Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: June 18, 2015
Kaiser Health News: How Not To Find Out Your Health Plan Lacks Hospital Benefits
Marlene Allen thought she had decent medical coverage after she fell in December and broke her wrist. She had come in from walking the dogs. It was wet. The fracture needed surgery and screws and a plate. Weeks later, she learned her employer health plan would cover nothing. Not the initial doctor visit, not the outpatient surgery, not the anesthesiology. She had $19,000 in bills. (Hancock, 6/18)
Kaiser Health News: California Law Will Allow Pharmacists To Prescribe Birth Control
Pharmacists in California will soon be able to prescribe birth control. That’s under a new state law that grants expanded authority to pharmacists. While some doctors’ groups are skeptical, lawmakers say pharmacists can fill a need for primary care providers, especially in rural areas. (Dembosky, 6/18)
The Wall Street Journal: GOP Could Extend Health Subsidies Up To Two Years
Republican leaders are coalescing around a plan to extend the health law’s tax credits for as long as two years, while repealing other parts of the law, if the Supreme Court invalidates the credits. The high court is expected to rule by the end of June on whether to restrict the 2010 law’s tax credits—used by low- and moderate-income consumers to help pay their insurance premiums—to the handful of states that opted to set up their own insurance exchanges. (Peterson and Radnofsky, 6/17)
Los Angeles Times: Legal Arguments That Could Sway Supreme Court On Affordable Care Act
The Supreme Court will decide a seemingly simple question this month in the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act: Does the law limit subsidies for low- and moderate-income consumers to insurance purchased through an exchange “established by the state.” The phrase at issue is found in a section of the law that outlines how subsidies should be calculated. It has taken on enormous importance because only 13 states and the District of Columbia operate their own exchange, or marketplace. Three more states established marketplaces, but rely on the federal HealthCare.gov online market. The remaining 34 states declined to establish a marketplace, leaving the job to the federal government, an option provided by the law. (Savage and Levey, 6/17)
The New York Times: Top Plaintiff In Health Subsidies Case Awaits Edict Unperturbed
Millions of people are waiting anxiously for the Supreme Court to decide the fate of President Obama’s health care law with a ruling this month on health insurance subsidies. But David M. King, a plaintiff in the case, is not among them. Mr. King, 64, said recently that he was reasonably confident he would prevail in his challenge to the subsidies, a central element of the Affordable Care Act. ... But Mr. King said that he was not really worried about the outcome of the case, King v. Burwell, because as a Vietnam veteran, he has access to medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Pear, 6/17)
Los Angeles Times: Health Insurance Giants Are In A Frenzied Search For Merger Partners
The nation's biggest health insurers are speed-dating one another, searching for a partner worthy of a multibillion-dollar merger. Anthem Inc. and other industry giants are flush with cash and eager to swallow up competitors as they increasingly vie for individual customers on Obamacare exchanges and government business tied to Medicare and Medicaid. (Terhune, 6/17)
Los Angeles Times: Health Insurance Mergers Don't Benefit Consumers, California Regulator Warns
California's top insurance regulator expressed alarm Wednesday at the prospect of further consolidation in the health insurance industry. Dave Jones, the state's elected insurance commissioner, said consumers, employers and medical providers all could be harmed if industry giants such as Anthem Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. pull off potential mega-mergers. (Terhune, 6/17)
The Associated Press: CVS Health Launches Health, Beauty Makeover For Drugstores
CVS drugstores that quit tobacco sales last year are now getting health and beauty makeovers and a shot of ethnic diversity in some cases to attract customers who want more than a prescription refill. The nation's second-largest drugstore chain said Wednesday that it is adding fresh foods, healthy snacks and expanded beauty options to many of its locations. It also is testing a new format designed for stores that serve Hispanic populations. (6/17)
USA Today: Walgreens Offering Digital Doctor Visits In 5 States
Pharmacy giant Walgreens is rolling out $49 digital doctor visits that will enable customers to connect via their computer or tablet with a doctor at any time of day or night. Walgreens, which sees the service as an extension of its popular walk-in clinics, launched the program in five states last week and plans to add another 20 states, where such doctor visits are permitted, by the end of the year. (Weintraub, 6/17)
Los Angeles Times: Two Deals Boosting Healthcare To Immigrants Illegally In U.S. Are OKd In Sacramento
As Gov. Jerry Brown struck a budget deal Tuesday that would offer healthcare to children in the country illegally, Sacramento County supervisors — sitting less than a mile away — also agreed to provide medical care for county residents who lack papers. Speaking of a statewide campaign for universal health coverage, Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Health Access California, said, "It was a big day for Health for All, in Sacramento and in Sacramento," referring to Capitol Hill and the county. (Karlamangla, 6/18)
The Washington Post: Heroin And Prescription Drug Abuse Attract Attention In Virginia
Virginia should improve medical and police training, increase public education and expand drug courts to help combat heroin and prescription drug abuse, according to a task force formed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The recommendations are part of a report that experts in health care and law enforcement approved Tuesday and plan to send to McAuliffe (D) this month to begin to address what he called a problem of “epidemic proportions.” (Portnoy, 6/17)
