Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: August 12, 2015
Kaiser Health News: The Battle Over Planned Parenthood
Kaiser Health News correspondent Julie Rovner discusses the efforts to defund Planned Parenthood on NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook. (8/11)
The New York Times: Number Of Uninsured Has Declined By 15 Million Since 2013, Administration Says
The number of people without health insurance continues to decline and has dropped by 15.8 million, or one-third, since 2013, the Obama administration said Tuesday. The decline occurred as major provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect. The law expanded coverage through Medicaid and through subsidies for private insurance, starting in 2014. (Pear, 8/12)
USA Today: Federal Report: 7 Million Fewer Americans Uninsured This Year
The number of Americans without health insurance dropped from 36 million last year to 29 million in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest in a string of reports showing uninsured rates are on the decline. The newest report, released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics on Wednesday, contains early estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, which are based on data for 26,121 people from across the nation. The estimate of 29 million, which represents 9.2% of Americans, reflects the portion of respondents who reported being uninsured at the time of the interview. (Ungar, 8/12)
The New York Times: House Republicans, Seizing On Health Law, Challenge Executive Branch
Jo-Marie St. Martin, counsel to Speaker John A. Boehner and a ferocious defender of the rights of the House, quietly put the word out that the leadership was looking for potential lawsuit targets so it could challenge the White House in court. ... They settled on the health care law, now at the center of a little-noticed legal fight that could redefine the balance of power in Washington. A federal judge is expected to rule soon on whether the House can sue the executive branch for usurping its authority over spending — its vaunted “power of the purse” — in a case resulting from years of bitter struggle between the Obama administration and the Republican House over who controls which levers of power. (Hulse, 8/11)
NPR/Center For Public Integrity: Whistleblower Says Medicare Advantage Plans Padded Charges In Home Visits
A whistleblower case in Texas accuses a medical consulting firm and more than two dozen health plans for the elderly of ripping off Medicare by conducting in-home patient exams that allegedly overstated how much the plans should be paid. (Schulte, 8/12)
The Washington Post's Fact Checker: For Planned Parenthood Abortion Stats, ‘3 Percent’ And ’94 Percent’ Are Both Misleading
Three percent or 94 percent? Are abortions just a small portion of the array of Planned Parenthood’s services, as advocates of abortion rights say? Or is Planned Parenthood mainly an abortion provider that masquerades as a reproductive health organization, as opponents of abortion rights say? It depends on the measure you use to make your case. Both figures are being paraded around as controversy over Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue donations continues. The Fact Checker obviously takes no stance on abortion rights, fetal tissue donations or defunding Planned Parenthood. Let’s decode these dueling abortion statistics. (Lee, 8/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Jeb Bush And Hillary Clinton Keep Their Jabs To Each Other
Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, facing stiff competition for their parties’ presidential nomination, are looking over the heads of their immediate rivals to trade barbs with each other. ... His speech follows broadsides from Mrs. Clinton about Mr. Bush’s stance on women’s health, immigration, his comment that Americans should “work longer hours” and his call to repeal the 2010 health law. ... The back-and-forth helps both candidates present themselves as leaders despite the very real threats from within their parties that could block their route to the nomination. It also offers a preview of what the general election would look like if, in fact, they become the nominees. (O'Connor and Meckler, 8/11)
The Washington Post's The Fix: Analyzing Donald Trump’s Policy Specifics, As Presented On Fox News
"Earlier today, I asked Donald Trump to get specific about some of his policy positions," Fox News' Sean Hannity said during part 1 of his hour-long interview with Trump that aired Tuesday night. ... What follows are those responses, compacted but matching the verbiage and structure of his replies. Healthcare ... People will have health savings accounts. It costs the country and people very little. It's an amazing system. Prompted by Hannity, Trump adds that he'll cover catastrophic coverage and pre-existing conditions. ... Planned Parenthood ... Abortion is a small but brutal part of what Planned Parenthood does. They also serve women. Jeb Bush was so bad on women's health issues the other day! We have to help women. The answer: Maybe unless they stop with the abortions, we don't do the funding for the stuff that they want. (Bump, 8/11)
The New York Times' DealBook: G.E. Continues Sell-Off With Health Care Lending Business
General Electric continued its campaign to shrink its huge finance arm, announcing on Tuesday that it will sell its health care lending business to Capital One for about $9 billion. The transaction is the latest part of a sweeping move by the conglomerate to reshape its business, focusing more on its core industrial operations. (de la Merced, 8/11)
Los Angeles Times: UCLA Sued Over Recent Hospital Records Hacking
UCLA Health System failed to properly secure its records and quickly notify as many as 4.5 million patients in a recent hacking incident, a new lawsuit contends. A Redlands law firm has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Los Angeles resident Miguel Ortiz, a patient of UCLA since 2011, seeking class-action status on behalf of all current and former patients of the health system. (Shively, 8/11)
The Wall Street Journal: Different City, State Responses To Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak On Display
City and state workers have tested dozens of cooling towers for Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx, a painstaking process augmented over the weekend by six staffers and three vehicles from Westchester County. The workers got along well, said Caren Halbfinger of the county health department. “These are all professionals who are used to responding to emergencies,” she said. (Ramey and Dawsey, 8/10)
The Associated Press: Former Health Lab CEO Named In Federal Lawsuit
The co-founder and former chief executive officer of Richmond-based Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. has been sued by the federal government for participating in what it calls an $80 million kickback scheme. (8/11)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. County To Relocate Some Inmates, Build Jail To Treat The Mentally Ill
Setting a future course for the troubled Los Angeles County jail system, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to move at least 1,000 mentally ill offenders out of lockups and voted to build a state-of-the-art jail focused on mental health treatment. The moves come in response to a growing debate about how the county incarcerates its inmates — particularly the mentally ill, who make up 20% of the roughly 17,000 people behind bars. (Sewell and Chang, 8/11)
