this year to fix a broken Medicare reimbursement system for physicians and is a co-author of bipartisan legislation boosting medical research. (11/6)
The Associated Press:
Powerful New GOP House Chairman Had Early Democratic Roots
[Rep. Kevin] Brady, from a solidly Republican district north of Houston, headed the trade subcommittee until 2013. That's when he took over the health subcommittee and helped lead many of the House's GOP's repeated, unsuccessful efforts to roll back President Barack Obama's health care law. As chairman, Brady's portfolio is much wider. (11/8)
The Hill:
Party Leaders Send Women Into Committee Brawl Over Abortion
Republicans and Democrats have stacked a new select committee on Planned Parenthood with their fiercest fighters on abortion rights, setting the stage for a major election-year battle. Unlike every other committee in Congress, the overwhelming majority of lawmakers on the panel are women, with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) serving as chairwoman and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) serving as the ranking Democrat. (Marcos and Ferris, 11/7)
McClatchy:
Congress Continues Probe Into Failing Obamacare Co-Ops
The nonprofit, member-run health insurance plans created by the Affordable Care Act are in a world of trouble. Twelve of the nation’s 23 Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans, known as co-ops, won’t provide coverage in 2016 after collapsing under the weight of low enrollment, financial problems and a host of technical and operational issues. (Pugh, 11/5)
The Hill:
More Money Pledged For NIH But Questions Remain
Hopes are rising for an increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health after a budget deal, even as negotiators haggle over a longer-term increase in a separate bill. The push for increased funding for medical research at NIH is a rare area of bipartisan consensus, but the budget caps put in place in 2011 had posed an obstacle. The agreement sealed late last month, which lifted the cap for domestic spending by $40 billion over the next two years, is providing a new ray of hope. (Sullivan, 11/8)
The Washington Post:
Scientist Falsified Data For Cancer Research Once Described As ‘Holy Grail,’ Feds Say
One Duke University surgeon called it a “new frontier” in cancer treatment. Another said it could save “10,000 lives a year” or more. A researcher at Mass General Hospital called it “a very, very exciting tool” in the fight against lung cancer. As news spread in 2006 and 2007 of the work of Anil Potti, a star cancer researcher at Duke, the excitement grew. What he had claimed to achieve, in leading medical journals, was a genomic technology that could predict with up to 90% accuracy which early stage lung cancer patients were likely to have a recurrence and therefore benefit from chemotherapy. (Barbash, 11/9)
