First Edition: April 13, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Moving Out: Hospitals Leave Downtowns For More Prosperous Digs
Nearly as old as the railroad that slices through this southern Illinois city just east of the Mississippi River, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital has been a downtown bedrock since 1875. Started by three nuns from a Franciscan order in Germany, the Catholic hospital still seeks "to embody Christ’s healing love" to the sick, the aged and the poor, according to its mission statement. It is so tied to the city that when the local economy slumped in 2009, the nonprofit St. Elizabeth’s gave $20 to every employee to spend on Main Street, sending hundreds of shoppers out to the mostly mom- and pop-owned stores. (Galewitz, 4/13)
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
Poll: Rate Of Uninsured Americans Drops To 11.9%
The rate of uninsured Americans fell to 11.9% in the first quarter of 2015, down one percentage point from the end of 2014, according to a Gallup survey. The rate was the lowest since Gallup began tracking it with the Healthways company in 2008, and a sharp decrease from a high of 18% on the eve of the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in the fall of 2013. The polling firm said the rate showed the effects of the health law, but also that it had some distance to go in fulfilling its goals of broadly extending health coverage. (Radnofsky, 4/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Wrinkle For Health Law
Millions of people have gained health coverage through Medicaid since states began expanding the program under the Affordable Care Act. That also means more Americans may find themselves caught in a little-known law that lets states go after their assets after they die. For more than 20 years, federal law has allowed states to recover almost all Medicaid costs if recipients are 55 or older when they die. This now applies to many of the 11 million people who joined Medicaid since the health law’s expansion of the state-federal insurance program. (Armour, 4/12)
Politico:
Obamacare's First Tax Season
Obamacare’s first tax season includes all the elements needed to ignite a political firestorm. Yet with only days to go until the filing deadline, nothing’s burning. Americans are reckoning for the first time with the most unpopular part of the law — the individual mandate — and having to prove they’ve had health insurance or to cough up a penalty. As they’ve done their taxes, many people have learned they owe money because they underestimated income when buying subsidized coverage in 2014. Some have had to delay their returns because the government in February sent an inaccurate form on their subsidy total. (Villacorta and Mershon, 4/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Many Small Firms May Face Health Insurance Rate Changes Under Obamacare
In recent years, as millions of individual consumers coped with new and different kinds of health insurance, small businesses got some breathing room. Millions of small businesses nationwide — and an estimated 70% of California's small firms that offer employee health insurance — haven't yet faced all the sweeping changes that resulted from the Affordable Care Act. (Zamosky, 4/12)
The Washington Post:
Olympic Athletes’ Health Plan Fails To Meet Affordable Care Act Rules
[I]t turns out that the health plan for about 900 elite athletes — provided through the U.S. Olympic Committee — fails to meet minimum requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Under the law’s individual mandate, almost all Americans are required to have insurance or face a penalty, which is due when their income taxes are paid. When it became apparent in recent months that athletes could face penalties for the 2014 tax year for having inadequate coverage — through no fault of their own — federal health officials decided to grant exemptions to all affected athletes who apply, according to federal health officials. (Sun, 4/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Appeals Court Blocks Missouri’s Limits On Health-Law Advisers
A federal appeals court blocked parts of a Missouri law that sharply restricted actions of people who help others obtain insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, in a case that supporters hope could affect similar state laws across the country. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Friday ruled that challengers to the law were likely to succeed in their arguments that Missouri had improperly tried to impede the federal government’s efforts to implement the health-care overhaul. (Radnofsky, 4/10)
The Associated Press:
Missouri Health Care Navigator Law Pre-Empted, Court Rules
An appeals court ruled Friday that Missouri can't limit health insurance navigators' ability to help people obtain insurance under President Barack Obama's health care law — a ruling that advocates say could have implications for other states that have instituted similar restrictions. The 8th Circuit Court in St. Louis blocked some parts of a Missouri law that limits the information certified counselors authorized by the health care law could give people seeking health insurance. However, the court said the state can institute licensure requirements for navigators and counselors. (French, 4/10)
The Associated Press:
NY Health Exchange Says Uninsured Can Still Enroll
The New York health exchange says uninsured residents have until April 30 to enroll for coverage even though the open enrollment period for 2015 has ended. State health officials say they are also working with state and federal tax agencies to provide information to income tax preparers to share with clients. (4/12)
Politico:
Montana Lawmakers Endorse Medicaid Expansion
The Montana Legislature has backed expansion of the state’s Medicaid program under Obamacare, a startling turnaround after supporters’ repeated setbacks during the current session. The action provides the Obama administration a much needed boost given how efforts have foundered in other states such as Tennessee, Wyoming, Utah and Florida. ... The state Senate initially cleared expansion in a 28-21 vote on March 30 and now must take one last step — approving a minor House funding amendment that’s not seen as controversial — before the legislation can head to Gov. Steve Bullock’s desk next week. (Pradhan, 4/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Wrangles Over Medicare-Payments Fix
Backers of legislation to set up a new system of Medicare payments to doctors and other providers are seeking to settle a flurry of last-minute skirmishes that threaten its quick passage in the Senate when Congress returns from a two-week recess Monday. The main concern is from conservatives who are frustrated that two-thirds of the measure’s $214 billion cost would be financed through higher deficits and are looking at ways to pay for the measure without resorting to borrowing. (Hughes, 4/12)
The Associated Press:
Break Over, Congress Faces Fights Over Medicare, Iran, Lynch
Racing the calendar, Senate leaders are pushing toward congressional approval of a bipartisan compromise that reshapes how Medicare pays physicians as lawmakers return from a spring break tangled up in domestic and foreign policy disputes. ... The Medicare doctors' legislation presents Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with his most pressing problem. The $214 billion package would permanently retool how Medicare reimburses physicians and it also would provide money for children's health, community health centers, low-income patients and rural hospitals. ... The Senate returns to work Monday, which gives leaders two days to finish the bill or risk fielding complaints from physicians and seniors. Doctors say payment cuts make them less likely to treat patients of Medicare, which helps the elderly pay medical bills. McConnell's biggest problem is that senators from both parties are clamoring to amend the legislation. (Fram, 4/11)
The Associated Press:
In Congress, Doing 'Nothing' Can Mean Doing Something Big
Doing nothing could work where doing something falls short.
