First Edition: January 8, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Appeals Court Hears Texas Abortion Case
Lawyers for the state of Texas were in federal appeals court in New Orleans Wednesday arguing in favor of a controversial state law that requires abortion clinics to meet the standards of outpatient surgery centers. If that provision is re-instated, ten of Texas’s remaining 17 abortion clinics would close immediately. Other provisions of the law – including one that said doctors who perform abortions need admitting privileges at nearby hospitals – have shuttered about half of Texas’ 40 abortion clinics over the past two years. (Feibel, 1/8)
Kaiser Health News:
How California Can Improve Oversight Of Home Caregivers
In California, hundreds of thousands of low-income elderly and disabled people receive daily care in their homes from relatives and others paid by the state. Yet, no overall training is required for the more than 400,000 caregivers, who are paid about $10 an hour through the $7.3 billion In-Home Supportive Services Program. And the program provides little oversight. On KPCC’s Take Two, Kaiser Health News Reporter Anna Gorman said that while the IHSS program does work for many Californians, the state needs to pay more attention to those in the program who are vulnerable. (1/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
House Moves To Change Full-Time Work To 40 Hours In Health Law
The House is expected to move Thursday to loosen the rules for when employers must offer workers health insurance by changing the health law’s definition of a full-time worker, reopening a debate over whether the legislation is hurting the labor market. The bill is expected to easily pass in the Republican-dominated lower chamber, where GOP leaders have made it a top priority in seeking to strip the Affordable Care Act piece by piece. That would set up a longer fight in the Senate, where Republicans have 54 seats and would need six more votes to overcome a filibuster. (Radnofsky and Zumbrun, 1/7)
NPR:
Congressional Republicans Take Another Swing At Obamacare
The House will debate, and likely pass a bill, that would make a change in the Affordable Care Act. It would raise the law's definition of full-time work from 30 hours to 40 hours a week. (Ydstie, 1/8)
USA Today:
Bill On Full-Time Workweek Sets Up White House Showdown
Indiana GOP Rep. Todd Young, the lead sponsor of the bill the House will vote on, and Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, the top Democratic sponsor of the Senate's version, say their proposals would restore the traditional definition of a full-time job to 40 hours a week instead of the 30-hour threshold included in the Affordable Care Act. Employers with at least 50 full-time workers must offer health care or face potential penalties under the law. (Groppe, 1/7)
Politico:
Workweek Bill Is First GOP Senate Test On Obamacare
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said making the switch from 30 to 40 hours is at the top of the GOP’s Obamacare priorities, along with repealing a tax on the medical-device industry. But an immediate slam dunk could prove elusive. Lobbyists backing the workweek bill said they haven’t yet lined up the 60 votes — including at least six Democrats, who would have to cross party lines despite the renewed White House veto threat — needed to bring the measure to the Senate floor. (Norman and Pradhan, 1/8)
The Associated Press:
Obama Issues 3 Veto Threats In 2 Days
The White House threatened more vetoes Wednesday against top-priority legislation of the two-day-old Republican-controlled Congress, and GOP leaders said they intend to keep challenging President Barack Obama to sign early measures that demonstrate bipartisan support. "We're calling on the president to ignore the voices of reaction and join us," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said as he and Speaker John Boehner lined up legislation to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, make changes to the health care law they also have vowed to repeal, and delay a key provision of a 2010 financial regulation law. (1/7)
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
New GOP Contract: Restore Americans’ Trust
Launched by the 2014 midterm elections, the new GOP majority is setting out to build the Keystone XL pipeline, expand trade and tinker with the health-care law–serious goals but more like a to-do list than a manifesto. Indeed, more than any particular policy aim, Republicans’ overriding goal for this year is about confidence-building: Restoring voters’ trust in Congress and in the GOP. (Hook, 1/7)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog:
Social Security Disability Payments Could Be Cut By A Fifth Without New Action
On the first day of the new Congress, Republicans symbolically bound themselves to what is certain to be a controversial reform of the federal disability insurance program, which would probably occur near the height of the 2016 presidential campaign. Social Security has two components, the disability insurance program and the much larger Old Age and Survivors Insurance program, for which almost all Americans become fully eligible when they reach retirement age. Congress has historically treated them as one system, moving money between one pot and the other if one is running short on funds and the other has plenty of money. That's the situation now, as the disability pot is expected to be empty late next year. There is enough money in the larger pot to last until 2034, or to keep both programs solvent through 2033, according to the Social Security Administration. (Ehrenfreund, 1/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Workers Paying More For Health Insurance, But Getting Fewer Benefits
