First Edition: February 11, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
5 Tips For Procrastinators Who Need To Buy Health Insurance
If you who don’t get coverage at work or are otherwise uninsured, you may qualify for financial assistance for coverage purchased on the exchanges, or marketplaces. You can compare plans and prices at the federal website, healthcare.gov, or, if your state has its own exchange, shop there to find out which coverage is best for you. If your state has expanded Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people, you might also qualify for coverage there. (Carey, 2/11)
Kaiser Health News:
Some Pediatricians Don’t Have Adequate Training With IUDs
When Wendy Swanson started out as a pediatrician eight years ago, it never crossed her mind to bring up the option of intrauterine devices – an insertable form of long-acting contraception – when she had her regular birth-control discussions with teenage patients who were sexually active. "The patch had been the thing," she said, referring to a small, band-aid-like plastic patch that transmits hormones through the skin to prevent unwanted pregnancies. (Luthra, 2/11)
Kaiser Health News:
Texas Insurance Brokers Play Bigger Obamacare Role
As the health law’s second open enrollment season barrels to a close on Sunday, nearly a million Texans have purchased or applied for health insurance. This time around, insurance brokers are aggressively marketing themselves to shoppers – it’s a big change for the brokers who have had an uneasy relationship with the health law for years. Bart Franco is one customer who sought help from a broker this time. He is the pastor of a tiny community church that he founded in a garage behind his house near downtown Houston. (Feibel, 2/11)
The New York Times:
Complicated Politics Of Medicaid Expansion Are Playing Out State By State
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf, a newly elected Democrat, is scrapping his Republican predecessor’s conservative approach to expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Wolf said this week that he would instead pursue a straightforward expansion of the government health insurance program for the poor, no longer charging premiums or limiting benefits for some enrollees. (Goodnough, 2/10)
NPR:
White House Reaches Out To Uninsured Americans
The deadline to sign up for health coverage for 2015 under the Affordable Care Act is Sunday. Renee Montagne talks to presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett about the looming deadline. (2/11)
Los Angeles Times:
Study Finds It Cheaper For Students To Buy Insurance Than Go Without
As this year’s deadline to sign up for Obamacare fast approaches, California State University officials are trying to show students that buying health insurance makes financial sense. A new analysis from the CSU Health Insurance Education Project found that half the approximately 445,000 students in the CSU system are able to purchase health insurance for less than they would have to pay in fines for remaining uncovered. (Karlamangla, 2/10)
The New York Times' First Draft:
No ‘Manly Firmness’ In Denying Health Care, McCaskill Says
Is repealing the Affordable Care Act an issue of manhood? A state representative in Missouri suggested as much in a resolution asking members of the state’s congressional delegation to undo the law. The bill, introduced by State Representative Mike Moon, a Republican, insists that “each member of the Missouri congressional delegation endeavor with ‘manly firmness’ and resolve to totally and completely repeal the Affordable Care Act, settling for no less than a full repeal.” The macho language raised the eyebrows of Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat who has been a defender of the law. (Rappeport, 2/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
CVS Health Boosted By Medicaid Growth
CVS Health Corp. got a boost from its Medicaid business which helped offset retail sales declines in the wake of the company’s decision to stop selling cigarettes. CVS’s pharmacy services business posted a 22% increase in revenue to $23.9 billion for the three months through Dec. 31, driven by continued growth in specialty-pharmacy sales after the acquisition of Coram Specialty Infusion Services. Pharmacy network claims grew 8.2%, primarily because of growth in its Medicaid programs. (Kapner, 2/10)
The Associated Press:
Specialty Drugs Help CVS Health Meet 4Q Profit Forecasts
CVS Health’s fourth-quarter earnings climbed more than 4 percent in a performance that matched Wall Street expectations even though the pharmacy chain’s decision to quit tobacco sales delivered an anticipated blow to its drugstore business. The Woonsocket, Rhode Island, company said Tuesday that growing demand for expensive specialty drugs helped increase revenue from its pharmacy benefits management, or PBM, business nearly 22 percent in the quarter to $23.9 billion. That easily countered a 7.2 percent drop in revenue from the front end of its established drugstores, or the area outside the pharmacy. (2/10)
The New York Times:
New Dosages Of Old Drugs Are Used To Raise Their Prices
Doctors have long prescribed a muscle relaxant called cyclobenzaprine to treat injuries like back strains, using five- or 10-milligram pills. But doctors who also dispense the drugs they prescribe directly to patients have recently embraced a new pill that contains 7.5 milligrams of the muscle relaxant. There is no evidence to suggest that the pill works any better except, perhaps, for doctors and the middlemen supplying them. They can charge $3.45, or about five times as much as a five- or 10-milligram pill. (Meier, 2/10)
The Associated Press:
Mississippi, West Virginia Toughest On School Immunizations
With rampant diabetes and obesity, Mississippi and West Virginia have struggled with health crises. Yet when it comes to getting children vaccinated, these states don't mess around. The states, among the poorest in the country, are the only ones that refuse to exempt school children from mandatory vaccinations based on their parents' personal or religious beliefs. Separate efforts to significantly loosen those rules died in both states' legislatures last week. (2/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Funds For HIV/AIDS Healthcare Contracts Reduced By L.A. County
Los Angeles County officials cut back Tuesday on contracts to provide medical care to AIDS and HIV patients, citing increased numbers of people now insured under the federal government's overhaul of healthcare. The move to cut $4 million from the contracts, paid for with federal money, marked the latest clash between the county and the nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of the largest providers of medical services to HIV patients in the region. (Sewell, 2/10)
The Washington Post:
Va. House Allows Marijuana Oils For Epilepsy
Parents of epileptic children gathered in the gallery of Virginia’s law-and-order House of Delegates on Tuesday, almost afraid to look as their long-shot medical marijuana bill came up for a vote. (Vozzella, 2/10)
The New York Times:
Doulas, a Growing Force in Maternity Culture, Seek Greater Acceptance
On the morning of the day Marisa Pizarro gave birth, the usual tumult reigned in her apartment in Lower Manhattan’s financial district. Her husband, a music producer known as J Grand, in shower sandals and gym shorts, was busy tending to their toddler daughter, the financial news on TV and his iPad, where he was still rearranging tracks on a forthcoming release. His wife, her contractions now 10 minutes apart, was almost an afterthought. But who could blame him? Ms. Pizarro had her doula, Domino Kirke, attending to her every need, absorbing every hint of snappishness. (Hartocollis, 2/10)