- KFF Health News Original Stories 1
- New Vaccine Recommendation Cuts Number Of HPV Shots Children Need
- Political Cartoon: 'Out Of Trim?'
- Health Law 6
- Eyes Turn Back To Future Of Insurance Subsidies After Replacement Bill Collapse
- Blame Is The Name Of The Game In Aftermath Of GOP Health Bill Collapse
- Bipartisanship, Once A Four-Letter Word, More Appealing To GOP After Failure To Pass Bill
- With 2018 Midterms In Not-Too-Distant Future, Each Move On Health Is Politically Fraught
- The ACA Is Not Yet Exploding. Here's What's Working And What's Not In Obamacare
- As Big Beneficiaries Of ACA, Hospital Stocks Jump On News Of Replacement Defeat
- Administration News 1
- Price, A Fierce Opponent Of The ACA, Now Stuck Holding The Reins On Administering It
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
New Vaccine Recommendation Cuts Number Of HPV Shots Children Need
The vaccine protects kids against infection and several types of cancer but many parents have been reluctant to use it for their children. (Michelle Andrews, )
Political Cartoon: 'Out Of Trim?'
KFF Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'Out Of Trim?'" by Chip Bok.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
THE SECRETS OF CENTENARIANS
What’s in a number?
A lot – if it’s 100
Years of life well lived.
- Anonymous
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.
Summaries Of The News:
Eyes Turn Back To Future Of Insurance Subsidies After Replacement Bill Collapse
Republicans could gut much of the Affordable Care Act by taking action to halt insurer payments, which House GOP lawmakers are already challenging in court. Meanwhile, insurance companies seek help from the government to stabilize the marketplaces and look ahead to next year's plans.
The Wall Street Journal:
After GOP Bill’s Failure, Health-Law Lawsuit Takes Center Stage
President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers, seeking to regroup following the collapse of the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, have an option for gutting the health law relatively quickly: They could halt billions in payments insurers get under the law. House Republicans were already challenging those payments in court as invalid. Their lawsuit to stop the payments, which they call illegal, was suspended as Republicans pushed to replace the ACA, but it could now resume—or the Trump administration could decline to contest it and simply drop the payments. Mr. Trump could unilaterally end the payments regardless of the lawsuit. (Armour, 3/27)
CQ Roll Call:
Insurers Seek Stability As Trump Moves Away From Health Care
President Donald Trump and congressional leaders want to move on from health policy after Friday's stunning defeat for their overhaul of the 2010 health care law. But insurance companies are focused on seeking federal help to stabilize the insurance markets created by that law. Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., pulled the health care legislation (HR 1628) late Friday after it became clear it would never muster the votes to pass. The controversial legislation was wildly unpopular with voters, Democrats and even a number of Republicans, and was panned by a wide array of health industry groups, including hospitals, doctors and consumer groups. (Mershon, 3/27)
Marketplace:
Health Insurers Weigh Choice Of Offering Plans On Obamacare Exchanges In 2018 Or Pulling Out
What now? That's the question after House Republicans last week failed to pass a repeal-and-replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Over the weekend President Trump predicted the ACA will "explode." One way that could happen is if more insurers drop out of state and federal exchanges in 2018. (Gorenstein, 3/27)
Blame Is The Name Of The Game In Aftermath Of GOP Health Bill Collapse
There's plenty of finger-pointing to go around and it highlights just how hard it will be for Republicans to move forward on any issues despite having control of both chambers and the White House.