House Republicans have voted over and over to repeal President Barack Obama's health law, to no avail. Democrats in the Senate still stand in the way, and ultimately there is Obama's veto power. But what Congress hasn't done is putting the law in jeopardy now. The Supreme Court is considering a challenge that centers on interpretation of one confusing phrase in the giant law — a few words that the Republican-led Congress could easily have clarified, but won't. The Supreme Court's decision, expected by late June, has the potential to gut the law. Still, doing nothing is often politically risky. (4/12)
Politico:
Lynch Still Stalled By Abortion Fight
Senators return this week to a familiar fight over abortion and Loretta Lynch’s long-stalled confirmation to be attorney general — and the partisan gridlock shows no signs of easing. Both sides are confident they have the upper hand politically, and neither party wants to relent in a fight over abortion ahead of the 2016 election. (Kim and Everett, 4/13)
The Washington Post:
Six Examples Of Government Waste From This Year’s Budget-Hawk Reports
Citizens Against Government Waste released its annual “Prime Cuts” report this month, recommending programs that the government could eliminate for some $648 billion in savings next year. ... Not all the “Prime Cuts” recommendations come in the form of cuts. Some call for ramping up efforts to prevent fraud and improper payments. The report recommends reinstating the Recovery Audit Contractor program, which helped recover nearly $10 billion in improper Medicare payments over eight years. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services halted the initiative last year amid a backlog of more than 350,000 appeals. (Hicks, 4/13)
The Washington Post:
Study: When Companies Pay Low Wages, Taxpayers End Up With The Rest Of The Bill
Wallenbrock is among millions of working Americans whose low wages are supplemented by government support. Families in which at least one member is working now make up the vast majority of those enrolled in major public assistance programs like Medicaid and food stamps, according to a new study. It’s a “hidden cost” of low-wage work, researchers say, and it costs taxpayers about $153 billion a year. According to researchers, this is the first time anyone has calculated how much is spent providing assistance to workers whose wages don’t cover their families’ expenses. The study, from the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education, found that most spending on public assistance goes not to the unemployed, but to members of working families. (Kaplan, 4/13)
The New York Times:
Working, But Needing Public Assistance Anyway
A home health care worker in Durham, N.C.; a McDonald’s cashier in Chicago; a bank teller in New York; an adjunct professor in Mayfield, Ill. They are all evidence of an improving economy, because they are working and not among the steadily declining ranks of the unemployed. Yet these same people also are on public assistance — relying on food stamps, Medicaid or other stretches of the safety net to help cover basic expenses when their paychecks come up short. (Cohen, 4/12)
NPR:
Why Some Doctors Are Hesitant To Screen Smokers For Lung Cancer
In February, Medicare announced that it would pay for an annual lung cancer screening test for certain long-term smokers. Medicare recipients between the ages of 55 and 77 who have smoked the equivalent of a pack a day for 30 years are now eligible for the annual test, known as a spiral CT scan. Medicare's decision was partly a response to a 2011 study showing that screenings with the technique could reduce lung cancer deaths by 20 percent. ... But as more and more people are getting screened for lung cancer, other doctors worry the test is doing more harm than good. (Kelto, 4/13)
NPR:
The Hidden Cost Of Mammograms: More Testing And Overtreatment
There's no question mammograms can save lives by detecting breast cancer early. But they can also result in unnecessary testing and treatment that can be alarming and costly. In fact, each year the U.S. spends $4 billion on follow-up tests and treatments that result from inaccurate mammograms, scientists report in the current issue of Health Affairs. (Neighmond, 4/13)
USA Today/Indianapolis Star:
VA Supervisor Resigns After Email Controversy
The supervisor at Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center who sent an email that appears to mock veteran suicides has resigned. Robin Paul, who managed the Indianapolis hospital's transitional clinic for returning veterans, submitted her resignation on Tuesday. ... Paul said the email was taken out of context and was never intended to mock veterans. (Cook, 4/10)
The New York Times:
Health Care Has Been This Quarter’s Elixir For Stock Funds
The key to success for many stock funds this year has been simple: Buy health care. While the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index ended the first quarter up just 0.6 percent, shares of health care companies gained 7 percent, continuing a trend that has been quietly unfolding for years. (Lim, 4/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
KPMG To Buy Health-Care Consultant Beacon Partners
