Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: February 9, 2015
Kaiser Health News: Despite Efforts, Latino ACA Enrollment Lags
Norma and Rodolfo Santaolalla have always worked but have never had health insurance. When the Arlington, Va., couple tried to apply online for coverage under the health care law, it was just too confusing. "I didn’t understand about the deductibles and how to choose a plan. It’s difficult. It’s the first time we’ve done that," said Norma, 46, who cleans houses for a living. Rodolfo, 47, is a handyman. "That’s why we came here, to ask them to help us.” (Carey, 2/9)
The Wall Street Journal: Health-Law Challenger’s Standing In Supreme Court Case Is Questioned
The lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court battle over the health law’s insurance tax credits appears to qualify for veterans’ medical coverage, raising questions about his ability to challenge the law. ... Standing issues with these three plaintiffs don’t jeopardize the case, legal experts say, because only one plaintiff needs standing for the suit to proceed before the court. Instead, they could create skepticism about the strength of the challengers’ case and highlight the difficulty of finding plaintiffs to show the health law’s subsidies harm Americans, these experts say. (Radnofsky, Bravin and Kendall, 2/6)
The New York Times: Health Law Case Poses Conundrum For Republicans
On the one hand, Republicans in Congress are urging the Supreme Court to strike down subsidies for health insurance provided to millions of people in more than 30 states. On the other, they are chiding the Obama administration because it has no plan to avert the hardship that could occur if they win in court. The Republicans now have realized that a court decision in their favor poses political risks to members of their party, who are frantically trying to come up with alternatives to the Affordable Care Act and a strategy to respond to such a ruling. (Pear, 2/7)
Politico: King Lawyers: Veterans Coverage Won’t Upend Obamacare Challenge
The attorneys challenging Obamacare’s tax subsidies say that the lead plaintiff’s potential eligibility for veterans health coverage won’t derail their lawsuit in the Supreme Court. ... The Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is coordinating and funding the lawsuit, says that the veteran’s status is a non-issue. And even if it were, there are other plaintiffs in King V. Burwell whose standing — the legal term for the right to bring a lawsuit — is not contested. (Haberkorn, 2/7)
USA Today: A Friendlier Healthcare.gov Call Center Prepares For Rush
Thousands of more friendly and better-trained call-center employees will be working starting Monday to deal with the expected late onslaught of people signing up before the Obamacare open enrollment ends Feb. 15. A 40 percent increase, to a 14,000-person workforce, is expected to help with wait times, which averaged about 2 1/2 minutes the last week of January, but are likely to get longer as the deadline nears. People who aren't covered by employer-provided insurance and don't sign up by the deadline won't be eligible for insurance this year and will face increasing penalties at tax time. (O'Donnell, 2/8)
The New York Times: Insured, But Not Covered
The Affordable Care Act has ushered in an era of complex new health insurance products featuring legions of out-of-pocket coinsurance fees, high deductibles and narrow provider networks. Though commercial insurers had already begun to shift toward such policies, the health care law gave them added legitimacy and has vastly accelerated the trend, experts say. The theory behind the policies is that patients should bear more financial risk so they will be more conscious and cautious about health care spending. But some experts say the new policies have also left many Americans scrambling to track expenses from a multitude of sources. (Rosenthal, 2/7)
NPR: In Puerto Rico, Health Overhaul Gets An Incomplete
When the Affordable Care Act was launched a little over a year ago, there was some confusion about how the law would apply to U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, which is part of the U.S. but isn't a state. In July, the federal Department of Health and Human Services declared that U.S. territories aren't required to follow most of the rules of the ACA. That means four of the five U.S. territories — Guam, American Samoa, Northern Marianas, and U.S. Virgin Islands — have essentially been untouched by the bill. But Puerto Rico's government passed its own series of bills, adopting the ACA rules. (Kelto, 2/7)
The Wall Street Journal: Coming Budget Poses Test For GOP
That is in large part because some spending bills have become political lightning rods, particularly those involved with the Affordable Care Act or the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. Republicans have also sought to use spending bills to push back against White House policy, including Homeland Security funding, slated to expire on Feb. 27. Republicans are seeking to use an extension of that funding to block implementation of the president’s executive action on immigration. ... Meanwhile, Republicans will have to address a rolling series of other funding deadlines this year, including stopgap measures on Medicare, the highway trust fund and children’s health insurance. (Timiraos and Peterson, 2/8)
The Wall Street Journal: Insurance Regulators To Investigate Recent Data Breach At Anthem