The Associated Press:
Bitter GOP Finger-Pointing Clouds Path For Trump Agenda
President Donald Trump is hoping to drive his priorities forward following the crumbling of the Republican health care bill but GOP finger-pointing is rampant, underscoring how tough it will be to produce the unity the party will need. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, criticized the contrarian House Freedom Caucus on Monday, a day after resigning from the hard-right group because it helped sink the Republican health care effort. “You can have your principles and then when it comes to voting, you have to compromise to get something passed,” Poe said of the caucus, which has roughly three dozen members. (Yen, 3/27)
The Hill:
Ryan Visits White House Amid Healthcare Rubble
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) met with Vice President Pence and other senior officials at the White House on Monday as they map out a path forward after the disastrous collapse of their healthcare plan. Ryan also spoke briefly with President Trump after meeting with Pence, chief of staff Reince Priebus and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to discuss their agenda, according to the Speaker’s office. (Fabian, 3/27)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Donald Trump's Allies Target Speaker Paul Ryan For Failure Of Health Care Bill
Conservative media outlets friendly to President Donald Trump are blaming last week's collapse of the GOP health care overhaul bill on House Speaker Paul Ryan, but a spokesman for the Janesville Republican said Monday that the relationship between the speaker and president "is stronger than ever right now." (Spicuzza, 3/27)
Politico:
Spicer Compares GOP Health Care Bill To A 'Bad Deal'
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday likened President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the House Republican proposal to repeal Obamacare — which Trump had supported — to walking away from a “bad deal.” (Conway, 3/27)
WBUR:
Doris Kearns Goodwin Puts Trump's Health Care Defeat In Historical Perspective
Last week's failure to pass a health care reform bill was a major blow to Donald Trump's young presidency. (Young, 3/27)
Bipartisanship, Once A Four-Letter Word, More Appealing To GOP After Failure To Pass Bill
Both President Donald Trump and congressional lawmakers have signaled a new willingness to work with Democrats. Meanwhile, media outlets offer a look at what comes next, now that the American Health Care Act has been pulled.
The Associated Press:
White House Looks To Bounce Back After Health Care Loss
Regrouping after a rocky few weeks, the White House declared Monday that President Donald Trump doesn't consider the health care battle to be over, suggesting he may turn to Democrats to help him overhaul the system after his own party rejected his proposal. (Thomas, 3/27)
Bloomberg:
Senate May Push For Health-Care Deal, But Democrats Wary Of GOP
It’s not clear whether Democrats, who largely sat back and let the repeal effort collapse on its own, have much incentive to negotiate yet. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said his party is willing to discuss improvements to the law, but only if Republicans drop their seven-year-long dream of repealing it. He urged Trump to immediately cease all efforts to undermine the law. "People’s lives are at stake," he said on the Senate floor Monday. "The president should not hope that the health-care system for tens of millions explodes." (Dennis, 3/27)
Roll Call:
The Search For Intelligent Bipartisanship On Health Care
With Republican leaders pausing their quest to overturn the 2010 health care law, rank-and-file lawmakers see an opportunity for outreach behind the scenes on the divisive issue. GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine will keep talking to senators and stakeholders about their bill, the Patient Freedom Act, which they believe is a rare avenue for bipartisan cooperation. “I like to think the Cassidy-Collins bill is well-positioned as a path forward,” Cassidy said Monday. (Bowman, 3/28)
Morning Consult:
GOP Moderates Push Compromise After Death Of Obamacare Repeal
“I urge my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, to take a look at the legislation Senator Bill Cassidy and I have introduced, which would expand access to affordable health care in a way that provides more choices and helps to restrain costs,” Collins said Friday in a statement after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) pulled the GOP repeal bill from the House floor. (Reid, 3/27)
The Washington Post:
Paul Ryan: House Republicans Will Continue Their Push For Health-Care Reform This Year
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan told Republican donors Monday that he intends to continue pushing for an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system by working “on two tracks” as he also pursues other elements of President Trump’s agenda. "We are going to keep getting at this thing,” Ryan said three days after intraparty opposition forced him to pull the American Health Care Act after it became clear it did not have enough Republican votes to pass. (DeBonis, 3/27)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
White House: Trump Not Giving Up On Overhaul Of Obama Health Law
For many GOP lawmakers, the idea of giving up after just 18 days of work on health care changes, was not an option. “We cannot walk away now, without even a vote,” said Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN), a junior member of the House GOP leadership, said on the House floor. (Dupree, 3/27)
The Hill:
Trump: Dems ‘Will Make A Deal’ On Healthcare
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that Trump is sincere about working with Democrats on healthcare reform. “Starting Friday afternoon through late yesterday, [Trump] has received a number of calls, as well as other members of the senior staff that have been working on healthcare, from members of both sides saying that they would like to work together, offer up ideas and have suggestions about how to come to a resolution on this and get a House vote on this,” he said during his daily briefing. (Hensch, 3/27)
WBUR:
After GOP Abandons Effort, What's Next For Health Care?
