Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospitals Could Be Hurt If Supreme Court Rules Against Subsidies
McClatchy: Supreme Court Case May Devastate Hospitals In 34 HealthCare.Gov States
The Supreme Court case will decide whether consumers in the 34 states that use the federal marketplace can continue to receive tax credits to help pay for their coverage. Plaintiffs argue that the subsidies can go only to people in the 16 states, plus Washington, D.C., that operate their own health insurance marketplaces. If the plaintiffs prevail, an estimated 5.6 million people will lose their tax credits next year in the 15 HealthCare.gov states where Hospital Corporation of America has facilities, according to the Urban Institute, a centrist research center. (Pugh, 3/13)
Arizona Republic: IRS: New Tax Scam Targets Health-Insurance Fines
The Internal Revenue Service warns that unscrupulous tax preparers have told consumers to pay them directly instead of the federal government to settle potential fines assessed to those who don't have health insurance. (Soules, 3/15)
The Associated Press: IRS Warns Of Tax Scams Involving Health Care Law
Unscrupulous tax preparers are using President Barack Obama's health care law as a ploy to pocket bogus fines from unsuspecting taxpayers, including some immigrants not bound by the law's requirements, the IRS warned Friday. In an advisory, the tax agency said consumers can be sure something is wrong when a tax preparer says they collect the health law fines that may be due the government. The law requires virtually everybody in the country to have coverage or risk fines. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/13)
USA Today: Funding, Focus Lacking For Health Care That Gets Results
As the Affordable Care Act pushes doctors and hospitals to join forces to slash health care costs, those with the least-expensive solutions say they're still largely being ignored. Community health groups and companies that specialize in healthy eating and fitness are arguing for more recognition of non-medical ways to prevent and treat chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Physicians and hospitals are rapidly forming what's known as accountable care organizations (ACOs) to reduce the duplication of services and keep large groups of patients well. But community groups, which could be far less expensive partners, have to fight for a "seat at the table" on the doctor-dominated boards of ACOs, according to a 2014 report by a North Carolina physicians' coalition. (O'Donnell and Ungar, 3/15)
And one family's experience with healthcare.gov's back-end problems --
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Family Experiences ACA 'Back-end' Issues
When Peter and Alison Roithmayr logged onto healthcare.gov to buy insurance in December, they were impressed with the new, user-friendly Affordable Care Act website. The Malvern couple, who had bought a plan in 2013 on the error-prone website, noted how healthcare.gov had improved and "let you do a nice comparison" of plans. (Calandra, 3/15)
