First Edition: May 12, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
In Louisiana, Obamacare Subsidies Mean Financial Independence For Some
WNPR's Jeff Cohen, working in partnership with Kaiser Health News and NPR, reports: "The politics of the Affordable Care Act in the state of Louisiana are not subtle: It is not popular. The state was part of the lawsuit to strike down the law in 2012; it didn’t expand Medicaid and has no plans to, even as other Republican-led states have done so. And Louisiana didn’t set up its own marketplace to sell Obamacare insurance." (Cohen, 5/11)
Kaiser Health News/NPR:
What’s Next If The Supreme Court Strikes Down Obamacare Aid?
Millions of Americans get subsidized health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. But those subsidies are being challenged. And in the coming weeks the Supreme Court could rule that in more than 30 states, the subsidies are illegal. To find out what federal and state lawmakers could do if the subsidies disappear, we spoke to Linda Blumberg, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, an economic and social policy think tank. This is a lightly edited transcript of the conversation. (Cornish, 5/11)
Kaiser Health News:
‘Free’ Contraception Means ‘Free,’ Obama Administration Tells Insurers
The Obama administration said Monday that health plans must offer for free at least one of every type of prescription birth control — clarifying regulations that left some insurers misinterpreting the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. (Galewitz, 5/11)
The New York Times:
White House Warns Insurers About Surcharges And Gaps For Contraception
The Obama administration on Monday put health insurance companies on notice that they must cover all forms of female contraception, including the patch and intrauterine devices, without imposing co-payments or other charges. In the last month, the National Women’s Law Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation issued separate reports finding that insurers had often flouted a federal requirement to provide free coverage of birth control for women under the Affordable Care Act. (Pear, 5/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
HHS Tightens Rules On Insurers Coverage Of Contraception
Federal officials also said on Monday that health plans must cover screening, counseling and genetic testing if a woman has an increased risk for breast cancer because of a gene mutation. The guidance said insurers must provide those women who don’t have BRCA-related cancer with preventive screening for the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene at no out-of-pocket cost. The guidance says, too, that health plans cannot impose cost-sharing for anesthesia services related to colonoscopies, which are covered as a preventive service. (Radnofsky, 5/11)
USA Today:
Administration Reminds Insurers They Must Cover Birth Control Costs
The Obama Administration reiterated Monday that insurers and insurance plans have to cover at least one form of contraception in each of the now-18 methods that the FDA has approved at no cost to consumers, as required under the Affordable Care Act. The coverage must include the patient education and counseling needed to provide the birth control too. Recent studies by the Kaiser Family Foundation and NWLC found many insurers were charging women for birth control in violation of Obamacare rules. (O'Donnell, 5/11)
The Associated Press:
Feds Close Insurance Loopholes On Preventive Care
From contraception to colonoscopies, the Obama administration Monday closed a series of insurance loopholes on coverage of preventive care. The department of Health and Human Services said insurers must cover at least one birth control option under each of 18 methods approved by the FDA — without copays. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/11)
The Associated Press:
House GOP Abortion Bill Requires Docs To Help Fetus Survive
Doctors performing late-term abortions would be required to take steps to give the fetus the best chance of survival, according to a Republican bill the House plans to debate this week. The legislation requires that if the fetus seems capable of surviving outside the womb, a second, neonatal doctor must be present to provide care and rush it to a hospital. (Fram, 5/11)
Politico:
David Vitter’s Anti-Obamacare Crusade Draws Scorn — From GOP
Within the chummy confines of the U.S. Senate, Vitter has emerged as one of the most disliked members. The second-term senator’s effort to kill the federal health care contribution, worth several thousand dollars to lawmakers and their staffers, is a big part of it. But the two-year drive, his critics say, symbolizes an operating style that Vitter’s critics complain is consumed with public relations, even for an ambitious member of Congress: speeding in and out of meetings, railing about issues on the Senate floor but doing little to execute behind the scenes, firing off news releases left and right. In an institution in which the inside game is critical, Vitter doesn’t even pretend to bother with it. (Raju, 5/12)
