First Edition: January 5, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
In Towns That Lost Most Obamacare Insurers, Rate Increases Still Competitive
People in [Columbia, S.C.] had their pick of four health insurers last year when they shopped for policies during the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment. This time they have just one: Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, which had the most Obamacare consumers in Richland County in 2016 due to its low prices. It’s a change that’s been repeated around the country after big health insurers such as Aetna, Humana and United Healthcare pulled out of dozens of Obamacare marketplaces that they judged unprofitable. (Galewitz, 1/5)
Kaiser Health News:
A Peer Recovery Coach Walks The Frontlines Of The Opioid Epidemic
Charlie Oen’s battle with addiction started when he was 16 and his family moved to Lima, Ohio. It was the last stop in a string of moves his military family made — from Panama to North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas and Germany. “I went toward a bad group because those were the people that accepted me,” he says. Drugs became a substitute for real friendships. ... One year later, he started working as a peer recovery coach, using his own experiences to help other people stay in recovery. (Herald and Sable-Smtih, 1/5)
The Washington Post:
GOP Launches Long-Promised Repeal Of Obamacare With No Full Plan To Replace It
Congressional Republicans on Wednesday launched their long-promised effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, even as they acknowledged that they may need several months to develop a replacement along conservative lines. Signifying how enormous a priority the issue is for the incoming administration, Vice President-elect Mike Pence met privately to discuss it with House and Senate Republicans. He offered no details afterward about what a new health-care law might look like but vowed to unwind the existing one through a mixture of executive actions and legislation. (Eilperin, Goldstein and Snell, 1/4)
The New York Times:
Senate Republicans Open Fight Over Obama Health Law
Congress opened for battle over the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday as Republicans pushed immediately forward to repeal the health care law and President Obama made a rare trip to Capitol Hill to defend it. The bitterness that has long marked the fight intensified as Republicans seized the opportunity to make good on a central campaign promise to get rid of the law, a pledge reinforced on Wednesday by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who met with House Republicans not far from where the president gathered with Democrats. (Kaplan and Thrush, 1/4)
Politico:
GOP Airs Obamacare Divisions In Pence Meeting
Republicans are fast-tracking the process of repealing Obamacare, aiming to get it done in several weeks. But they’re not even close to agreement about what comes next — or even when the repeal should take effect. Those disagreements spilled over Wednesday at a closed-door meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence that had been intended to unify the Senate GOP. Instead, multiple senators stood up to express concern that the party’s plans to repeal and replace the law could blow massive holes in the budget, according to a source familiar with the exchange. (Haberkorn and Everett, 1/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Republicans Offer No Plan To Repeal Obamacare As More Party Members Express Concern
After demanding for six years that the Affordable Care Act be gutted, Republican leaders refused Wednesday to outline concrete steps to repeal and replace it, even as members of their party voiced growing reservations about rolling the law back without a viable alternative. Neither President-elect Donald Trump nor Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who met with House and Senate Republicans at the Capitol, offered lawmakers details about their repeal plan — a centerpiece of their winning campaign — short of vague promises that Trump would take executive action after he assumes office in just over two weeks. (Levey and Mascaro, 1/4)
The Associated Press:
Obama, Pence Harden 'Obamacare' Battle Lines At Capitol
Outnumbered in the new Congress, Democrats didn't sound confident in stopping the Republicans cold but signaled they wouldn't make the GOP's job any easier. New Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that if the Republicans do scuttle the health care law, they will have to come up with a replacement plan before Democrats consider whether to help them revamp the system. That adds pressure on Republicans, who for years have battled among themselves over what a new law would look like, including how to finance its programs and whether to keep Obama's expansion of Medicaid for more lower-income people. (Fram, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
GOP’s Health-Law Attack Spurs Messaging Battle
The new Congress is moving swiftly to decide the fate of the ACA, and both sides appeared to be as mindful of the political stakes as of how any changes would affect consumers. While opponents of the law point to sharp premium increases on the ACA insurance exchanges, the latest government estimates indicate about 20 million previously uninsured people have obtained coverage under the law. (Nicholas, Peterson and Armour, 1/4)
The Washington Post:
Democrats: Trump Will Make America Sick Again
Democrats can’t stop the Republicans from gutting the Affordable Care Act so they want to make sure Donald Trump and the GOP take the full blame for any blow-back of and when the health-care system comes apart. Their message: Trump wants to Make America Sick Again. (Snell, 1/4)
The Washington Post:
With Obamacare, GOP Faces The ‘Pottery Barn Rule’: You Break It, You Own It
Democrats have an emerging strategy to defend the Affordable Care Act from Republican assault, daring their opponents to defy the “Pottery Barn rule”: They’re about to break the health-care system, and that means they will own it. For more than six years, Republicans have attacked unpopular parts of the law without having to propose alternatives. Those days are over. (Kane, 1/4)
