Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: August 13, 2015
Kaiser Health News: ‘Defunding’ Planned Parenthood Is Easier Promised Than Done
The undercover videos purporting to show officials of Planned Parenthood bargaining over the sale of fetal tissue have made the promise to defund the organization one of the most popular refrains on the Republican presidential campaign trail. It’s actually a much easier promise to make than to fulfill. But that’s not slowing down the candidates. (Rovner, 8/13)
Kaiser Health News: Achieving Mental Health Parity: Slow Going Even In ‘Pace Car’ State
After the state of California fined her employer $4 million in 2013 for violating the legal rights of mental health patients, Oakland psychologist Melinda Ginne expected her job — and her patients’ lives — to get better. Instead, she said, things got worse. (Gold, 8/13)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog: No, Obamacare Isn’t Killing Full-Time Jobs, New Evidence Shows
President Obama's health-care reform hasn't meant less time on the job for American workers, according to three newly published studies that challenge one of the main arguments raised by critics of the Affordable Care Act. One provision of the law, which is widely known as Obamacare, requires businesses with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance to those working at least 30 hours a week. That mandate took effect this year. (Ehrenfreund, 8/12)
The Wall Street Journal: States Warned Over Ending Medicaid Funds For Planned Parenthood
The Obama administration has notified two states that took steps to halt Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood Federation of America that they may be in conflict with federal law. The law requires that Medicaid beneficiaries may obtain services, including family planning, from any qualified provider. States that terminate their Medicaid-provider agreements with Planned Parenthood restrict access by not permitting recipients to get services from providers of their choice, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. (Armour, 8/12)
Politico: Sexual Politics Boosts Bid For ‘Pink Viagra’
A drug company that makes so-called pink Viagra — a libido-boosting pill for women — is on the verge of FDA approval for the drug after enlisting thousands of women’s activists and members of Congress in a campaign about gender double standards and sexual politics. The only problem? The medical evidence that the drug actually works safely is weak. (Karlin, 8/13)
The New York Times: Conservatives Need To Redefine Themselves As More Caring, John Kasich Says
Asked how he may appeal to Republicans who like him but are uneasy about his support for a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants, support for the Common Core education standards and his expansion of Medicaid in Ohio with money from the Affordable Care Act, he defended himself on each issue. And then he uncorked an impassioned argument about his party’s need to redefine conservatism. ... In an echo of the religious-based defense he has made of his Medicaid expansion, an argument that irritates many small-government conservatives, Mr. Kasich said, “I think conservatism is about giving everybody a chance, demanding personal responsibility, but allowing people to pursue their God-given purpose.” (Martin, 8/12)
The Associated Press: Kasich Defends Immigrants As ‘Contributing Significantly’
As he often does, Kasich devoted a significant portion of his remarks to those living “in the shadows” of society. He promised to help the mentally ill and drug addicts who end up in prisons and the working poor who don’t have health care. “I don’t know how the Republican Party ever got itself put in the trick bag by somehow saying that if we care about people who are down and out, and we want to give them a chance to succeed, then somehow that’s not conservative,” Kasich said. “I think conservatism is about giving everybody a chance — demanding personal responsibility — but allowing people to pursue their God-given purpose is conservative.” (Peoples, 8/12)
The Associated Press: First Lady’s Healthy Kids Director Aims To Get Things Done
Seven months ago, Eschmeyer’s path led her to the White House. She’s the senior policy adviser for nutrition policy and, perhaps more important, the newest executive director of Michelle Obama’s five-year-old initiative to reduce childhood obesity. A lifelong child nutrition advocate, Eschmeyer says: “I’m used to getting things done.” On her to-do list: protecting a federal law that introduced healthier foods in schools. (Superville, 8/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Potent New Stimulant Flakka Ravages Florida
Late last year, sheriff’s deputies in rural Lewis County, Ky., began encountering drug users suffering bouts of extreme paranoia. One tried chopping down a tree that he thought contained officers conducting surveillance on him. “It was crazy,” said Sheriff Johnny Bivens. (Campo-Flores, 8/12)
The Associated Press: Oswego Hospital To Pay $1.4M To Resolve Billing Claims
Federal authorities say Oswego Hospital [in New York] will pay more than $1.4 million to resolve claims of improper billing that the upstate facility found and disclosed to the government. The 164-bed hospital identified Medicaid claims paid by the federal and state program without supporting documentation from the facility's Behavioral Health Services Department. (8/13)
Los Angeles Times: Top Surgeons Says U.S. Took Funds It Would Need To Pay GET-THIN Settlement
The owners of a company behind the 1-800-GET-THIN ads for weight loss surgery cannot afford to pay a $1.3-million settlement of a false-advertising lawsuit because federal agents seized $109 million from them as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, their lawyer said during a court hearing on Wednesday. (Pfeifer, 8/12)
The Washington Post: When Life Begins In Rehab: A Md. Baby Heals After A Mother’s Heroin Addiction
After a month of painful withdrawal that bunched her body into a tight ball, after tremors and diarrhea and sleeplessness and difficulty eating, Makenzee Kennedy went home to her bed in a drug rehab facility to celebrate a milestone: turning 2 months old. (Bernstein, 8/12)
The Associated Press: Emergency Response Overhaul Sought After Tracy Morgan Crash
The panel’s written review found the emergency response included “missteps on scene due to poor communication, lack of oversight, and nonstandard patient care practices” and recommended the state Department of Health establish minimum training and practice standards for all the organizations that respond to emergencies on the [N.J.] Turnpike, one of the nation’s busiest toll roads. (Catalini, 8/12)
The Associated Press: Long Island Doctors Settle, Pay Over $1M To US Government
Federal prosecutors say two doctors affiliated with a Long Island general practitioner's office will pay more than $1 million combined to resolve charges they submitted claims to Medicare for unnecessary procedures. Newsday reports Dr. Vikas Desai and Dr. Robert Maccone entered separate civil agreements Wednesday to pay the United States government a total of $1,120,299. (8/13)
