First Edition: April 14, 2015

The New York Times: Health Insurance Shoppers Look To Limited Networks To Save Money
In all the turmoil in health care, one surprising truth is emerging: Consumers seem increasingly comfortable trading a greater choice of hospitals or doctors for a health plan that costs significantly less money. “Are they willing to trade choice and access for price? There’s no question about that,” said Mark Newton, the chief executive of Swedish Covenant Hospital, a Chicago hospital that recently teamed with an Illinois insurer, Land of Lincoln Health, to offer a health plan. (Abelson, 4/13)

The New York Times: Study Finds Broad Rise In Medication Use By Those Newly Joining Medicaid
People newly covered by Medicaid drove a significant increase in prescription drug use in 2014, even as those with private commercial coverage filled fewer prescriptions and, over all, patients did not visit the doctor as often, according to a new report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, which tracks the health industry. (Thomas, 4/15)

The Associated Press: Amendment Curbs Bolster Momentum For Medicare Doctor Bill
Curbs on amendments and a desire to resolve an issue that has long plagued lawmakers added momentum Monday to Senate leaders' push toward final congressional approval of legislation reshaping how Medicare reimburses doctors. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he and other conservative senators want to amend the Medicare legislation to force Congress to eventually find a way to pay for the entire bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the measure would drive up federal deficits by $141 billion over the coming decade. (Fram, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Budget Deficit Widens, Ending Run Of Shrinkage
The U.S. budget deficit widened slightly during the first half of the 2015 fiscal year, ending a streak of sustained declines. ... Deficits are still near their lowest levels in six years. ... Congress and the White House agreed to a series of spending curbs—known as the sequester—four years ago that sharply reined in government spending. A growing economy also has boosted tax receipts. More recently, government spending has climbed amid an uptick in outlays on entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. The bite of the sequester has also eased after lawmakers agreed two years ago to slightly higher government funding levels. (Timiraos, 4/13)

The Associated Press: US Budget Deficit Expanded Slightly In Fiscal First Half
Congress returned Monday from a two-week recess facing what is expected to be months of wrangling between Republicans and Democrats over competing budget plans. The latest budget report showed that government revenues over the last six months totaled $1.42 trillion, up 7.3 percent from a year ago. Government spending over the same period totaled $1.86 trillion, an increase of 7.1 percent over the previous year. Spending on Medicare rose 8 percent, and spending on Medicaid shot up 23 percent. (Crutsinger, 4/13)

Politico: House Standing Ground On ‘Reconciliation’ In Budget Talks
As top Republicans continue negotiating a final spending blueprint, House GOP leaders aren’t backing away from their plans to use a fast-track budget procedure to do more than just move an Obamacare repeal. The expedited procedure, called reconciliation, allows the Senate to pass legislation by simple majority instead of the typical 60-vote threshold, provided the two chambers can agree on a budget resolution. ... House Republicans want to use reconciliation to speed several priorities, from an Obamacare repeal to a possible tax overhaul to entitlement changes. The Senate prefers to use reconciliation just to take on Obamacare. (Bade and Sherman, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Marco Rubio Kicks Off 2016 Campaign With Miami Speech
Mr. Rubio has developed a policy platform that offers something to different slices of the party. His tax plan rewards families by expanding the Child Tax Credit, something evangelicals will likely appreciate. In a nod to fiscal conservatives, he wants to give states more discretion over their federally financed health-care and poverty programs. In addition, Mr. Rubio has used time in the Senate—he was elected in 2010—to build the profile of a defense hawk, calling for higher levels of military spending and repeatedly criticizing the Obama administration for its negotiations with the Cuban and Iranian regimes. (O'Connor, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: In Detroit, John Kasich Sounds Like A Candidate, But Won’t Say When He’ll Decide
In his Detroit speech Monday, Mr. Kasich sought to introduce himself to voters in a relatively formal way, recounting his modest upbringing and efforts in Congress to reform military spending and balance budgets. But the two-term governor also decried the lack of recent compromise in Washington that has led to legislative gridlock on a number of issues including immigration. As governor, Mr. Kasich has been seen as more moderate than some in his party. He has supported Common Core educational standards, Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, and higher taxes on the oil and gas industry. He also shook off strong disapproval ratings in 2011. Voters had rejected his effort to curtail collective-bargaining rights for public workers, similar to the effort that has polarized Wisconsin under Gov. Scott Walker, a fellow Republican. (Dolan, 4/13)