Although the Affordable Care Act has not led to soaring insurance costs, as many critics claimed it would, the law hasn't provided much relief to American workers either, according to a new study of employer-provided health benefits. Workers continue to be squeezed by rising insurance costs, eroding benefits and stagnant wages, the report from the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund found. (Levey, 1/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Small Businesses Snub Health Exchanges For Coverage
Some small-business owners are snubbing the new health-insurance exchanges, operating under the Small Business Health Options Program, citing limited federal tax credits and a small menu of insurance offerings in a few states, companies and health-insurance brokers said. (Janofsky, 1/7)
The Washington Post:
A Class Of Expensive Drugs Is Getting Cheaper Competition For The First Time
A government panel Wednesday took a major step toward approving a copycat version of a blockbuster cancer drug, paving the way for a new class of cheaper medicines that could save consumers billions of dollars. An expert Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously recommended that the government approve the drug known as EP2006, a lower-cost imitator of a popular medicine called Neupogen, used to help cancer patients fight off infection while undergoing chemotherapy. The FDA usually accepts recommendations from advisory panels but is not required to. (Millman, 1/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
FDA Panel Backs First ‘Biosimilar’ Drug
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Wednesday unanimously recommended the agency approve the first “biosimilar” drug in the U.S., a version of the anti-infective cancer drug Neupogen. The FDA panel concluded by a vote of 14-0 that a drug called EP2006, which Novartis AG ’s Sandoz unit plans to market in the U.S. under the name Zarxio, is highly similar to Amgen Inc. ’s Neupogen. Neupogen is designed to increase white blood-cell counts, and lower infection rates, mostly in patients getting chemotherapy and other treatments. (Burton, 1/7)
Politico:
Courts Wrestle With Wave Of New State Abortion Laws
The fight over greater regulation of abortion is swinging once again to the federal courts, where challenges to recent state laws are producing a patchwork of contradictory rulings that may eventually reach the Supreme Court. Legislators have enacted scores of new laws in the last few years, from bans on most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy to requirements that doctors at abortion clinics have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Courts have blocked some measures and allowed others. And some statutes have taken effect without any pushback, typically in conservative regions where a federal appeals court would more likely support restrictions. (Winfield Cunningham, 1/8)
The New York Times:
Texas Abortion Clinic Rules Tested In Appeals Court
Lawyers for abortion clinics squared off with Texas state attorneys in a federal appeals court here on Wednesday, arguing over the constitutionality of stringent abortion clinic rules that would force more than half the remaining abortion providers in Texas to close. (Eckholm, 1/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Stuck Waiting For The Doctor? Check Ratings On State Physician Groups
Californians wanting to check up on doctors have new ratings from Consumer Reports on more than 170 physician groups statewide. The scores released this week are intended to help consumers see how different medical offices stack up on providing care and dealing with patients. In Southern California, doctors affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente and HealthCare Partners earned some of the highest ratings. (Terhune, 1/7)
The Wall Street Journal's Metropolis:
Appeals Court Upholds Schoolchildren Vaccination Rule
A federal appeals court has affirmed New York state’s requirement that all children be vaccinated in order to attend public school, rejecting claims that the law was discriminatory and that its local applications violated the constitutional right of religious freedom. In an order released Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals also upheld a regulation that allows school officials to temporarily exclude from school students who are not immunized during an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases. (O'Brien, 1/7)
The Washington Post:
Maryland Gov. O’Malley To Propose $400 Million In Cuts
According to people who have been briefed on O’Malley’s plan, the package includes reductions in spending by state agencies, colleges and universities, as well as reductions to providers participating in the state Medicaid program, which provides health insurance for the poor and disabled. (Wagner, 1/6)