Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: December 9, 2014
Kaiser Health News: Doctors’ Testimony Crucial As Border Children Seek Asylum
Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold reports: "New York lawyer Brett Stark, who has worked with dozens of unaccompanied Central American children who crossed into the United States in the past year, says getting the courts to grant these kids asylum is extremely difficult. So he often turns to a special advocate — a doctor. Such medical-legal partnerships have cropped up in New York and California, where thousands of unaccompanied minors have settled with their families or friends who were already in the U.S." (Gold, 12/9)
USA Today: Obamacare Enrollment Data Comes Under Scrutiny
It took a junior congressional staffer about 20 minutes to discover what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says it didn't know about its own health exchange enrollment data. Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, told Congress in September that 7.3 million people had enrolled in coverage through Obamacare. (Korte, 12/8)
The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal: Workers To Bear Burden Of ACA Cost Increases
Workers in the U.S. should expect health care to take a bigger bite out of their paychecks next year, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Finance chiefs at U.S. companies expect the Affordable Care Act to increase health care costs next year, and the majority expect to pass that along to their employees. The bank surveyed 602 CFOs and other finance executives at companies with annual revenues between $25 million and $2 billion. Of those, 69% said they expected their labor costs to rise to cover the costs of the ACA. The CFOs expected an average increase of 7.1%. (Monga, 12/8)
The Associated Press: Religious Nonprofits Challenge Health Law
In the latest religious challenge to the federal health care law, faith-based organizations that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans argued in federal appeals court Monday that the government hasn’t gone far enough to ensure they don’t have to violate their beliefs. Plaintiffs including a group of Colorado nuns and four Christian colleges in Oklahoma argued in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver that a federal exemption for groups that oppose contraceptives, including the morning-after pill, violates their beliefs. (Wyatt, 12/8)
The New York Times: Half Of Doctors Listed As Serving Medicaid Patients Are Unavailable, Investigation Finds
Large numbers of doctors who are listed as serving Medicaid patients are not available to treat them, federal investigators said in a new report. “Half of providers could not offer appointments to enrollees,” the investigators said in the report, which will be issued on Tuesday. Many of the doctors were not accepting new Medicaid patients or could not be found at their last known addresses, according to the report from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Pear, 12/8)
Politico: Mitch McConnell’s Obamacare Gambit
In high-level strategy sessions on Capitol Hill, Republicans are going through reams of historical information and sitting through marathon slide show presentations, trying to figure out how to gut Obamacare through a complicated budget process that requires only a simple majority — a sign of how seriously they’re taking their best shot yet at dealing a long-term blow to the health care law. Behind closed doors, Washington’s top budget experts have quietly met with Sen. Mitch McConnell, the incoming majority leader, and the Senate Republican Conference to detail options for action next year. (Haberkorn and Raju, 12/8)
The Wall Street Journal: Mitch McConnell And The Republican Plan To Fix The Senate
Congress has gotten tagged with a reputation for gridlock. Now that the House and Senate are both in Republican hands, what’s the prospect for real activity and real change? For insight into the prospects, Gerald Seib, Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, spoke to incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. ... [McConnell on the health law:] I think it’s the single worst piece of legislation we’ve passed in at least the last half-century. Having said that, it bears the president’s name. The chance of his signing a full repeal are pretty limited. There are parts of it that are extremely toxic with the American people: the elimination of the 40-hour workweek, the individual mandate, the medical-device tax, the health-insurance tax. I think you could anticipate those kinds of things being voted on in the Senate. Such votes haven't been allowed in the past. (Seib, 12/8)
USA Today: Democrats Who Voted For Obamacare Cut By Half In New Senate
When the new Senate convenes in January, only half of the 60 Democrats who voted for President Obama’s health care law will still be in office. As Bloomberg Politics noted, Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana became the eighth Democrat who voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to lose re-election this year when she was defeated Saturday by GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy. Greg Giroux of Bloomberg Politics noted that 19 Democrats who voted for Obamacare four years ago have retired or resigned from office and three others died in office. Of the eight senators who were defeated by voters, Landrieu joins Alaska’s Mark Begich, North Carolina’s Kay Hagan, Arkansas’ Mark Pryor and Colorado’s Mark Udall in losing in a year when ties to Obama became a prominent theme for Republicans. (Camia, 12/8)
The Wall Street Journal: Senate Democrats Trying To Confirm Surgeon General Before Year’s End
Senate Democrats are trying to confirm before year’s end President Barack Obama ’s surgeon general nominee, a pick that appears to be gaining momentum after being stalled for months. Vivek Murthy, Mr. Obama’s choice for the public-health post, is the highest-profile of the few dozen nominees who could come up for a vote in the chamber if Senate Democrats and Republicans reach a procedural agreement this week. Even in the absence of a deal, Senate leaders might take steps to set up a separate vote on Dr. Murthy’s nomination, a Senate Democratic aide said. (Peterson, 12/8)
Politico: Surgeon General Nominee Likely To Get Vote
President Barack Obama’s troubled pick for surgeon general may get a Senate vote before the end of this year’s lame duck session — though it’s not clear if he can win confirmation. Vivek Murthy, who has drawn opposition for remarks drawing a link between gun violence and health, is likely to get a vote before Democrats hand control of the chamber to Republicans in January, a senior Senate Democratic aide said Monday evening. But winning confirmation is another matter. (Everett, 12/9)
Los Angeles Times: Blue Shield Moves Into Medicaid With Care1st Deal
Seizing on the massive expansion in Medicaid, Blue Shield of California has agreed to acquire Care1st, a Monterey Park-based health plan with more than 500,000 patients. Until now, insurance giant Blue Shield hasn't participated in Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program for low-income people. As a result, it has missed out on the program's growth to 11.3 million Californians as part of the federal health law expansion. (Terhune, 12/8)
