Good morning, here are your morning headlines to get your day started:
The Washington Post: In Ohio, Santorum Blasts Romney For Ad Spending, Says Voters Don’t Trust Him
On health care, Santorum made the claim that Romney — because of his overhaul of Massachusetts’ health-care system while governor, which included an individual mandate to purchase insurance — would not be able to take on President Obama on the matter. “Why would we put someone up who is uniquely unqualified to take him on this issue? You don’t think it will be used against him? … It will be a drumbeat. We will take an issue where we’re on the offensive and turn it into a liability. I don’t care how much money he has — don’t let that happen, Ohio” (Sonmez, 3/5).
The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire: Voters Unsure Of Romney’s Pledge To Repeal Health Care Law
Mitt Romney pledges on a near-daily basis to repeal President Barack Obama’s health-care law. Republican voters just aren’t sure whether they believe him. At a town hall event here Monday, one his 2008 supporters asked the candidate to explain more about the fundamental differences between the health care plan he signed as governor of Massachusetts and the one Mr. Obama signed in 2010 (Murray, 3/5).
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USA Today: Health Care Remains Lightning Rod For Romney
As the hours until voters head to the polls ticked away, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s health care law became a leading topic of discussion again with voters and among his political opponents. Romney’s opponents have pounced on a 2009 op-ed he wrote for USA TODAY, brought to light by the website Buzzfeed last week. In the article, Romney said that at least part of his health care plan was exactly what the nation needed (Kucinich, 3/5).
The New York Times: Knotty Challenges In Health Care Costs
Dr. Fuchs, who has been called the dean of American health care economists, has spent five decades studying the health care problem. In his view, what is needed is the sort of major change that comes once in a decade, perhaps, or even just once in a generation. But change, he believes, will not bubble up from within the health care system itself (Kolata, 3/5).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Insurer Cigna Gives CEO David M. Cordani 25 Percent Compensation Hike In 2011
Cigna Corp. CEO David M. Cordani’s total compensation climbed 25 percent last year, as the nation’s fourth-largest health insurer launched a $3.8 billion acquisition, and its stock outperformed the broader market. Cordani, 46, received compensation valued at $18.9 million last year from the Bloomfield, Conn., company, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing Monday (3/5).
USA Today: Drugmakers Have Paid $8 Billion In Fraud Fines
The nation’s largest drugmakers have paid at least $8 billion in fines for repeatedly defrauding Medicare and Medicaid over the past decade, but they remain in business with the federal government because they are often the sole suppliers of critical products, records show (Kennedy, 3/6).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: On Health Care, Ore. Picks Up Where Obama Left Off. But Will It Work?
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber last week signed a law that will create new regional entities, called coordinated care organizations, which will be able to spend money on programs like the one Hutchinson credits with turning around her life. Kitzhaber says the plan will improve care, reduce costs and serve as a model for the rest of the nation (3/6).
NPR: Georgia Lawmaker: Women’s Voices Not Being Heard
There has been a lot of talk about regulating abortion for women, but what if the tables were turned on men? That’s what Georgia State Representative Yasmin Neal was thinking when she proposed legislation regulating male vasectomies. But critics say she just wants to attract media attention. Host Michel Martin speaks with Representative Neal (Martin, 3/5).
The Wall Street Journal: Maine’s Governor Has A Hard Shell
Last month, he signed a budget that fills a $120 million shortfall in the current fiscal year partly with contentious cuts to Maine’s Medicaid program, which is among the most generous in the country. And at his direction, lawmakers in coming weeks will begin debating $80 million more in Medicaid cuts for the next fiscal year (Levitz, 3/5).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: NY: Insurers Must Cover Women’s Contraception Choice Or Face Losing Medicaid Contracts
New York state on Monday warned health insurers they would lose state contracts if women on Medicaid are denied their choice of higher-cost, brand-name contraceptives unless cheaper, generic methods “fail first.” The move comes after The Associated Press reported Monday that some New York Medicaid patients were told they had to switch to lower-cost contraceptives unless the cheaper measures failed, resulting in pregnancy, bleeding or nausea (3/5).
The Washington Post: Raids Target Home And Office Of Gray Campaign Figure
Investigators also have ordered D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan to preserve records pertaining to Thompson-owned Chartered Health Plan. A spokesman for Nathan’s office acknowledged the request Monday. That would include documents regarding a controversial settlement the city reached with Chartered. Last September, the Gray administration agreed to pay $7.5 million in connection with a billing dispute over dental reimbursement rates (DeBonis and Stewart, 3/5).
Los Angeles Times: Don’t Rush To Write Off Limbaugh, Analysts Say
But a backlash that might be a career-breaker for some commentators seemed unlikely to dent Limbaugh’s considerable stature among his 15 million weekly listeners and conservative leaders. The criticism delivered by most Republican officeholders was muted. One political action committee stepped up to buy even more advertising on his program. All of which suggested that “The Rush Limbaugh Show” might be too big to fail. The controversy began last week, when the radio host addressed President Obama’s proposal that health insurance provide free birth control. Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke spoke at a congressional hearing in favor of that idea, only to be attacked by Limbaugh (Rainey and Gold, 3/5).
USA Today: Not Everyone Accepts Rush Limbaugh’s Apology
The intensity of the conflict reflects not only the usual skittishness of advertisers, who hate controversy even when they deliberately choose a controversial show, but also the volatile political climate during a Republican primary that, to Democrats’ delight, has veered into sensitive social issues (Moore, 3/5).
