Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Republicans Eye Medicare Overhaul Push
National Journal: House GOP Looks Ahead To Huge Medicare Overhaul In 2016
For years, Republicans have openly pined for pushing Medicare further into the private sector. But they have been restrained by the practical realities of divided government and the political risks of a plan that Democrats have said would turn the popular insurance program into a voucher system. Conservatives on Capitol Hill, however, have not surrendered the dream and now are planning to undertake the dirty work to make it a legislative reality. House Republicans will start working next year on drafting a Medicare "premium-support" bill, according to Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady. It is the most ambitious item on the upcoming legislative agenda that the Texas Republican laid out in an interview with National Journal. (Scott, 8/10)
The New York Times: Medicare, Reversing Itself, Will Pay More For An Expensive New Cancer Drug
The Obama administration has decided that Medicare will pay for one of the newest, most expensive cancer medications, which costs about $178,000 for a standard course of treatment. Patients, doctors, hospital executives and insurers have expressed concern about the high cost of prescription drugs, especially new cancer medicines and treatments tailored to the genetic characteristics of individual patients. Medicare officials recognized the cost and value of one such product, the anticancer drug Blincyto, by agreeing to make additional payments for it starting Oct. 1. The drug is made by Amgen for patients with a particularly aggressive form of leukemia. The decision suggests a new willingness by Medicare to help pay for promising therapies that are still being evaluated. It is also significant because Medicare officials reversed themselves on every major scientific issue involved. (Pear, 8/8)
The Wall Street Journal: Select Medical May See Effects Of New Medicare Rules Before Some Rivals
New Medicare-payment rules for long-term hospitals that will begin to take place later this year are expected to disruptive throughout the industry. But some facilities owned by Select Medical Holdings Corp. will face the changes months before hospitals run by some of its rivals. In a call with investors Friday, Select Chief Executive Robert Ortenzio said the federal Medicare agency had blocked the company’s plan to change many of Select’s hospitals fiscal-reporting years to delay the impact of the changes. (Weaver, 8/7)
And seniors flock to Mexico for cheaper dental care not covered by Medicare -
The Associated Press: Facing Rising Dental Costs, Seniors Head To Mexico
Mark Bolzern traveled 3,700 miles to go to the dentist. The 56-year-old Anchorage, Alaska, native left home this spring, made a pit stop in Las Vegas to pick up a friend, and kept heading south, all the way to Los Algodones, Mexico, a small border town teeming with dental offices. About 60 percent of Americans have dental insurance coverage, the highest it has been in decades. But even so, the nation's older population has been largely left behind. Nearly 70 percent of seniors are not insured, according to a study compiled by Oral Health America. A major reason is because dental care is not covered by Medicare and many employers no longer offer post-retirement health benefits. What's more, the Affordable Care Act allows enrollees to get dental coverage only if they purchase general health coverage first, which many seniors don't need. At the same time, seniors often require the most costly dental work, like crowns, implants and false teeth. (Galvan, 8/8)
