First Edition: November 5, 2014
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Obama Administration Closing Health Law Loophole For Plans Without Hospitalization
Closing what many see as a loophole that could trap millions of people in sub-standard insurance, the Obama administration said Tuesday that large-employer medical plans lacking hospital coverage will not qualify under the Affordable Care Act’s toughest standard. It also offered relief to workers who may be enrolled in those plans next year. The administration will rule that plans without “substantial coverage for in-patient hospitalization services” do not meet the law’s “minimum value” threshold, the Treasury Department said in a notice Tuesday morning. It will issue final regulations saying so next year, it said. (Hancock, 11/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
More Problems Expected On Federal Health-Insurance Site In New Year
Technology gaps in HealthCare.gov are expected to cause consumers and insurers a fresh batch of complications after the site reopens for health-plan enrollment this month, insurance-industry officials say. Millions of Americans are expected to buy or change plans using the federal portal when the second year of enrollment under the Affordable Care Act begins Nov. 15. ... Consumers who bought policies on the exchange for 2014 and switch to a different insurer for 2015 could end up enrolled in two plans, with bills for both, in January, according to two industry officials. Others who stopped paying premiums for their plans this year could find themselves automatically re-enrolled. (Radnofsky, 11/4)
The Wall Street Journal's Corporate Intelligence:
New Variant Of Health-Care ‘Skinny’ Plans Draws Regulator Scrutiny
An employer health plan that doesn’t cover hospital care won’t quite cut it under the health law, according to federal regulators. A new notice issued Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department says they believe that “plans that fail to provide substantial coverage for in-patient hospitalization services or for physician services” or both don’t meet the law’s standard for minimum value. That means a big employer offering such a plan to workers could still be subject to one of the law’s two penalties for failing to provide adequate coverage. Also, an employee offered such a plan could potentially still qualify for federal subsidies to buy coverage through one of the law’s marketplaces. (Wilde Mathews, 11/4)
USA Today:
Feds Move To Close No-Hospital Coverage Loophole
Federal regulators Tuesday announced plans to close a loophole in the Affordable Care Act that allows large employers to offer plans that don't cover in-patient hospital stays. ... To meet the ACA's "minimum value" test, health plans for individuals and those working for smaller employers must include coverage within at least 10 categories of "essential health benefits" that include maternity care, prescription drugs and hospitalization.The health care law is much more stringent about what health insurance must cover for these people than it is for those working at large employers. (O'Donnell, 11/4)
The New York Times:
Providing Health Insurance Still A Struggle For Small Business
Brian Adams, who sells fireplaces in Indianapolis, is like many of the nation’s small-business owners. As the cost of providing health benefits has climbed, he has struggled to afford coverage for his employees — a problem the new health care law was designed, in part, to address. But a year after the law’s introduction of the insurance exchanges, provisions that were supposed to help small businesses offer employee health benefits are largely seen as a failure. And Mr. Adams, like many of his fellow business owners, is sending employees to the exchanges to buy their own coverage instead. (Abelson, 11/4)
The Washington Post:
Battle For The Senate: How The GOP Did It
The tension represented something more fundamental than money — it was indicative of a wider resentment among Democrats in the Capitol of how the president was approaching the election and how, they felt, he was dragging them down. All year on the trail, Democratic incumbents would be pounded for administration blunders beyond their control — the disastrous rollout of the health-care law, problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs, undocumented children flooding across the border, Islamic State terrorism and fears about Ebola. As these issues festered, many Senate Democrats would put the onus squarely on the president — and they were keeping their distance from him. (Rucker and Costa, 11/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
GOP Senate Win Opens Door To Deals
The prospect of such deals could be complicated, though, by the chamber’s new composition and the 2016 presidential campaign. Several senators will be seeking to burnish their credentials for possible White House bids. Some older, experienced hands, including four committee chairmen, are retiring. On the right, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is eager to reprise a fight to repeal the Affordable Care Act—a battle that many of his Republican colleagues say has been litigated and lost, and that they need to move beyond. (Hughes, 11/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Change In Senate Control Will Test McConnell’s Clout
In an early preview of the hurdles Mr. McConnell would confront, conservative activists in recent days criticized the Kentucky senator for saying it was unrealistic to think the 2010 health law could be repealed. They demanded that he commit to using controversial budget rules, which would allow him to skirt 60-vote procedural hurdles, to erase the Affordable Care Act. Mr. McConnell’s response suggested he is already trying to manage conservatives’ expectations. In a radio address over the weekend, he said that “a new Republican majority wouldn’t mean we’d be able to get everything you want from Washington. But it would mean we’d be able to bring the current legislative gridlock to a merciful end.” (Hughes and O'Connor, 11/4)
The Associated Press:
Tillis Defeats US Sen. Hagan In North Carolina
Republican Thom Tillis unseated Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan on Tuesday, winning a lengthy, expensive race in North Carolina after linking Hagan to President Barack Obama and highlighting his own record of accomplishments while leading the state legislature. Democrat Liz Sorrell of Cary, a retired N.C. State University employee, said she voted for Tillis because of Obama's signature health care law, which Hagan supported. She said a relative with a heart condition is paying much more for insurance since the law took effect. "I don't think that the Affordable Care Act for instance covered the small business people," Sorrell said. "I was going to vote for her before I ran into this." (Robertson, 11/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Arkansas Senate: Republican Tom Cotton Defeats Incumbent Mark Pryor
