First Edition: March 7, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
House GOP Health Bill Jettisons Insurance Mandate, Much Of Medicaid Expansion
Democrats quickly condemned the bill. “Tonight, Republicans revealed a Make America Sick Again bill that hands billionaires a massive new tax break while shifting huge costs and burdens onto working families across American,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted. “Republican will force tens of millions of families to pay more for worse coverage — and push millions of Americans off of health coverage entirely.” (Carey and Galewitz, 3/6)
Kaiser Health News:
GOP Overhaul Would Keep Obamacare’s ‘Cadillac Tax,’ But Delay It Until 2025
Starting in 2020, Obamacare imposes a 40 percent excise tax on employers’ plans that cost more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. The Ways and Means Committee’s proposal would impose the tax but delay it until 2025. The Republican proposal wouldn’t alter current federal tax provisions that exclude the amounts that workers pay for health insurance from federal income and payroll taxes. For decades, lawmakers have flirted with the idea of capping or eliminating that tax break. (Andrews, 3/7)
Kaiser Health News:
‘Right-To-Try’ Laws Expose Dying Patients To Exploitation, Ethicists Warn
In the past three years, 33 U.S. states have passed laws aimed at helping dying people get easier access to experimental treatments. Supporters say these patients are just looking for the “right to try” these treatments. Such laws may sound compassionate, but medical ethicists warn they pose worrisome risks to the health and finances of vulnerable patients. (Feibel, 3/6)
California Healthline:
Los Angeles County Finds E-Success In Managing Specialist Care
An electronic program launched in 2012 by Los Angeles County’s public health care system has reduced wait times for specialty care and eliminated the need for some safety-net patients to see specialists at all, according to a new study in the journal Health Affairs. The program, eConsult, allows primary care doctors to get specialists’ advice for their patients and expedite referrals for those who need in-person appointments. About a quarter of the requests included in the study were resolved without patients needing to see an advanced-care doctor, though there was variation among the specialties. (Gorman, 3/7)
The Washington Post:
House Republicans Release Long-Awaited Plan To Replace Obamacare
House Republicans on Monday released long-anticipated legislation to supplant the Affordable Care Act with a more conservative vision for the nation’s health-care system, replacing federal insurance subsidies with a new form of individual tax credits and grants to help states shape their own policies. (Goldstein, DeBonis and Snell, 3/6)
The New York Times:
House Republicans Unveil Plan To Replace Health Law
The House Republican bill would roll back the expansion of Medicaid that has provided coverage to more than 10 million people in 31 states, reducing federal payments for many new beneficiaries. It also would effectively scrap the unpopular requirement that people have insurance and eliminate tax penalties for those who go without. The requirement for larger employers to offer coverage to their full-time employees would also be eliminated. People who let their insurance coverage lapse, however, would face a significant penalty. (Pear and Kaplan, 3/6)
Politico:
Obamacare Repeal Bill Offers Tax Credits, Big Medicaid Changes
The House plan calls for age-based tax credits ranging from $2,000 to $4,000, replacing the Affordable Care Act's income-based subsidies. Credits for a single household would be limited at $14,000. Subsidies would be phased out for individuals earning $75,000 and at $150,000 for families. (Demko, 3/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Some Key Changes Under Proposed Obamacare Overhaul
Insurers would be allowed to charge their oldest customers more than they do now. Under current law, they can charge older people three times the amount they charge their youngest customers. That would rise to five times the amount they charge young people. (Hackman, 3/6)
USA Today:
House Republicans Unveil Obamacare Replacement Bill
[The bill] would still allow adult children to stay on their parents' plans until age 26. And the bill would not repeal the popular provision barring insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health problems. Instead, to keep people from buying coverage only when they need it, insurers could raise premiums 30% for those jumping back into the market. (Groppe, 3/6)
Reuters:
U.S. Republicans Unveil Plan To Dismantle Obamacare, Critics Pounce
"Today marks an important step toward restoring healthcare choices and affordability back to the American people," the White House said in a statement, adding Trump looked forward to working with Congress on replacing Obamacare. (Cornwell and Abutaleb, 3/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
House GOP Releases Plan To Repeal, Replace Obamacare
The bill is a political gamble for House Republican leaders. The party and President Donald Trump ran for office on promises to repeal and replace the health law. Republicans have said their plan is aimed at decreasing costs and boosting choice for consumers. But to do so, their proposals would likely provide coverage for far fewer people than the ACA, according to a number of research reports. “Working together, this unified Republican government will deliver relief and peace of mind to the millions of Americans suffering under Obamacare,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan. (Armour, Peterson and Hackman, 3/6)
Politico:
GOP Unveils Obamacare Replacement Amid Sharp Party Divide
House GOP leaders have also yet to release the official budget score that details the cost of the plan and how many people could lose insurance, a huge issue for moderates who fear blowback in their swing districts. “We are concerned that any poorly implemented or poorly timed change in the current funding structure in Medicaid could result in a reduction in access to life-saving health care services,” wrote the four Republican senators to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Signatories included Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—Republicans from states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare. (Bade, Demko and Haberkorn, 3/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Top Earners Would Pay Less Tax Under GOP Health-Care Proposal
Households at the top of the U.S. income ladder would see taxes on their wages and investments drop under the House Republicans’ new health-care proposal. As expected, the bill repeals a 3.8% tax on investment income and a 0.9% tax on wages. Both levies affect only the highest-earning households, those individuals making at least $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000. (Rubin, 3/7)
Politico:
Republicans' Obamacare Repeal Plan Would Cut Taxes On The Wealthy
Though the legislation is focused on making good on Republican promises to repeal and replace the health program, it would likely also amount to the first big tax cut of the Trump administration, one that comes even before lawmakers tackle tax reform in earnest. The plan should make rewriting the tax code easier by moving the cost of some tax cuts into separate legislation. (Faler, 3/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Read The Bill: GOP Proposal For Replacing Obamacare
