First Edition: June 28, 2017
DON’T MISS IT!: KHN will hold a Facebook Live chat today at 2 p.m. Senior correspondent Jordan Rau will answer questions about his story examining how House and Senate Republicans' plans to overhaul the ACA and Medicaid would impact nursing home care. Tune in here.
Kaiser Health News:
Analysis: Mitch McConnell Plans To Hide Trumpcare’s Pain Until After Midterms
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is well aware of the political peril of taking health benefits away from millions of voters. He also knows the danger of reneging on the pledge that helped make him the majority leader: to repeal Obamacare. Caught between those competing realities, McConnell’s bill offers a solution: go ahead and repeal Obamacare, but hide the pain for as long as possible. Some of the messaging on the bill seems nonsensical (see: the contention that $772 billion squeezed out of Medicaid isn’t a cut). But McConnell’s timetable makes perfect sense — if you are looking at the electoral calendar. (McAuliff, 6/27)
Kaiser Health News:
For Millennials, Both Good And Bad News In Senate’s GOP Health Bill
Darlin Kpangbah receives free health insurance through Medicaid and is grateful for the coverage in case of accidents, such as when she tore a ligament in her leg a few years ago. “I feel like I’m injury-prone,” said Kpangbah, 20, who lives in Sacramento, Calif. Without insurance, she said, the injury “would’ve been huge to pay for.” Young adults like Kpangbah were among the biggest beneficiaries of Obamacare, which helped reduce the rates of uninsured millennials to record lows and provided millions of Americans with access to free or low-cost insurance as well as maternity care, mental health treatment and other services. (Gorman and Browning, 6/28)
Kaiser Health News:
Postcard From Capitol Hill: Doubts, Dissent Over Health Care Bill Rescue July 4 Holiday
When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell broke the news Tuesday afternoon, all the nervous buildup around the Senate health care bill vanished faster than a sticky, summer day in Washington, D.C., after a thunderstorm. Could McConnell really push the bill through the Senate before senators left town for the holiday? How many senators were balking now? Those and other questions disappeared — for now — when McConnell announced the Better Care Reconciliation Act would get no floor vote until after July 4. (Bluth, 6/27)
Kaiser Health News:
Hospitals Ramp Up Hyperbaric Therapy For Diabetics, Despite Concerns
The Villages Regional Hospital did not sweat its decision to add hyperbaric oxygen therapy in 2013. Hyperbaric treatment, increasingly given to diabetics — many of them elderly with persistent wounds — involves breathing pure oxygen inside a pressurized air chamber typically for two hours each weekday, often for more than a month. Twenty outpatient sessions can bring a hospital $9,000 in revenue. (Galewitz, 6/28)
The New York Times:
Vote Delayed As G.O.P. Struggles To Marshal Support For Health Care Bill
Facing intransigent Republican opposition, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on Tuesday delayed a vote on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, dealing another setback to Republicans’ seven-year effort to dismantle the health law and setting up a long, heated summer of health care battles. (Kaplan and Pear, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
GOP 'Obamacare' Repeal Teeters After Senate Shelves Vote
The surprise development leaves the legislation's fate uncertain while raising new doubts about whether President Donald Trump will ever make good on his many promises to erase his predecessor's signature legislative achievement. (6/28)
Politico:
Senate GOP Yanks Obamacare Repeal Bill
“Legislation of this complexity almost always takes longer than anyone would hope,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. “But we’re pressing on.” McConnell said he opted to delay a planned vote on the Senate bill after several members asked for more time to review the sweeping legislation. (Haberkorn and Everett, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Intraparty Disputes Stall Republicans’ Legislative Agenda
“It’s almost like we’re serving in the minority right now. We just simply don’t know how to govern,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R., Ark.). “How we’ve been given this opportunity to govern and we are finding every reason in the world not to is absolutely incredible to me.” (Peterson and Rubin, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Short On Backers, GOP Delays Vote On Health Bill
In a test of his leadership, Mr. McConnell now will need to bridge a divide between conservative Republicans, who say the bill retains too many of the ACA’s regulations to significantly lower premiums, and GOP centrists, who worry the legislation goes too far in cutting funding to Medicaid. (Armour and Peterson, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Crunch Time For McConnell As Senate GOP Is Forced To Delay Vote On Healthcare Bill
The seasoned GOP leader will be aided by what amounts to a $200-billion piggy bank to push Republicans holdouts over the line. That’s the bill’s extra savings compared with the House version that McConnell can tap to provide perks to individual senators, from more opioid assistance to expanded tax-free health savings accounts. A similar strategy — delay and enticements — worked well in the House, where Republicans last month passed their healthcare bill on the third try. (Mascaro, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
