First Edition: February 19, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
The New York Times:
As Health Exchange Sign-Ups Rise, So Do Stakes For Supreme Court
The Obama administration said Wednesday that 8.6 million people in 37 states had selected or renewed health plans through the federal insurance marketplace, and that most of them would suffer if the Supreme Court blocked premium subsidies for consumers in those states. ... Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, said she did not know how many of the 11.4 million people were previously uninsured. But she said that more than 85 percent of those obtaining insurance in the federal marketplace qualified for premium subsidies in the form of tax credits. It was, she said, inconceivable that Congress meant to deny premium assistance to them — simply because their states did not set up exchanges — while providing it to residents of New York, California and other states that run their own insurance marketplaces. (Pear, 2/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Obama Administration Lauds Number Of Health Exchange Sign-Ups
The Obama administration touted the latest sign-up figures for health coverage as proof that the Affordable Care Act is working and shouldn’t be overturned in the face of Republican opposition and a legal challenge before the Supreme Court. ... “The Affordable Care Act is now an important part of everyday lives of millions of Americans. They finally have the financial health and security that comes with affordable health coverage,” [HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews] Burwell told reporters Wednesday. “One thing is sure, Americans don’t want the progress that we’ve made to be taken away from them.” (Radnofsky and Armour, 2/18)
USA Today:
After Obamacare Surge, Officials Consider Special Sign-Ups
State and federal governments saw a huge, last-minute surge in Obamacare sign-ups ahead of last Sunday's deadline, boosting total enrollment that surpassed the administration's expectations. Of the 11.4 million Americans who have newly enrolled or re-enrolled in private health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) this year, 8.6 million signed up through the federal marketplace and about 2.8 million through state-based exchanges, federal officials said Wednesday. ... Now many officials are considering a special enrollment period for Americans who discover at tax time they'll face a penalty for not having insurance. Burwell said federal officials will make a decision in the next two weeks. (O'Donnell and Unger, 2/18)
The Associated Press:
Florida Has Highest Number Of Enrollees Under Health Law
Florida has eclipsed California to become the state with the highest number of consumers buying health coverage through new insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act, according to federal statistics released Wednesday. Florida's roughly 1.6 million enrollees include both first time enrollees and some of the nearly 1 million Floridians who enrolled last year. California led the country last year with 1.2 million consumers, but lagged behind this year with a total of 1.4 million — 300,000 fewer than the state's goal. The state has struggled to target hard-to reach populations including Latinos. (Kennedy, 2/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Superbug Linked To 2 Deaths At UCLA Hospital; 179 Potentially Exposed
Nearly 180 patients at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center may have been exposed to potentially deadly bacteria from contaminated medical scopes, and two deaths have already been linked to the outbreak. The Times has learned that the two people who died are among seven patients that UCLA found were infected by the drug-resistant superbug known as CRE — a number that may grow as more patients get tested. The outbreak is the latest in a string of similar incidents across the country that has top health officials scrambling for a solution. (Terhune, 2/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
UCLA Says More Than 100 Exposed To ‘Superbug’
The University of California, Los Angeles, Health System said Wednesday that the deaths of two patients might be linked to a superbug known as CRE and that it has notified 179 patients they may have been infected. ... CRE, or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, can break down antibiotics with a rare enzyme; authorities have called the bug “nightmare bacteria.” Part of a large family of bacteria, it typically lives in the intestines. It can be spread via fecal matter and isn’t typically transmitted by casual contact outside hospitals. (Emshwiller and Porter, 2/18)
The Associated Press:
UCLA Says More Than 100 May Have Encountered 'Superbug'
Similar outbreaks of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) have been reported around the nation. They are difficult to treat because some varieties are resistant to most known antibiotics. By one estimate, CRE can contribute to death in up to half of seriously infected patients, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Jablon, 2/19)
The New York Times:
Illinois Governor Proposes $6 Billion In Cuts And Reducing Pension Benefits
Expecting significant budget shortfalls this year and in the years ahead, Bruce Rauner, Illinois’s new Republican governor, on Wednesday proposed more than $6 billion in cuts in state spending on universities, health care, local governments and other areas and called for sharply reducing pension benefits for state workers. ... the state would spend $400 million less on higher education, $600 million less on local governments, and $1.5 billion less on Medicaid, which handles health care costs for poor residents. University leaders and mayors said they were worried, and advocates for the poor said they feared medical needs would go unmet under deep cuts to Medicaid. (Davey, 2/18)
Chicago Tribune:
Rauner's 'Turnaround Budget' Has Cuts Called 'Reckless,' 'Wrong Priorities'
In addition to pension changes, Rauner said he would negotiate changes to state employee and university employee health care, including higher employee payments and reduced benefits, to save $655 million. Rauner also proposed stopping state subsidies for health care for retired suburban and Downstate teachers and community college staff to save $125 million. Another large target in Rauner’s budget is Medicaid, where he wants to trim $1.5 billion from the agency that oversees the health program for the indigent that’s funded jointly by the state and federal government. The agency will scrub eligibility rolls to kick off those deemed unqualified, reduce how much it pays hospitals and nursing homes, shift people to the Affordable Care Act, and reduce or end optional services for adults such as dental care and podiatry. (Pearson, Garcia and Long, 2/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Illinois Governor Rauner Proposes Spending Cuts In Budget Speech
