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Kaiser Health News: Texas Presses For Money-Saving Medicaid Changes
Just a few months ago, Gov. Rick Perry led a group of Texas lawmakers who were threatening to drop out of Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor. ... Now, the debate has shifted, as Texas and other struggling states ask Washington for permission to operate the program as they see fit. Their approach - finding savings by curbing mandatory benefits or limiting eligibility among Medicaid populations - is unlikely to be approved by the Obama administration, which is intent on expanding Medicaid, not shrinking it. And while pressing for a waiver is a far cry from threatening to drop out, it may have the same result: fueling the fire behind Texas' anti-Washington, state-sovereignty rhetoric (Ramshaw and Werber Serafini, 2/18).
The Washington Post: House Republicans Begin Efforts To Defund Health-Care Overhaul
Republicans launched this week the first of what they vow will be a series of attempts to use their control of the House of Representatives to defund the health-care overhaul law (Aizenman, 2/18).
The New York Times: Planned Parenthood Financing Is Caught In Budget Feud
Almost unnoticed in the wars over the federal budget has been a pitched battle over money for Planned Parenthood, which provides contraception, medical services and abortions at 800 clinics around the country (Eckholm, 2/17).
The Washington Post: House Debate On Defunding Planned Parenthood Stretches On For Nearly Three Hours
The debate on funding the federal government transformed into a heated -- and, at times, graphic -- argument over social issues Thursday night as lawmakers took to the House floor for nearly three hours to debate an amendment that would block federal funding of Planned Parenthood. More than 30 House members, including members of leadership, spoke out on the measure (Sonmez, 2/18).
Politico: Marathon Planned Parenthood Debate
The debate over defunding Planned Parenthood was fiery, emotional and long. (Webber, 2/18).
The Washington Post: Bipartisan 'Gang of Six' In Senate Developing Framework For Deficit Reduction
With President Obama calling for bipartisan talks to tackle the nation's budget problems, a group of influential senators from both parties is developing a framework that calls for higher taxes and limits on all categories of government spending. ... The group hopes to advance the commission's recommendations, which would reduce deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. Doing so would require lawmakers to embrace some politically perilous policies, however, including raising the retirement age to 69, charging wealthy seniors more for Medicare and ending some cherished but expensive tax breaks (Montgomery, 2/18).
USA Today: Health Care Law Proceeds Even In States Fighting It
House GOP efforts to block the federal health care law from taking effect haven't deterred states from moving ahead to implement key provisions - with the help of millions of tax dollars from Washington (Kennedy, 2/18).
USA Today: Alaska Governor Says He Won't Implement U.S. Health Care Law
Alaska's Republican governor says he won't implement the federal health care law, which a federal judge in Florida ruled unconstitutional two weeks ago (Winter, 2/17).
Politico: House Panel Sends 1099 Tax-Reporting Repeal To Floor
The House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill Thursday to repeal the widely unpopular tax reporting provision in the health care law, despite paying for it with what Democrats labeled a "middle-class tax increase." The dispute, likely to play out again when the legislation repealing the 1099 provision reaches the House floor, centers largely on how much money consumers earning between 400 percent and 500 percent of the federal poverty level would have to repay the government for overpaid tax subsidies. Consumers will get the subsidies in 2014 to help them buy health insurance (Haberkorn, 2/18).
The New York Times: Administration Seeks Clarity From Judge On Health Ruling
The Obama administration asked a federal judge on Thursday to clarify whether his recent ruling against the new health care law was meant to block its implementation pending appeals (Sack, 2/17).
The Wall Street Journal: Meaning Of Ruling Is Sought
The Justice Department on Thursday asked a federal judge to clarify the immediate impact of his ruling last month that declared the new health-care law unconstitutional. ... The ruling left considerable confusion because Judge (Roger) Vinson didn't issue an injunction halting the law, while suggesting that his ruling effectively functioned as one. Some states concluded that they needn't obey the law any longer. The Obama administration has continued to carry it out (Kendall, 2/18).
Los Angeles Times: Medicare Fraud Task Force Arrests 111 Doctors, Nurses And Executives In 'Largest-Ever' Federal Healthcare Sweep
The federal government's Medicare Fraud Task Force brought criminal charges Thursday against doctors, nurses and healthcare company executives in all, 111 people in nine cities in what was billed as the nation's "largest-ever federal healthcare fraud takedown" (Serrano, 2/17).
The Wall Street Journal: Medicare-Fraud Crackdown Corrals 114
A health-care crime sweep Thursday netted 114 defendants on charges related to Medicare fraud, in what Attorney General Eric Holder called the largest such takedown in U.S. history (Schoofs, Tamman and Kendall, 2/18).
Politico: Feds Make 'Largest-Ever' Medicare Fraud Bust
Federal officials have arrested 111 people - including health care company executives and physicians - in a $225 million health care fraud scheme described as the largest ever uncovered, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday. FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry said the charges represent a "whole cacophony of schemes," including home health care that was never provided, durable medical equipment that was never delivered and prescription drugs that were never administered (Coughlin, 2/17).
The Wall Street Journal: Union Fight Heats Up
(Wisconsin's) Democratic lawmakers fled the state Thursday in an effort to torpedo a closely watched vote on what would be the nation's first major overhaul of union laws in years, as government workers flooded the statehouse for a third day seeking to block passage of the bill. ... The governor's proposal, part of a bill aimed at overcoming a $137 million deficit in the current budget and a projected $3.6 billion hole in the next two years, would allow collective bargaining on wages, but not pensions and health care. Workers would be required to pay more for both (Maher and Belkin, 2/18).
The New York Times: A Breast-Feeding Plan Mixes Partisan Reactions
Perhaps it was inevitable that when Michelle Obama proposed something, Michele Bachmann would be the one to criticize her. The surprise is how many of the reactions crossed the usual political boundaries. On blogs and in interviews, some liberal Democrats found themselves agreeing with Representative Bachmann, a Tea Party celebrity from Minnesota, when she criticized the first lady for a campaign to promote breast-feeding. Some conservatives, meanwhile, stood up for Mrs. Obama for promoting what they said was a healthier choice (Zernike, 2/17).
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