First Edition: January 22, 2015

Kaiser Health News: 1,700 Hospitals Win Quality Bonuses From Medicare, But Most Will Never Collect
Medicare is giving bonuses to a majority of hospitals that it graded on quality, but many of those rewards will be wiped out by penalties the government has issued for other shortcomings, federal data show. As required by the 2010 health law, the government is taking performance into account when paying hospitals, one of the biggest changes in Medicare’s 50-year-history. This year 1,700 hospitals – 55 percent of those graded – earned higher payments for providing comparatively good care in the federal government’s most comprehensive review of quality. The government measured criteria such as patient satisfaction, lower death rates and how much patients cost Medicare. This incentive program, known as value-based purchasing, led to penalties for 1,360 hospitals. (Rau, 1/22)

Kaiser Health News: Medicaid Pay Hike Opened Doors For Patients, Study Finds
"Money talks. A temporary Medicaid pay raise that was part of President Barack Obama’s health law made it easier for poor adults to get appointments with primary care doctors, according to a study published Wednesday. Paying more to doctors who participate in the federal-state insurance program for the poor usually improves access for patients, but the law’s two-year limit on the raise, its slow rollout and other regulatory problems made many skeptical about how physicians would react to the extra money — which in many states equated to a 50 percent pay hike or more. (Galewitz, 1/21)

Kaiser Health News: California Takes Different Path On Insuring Immigrants Living In U.S. Illegally
The push to offer health insurance to all Californians regardless of immigration status is the latest in a series of immigrant-friendly state policies over the past few years. Already, immigrants here illegally can obtain licenses to practice medicine, law or other professions, and as of this month, they can apply for driver’s licenses. There is no guarantee that other states will follow California’s lead, but the size and demographic makeup of the state ensure it a prominent role in the national debate over coverage of people living in the country illegally. (Gorman, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Government Closer To Goal Of 9.1M Enrolled Under Health Law
The Obama administration is moving closer to its goal of 9.1 million people signed up for private coverage under the president's health care law. The Health and Human Services Department says at least 400,000 people signed up last week. That brought total enrollment in the 37 states served by HealthCare.gov to more than 7.1 million. (1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: House Republicans Pull Abortion-Ban Bill
House Republican leaders pulled a 20-week abortion ban that had been expected to come up for a vote Thursday after female GOP lawmakers and centrists voiced concerns over its treatment of rape victims, according to House GOP aides. Instead, the House is expected to vote Thursday on a less contentious bill prohibiting federal funding from being used on abortions or health insurance plans that cover abortion. (Peterson, 1/21)

Politico: GOP Stumbles Over Abortion Bill
Republican leadership late Wednesday evening had to completely drop its plans to pass a bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks, and is reverting to old legislation that prohibits taxpayer funding of abortions. The evening switch comes after a revolt from a large swath of female members of Congress, who were concerned about language that said rape victims would not be able to get abortions unless they reported the incident to authorities. (Sherman, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Abortion Bill Dropped Amid Concerns Of Female GOP Lawmakers
House Republican leaders abruptly dropped plans late Wednesday to vote on an anti-abortion bill amid a revolt by female GOP lawmakers concerned that the legislation's restrictive language would once again spoil the party's chances of broadening its appeal to women and younger voters. In recent days, as many as two dozen Republicans had raised concerns with the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" that would ban abortions after the 20th week of a pregnancy. Sponsors said that exceptions would be allowed for a woman who is raped, but she could only get the abortion after reporting the rape to law enforcement. (O'Keefe, 1/21)

The Associated Press: House GOP Abruptly Drops Abortion Bill
In an embarrassing setback, House Republicans abruptly decided Wednesday to drop planned debate of a bill criminalizing virtually all late-term abortions after objections from GOP women and other lawmakers left them short of votes. The decision came on the eve of the annual March for Life, when thousands of abortion rights opponents stream to Washington to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. It also came with GOP leaders eager to show unity and an ability by the new Republican-led Congress to govern efficiently. (1/22)

The Washington Post: Under Pope Francis, American Catholics See The ‘Pro-Life’ Label As Broader Than Abortion
This week, as tens of thousands of abortion opponents gather in Washington for Thursday’s March for Life — the world’s largest anti-abortion event — and many related side conferences and meetings, longtime activists say there are more groups seeking to pull into the “pro-life” brand topics ranging from the death penalty to human trafficking. Last weekend, the five dioceses in Southern California held their first “One Life” event, a march and fair timed to this week’s anniversary of Roe vs. Wade and highlighting not only abortion but homelessness, foster care and elderly rights. More than 10,000 people came to the event in Los Angeles. (Boorstein, 1/22)

The New York Times: Talk Of Wealth Gap Prods The G.O.P. To Refocus
With the economy finally on more solid ground, even leading Republicans, on Capitol Hill and on the nascent 2016 presidential campaign front, are tempering complaints about overall economic growth and refocusing on the more intractable problem of income inequality. ... But such “reform conservatism” has a long way to go before being accepted by the dominant players in Republican circles. Mr. Obama is not just pursuing “the wrong policies,” Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said Wednesday. ... “There’s a better way,” he said. “We need to fix our broken tax code, balance our budget, replace the broken health care law with solutions that lower cost and protect jobs.” (Weisman and Parker, 1/21)