The Washington Post: VA Building Projects Riddled With Mistakes And Cost Overruns
There are hospital doors at the half-built ­Veterans Affairs medical center outside Denver that were supposed to cost $100 each but ended up ­running $1,400. There’s a $100-million-and-still-rising price tag for an atrium and concourse with curving blond-wood walls and towering glass windows. And entire rooms that had to be refashioned because requests for medical equipment changed at the last minute and in other cases the equipment didn’t fit. No one had bothered to measure. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 4/13)

The Associated Press: IMS: US Prescription Drug Spending Jumped 13 Pct. In 2014
U.S. spending on prescription drugs soared last year, driven up primarily by costly breakthrough medicines, manufacturer price hikes and a surge from millions of people newly insured due to the Affordable Care Act. Spending rose 13 percent, the biggest jump since 2001, to a total of $374 billion, according to a report released Tuesday by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. (Johnson, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: Prescription Drug Spending Jumps 13% To Record $374 Billion In 2014
Driven by innovative but pricey new drugs for hepatitis C, U.S. spending on prescription drugs jumped 13% last year to a record $374 billion, according to an industry report. The new hepatitis C drugs accounted for more than $11 billion of the spending, according to a report by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, an industry research firm. Its annual report analyzes pharmaceutical sales, top-selling drugs and trends in the industry. (Pfeifer, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Issues Muscle-Growth Supplement Alert
The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to use a muscle-growth supplement called Tri-Methyl Xtreme that it said has been linked to cases of severe liver injury. The product is distributed by a Las Vegas-based company called Extreme Products Group, according to the federal agency. A call to the company for comment wasn’t returned. (Burton, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: IBM Positions Itself As Large Broker Of Health Data
An unlikely set of partners teamed up to capitalize on a gathering flood of health-related personal information. International Business Machines Corp. unveiled on Monday a partnership with Apple Inc.,Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic Inc., as well as the acquisition of two medical-data software companies. Known as Watson Health, the effort transfers IBM’s experience in data processing to the sensitive field of health care, part of an evolving strategy to pool and analyze data from other companies, such as Twitter Inc. and the Weather Channel. It will attempt to leverage the tech company’s analytics and health-care software businesses into a new generation of apps for patients and providers. (Dwoskin, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal's CIO Journal: ManTech Health Unit Names John Dorman CIO
ManTech International Corp. has named John Dorman vice president and chief information officer for its health IT unit. He’s the first CIO for the firm’s health-care business as the federal technology provider expands its work with electronic health records and information sharing. Mr. Dorman will oversee technology products and services for public sector customers including the Defense Health Agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the company said in a statement. He will report to Steve Comber, SVP and general manager of ManTech Health. (Norton, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Hackers Keep Trying New Targets In Search Of Easy Data
The health care sector has become the hot target for hackers in recent months, according to researchers at Symantec, a leading cybersecurity company that says it's also seeing big increases in "spear-phishing," ''ransomware" and efforts to exploit newly discovered vulnerabilities in software used by a wide range of industries. (4/14)

ProPublica/USA Today: Health Data Breaches Sow Confusion, Frustration
As the privacy officer for The Advisory Board Co., Rebecca Fayed knows a thing or two about privacy and what can happen when it's violated. But when Fayed received a letter telling her that she, like nearly 80 million others, was the victim of a hacking attack on health insurer Anthem Inc., she couldn't figure out why. Anthem wasn't her insurance provider. (Ornstein, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Maryland General Assembly Passes Budget That Widens Split With Hogan
In the closing hours of the 90-day session, the Senate and the House of Delegates voted along party lines to approve a spending plan that included less funding than Hogan sought to shore up the state pension fund and did not go as far as the governor wanted in trimming the state’s structural budget deficit. As a result, Hogan said he would refuse to use money the legislature earmarked to preserve state pay raises, full funding for the most expensive school districts and several health-related initiatives. (Johnson and Wiggins, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: Jail Reforms, Health Funding Among L.A. County Budget Plan Priorities
Los Angeles County officials plan to spend more than $100 million over the next year to reduce abuses in the county's crowded jails, improve treatment of mentally ill inmates and divert others with mental health issues from entering lockups. ... As well as continuing jail reforms that have been driven in part by pressure from federal authorities, the proposed spending plan sets aside money for improvements in the county healthcare system driven by the Affordable Care Act and for ongoing reforms in the child welfare system. (Sewell, 4/13)

The Washington Post: District Extends Reach Of Mental Health Services For Children, Report Says
Following years of negative reports that found the District wasn’t reaching enough of the city’s poorest children with mental health issues, a local advocacy group is publishing a report that shows significantly more children were treated for behavioral problems last year than in 2013. About 12,550 children had a Medicaid mental health charge last year, representing a 30 percent increase from 2013, when the total was 9,569 children, according to the report being released Tuesday by the Children’s Law Center. (McCoy, 4/13)