First Edition: December 5, 2014
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Federal Officials Urge Marketplace Consumers To Look For Better Deals In 2015
More than 70 percent of people who currently have insurance through the health law’s federal online marketplace could pay less for comparable coverage if they are willing to switch plans, officials said Thursday. With a Dec. 15 deadline looming for coverage that would begin Jan. 1, current policy holders should come back to healthcare.gov to see if they can get a better deal, the officials said. They’ll find more plans available and nearly 8 in 10 current enrollees can find coverage for $100 or less a month, with subsidies covering the rest of the cost. (Carey, 12/4)
The New York Times:
Officials Say Price Comparison Is Crucial To Choosing Health Plans
The Obama administration on Thursday said that millions of people with health insurance purchased in the new federal marketplace would need to switch to different health plans to avoid increases in premiums or reductions in the subsidies they received from the government. In other words, officials said, consumers may need to find new health plans if they want to make sure their coverage under the Affordable Care Act is, indeed, affordable. (Pear, 12/4)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog:
The Administration Is Begging Obamacare Enrollees To Shop Around For A Better Deal
The Obama administration on Thursday issued a plea to Obamacare customers returning to the law's health insurance marketplaces: shop around if you want to get a better deal this year. More than 70 percent of people currently enrolled in Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace insurance can find a 2015 health plan offering the same level of coverage at a cheaper premium, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Almost of 80 percent of current enrollees could find a health plan with a monthly premium lower than $100 after tax credits are applied, HHS said. (Millman, 12/4)
The Associated Press:
Average Affordable Care Premiums Going Up In 2015
Many people covered under President Barack Obama's health care law will face higher premiums next year, the administration acknowledged Thursday. While the average increases are modest, it's more fodder for the nation's political battles over health care. Officials stressed that millions of current HealthCare.gov customers can mitigate the financial hit if they're willing to shop around for another plan in a more competitive online marketplace. Subsidies will also help cushion the impact. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
GOP Takes Smoother Path To Fund Government
The relatively straight path from the House GOP’s closed-door discussion of their options Tuesday to next week’s passage of a bipartisan spending bill would stand in contrast to the run-up to the October 2013 partial government shutdown. Last fall, the House and Senate lobbed bills between the chambers, as Republicans sought to strip funding for the 2010 health-care law and Democrats insisted on restoring it. (Peterson, 12/4)
Politico:
Lawmakers Iron Out Money Details For A Deal
Discretionary spending including defense is capped at just under $1.014 trillion — a virtual freeze at current levels. And the two big off-budget increases — to fight Ebola and the Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria — are emergencies that Republicans can’t afford to ignore. For example, the tentative $5.3 billion agreement on Ebola funding — covering foreign aid and health accounts — would give Obama much of his $6.2 billion request. And Republicans want all — if not more — of the extra money requested by the president since last June to plus-up overseas contingency funds for the Pentagon, now expected to receive about $64 billion in OCO dollars under the draft 2015 bill. (Rogers, 12/4)
The Associated Press:
Obama To Get Most Of $6.2B Request To Fight Ebola
President Barack Obama will be awarded the bulk of his $6.2 billion request to fight Ebola in Africa, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Thursday. (Taylor, 12/4)
The Washington Post:
State And Local Governments Will Have… An Okay 2015, Ratings Agencies Say
Both Fitch and Moody’s Investors Services say they expect a “stable” — neither positive nor negative — year ahead, thanks to a consistent but slow economic recovery. That outlook would improve if growth in tax revenues for state and local governments picks up speed, according to a pair of Moody’s reports issued Wednesday. Those conclusions are largely in line with an analysis of state governments from Fitch ratings agency earlier this week, which found that states enjoy mostly stable ratings for the year ahead. There are some risks to the outlook, though: namely pressures from anti-tax sentiment, building expenses for programs such as Medicaid and overall economic volatility. (Chokshi, 12/4)
The Washington Post:
Less Mental Illness Among Southerners, Less Access To Treatment, Too
You'd expect the socially progressive states of the Northeast and Midwest to score well in a new state-by-state ranking of mental health services, and indeed, by some measures they do. When the advocacy group Mental Health America released the first-ever such rankings Wednesday, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, North Dakota, and Delaware received the highest overall scores when prevalence of mental illness is compared to access to care. Arizona, Mississippi, Nevada, Washington, and Louisiana received the lowest marks. (Bernstein, 12/4)
The Washington Post:
Va. Health Board Agrees To Move Ahead With Review Of Abortion Clinic Rules
The Virginia Board of Health decided Thursday to move forward with a review of rules for abortion clinics, the latest step in a lengthy process that could roll back controversial regulations finalized last year. The move was a victory for Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who campaigned on a promise to reverse the rules, which regulate abortion clinics as if they were hospitals by dictating such details as hallway widths and the number of parking spots. Opponents of the regulations say they were intended to block access to abortion by closing down clinics that do not meet the requirements. (Portnoy, 12/4)
Los Angeles Times:
California's Shrinking Workforce Has Troubling Implications
The rising number of workforce dropouts has troubling implications for the state's competitiveness, entitlement programs, consumer spending and more, economists said. An economic forecast released Wednesday by Chapman University suggested that the slack labor market still has room to grow. A shrinking labor force could force employers to recruit outside the state, raising immigration and visa issues. Households with fewer breadwinners might scale back spending. A disproportionately small pool of earners may mean less tax revenue for public programs such as Medicare. (Hsu, 12/4)