Good morning and happy Friday! Here are some headlines to get your weekend rolling:
The New York Times’ The Caucus: New Poll: The Supreme Court And The Health Care Law
More than two-thirds of Americans hope the Supreme Court will overturn some or all of the 2010 health care law, according to a new poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. Just 24 percent said they hoped the court “would keep the entire health care law in place” (Liptak and Kopicki, 6/7).
The New York Times: House Acts To Repeal Medical Device Tax
In another assault on President Obama’s health care law, the House passed a bill on Thursday to repeal a new tax on medical devices (Pear, 6/7).
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The Washington Post: House Votes To Repeal ‘Medical Device Tax,’ But Senate Unlikely To Agree
Launching a summer-long effort to chip away at the 2010 health-care reform law, the House voted Thursday to repeal a key funding source for the reforms. The Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012 would repeal a 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales receipts in excess of $5 million for manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices, including defibrillators, pacemakers and prosthetic limbs. Congressional budget officials estimate that the tax set to take effect Jan. 1 would raise nearly $30 billion in revenue between 2013 and 2022 (O’Keefe, 6/7).
The Wall Street Journal: Millions Of Young Adults Join Parents’ Health Plans
About 6.6 million young adults signed up for health coverage through their parents’ insurance plans in the first year after a new provision in the federal health law took effect, according to estimates in a study released Friday. As part of the law, most insurance plans offered by employers to their workers had to allow parents to enroll dependents on their plans up to the age of 26, starting in September 2010. Previously, parents had been able to include children only up to their 19th birthdays, or until the age of 22 if the children were full-time college students (Radnofsky, 6/7).
The Wall Street Journal: Molina, Centene Win Back Ohio Medicaid Business
Medicaid health insurers Molina Healthcare Inc. and Centene Corp. won back business in Ohio after protesting their prior rejection for new contracts starting next year. The state, which had initially named Aetna Inc. a winner, dropped that insurer from its list of five Medicaid health plans that will serve start starting Jan. 1. Meridian Health Plan, a nonprofit, was also dropped after initially being named a winner (Kamp, 6/7).
NPR: New Fetal Genetics Test: Less Risk, More Controversy
The full genetic code of a fetus has been cracked. The technique, used by scientists at the University of Washington, could offer parents safer and more comprehensive prenatal testing in the future. It also leaps into a debate over what information parents will eventually have — and use — to decide whether to have an abortion (Farrington, 6/7).
Los Angeles Times: Prop. 29 Backers Hold Out Hope As Gap Narrows
Proponents of the tobacco tax initiative on Tuesday’s state ballot, Proposition 29, refused to concede defeat Thursday as election officials continued to count ballots and the gap narrowed. The measure was losing by just under 53,000 votes as updated tallies continued to trickle in from county elections offices. On election night, that number was 63,000 (Wilson, 6/7).