The Associated Press: Issue On Appeal: Did Health Care Reform Rules Hurt Senator?
Lawyers for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson sought on Wednesday to revive the Wisconsin Republican's challenge to the federal health care overhaul, arguing before an appellate panel that he was indeed harmed by executive rules associated with the legislation. (Tarm, 1/21)

The Washington Post's Wonkblog: Millions Of Children Could Soon Lose Their Health Insurance If Congress Doesn’t Act
For all the handwringing about what the new Republican-controlled Congress could do to Obamacare, another health insurance program could be dropped entirely if lawmakers don't take action this year: the Children's Health Insurance Program. The program covers an estimated 8 million children in low- and middle-income families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Funding is set to expire in September, and it's not clear yet if the new Congress will extend CHIP or scale it back. Those who get dropped will probably have to go on to the new health insurance exchanges for coverage, but one estimate found as many as 2.7 million children could still lose health insurance if CHIP goes away this year. (Millman, 1/21)

NPR/Propublica: Senator 'Astounded' That Nonprofit Hospitals Sue Poorest Patients
NPR and ProPublica have been reporting about nonprofit hospitals that seize the wages of lower income and working-class patients. Now, Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says hospitals could be breaking the law by suing these patients and docking their pay. And he wants some answers. NPR and ProPublica looked across six states, and in each, we found nonprofit hospitals suing hundreds of their patients. One hospital in particular jumped out — Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, Mo. Thousands of patients a year are getting their paychecks docked by the hospital and its debt collection arm. (Arnold and Kiel, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: UnitedHealth’s Profits Better Than Expected
UnitedHealth, like its fellow health insurers, has sought to contain costs related to medical care, particularly as expensive, high-profile treatments for hepatitis C and cancer enter the market. Meanwhile, the company has benefited from growth in its government-sponsored plans as well as its health-services arm. (Wilde Mathews and Calia, 1/21)

The Associated Press: UnitedHealth Earnings Rise 6 Pct, Top Wall St. Expectations
The Minneapolis-based insurer said Wednesday that it expects stronger enrollment growth from Medicare Advantage plans, a key product that had been pinched by funding cuts in recent years. It also has already gained more than 400,000 customers through its expanded presence on the health care overhaul’s public insurance exchanges, and operating earnings from its Optum segment, which runs several businesses outside health insurance, climbed more than 50 percent. (1/21)

The Washington Post's Wonkblog: A Knee Replacement Surgery Could Cost $17k Or $61k. And That’s In The Same City.
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, whose member organizations cover about one in three Americans, for the first time on Wednesday released prices that its insurers are charged by health-care providers. The group's report cover prices for knee and hip replacement surgeries, which are among the fastest growing procedures in the country. (Millman, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot: High Prices For Cancer Drugs Are Set At Launch: ‘It’s Where The Action Is’
There is little question that rising prices for medicines – including many cancer treatments – is a flashpoint in the growing controversy over health care costs. But just how much have the prices for new cancer drugs been rising in recent years? A new paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that, of 58 cancer drugs that were approved by the FDA between 1995 and 2013, the launch prices increased by 10% a year, or an average of about $8,500, when adjusted for inflation and a formula for determining survival benefits. (Silverman, 1/21)

Los Angeles Times: 67 Confirmed Cases Of Measles In California-Centered Outbreak
There are now 67 confirmed cases of measles in an outbreak centered in California, health officials said. The California Department of Public Health said there are now 59 cases in the state – 42 that have been directly linked to being at Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park in December. Some people visited Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park while infectious in January. (Xia and Lin, 1/21)

The New York Times: Measles Cases Linked To Disneyland Rise, And Debate Over Vaccinations Intensifies
A measles outbreak that began at Disneyland is spreading across California and beyond, prompting health officials to move aggressively to contain it — including by barring unvaccinated students from going to school in Orange County. The outbreak has increased concerns that a longstanding movement against childhood vaccinations has created a surge in a disease that was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. (Nagourney and Goodnough, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Disneyland Measles Outbreak Strikes In Anti-Vaccination Hotbed Of California
Now the measles that started at Disney has put California’s Orange County, a hotbed of the anti-immunization movement, at the center of the worst measles outbreak in the state in 15 years, with 62 confirmed cases statewide since December, according to the Los Angeles Times. Additional cases that originated in California have spread to four other states and Mexico. The total infected is up to 70, including five Disney employees who have since returned to work. About a quarter of those who got sick had to be hospitalized. (Barbash, 1/22)

Los Angeles Times: California Lawmakers Will Push Death-With-Dignity Measure
It was a dying wish of Brittany Maynard, after terminal cancer led her to move to Portland so she could legally end her life, that her home state of California would someday adopt Oregon's death-with-dignity law. On Wednesday, less than three months after 29-year-old Maynard's death drew international attention to the issue, her husband and mother stood with nine California lawmakers to announce legislation that would allow physicians in this state to prescribe medications to hasten death for the terminally ill. (McGreevy, 1/21)