Republican Tom Cotton, a conservative tea party congressman, Army veteran and Harvard Law School graduate, ousted two-term Sen. Mark Pryor on Tuesday as Arkansas joined its Southern neighbors in becoming an all-red state. Cotton capitalized on voter opposition to President Obama and fended off Pryor’s attacks on his support for conservative policies, including changes to Medicare and Social Security. (Mascaro, 11/4)
The New York Times:
Republicans Hold The Top 2 Prizes In Governor Races
The fortunes of each Republican incumbent in a left-leaning state will be parsed in the days ahead as part of the party’s internal debate over whether it does better by appealing to moderates, or by hewing to conservative fundamentals. Mr. Snyder carved out a moderate profile by expanding Medicaid in Michigan and aiding Detroit. Mr. Walker refused the Medicaid expansion, an option under the federal health care law, and argued that what independent voters crave is leadership. In Maine, Mr. LePage, one of the most conservative governors, vetoed the Legislature’s expansion of Medicaid five times while becoming a lightning rod over his incendiary statements. Although the spotlight was trained mainly on the battle for Senate control, because of how it will affect the president’s final two years, the outcomes of governors’ races in many ways matter more to people’s lives. State governments raise or lower taxes, fund or defund classroom teachers, strengthen or weaken environmental regulations, and embrace or resist the Affordable Care Act. (Gabriel, 11/4)
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
Paul LePage Projected To Win Governor’s Race In Maine
Mr. LePage’s first term in office was both consequential and controversial. His welfare-reform changes made it more difficult for people to collect food stamps, cash assistance, and Medicaid, a move that he argued would force more people to find jobs and contribute to the economy. He cut spending, erased the state’s debt to hospitals, and blocked a move by the state legislature, controlled by Democrats, to expand Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor. (Paletta, 11/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Gov. Brown Coasts To Historic Fourth Term
California voters decisively elected Gov. Jerry Brown to a historic fourth term Tuesday, a rare bright spot for Democrats on a night when Republicans celebrated huge victories in the rest of the nation. ... But they rejected Proposition 45, which would have given the state insurance commissioner oversight over some health insurance rate increases. Proposition 46, which would have increased the cap on medical malpractice awards, was also defeated. (Mehta, 11/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Dave Jones Reelected California Insurance Commissioner, AP Says
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has won a second term, AP reports. The Sacramento Democrat ran well ahead of Republican challenger Ted Gaines, a state senator from Rocklin. The commissioner is the state's top elected consumer regulator, overseeing the $123-billion-a-year insurance industry that includes automobile, homeowner and dozens of other types of coverage. (Lifsher, 11/5)
The Associated Press:
Voters Defeat Health Insurance Rate Initiative
On the heels of an advertising blitz funded by health insurance companies, California voters on Tuesday tanked a proposal to give the state's insurance commissioner veto authority over health insurance premiums. About 60 percent of voters cast ballots against the plan to give the elected commissioner expanded authority over small group and individual health plans. (Taxin, 11/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Proposition 45 Falters; Would Have Regulated Health Insurance Rates
Proposition 45, a ballot measure that would have allowed regulation of some health insurance premiums, has failed, AP reports. The measure was targeted by a $57-million opposition campaign. The initiative would have given California's elected insurance commissioner the power to review proposed health insurance rates for the individual and small-employer markets. Premium hikes, if deemed excessive after an actuarial analysis, could have been denied under the measure. (Lifsher, 11/4)
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
California Voters Decline To Raise Medical Malpractice Cap
Californians Tuesday overwhelmingly voted down Proposition 46, an initiative that would have raised a cap on medical malpractice awards and required routine drug and alcohol testing for hospital doctors. (Lazo, 11/5)
Politico:
Personhood Movement Loses Both State Initiatives
The anti-abortion personhood movement failed key tests Tuesday in North Dakota and Colorado, with voters rejecting amendments to grant the unborn constitutional rights. In North Dakota — a strongly anti-abortion state considered the personhood movement’s best chance of victory — the proposed ballot measure would have amended the state constitution to say the “inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected.” The Associated Press reported that with 91 percent of precincts reporting, it was losing by about a 2 to 1 margin. (Pradhan and Haberkorn, 11/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Tax On Sugary Sodas Approved In Berkeley; S.F. Measure Falls Short
The Berkeley measure levies a penny per ounce for sugar-sweetened beverages sold in the city, including soda, sports and energy drinks, juice with added sugar and syrups that go into sugary drinks at cafes, like Starbucks' Frappucinos, the measure's backers say. Diet sodas and alcohol won't be taxed under the law. About 75% of Berkeley voters backed Measure D. The measure was backed by public health advocates and the city's elected leaders, who said the tax would reduce consumption of sugary drinks and raise awareness of the link between sugary drinks, diabetes and other diseases. The measure's backers say a national soda tax in Mexico has caused people there to consume fewer sugary drinks. (Lin, 11/5)
The New York Times:
Oklahoma Supreme Court Blocks 2 Abortion Laws
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked two new laws that critics say may have made it difficult for women to obtain abortions in the state. The measures, approved by the State Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin, took effect Nov. 1. But in a unanimous decision released Tuesday, the State Supreme Court voted to prevent enforcement of the rules until lawsuits challenging their constitutionality are settled by a lower court. (Williams, 11/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Oklahoma Supreme Court Puts Abortion Restriction On Hold
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily put on hold a state law restricting abortions while the issue is argued in a lower court. The unanimous action by the high court means that women in Oklahoma can continue to use the prescription drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, which induce abortion in the early weeks of pregnancy. Oklahoma had sought to prohibit such abortions in a law known as House Bill 2684. (Muskal, 11/4)