Insurance regulators will launch a national investigation into the recent data breach at Anthem Inc., adding a new layer of scrutiny for the company as it contends with the fallout from a hacker incursion that the company said likely exposed personal information of tens of millions of consumers. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group representing state regulators, announced the probe Friday. In a statement, the president of the group, Monica Lindeen, said its members agreed “that an immediate and comprehensive review of the company’s security must be a priority to ensure protection of consumers who are covered by Anthem.” (Wilde Mathews, 2/6)
The Associated Press: No Encryption Standard Raises Health Care Privacy Questions
Insurers aren't required to encrypt consumers' data under a 1990s federal law that remains the foundation for health care privacy in the Internet age — an omission that seems striking in light of the major cyberattack against Anthem. Encryption uses mathematical formulas to scramble data, converting sensitive details coveted by intruders into gibberish. Anthem, the second-largest U.S. health insurer, has said the data stolen from a company database that stored information on 80 million people was not encrypted. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/7)
The New York Times: Data Breach At Anthem May Lead To Others
After an online attack on Anthem, by far the largest breach in the industry, security experts warned on Friday that more attacks on health care organizations were likely because of the high value of the data on the black market. ... Medical identity theft has become a booming business, according to security experts, who warn that other health care companies are likely to be targeted as a result of the hackers’ success in penetrating Anthem’s computer systems. Hackers often try one company to test their methods before moving on to others, and criminals are becoming increasingly creative in their use of medical information, experts say. (Abelson and Creswell, 2/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Debate Deepens Over Response To Cyberattacks
Several large-scale cyberattacks in recent months have prompted a number of lawmakers and policy makers to call for a more forceful response, including suggestions that the U.S. engage in counterattacks that would disable or limit the culprits’ own networks. ... Noteworthy cyberattacks in recent months have forced policy makers to rethink their approach. Late last year, the White House alleged that North Korea stole large amounts of data from Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Also, the recent theft of personal information from tens of millions of Anthem Inc. ’s health-insurance customers may have originated in China, the company has suggested, though law-enforcement officials continue to investigate the breach. (Paletta and Nissenbaum, 2/8)
USA Today: First Lawsuits Launched In Anthem Hack
The first lawsuits in the Anthem hack, the nation's largest health care breach to date, have been filed. At least four have been launched so far, in Indiana, California, Alabama and Georgia. The suits allege that Anthem did not take adequate and reasonable measures to ensure its data systems were protected and that the 80 million Anthem customers whose information may have been affected could be harmed. (Weise, 2/8)
ProPublica/The New York Times: Knee Replacement Device Unapproved, But Used In Surgery
Carla Muss-Jacobs didn’t give much thought to the tools her surgeon would use to replace her knee. Like most patients, she just wanted to feel better and trusted that any devices in the operating room would be safe. In her case, the surgeon sliced open her leg and positioned special cutting guides, like carpentry jigs, over her thigh and shin bones to line up his bone saw precisely. The device, called the OtisKnee, was supposed to speed the surgery and the recovery. ... As it turned out, the OtisMed Corporation, the maker of the OtisKnee, did not seek clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its OtisKnee guides before it started selling them. When the company did apply for F.D.A. review, its application was rejected because, the agency said, the company failed to show that the product was safe and effective. (Allen and Pierce, 2/6)
The Washington Post: Autism Speaks, Leading Autism Advocate, Urges Vaccination
A leading autism advocacy organization, Autism Speaks, is urging parents to vaccinate their children amid a measles outbreak that has swept 14 states. As some continue to cite unfounded fears that vaccinations can lead to autism, Autism Speaks chief science officer Rob Ring has released a statement saying vaccinations cannot cause the disorder — and telling parents to vaccinate their children. (Bever, 2/9)
The Associated Press: Paul On Vaccines, Thin Line Between Medicine And Politics
As a medical doctor, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has a rare set of credentials at the intersection of science and politics. But the glare of the 2016 presidential race is searing, and under it, Paul had a rough week. ... Paul said Monday that he had heard about "many tragic cases" of children who got vaccines and ended up with "profound mental disorders." That assertion has no basis in medical research, and Paul clearly was still upset on Friday about how his comments had been received. "It may be a little because I'm a doctor, but really I think it's inaccuracies" fueled by reporters, he told The Associated Press. "From my point of view, that's frustrating." (Beaumont and Kellman, 2/7)
The Washington Post's Fact Checker: Why Did Obama’s Budget Proposal Cut Federal Immunization Funding?