NPR:
As Republicans And Democrats Argue Over Obamacare Repeal, Facts Are Stretched
Both sides are trying to position themselves as the protectors of Americans' health care, while branding the other party as a dangerous threat. As usual, the truth may be somewhere in between. Here we take a closer look at some of the claims being floated by both parties. (Horsley, 1/4)
The Associated Press:
Health Overhaul Revisited: The Impact Of Some GOP Ideas
Dozens of GOP-inspired ideas are being bandied about on Capitol Hill, and it could take months or years to fully understand the costs and benefits of complex changes lawmakers are considering. A GOP replacement may cover fewer people than the 2010 Affordable Care Act, or ACA. But Republicans are betting that their goal of "universal access" with fewer requirements will be more politically acceptable than the Democratic ideal of "universal coverage," with Washington in charge. A look at the potential impact of some of the ideas put forth by Republicans. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/4)
The New York Times:
Republicans’ 4-Step Plan To Repeal The Affordable Care Act
How they can uproot a law deeply embedded in the nation’s health care system without hurting some of the 20 million people who have gained coverage through it is not clear. Nor is it yet evident that millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions will be fully protected against disruptions in their health coverage. But a determined Republican president and Congress can gut the Affordable Care Act, and do it quickly: a step-by-step health care revolution in reverse that would undo many of the changes made since the law was signed by President Obama in March 2010. (Pear, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
How Republicans Might Replace Obamacare
Republicans are preparing to follow through on their vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. But it is far from clear what will replace it. Various Republicans have put forward a grab bag of policy ideas about what could take the place of President Barack Obama’s health law, but have yet to reach a consensus. It remains uncertain what happens to current health plans that people bought through the law’s insurance exchanges. (Armour, 1/4)
The Associated Press:
AP Fact Check: Trump’s Hit-And-Miss ‘Obamacare’ Tweet
Taking a swipe at “Obamacare” on Twitter, President-elect Donald Trump correctly identified two of its most pressing problems — a spike in premiums and high deductibles. But he failed to acknowledge the subsidies that soften the hit for many consumers, though not all. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/4)
The Associated Press:
Analysis: Health Care Battle Could Decide Balance Of Power
The messaging battle is over on repealing and replacing President Barack Obama's health care law, and the balance of power in Washington may be at stake. Democrats believe they already lost the public opinion fight over the law once, when they pushed through the Affordable Care Act in the first place, and Republicans grabbed hold of the issue to drive Democrats into the minority. Democrats are determined that this time, they'll come out on top. (Werner, 1/4)
USA Today:
Sen. Rand Paul Using Obamacare Repeal To Protest Debt
Sen. Rand Paul voted Wednesday against the first step in repealing the Affordable Care Act because the underlying budget proposal increases the federal debt over 10 years. Paul, a Kentucky Republican with a history of casting protest votes, was the only GOP senator opposed. After the 51-48 vote in the Senate, the budget resolution, which includes the mechanisms to start repealing the 2010 health care law in addition to general spending levels for the federal government over the next decade, will be debated for the next week. (Troyan, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Rand Paul Defects On Proposed Health Law Repeal
Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) said Wednesday that he would oppose the budget measure Republicans are counting on to begin the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act, leaving the effort in danger of derailing if any other GOP senators defect. ... Mr. Paul said Wednesday he would vote against the budget measure because it adds too much to the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2017. (Peterson and Hughes, 1/4)
Reuters:
Obamacare Repeal Would Cost New York State At Least $3.7 Billion: Governor
The repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the goal of Republicans in Washington, would cost New York state $3.7 billion and strip 2.7 million residents of health coverage, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. Cuomo, a Democrat, also said counties in the state could lose nearly $600 million of federal Medicaid funding combined if the law, otherwise known as Obamacare, is repealed. New York City would lose the most, more than $433 million. (Russ, 1/4)
The Washington Post:
House Panel Recommends Cutting Funding For Planned Parenthood, Reigniting Old Debate
A House panel formed by Republicans to investigate the procurement of human fetal tissue for medical research has recommended stripping federal funds from Planned Parenthood, heralding a new congressional assault on the nation’s largest provider of abortions and women’s health care. The GOP majority on the Select Investigative Panel included the recommendation in the 471-page final report, which was issued Tuesday on the dissolution of the panel. It was formed in 2015 after antiabortion activists recorded a series of undercover videos that they said documented abuses by abortion providers and intermediaries that provide fetal tissue to researchers. (DeBonis, 1/4)
The Associated Press:
GOP House Panel: Halt Federal Money For Planned Parenthood
A Republican-run House panel created to investigate Planned Parenthood and the world of fetal tissue research urged Congress on Wednesday to halt federal payments to the women’s health organization. Democrats said the GOP probe had unearthed no wrongdoing and wasted taxpayers’ money in an abusive investigation reminiscent of the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy. (1/4)
