Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: The Problem With Senate Plan To Make Obamacare A Tax-Bill Target; Congress Needs To Act On CHIP
USA Today: GOP Tax Bill Is Just Another Way To Repeal Health Care. Will Coverage Ever Be Safe?
It has been just two months since the Senate gave up on trying to pass a series of health care bills that Americans had soundly rejected in poll after poll. Yet the same Republican recipe for health care now is back on the table in the form of the lopsided tax bill that the Senate plans to vote on this week. A lot of people get intimidated by the idea of trying to understand the tax bill. It’s a shame because, much like congressional budgets, tax bills reveal priorities. (Andy Slavitt, 11/28)
The Washington Post: How The Republican Tax Cut Plan Goes After Health Care
The primary lines of attack on the Republican tax cut plan have been twofold: It redistributes incomes upward, from the middle class to the wealthy, and it significantly raises the debt. These attacks have been potent in the sense that the longer this awful plan sits out there, the less popular it becomes. Unfortunately, contemporary tax policy, Republican-style, is not a representative exercise. It’s all about pleasing the rich donor base, posting a win, any win, and shrinking the government at any cost. About that last point, consider the other reason the tax plan is so ill-advised: its potential effect on health care. (Jared Bernstein, 11/27)
The New York Times: The Biggest Tax Scam In History
Meanwhile, the bill would partially repeal Obamacare, in a way that would sharply reduce aid to lower-income families and raise the cost of insurance for many in the middle class. (Paul Krugman, 11/27)
Los Angeles Times: On Children's Health Coverage, Congressional Inaction Has Brought Us To The 'Nightmare Scenario'
Child healthcare advocates have been warning, and warning, and warning that Congress' delay on reauthorizing funds for the Children's Health Insurance Program places health coverage for as many as 9 million children and pregnant women at risk. But since the funding expired Sept. 30, there has been no action by Congress. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/27)
The Des Moines Register: Grassley's Passion Is Needed On Children's Health Insurance Program
[A] dysfunctional Congress is putting insurance for these children in jeopardy. Lawmakers missed a Sept. 30 deadline to extend funding to the popular program. Now it's running out of money for the first time since its creation. ... Officials in nearly a dozen states plan to begin notifying families this week that the health insurance program may come to an end. Iowa expects to have adequate funding for a few more months, but the federal government pays nearly 90 percent of the cost. If Congress fails to act, this state will be faced with finding alternatives, which may include spending millions of additional state dollars we don’t have or shuttering our program. So where the heck is Sen. Chuck Grassley? (11/27)
Providence Journal: Governor’s Medicaid Cuts Go Too Deep
The legislators passed a budget bill that directed Gov. Gina Raimondo to find $25 million in “undistributed savings,” requiring no legislative oversight and depriving the public the opportunity to weigh in on how the savings would be achieved. In early October, the governor responded, outlining a plan that would draw about 20 percent of those cuts from the state’s Medicaid program. Such a large cut is a burden to Rhode Islanders who rely on Medicaid for their care. Worse, the majority of the Medicaid cuts undermine two of the state’s most important “Reinventing Medicaid” initiatives — “rebalancing long-term care” and “health-care system redesign.” (Linda Katz and Karen Malcolm, 11/27)
Forbes: Maine's Medicaid Mistake Could Cost Lives
Maine made history earlier this month by becoming the first state to adopt Obamacare's Medicaid expansion via ballot initiative. The vote could inspire progressive activists in other states to push for similar referenda. Expanding Medicaid to cover childless, able-bodied adults would blow a hole in state budgets while yielding few, if any, public health gains. That's because Medicaid provides such low-quality care that its beneficiaries often experience worse health outcomes than people with no health insurance. (Sally Pipes, 11/27)
Stat: Hospitals Need To Earn Their Tax-Exempt Status
At a time when tax reform is at the top of legislative priorities, it is easy to forget that most of the richest and most profitable hospital systems in the United States enjoy tax-exempt status. They were given this in exchange for providing benefits to their local communities, like charity care and medical outreach. However, as Politico’s Dan Diamond recently reported about the Mayo Clinic, whether those hospitals serve inner-city neighborhoods or sparsely populated rural areas, they frequently overlook the communities they are required to serve. (Haider Warraich, 11/27)
Louisville Courier-Journal: Tobacco Tax Increase Would Be Win For Kentucky, Business And Health
Recently, a coalition of more than 100 health care, business, education, and health advocacy groups comprising the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Tomorrow called on the Kentucky legislature to raise the state tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack, with parallel increases in taxes on other tobacco products. (Ben Chandler, 11/24)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bill Puts UW's Ob-Gyn Program At Risk
But, as ob-gyn residents who are currently training at UW, we are deeply concerned that this stellar program will end — because of proposed legislation introduced by State Rep. Andre Jacque and State Sen. Chris Kapenga. This legislation (Assembly Bill 206 and Senate Bill 154) would eliminate the UW’s ability to offer ob-gyn residents training in abortion services as required by the national accrediting body, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. (Sierra M. Jansen and Ross Harrison, 11/27)