Trump, Senate Leaders Attempt To Regroup After Postponing Vote To Overhaul Obamacare
Just how realistic a vote is after July 4 remains unclear. At least one senator who had publicly opposed the procedural vote McConnell had hoped to take Tuesday — Dean Heller (Nev.) — indicated that he was willing to reconsider his initial opposition, if the bill was going to be reworked. At the White House, Heller playfully but pointedly complained about a Trump-allied super PAC that was airing ads against him in Nevada. By Tuesday night, the group had decided to pull the ads, and Heller had signaled to McConnell that he would continue to engage — far from a “yes” vote, but open to discussing his concerns. (Sullivan, Snell and Eilperin, 6/27)
Politico:
Pro-Trump Group Pulls Ads Criticizing Heller Over Obamacare
America First Policies had begun airing TV and radio ads on Tuesday savaging Heller for his planned ‘No’ vote, with spots charging that Heller had broken his “promise” to voters that he would dismantle Obamacare — a stunning attack on a member of the president’s own party and the most vulnerable Republican up for re-election in 2018. (Isenstadt, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
More Republicans Announce Opposition To Health-Care Bill — Only After Vote Is Delayed
Three more Republican senators announced opposition to the Senate’s health-care bill on Tuesday — but only after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced he will delay a vote to begin debating the legislation. (O'Keefe, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
Wisconsin Senator's Health Care Stance Welcomed Back Home
Conservatives and liberals in Wisconsin both see hope in Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's steadfast refusal to back the current version of the GOP Senate health care bill. Although they disagree with the reasons for his opposition, liberals see Johnson's stand as a chance to sink the entire Republican effort to kill the existing health care law enacted under former President Barack Obama. (6/27)
Politico:
5 Changes McConnell Can Make To Get Repeal Bill On Track
Mitch McConnell has little margin for error as he tries to salvage the Senate’s Obamacare repeal effort over the July 4 break. (Cancryn, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Republican Health Bill: What’s Next After Delay?
Here’s what to expect as the debate on health care moves forward. (Jamerson, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
Trump On Healthcare Bill: 'If We Don't Get It Done ... That's OK'
President Trump said that if the healthcare bill fails to pass in the Senate, he won't like it — but "that's OK." Trump spoke Tuesday at a gathering of Senate Republicans after their leaders delayed a vote on their healthcare bill until at least next month. Trump said, "This will be great if we get it done and if we don't get it done it's going to be something that we're not going to like and that's OK and I can understand that." (6/27)
Politico:
Trump: Obamacare Repeal Bill 'Will Be Great, If We Get It Done'
“But I think we have a chance to do something very, very important for the public, very, very important for the people of our country that we love,” he added, before asking reporters to leave the meeting. (Conway, 6/27)
The New York Times:
McConnell’s Reputation As A Master Tactician Takes A Hit
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has long enjoyed a reputation as a master tactician. But when it comes to repealing the Affordable Care Act, he seems to have miscalculated in the first round of play. He assumed that his conservative and moderate colleagues would come together to make good on their seven-year promise to repeal the health care law, and quickly. (Steinhauer, 6/27)
Politico:
Inside The GOP’s Surprise Health Care Flop
Senate Republicans had no inkling of what they were walking into on Tuesday afternoon as they filed into the Mike Mansfield room on the Capitol’s second floor. Mitch McConnell’s 51 colleagues, from his most junior members to his closest lieutenants, fully expected the Senate to vote this week on the Senate GOP’s wounded Obamacare repeal bill. They knew the whip count was far worse than advertised but were ready for McConnell to either admit defeat or start a furious round of deal-making to try to win their support. They took McConnell at his word that a vote would occur, regardless of the result. (Everett, Haberkorn and Dawsey, 6/27)
The New York Times:
On Senate Health Bill, Trump Falters In The Closer’s Role
President Trump began his all-hands meeting with Republican senators at the White House on Tuesday by saying they were “very close” to passing a health care bill, just as efforts to fast-track a vote this week collapsed. If Republicans do manage to broker a deal — as Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, pledged to do during a lively East Room back-and-forth with the president — it is not likely to be because of Mr. Trump’s involvement. Until Tuesday afternoon, the president was largely on the sidelines as the fate of one of his most important campaign pledges played out. (Thrush and Martin, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
Who’s Afraid Of Trump? Not Enough Republicans — At Least For Now.