The Associated Press:
Judge Asks If Texas Fetal Remains Rules Override Current Law
A federal judge appears to be casting doubt on the legality of hotly debated Texas rules requiring burial or cremation of fetal remains, questioning Wednesday whether they would override separate, existing state laws on scattering ashes. (Weissert, 1/4)
The Washington Post:
Biden To Tackle Broad Range Of Cancer Issues, Including Drug Prices, After Leaving White House
Vice President Biden, who led the Obama administration’s “cancer moonshot” initiative, will create a nonprofit organization to grapple with a broad range of cancer issues, including the high cost of cancer drugs, he said in an interview Wednesday. (McGinley, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Donald Trump’s VA Secretary Pick Could Offer Hint On Privatization
U.S. military veterans’ groups are closely watching for signs of President-elect Donald Trump’s decision on a Veterans Affairs secretary, with some concerned over the prospect of an accelerated move under the new administration toward the privatization of medical care. (Kesling, 1/4)
The Associated Press:
NC Governor Pledges To Expand Medicaid, Despite State Law
As many as 650,000 working people who can't get private insurance or otherwise make too much to get Medicaid could benefit, generating jobs, helping rural hospitals and boosting the economy, Cooper said. Under the proposal, the state would have to match 5 percent of the cost, which the governor said could come from an assessment on hospitals that stand to benefit. (Robertson, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Spending More On Specialty Drugs Under Medicare
Federal spending on a Medicare program for people with high drug costs has ballooned over the past five years, largely due to the soaring costs of expensive specialty medications, a new government report has found. Federal payments for Medicare Part D catastrophic coverage, which pays 80% of drug costs after a beneficiary has spent a certain amount annually, surpassed $33 billion in 2015, more than triple the amount paid in 2010. (Hackman, 1/5)
USA Today:
CDC Keeps Secret Its Mishaps With Deadly Germs
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has faced congressional hearings and secret government sanctions over its sloppy lab safety practices, is keeping secret large swaths of information about dozens of recent incidents involving some of the world’s most dangerous bacteria and viruses. CDC scientists apparently lost a box of deadly and highly-regulated influenza specimens and experienced multiple potential exposures involving viruses and bacteria, according to heavily-redacted laboratory incident reports obtained by USA TODAY. (Young, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Alexion Says Senior Management Improperly Pressured Staff To Boost Sales
The finding, reported in a securities filing, followed an investigation by members of Alexion’s board of directors into allegations of improper sales practices made by a former employee that had delayed the submission of its most-recent financial report. Alexion, based in New Haven, Conn., is a leading seller of drugs for rare diseases and had $2.6 billion in 2015 total product revenues. Soliris, the drug at the center of the investigation, treats a rare blood disorder known as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. (Rockoff, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Pennsylvania Is Ordered To Provide Hepatitis C Drug To Inmate
A federal judge ordered Pennsylvania’s corrections department to provide costly new antiviral drugs to an inmate infected with hepatitis C, and rebuked the state for restricting inmates’ access to the drugs. Hepatitis C is an epidemic in prisons, but state corrections departments have treated relatively few prisoners because the drugs are expensive, costing about $54,000 to $94,500 per patient. (Loftus, 1/4)
NPR:
Tennessee Recovery Court Provides Drug Addicts An Alternative To Jail
In Roane County, Tenn., the legal and personal costs of the opioid epidemic collide at the county courthouse. As an assistant to the local prosecutor, Charlene Hipsher helped launch a special "recovery court" with the goal of getting drug addicts into treatment instead of jail. (1/4)
Stateline:
Telemedicine In Schools Helps Keep Kids In The Classroom
Telemedicine, increasingly used in prisons, nursing homes and remote areas, is becoming more common in schools. According to the American Telemedicine Association, at least 18 states authorize Medicaid reimbursement for telemedicine services provided in schools and 28 states plus Washington, D.C., require private insurers to cover telemedicine appointments as they would face-to-face doctor visits. (Ollove, 1/4)
The New York Times:
A Fitness Downside To Statin Drugs?
Taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs seemed to make exercise more difficult and less beneficial, a new study in mice suggests. Mice are not humans, obviously, but the study does raise interesting questions about whether and how statins might affect physical fitness in all of us. In the experiment, statins were very effective in lowering cholesterol levels. But animals moved less if they were taking statins than if they were not taking the drugs. And when they did move, mice on statins developed fewer advantageous physical changes within their muscles than animals that were not given the drugs. (Reynolds, 1/4)
The Associated Press:
Volunteers Get Bit To Test New Strategy For Malaria Vaccine
Researchers infected lab mosquitoes with genetically weakened malaria parasites, and then recruited volunteers willing to be bitten — a lot — to test a possible new strategy for a vaccine. The idea: Vaccinate using living malaria parasites that are too weak to make people sick. It’s a huge challenge, and while Wednesday’s study is a small step, it illustrates the urgent quest for a powerful malaria vaccine. (Neergaard, 1/4)