Mr. Rauner took over a state that has largely struggled since the recession and now faces the end of a temporary income-tax boost. The governor’s plan steered clear of tax increases, relying on cuts throughout state government in the next fiscal year of $4.2 billion, or nearly 12%, from current levels. The largest reductions would come from changes in pension benefits for government employees, including lowering cost-of-living increases, raising retirement ages and capping pension payouts. Mr. Rauner also proposed cuts in employee medical benefits,nearly $400 million less in spending on public universities, and reductions in mass-transit and health-care funding. (Peters, 2/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Malloy Budget Closes Deficit With Spending Cuts, Tax-Credit Reductions
[Conn.] Gov. Dannel Malloy on Wednesday proposed to address a state budget deficit by cutting spending and raising revenue by reducing and delaying some tax credits and exemptions. Business groups said the plan would damage companies, and hospitals and social service providers said it would hurt some of the state’s most vulnerable people. ... Mental-health-care providers, hospitals and higher education were among those who would see the deepest cuts under Mr. Malloy’s proposal. (De Avila, 2/18)
Cincinnati Enquirer/USA Today:
Ohio Among States Pushing Prisoners On Medicaid
Landing time in an Ohio prison could also soon get you help enrolling into health care coverage under Obamacare. Ohio is among a small but growing number of states working to enroll prisoners into Medicaid when they get sick and as they are being released. The move could save the state nearly $18 million this year alone in costs of providing health care to prisoners — money that would be shifted onto the federal government's tab. (Bernard-Kuhn, 2/18)
The Washington Post:
New Rules On Narcotic Painkillers Cause Grief For Veterans And VA
New federal rules that make it harder to get narcotic painkillers are taking an unexpected toll on thousands of veterans who depend on these prescription drugs to treat a wide variety of ailments, such as missing limbs and post-traumatic stress. The restrictions, adopted last summer by the Drug Enforcement Administration to curb a national epidemic of opioid abuse, are for the first time, in effect, forcing veterans to return to the doctor every month to renew their medication, although many were already struggling to get appointments at overburdened VA health facilities. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 2/18)
The New York Times:
3 Drugs For An Eye Disease, With Big Price Gaps, Are Found To Be Equals
At a time of rising concern over the cost of medicines, a government-funded study has found that three drugs, ranging in price from $50 to $1,950 a dose, are equally effective in treating many cases of a common form of vision loss caused by diabetes. But the most expensive drug – Eylea, sold by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals – was more effective for patients who had poorer vision before starting treatment. (Pollack, 2/18)
Reuters:
Mississippi Asks Supreme Court To Review Ruling Blocking Abortion Law
Mississippi asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to review a lower court decision blocking a law that would shut the state's sole abortion clinic. Mississippi is among several states that have passed laws requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. Some of the measures are under court review. A federal district court judge issued a temporary injunction in 2012 blocking the Mississippi law because it would have forced women seeking abortions to go out of state. (Kaminsky, 2/18)
NPR:
Why A Court Once Ordered Kids Vaccinated Against Their Parents' Will
A highly contagious disease was sweeping across the United States. Thousands of children were sick and some were dying. In the midst of this outbreak, health officials did something that experts say had never been done before and hasn't been done since. They forced parents to vaccinate their children. It sounds like something that would have happened a hundred years ago. But this was 1991. And the disease wasn't particularly deadly. It was measles. (Kelto, 2/19)
The New York Times:
New Approach To Blocking H.I.V. Raises Hopes For An AIDS Vaccine
A new compound has blocked H.I.V. infection so well in monkeys that it may be able to function as a vaccine against AIDS, the scientists who designed it reported Wednesday. H.I.V. has defied more than 30 years of conventional efforts to fashion a vaccine. The new method stimulates muscle cells to produce proteins that somewhat resemble normal antibodies, which have Y-shaped heads. These proteins have both a head and a tail, and they use them to simultaneously block two sites on each “spike” that the virus uses to attach itself to a cell. (McNeil, 2/18)
The Washington Post:
A New Twist On HIV Vaccines Shows Results In Monkeys, Study Says
An effective vaccine for HIV has eluded researchers for several decades, because of the pathogen’s infamous shape-shifting abilities. Even though researchers have identified certain broadly neutralizing antibodies that can conquer multiple strains of the human immunodeficiency virus, many strains of rapidly mutating HIV remain resistant to these super antibodies. ... In experiments involving rats and monkeys, the researchers have used non-life-threatening viruses to alter the animals’ genome so that their cells produce designer molecules capable of neutralizing HIV. (Morin, 2/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Molecule Shows Ability To Block AIDS Virus
Scientists have engineered a molecule they say can block infection with the virus that causes AIDS, a discovery that potentially could lead to a new therapy for patients as well as an alternative to a vaccine. Researchers have been trying for three decades to develop an effective vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. They are also searching for a way to cure infected people. But the ever-evolving virus has eluded them. (McKay, 2/18)