KPMG LLP has agreed to acquire the assets of health-care consulting firm Beacon Partners Inc., as the Big Four accounting and professional-services giant continues beefing up its services to clients in the health-care industry. Financial terms aren’t being disclosed for the deal, which KPMG announced Sunday. (Rapoport, 4/12)
The Washington Post:
On The Heels Of A Shift In Its Business Model, Inova Invests In Analytics
Many of the companies in the health-care system are rethinking business strategies, and Inova Health System, the Northern Virginia hospital giant, is no exception. Last June, Inova announced a venture with insurance titan Aetna — one of the first such partnerships in the country between entities usually economically at odds — to deliver care more affordably. (Gregg, 4/12)
The Washington Post:
Red Tape In District’s Home Rehab Program Leaves Seniors In Limbo
Preston L. Williams has been living in substandard, even hazardous, conditions for some time now despite having been accepted into a District program designed to rehabilitate homes for low-income people, particularly older people who want to age in place. Williams, 68, an Army veteran with serious back and pulmonary problems, breathes with the help of an oxygen tank. Yet he inhabits a home with mold, gaping holes in the walls, leaky plumbing and a long flight of narrow steps — all things the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development has promised to fix or improve, he said. (Kunkle, 4/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Lawmakers Address California's Deeply Fragmented Mental Health System
Advocates and mental health practitioners say that California's approach to mental health — and particularly to involuntary treatment — is deeply fragmented across its 58 counties. Lawmakers are trying to address the inconsistency of policies and approaches, but activist groups often disagree about the appropriate balance between protecting patients' civil liberties and forcing treatment on people who may be in danger or pose a danger to others because of severe mental illness. (Sewell, 4/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Doctors At University Of California Health Clinics Go On Strike
Unionized doctors began a strike Saturday at student health clinics on University of California campuses in Southern California, saying administrators had acted unfairly during negotiations for the physicians' first contract. Doctors and dentists in Northern California started the rolling walkout Thursday morning at five Northern and Central California campuses ... Union members say the strike is in protest of the UC administration refusing to provide financial information that they need to negotiate contracts and bolster health center resources. (Mozinga, 4/11)
Los Angeles Times:
Rural Indiana HIV Outbreak Spreads To More Than 100 Cases
Health officials say that more than 100 people in southeastern Indiana have tested positive for HIV, an expansion of an outbreak that caused the state to declare a health emergency last month. Health officials had said they expected the number of HIV cases in Scott County, about 30 miles north of Louisville, Ky., to rise ever since they discovered the problem. The spread of the virus, which causes AIDS, has been linked to the use of contaminated syringes and the painkiller Opana in the area. (Parvini, 4/11)
The New York Times:
Texas Medical Panel Votes To Limit Telemedicine Practices In State
Taking a stand against the rapidly expanding use of telemedicine, the Texas Medical Board voted Friday to sharply restrict the practice in the state, siding with organizations representing doctors over the objections of industry representatives who said the new rules would reduce access to medical care at a time of increasing demand. The vote was the latest salvo in a four-year battle between the state board, which licenses and regulates doctors, and Teladoc, a national company based in Dallas that provides telephone or video consultations with doctors on its staff, typically for routine problems like urinary tract infections, sore throats and rashes. (Goodnough, 4/10)
The Associated Press:
Maryland Governor Proposes Budget Compromise
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan proposed a budget compromise on Saturday that restores a significant portion of funding for education, state employee pay and health programs sought by the Democratic-led Legislature, but it’s unclear whether lawmakers have the will or ability to pass some of Hogan’s legislative initiatives tied to the deal with time running out on the legislative session. (Witte, 4/11)
The New York Times:
To Keep Free Of Federal Reins, Wyoming Catholic College Rejects Student Aid
Citing concerns about federal rules on birth control and same-sex marriage, the [Wyoming Catholic College] decided this winter to join a handful of other religious colleges in refusing to participate in the federal student-aid programs that help about two-thirds of students afford college. For students here, the decision means no federal loans, work-study money or grants to finance their annual $28,000 tuition, which includes housing in gender-segregated dorms and three meals in the school’s lone dining hall. (Healy, 4/11)