Politico:
Bob Menendez Argues For Trial To Be In D.C.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is asking a judge to move his federal corruption trial out of New Jersey and into Washington, D.C., arguing that doing so would minimize disruption to his day job as senator and would also allow him to get a less-biased jury pool. ... Menendez was indicted April 1 on 14 federal corruption charges spanning from bribery accusations to honest services fraud. Prosecutors allege that Menendez took nearly $1 million worth of lavish gifts and campaign contributions from Melgen in exchange for using the resources of his Senate office to benefit Melgen financially. Both Menendez and Melgen have pleaded not guilty. Separate from this case, Melgen has been charged in a 76-count indictment accusing him of concocting and profiting from a Medicare fraud scheme. (Kim, 5/12)
NPR:
Family Doctors Who Do More, Save More
Is a good family doctor one who treats your knee pain and manages your recovery from heart surgery? Or is it one who refers you to an orthopedist and a cardiologist? Those are questions at the heart of a debate about primary care – one with serious health and financial implications. A study from the American Academy of Family Physician's Robert Graham Centersheds some light on this topic. The findings, published in the latest issue of Annals of Family Medicine, suggest that family doctors who provide more care themselves save the health system money. (Kelto, 5/11)
The Washington Post:
New Machine Could One Day Replace Anesthesiologists
The new machine that could one day replace anesthesiologists sat quietly next to a hospital gurney occupied by Nancy Youssef-Ringle. She was nervous. In a few minutes, a machine — not a doctor — would sedate the 59-year-old for a colon cancer screening called a colonoscopy. But she had done her research. She had even asked a family friend, an anesthesiologist, what he thought of the device. He was blunt: “That’s going to replace me.” One day, maybe. For now, the Sedasys anesthesiology machine is only getting started, the leading lip of an automation wave that could transform hospitals just as technology changed automobile factories. (Frankel, 5/11)
The Washington Post:
Americans Could Soon Be Thanking Fidel Castro For Their Revolutionary Cancer Drugs
If you’re conservative, you’re likely to recite horror stories of medical shortages or doctor defections under the Castros. For every Michael Moore talking up Cuban healthcare, there is a Marco Rubio ready to tear it right down. Whatever your stance on Cuba’s system, however, you could soon benefit from its medical advances, particularly when it comes to cancer. In fact, Americans suffering from the emperor of all maladies might soon be thanking Fidel for his country’s miraculous medications. (Miller, 5/12)
The Associated Press:
Final Exit's Former Head Says Group Didn't Assist Suicides
The former president of a national right-to-die group on trial for allegedly assisting in the suicide of a Minnesota woman testified Monday that members of Final Exit Network do not assist in suicides and the group agrees to support someone during a "self deliverance" only when that person is suffering from unbearable pain and meets other criteria. (5/11)
The Washington Post:
Human Rights Watch Details Abuse Of Mentally Disabled Prisoners
In jails and prisons throughout the United States, correctional staff have sprayed mentally disabled prisoners with painful chemicals, shocked them with electric stun weapons, and strapped them for days in restraining chairs and beds, according to a report that will be released Tuesday. In its 127-page investigation of mostly state and local prisons, Human Rights Watch details incidents in which prison workers have used unnecessary and excessive force against prisoners with mental disabilities. (Horwitz, 5/12)
The Associated Press:
NY Governor Creates Task Force To Conduct Nail Salon Probes
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said he was creating a task force to investigate nail salons and crack down on worker abuse following a report of widespread exploitation and health problems of manicurists. "We will not stand idly by as workers are deprived of their hard-earned wages and robbed of their most basic rights," he said in a statement. (5/11)
The New York Times:
W.H.O. Needs Reforms In Wake Of Ebola Crisis, Report Says
The World Health Organization needs structural reform and a radical change of culture to enable it to cope with future health emergencies, a panel of experts said in a preliminary report issued Monday that was critical of the agency’s delayed reaction to the Ebola crisis. (Cumming-Bruce, 5/11)