Scrambling to line up support for the Republican health-care bill, President Trump got on the phone Monday with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and urged him to back the measure. The president’s personal plea was not enough. On Tuesday, Lee said he would vote against the bill. Senate GOP leaders later postponed the planned health-care vote because too many other Republican senators also opposed — for now, at least — legislation that would deliver on Trump’s campaign promise to scale back the law known as Obamacare. (Rucker, Costa and Parker, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
‘Repeal And Replace’ Was Once A Unifier For The GOP. Now It’s An Albatross.
For Republicans, Obamacare was always the great unifier. In a fractious party, everyone agreed that the Affordable Care Act was the wrong solution to what ailed the nation’s health-care system, with too much government and too little freedom for consumers. Replacing Obamacare has become the party’s albatross, a sprawling objective still in search of a solution. The effort to make good on a seven-year promise has cost the Trump administration precious months of its first year in office, with tax restructuring backed up somewhere in the legislative pipeline, infrastructure idling somewhere no one can see it and budget deadlines looming. (Balz, 6/27)
The New York Times:
Opponents Of Health Law Repeal Vow To Keep Pressure On Over Recess
Under a blistering sun, protesters let out a cheer on Tuesday across Capitol lawns as word spread that the Senate Republican leader had delayed a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act. But amid the celebration, Democrats urged the crowds to keep the heat on lawmakers whose opposition to the health care overhaul could grow cold over the coming Fourth of July recess. (Chilkoti and Cochrane, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
Democrats’ ‘Resistance’ Calls For A July 4 Recess Push To Kill GOP’s Bill
“We’ve got to fight even harder over the Fourth of July and every day until we bury this atrocious bill,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Democrats’ 2018 Senate campaign efforts. “All of you: When your senators go back to their states, when they go to barbecues and parades, will you be there to tell them to kill this awful bill?” (Weigel, 6/27)
NPR:
Just 17 Percent Of Americans Approve Of Republican Senate Health Care Bill
Americans broadly disapprove of the Senate GOP's health care bill, and they're unhappy with how Republicans are handling the efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Just 17 percent of those surveyed say they approve of the Senate's health care plan, the Better Care Reconciliation Act. (Taylor, 6/28)
The New York Times:
How Governors From Both Parties Plotted To Derail The Senate Health Bill
A once-quiet effort by governors to block the full repeal of the Affordable Care Act reached its climax in Washington on Tuesday, as state executives from both parties — who have conspired privately for months — mounted an all-out attack on the Senate’s embattled health care legislation hours before Republicans postponed a vote. At the center of the effort has been a pair of low-key moderates: Gov. John R. Kasich, Republican of Ohio, and Gov. John W. Hickenlooper, Democrat of Colorado, who on Tuesday morning called on the Senate to reject the Republican bill and to negotiate a bipartisan alternative. (Burns, 6/27)
USA Today/Cincinnati Enquirer:
Will John Kasich Veto Ohio GOP Plan To Hamstring Medicaid Expansion?