The president’s proposal to cut funding for the federal immunization program came into focus amid the measles outbreak and vaccine controversy. ... The president’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2016 proposes a $50 million cut, or 8 percent, from $611 million. Given President Obama’s push for all parents to vaccinate their children, [White House press secretary Josh] Earnest was asked, why would he cut the federal immunization program? Is Earnest correct that the Affordable Care Act “guarantees” every American has access to free preventive care, including vaccines? Does the Affordable Care Act decrease the need for funding for the 317 program? (Lee, 2/9)
Religion News Service/The Washington Post: Vaccines And Abortion? The Links Are Cloudy And Complicated
The Internet rumors that claim vaccinations mean having tiny pieces of aborted fetuses injected into your body are flat-out wrong, yet there is a grain of truth in the assertion that vaccinations and abortions are linked. Many of the most common vaccines, for rubella and chicken pox for example, are grown in and then removed from cells descended from the cells of aborted fetuses. Pregnant women aborted them about 40 years ago by choice, and not with the intent of aiding vaccine production. Yet for some religious believers, those facts do not lift what they see as a moral prohibition against vaccination. (Markoe, 2/4)
The Wall Street Journal: How Anti-Vaccination Trends Vex Herd Immunity
When large segments of a population are immunized against measles, it reduces the risk of exposure for everyone in the community, including families who refuse vaccines. The concept is called herd immunity. But when too many healthy people forgo vaccinations—as they have in pockets of California and other states—the whole herd becomes more vulnerable, not just those who skipped shots. Without vaccines, measles and other infectious diseases can proliferate, and people who were previously protected may become imperiled. (McGinty, 2/6)
The Washington Post: Measles Outbreak Spurs New Action In California, New Mexico
Students at the University of California’s 10 campuses will be required to be screened for tuberculosis and to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella and other diseases under a new health plan set to take effect in 2017, the university said Friday. Announcement of the policy change, which goes beyond the hepatitis B shots required of all 233,000 UC students, comes amid measles outbreaks that have infected more than 100 people in California and more than a dozen more in 19 other U.S. states and Mexico since December. (Gorman, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times: UC Widens Vaccination Requirements For 2017
All UC students will have to be vaccinated against measles, meningitis, whooping cough and several other diseases or they will not be allowed to register for classes in fall 2017, university officials announced Friday. Those shots will be in addition to the current systemwide requirement for the hepatitis B vaccine. (Gordon, 2/6)
The Washington Post: Va. House, Senate Unveil Budget Plans Amid Improved Revenue Forecasts
House and Senate budget writers on Sunday unveiled competing spending plans that would give state employees a pay raise, provide Gov. Terry McAuliffe with extra cash to lure new businesses to the commonwealth and offer more care to severely mentally ill Virginians. Both panels also rejected Medicaid expansion, bucked the Democratic governor’s bid to hike some business fees, and poured more money into K-12 education, public universities and the state’s rainy day fund. (Vozzella, 2/8)