This is House Republicans’ plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. They released the proposal Monday. (3/6)
The Associated Press:
Highlights Of House GOP Health Care Legislation
Here are highlights of the legislation unveiled Monday by House Republicans as they move to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s health care law and replace it with a system designed along conservative lines. (3/7)
The Associated Press:
House GOP Releases Bill Replacing Obama Health Care Overhaul
House committees planned to begin voting on the 123-page legislation Wednesday, launching what could be the year’s defining battle in Congress. GOP success is by no means a slam dunk. In perhaps their riskiest political gamble, the plan is expected to cover fewer than the 20 million people insured under Obama’s overhaul, including many residents of states carried by President Donald Trump in November’s election. (Fram and Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/6)
The Associated Press:
GOP Bill Unlikely To Settle Passionate Health Care Debate
The nation’s passionate debate about the role of government in providing health care for citizens and paying the costs is unlikely to be settled by the legislation newly revealed by House Republicans. With Republicans now controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the bill would drive government policy down routes long advocated by conservatives. The course correction would take at least two years to get rolling, and probably longer to show definitive results. If it falls short, it would give rise to a fresh set of health care grievances. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Fram, 3/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Republicans Unveil Plan To Repeal And Replace Obamacare Amid Conflicting Pressures
[T]he bill faces opposition from many conservatives who say it does not go far enough in uprooting the current law. The bill also faces attack from some Senate Republicans who are concerned about any plan that eliminates existing Medicaid coverage. The critiques from both left and right underscore the difficulty the GOP leadership faces in pushing the bill, despite the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. (Levey and Mascaro, 3/6)
Politico:
Conservatives Pan House Obamacare Repeal Bill
A handful of House conservatives on Monday evening criticized GOP leaderships’ newly released Obamacare replacement bill, foreshadowing trouble for the repeal effort even after leaders tried to assuage the far-right. Some House Freedom Caucus members dismissed the bill as creating a new “entitlement program” by offering health care tax credits to low-income Americans. (Bade, 3/6)
NPR:
Obamacare Changes Emerge In House Repeal And Replace Bill
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Richard Neal, D-Mass., the ranking Democrats on the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committee issued a joint statement saying the bill would "rip healthcare away from millions of Americans, ration care for working families and put insurance companies back in charge." (Kodjak and Neel, 3/6)
The Associated Press:
Arkansas Governor Seeks New Restrictions On Medicaid Plan
Arkansas would move about 60,000 people off its hybrid Medicaid expansion and require some participants to work under a series of restrictions the governor proposed Monday, even as the future of the federal health overhaul remains murky. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he’ll ask the federal government to approve the new restrictions by June and hopes to implement them by 2018. More than 300,000 people are on Arkansas’ hybrid program, which uses Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance for the poor. The program was created in 2013 as an alternative to expanding Medicaid under the federal health law. (Demillo, 3/6)
The New York Times:
Trump Tells Planned Parenthood Its Funding Can Stay If Abortion Goes
The White House, concerned about the possible political repercussions of the Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood, has proposed preserving federal payments to the group if it discontinues providing abortions. The proposal, which was never made formally, has been rejected as an impossibility by officials at Planned Parenthood, which receives about $500 million annually in federal funding. That money helps pay for women’s health services the organization provides, not for abortion services. (Haberman, 3/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Alliance Of Companies Unveil First Steps Aimed At Cutting Health-Care Costs
A U.S. alliance formed last year by more than three dozen companies, including American Express Co., Johnson & Johnson and Macy’s Inc., is announcing its first plans aimed at lowering the companies’ health-care spending. The blueprint includes group contracts to purchase prescription drugs through units of CVS Health Corp. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.; the creation of specialized doctor networks; and a deal to use International Business Machines Corp.’s Watson software to analyze their health-care data. (Walker, 3/6)
The Associated Press:
Arizona Man Awarded $2.5M In Medical Lawsuit Vs VA Hospital
A judge on Monday awarded $2.5 million to a military veteran who said that his now-terminal cancer would have been curable had the Veterans Administration hospital in Phoenix diagnosed it sooner. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Burns ruled a nurse practitioner who found abnormalities in Steven Harold Cooper’s prostate during an examination in late 2011 at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center had breached the standard of care by failing to order more testing and refer him to a urologist. (Billeaud, 3/6)
The Washington Post:
Here’s How To Get Your Kids To Eat Well And Avoid Eating Disorders
A friend’s 8-year-old daughter packs her own lunch for school. One day, her dad noticed that lunch consisted of a single cherry tomato, one slice of apple and one spoonful of yogurt. When asked, the child replied that she didn’t think she’d be hungry at school. My friend wanted to know: Was this the beginning of problem eating? (Adams, 3/6)
NPR:
Heavy Social Media Use Linked To Isolation In Young Adults
For young adults, social media may not be so social after all. Among people in that age group, heavy use of platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram was associated with feelings of social isolation, a study finds. (Hobson, 3/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Advanced Cancer Treatments Far From Big-Name Hospitals
Community health-care systems are taking steps to embrace genetic testing in treating cancer, a cutting-edge approach offered at most major academic medical centers. The changes mean patients can get treatment close to where they live. The hospitals and small practices treat most cancer patients but may be far from major research centers and have fewer resources than them. (Kincaid, 3/6)
NPR:
Medical Breakthroughs Often Don't Pan Out In The Long Run
When you pick up a newspaper and read a story about the latest results on breast cancer, autism, depression or other ailments, what are the odds that finding will stand the test of time? The answer, according to a study in the journal PLOS One is: flip a coin. (Harris, 3/6)