Ohio's GOP lawmakers have thrown down a challenge for Gov. John Kasich, who now must decide whether to veto their freeze of his Medicaid expansion — a freeze that could essentially kill the program for many lower-income adults. (Balmert, 6/28)
The Associated Press:
Trump Group's Republican War Over Health Care Frustrates GOP
Three months ago, Republicans condemned political groups aligned with President Donald Trump for doing almost nothing to promote a health care bill. Now they think one of the groups may have gone too far. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided Tuesday to call off a planned vote this week on a proposal to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care law. Some on the Hill blamed the unexpected delay on aggressive tactics by America First Policies, a politically active nonprofit run by a former White House aide and Trump campaign veterans. (Bykowicz, 6/28)
The Associated Press:
Major Veterans' Groups Voice Concern Over Senate Health Bill
Major veterans' organizations are voicing concerns about a Senate GOP bill to repeal the nation's health care law, fearing the impact of rising insurance costs and worried the underfunded Department of Veterans Affairs won't be able to fill the coverage gap. (Yen, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
Why Some Major Health Groups Are Unusually Quiet About The Senate Bill
Major health care industry groups have well-oiled war machines that they have regularly deployed to bolster — or torpedo — proposed policy in the past. But with the Senate health bill threatening to reshape a sector that makes up one-sixth of the American economy, many of the most powerful industry voices have been notably absent from the public debate. (Johnson, 6/27)
The New York Times:
Health Bill Does Not ‘Cut’ Medicaid Spending, Republicans Argue
Republicans, under fire for proposing health care legislation that would reduce Medicaid funding by hundreds of billions of dollars, have embraced an old argument that taking money from a program is not a “cut.” At first glance, the new pitch to make their strategy more palatable seems at odds with the numbers. The Congressional Budget Office said on Monday that the “Better Care Reconciliation Act” would reduce Medicaid spending by $772 billion over a decade. By 2026, Medicaid enrollment would drop by 16 percent among people under the age of 65. So, are there cuts or not? (Rappeport, 6/27)
Politico:
Emboldened Industry Lobbyists Try To Scale Back Medicaid Cuts
Hospitals, doctors and nursing homes have one last chance to shape a Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare they say will hurt millions of old, poor and sick Americans — and their own bottom lines. After being on the sidelines for much of the repeal debate, the groups see an opening in the meltdown of the Senate health care bill. They’re particularly worried about the legislation’s proposed deep cuts to Medicaid, the country’s largest insurance program, which covers 74 million people. (Cancryn and Demko, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health Bill Draws Fiscal Fault Line Between Old And Poor—And The Poor Are Losing
The health-care overhaul that Senate leaders floated this past week does more than roll back an entitlement Republicans have loathed since the day it was enacted in 2010. It portends a deeper struggle over the safety net that pits the elderly against the poor. The federal government is often called an insurance company with an army. Thanks to aging and health-care inflation, the cost of that insurance is rising relentlessly. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid now swallow 58% of tax revenue, and are on track to take 80% by 2047. (Greg Ip, 6/28)
The Wall Street Journal:
As Health Bill Proceeds, Insurers Regret Loss Of Individual Mandate
Senate Republican leaders on Monday unveiled a new provision in their health bill designed to prod people to maintain their insurance coverage, a tweak made after insurers had complained an initial version of the legislation threatened to undermine the individual insurance market.But industry officials say it isn’t clear how much the new clause would stabilize the markets or draw in the young, healthy enrollees insurers crave. (Wilde Mathews, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Provision In Senate Health Bill Could Be A Boon To Insurers
Buried in the Senate Republican health bill is a possible boon for insurers: an end to the Affordable Care Act rule that forced them to spend the lion’s share of premiums on health care for enrollees. Under the ACA, the federal government requires insurers to spend 80% of premiums revenue, received for individual and small-business plans, on health costs. For large employer plans, the share is 85%. If an insurer doesn’t hit the required ratio, it has to rebate the extra money to customers. (Wilde Mathews, 6/28)
The New York Times:
How Health Costs Would Soar For Older Americans Under The Senate Plan
In its analysis of the Republican health care bill, the Congressional Budget Office said something confusing: The bill would lower the price of the average health plan, but health insurance would still cost much more for many people, especially for older Americans. (Park and Sanger-Katz, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Care Bill Jangles Nursing-Home Nerves
Nursing-home executives are intensifying their opposition to the Senate’s health-care overhaul, concerned that the proposed multibillion-dollar cuts to Medicaid would gravely wound the industry. Before Senate Republicans postponed a vote on the legislation Tuesday, a conference call organized by the American Health Care Association drew nearly 800 participants. They were asked to contact their senators and representatives to discuss the bill’s potential impact, and to involve employees and family members of residents in the lobbying effort. (Simon, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
GOP Health Bill: Big Tax Cuts For Rich, Not Much For Others
Millionaires would get tax cuts averaging $52,000 a year from the Senate Republicans' health bill while middle-income families would get about $260, according to a new analysis of the foundering bill. The analysis was done by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. It found that half of the tax cuts would go to families making more than $500,000 a year. (Ohlemacher, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
GOP Health-Care Bill Could Strip Public Schools Of Billions For Special Education
School superintendents across the country are raising alarms about the possibility that Republican health care legislation would curtail billions of dollars in annual funding they count on to help students with disabilities and poor children. (Brown, 6/28)
The New York Times:
When Cutting Access To Health Care, There’s A Price To Pay
Senators, the United States is a sick country. Four years ago, a panel of experts convened by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council set out to assess the nation’s health compared with that of 16 other rich nations. Americans, they found, had the second-highest mortality from noncommunicable conditions — like diabetes, heart disease or violence — and the fourth highest from infectious disease. In terms of infant and maternal mortality, Americans are the worst off. (Porter, 6/27)
NPR:
The GOP Senate's Health Bill: Your Questions Answered
Since Senate Republicans released the draft of their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act last week, many people have been wondering how the proposed changes will affect their own coverage, and their family's: Will my pre-existing condition be covered? Will my premiums go up or down? (Kodjak, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Gov. Jerry Brown Says GOP Healthcare Bill Cuts 'Right Into The Heart Of What Is Already A Divided Nation'
One in three California residents are covered by Medicaid, and California is thought to have the most to lose if Republicans gather enough votes to roll back major aspects of the Affordable Care Act. California would see the nation’s biggest increase in uninsured people by next year and face a $24-billion budget shortfall by 2026 because of reduced Medicaid funding, California's Democratic senators and Gov. Jerry Brown warned during a call with reporters on Tuesday. (Wire, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Senate GOP Healthcare Bill Would Be 'Devastating' For L.A. County, Officials Warn
Los Angeles County officials gathered Tuesday morning to warn of the impact the Senate healthcare bill could have on the county, which is home to one out of every 20 of the nation’s Medicaid recipients. The Obamacare repeal bill unveiled last week would eliminate the mandate that all Americans have health insurance, alter the subsidies provided to people who buy insurance through the exchanges and undo several taxes on high-income Americans that are used to fund the Affordable Care Act. (Karlamangla, 6/27)
USA Today:
Obamacare's Architects Emanuel And Sebelius Outline How It Could Be Fixed
As Senate Republicans struggle to find the votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the architects of Obamacare have an idea to try if they fail. Just fix it. (Page, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
President Trump Wants You To Know He Actually Does Care About HIV/AIDS
The White House has issued an earnest statement attributed to President Trump about HIV/AIDS in America. It is technically accurate, apolitical and strikes just the right notes in terms of being somber and optimistic at the same time. There's nothing exciting about the content of the four-paragraph statement. It simply reminds people that today is National HIV Testing Day, reviews some statistics about the epidemic and tells people why it's important to get tested. (Cha, 6/27)
Politico:
Rep. Collins Loses $17 Million In Biotech Stock
Collins’ relationship with the company has raised eyebrows in recent months. And the Office of Congressional Ethics is currently investigating whether Collins engaged in insider trading. The longtime President Donald Trump supporter allegedly tipped off a number of lawmakers and Buffalo-area leaders to invest in the company, which sold Collins' political acquaintances discounted shares that soared after their investments. (Bade, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
Judge: Alabama Inmates' Mental Care 'Horrendously' Lacking
Alabama's psychiatric care of state inmates is so "horrendously inadequate" that it violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday as he ordered the state to overhaul conditions. (6/27)
The Associated Press:
State: 111 Terminally Ill End Lives Under New California Law
California health officials reported Tuesday that 111 terminally ill people took drugs to end their lives in the first six months after a 2016 law made the option legal in the nation's most populous state. The data was part of the California Department of Public Health's first report on the law since it went into effect June 9, 2016. (6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
111 Terminally Ill Patients Took Their Own Lives In First 6 Months Of California Right-To-Die Law
A snapshot of the patients who took advantage of the law mirrors what’s been seen in Oregon, which was the first state to legalize the practice nearly two decades ago. Though California is far more diverse than Oregon, the majority of those who have died under aid-in-dying laws in both states were white, college-educated cancer patients older than 60. The End of Life Option Act made California the fifth state in the nation to allow patients with less than six months to live to request end-of-life drugs from their doctors. (Karlamangla, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
State: Lawyers Sure Abortion Licensing Laws Constitutional
After court victories against abortion laws in Texas and Louisiana, a reproductive rights group filed a federal challenge on Tuesday of a Louisiana licensing law it blames for more than a thousand burdensome anti-abortion regulations. (6/27)
NPR:
Tips For Making Breast-Feeding Easier
There's a big push in the U.S. from pediatricians to have mothers of newborns breast-feed exclusively for at least six months. And many new moms want to. But only about 60 percent who start off breast-feeding keep it up for six months or more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Doucleff, 6/27)