After more than seven years of railing against the Affordable Care Act, Republicans were unable to reach consensus on a plan to repeal and replace it. House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the bill Friday afternoon and said the party was moving on to other issues. So what happens now? (Young, 3/27)
The Associated Press:
GOP Divided Over New Course After House Health Care Debacle
Still reeling from last week’s House health care debacle, Republicans are pivoting to tax cuts and other issues but remain riven into factions and all over the map about how and when to return to their marquee pledge to eviscerate former President Barack Obama’s 2010 overhaul. House Republicans are gathering Tuesday to discuss their agenda, their first meeting since House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., suddenly abandoned plans last Friday for a vote on the GOP legislation. The retreat on the party’s top legislative priority so far this year was a jarring defeat for President Donald Trump and Republican leaders and raised questions about whether the GOP could muster the unity it will need on other issues. (Fram, 3/28)
The Hill:
Can Trump Rebound After Failure On Healthcare Bill?
The failure to repeal and replace ObamaCare has cast a shadow over President Trump’s agenda for the rest of the year. Republicans say efforts to reform the tax code and pass a major infrastructure package will be just as difficult and warn their control of the House could be in jeopardy if the conservative House Freedom Caucus refuses to cooperate in the months ahead. (Bolton, 3/28)
WBUR:
The Trump Presidency, After The American Health Care Act
After months of promising so much winning people would tire of winning, President Donald Trump straight up lost last week on one of the biggest promises of his campaign. Lost starkly, plainly, publicly on replacing Obamacare – and at the hands of his own party. So now what? (Ashbrook, 3/27)
California Healthline:
Repeal And Replace Hits A Roadblock. What’s Next For California?
California embraced the Affordable Care Act and in many ways became a national model for how it could work — driving uninsured rates down from about 17 percent to 7 percent since the law rolled out. The state added 3.7 million people to the rolls under its Medicaid expansion, and 1.5 million joined its state-run marketplace, Covered California. Compared to other states, the exchange’s premium increases have remained low, though they have risen substantially this year. (3/28)
The Baltimore Sun:
Rep. Andy Harris Says Health Care Fight Not Over
Rep. Andy Harris, part of the conservative Freedom Caucus that helped tank President Donald Trump's health care legislation, said Monday that Republicans only needed a little more time to reach an agreement and that the House should return to the issue later this year. The 30-plus-member bloc of deficit hawks has found itself under fire from some in the GOP as congressional leaders and the White House assess what went wrong with their plan to repeal the Obamacare health insurance law — and begin to assign blame. That soul-searching could have implications for the rest of Trump's legislative agenda, including tax reform, infrastructure investment and spending cuts. (Fritze, 3/27)
With 2018 Midterms In Not-Too-Distant Future, Each Move On Health Is Politically Fraught
Republicans may be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to addressing health care. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump hits a new low in the polls after his failure to make a deal on the Republican plan, and ads are already running against a lawmaker who supported the American Health Care Act.
The New York Times:
2018 Dilemma For Republicans: Which Way Now On Obamacare?
As they come to terms with their humiliating failure to undo the Affordable Care Act, Republicans eyeing next year’s congressional campaign are grappling with a new dilemma: Do they risk depressing their conservative base by abandoning the repeal effort or anger a broader set of voters by reviving a deeply unpopular bill even closer to the midterm elections? (Martin, 3/28)
The New York Times:
The Republicans In Power: From ‘We Got This’ To ‘What Now?’
The new Republican government is in deep trouble.President Trump and his majorities in the House and Senate had hoped to head out for their spring break celebrating the chest-thumping accomplishments of finally gutting President Barack Obama’s health care law and installing a conservative Supreme Court justice. They were determined to show the American public: We got this. (Hulse, 3/27)
Politico:
Gallup: Trump Hits New Low After Health Care Flop
President Donald Trump’s approval rating slipped to a new low Monday in the Gallup daily tracking poll, the first measure of Trump’s job performance following his administration’s failure to move a new health care law through Congress. Only 36 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president in interviews conducted last Friday through Sunday, a time period entirely after Republicans abandoned their bill to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act. (Shepard, 3/27)
Seattle Times:
Reichert Is Target Of Attack Ads Over GOP Health Plan
Via ads on social media and YouTube, a leading Democratic election committee is attacking Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, for his defense earlier this month of House Republicans’ failed health-care overhaul. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) launched the digital campaign Monday on sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The ads against Reichert are part of a broad effort targeting more than a dozen GOP House members who at one point supported the GOP plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. (Lee, 3/27)
The ACA Is Not Yet Exploding. Here's What's Working And What's Not In Obamacare
NPR and Bloomberg challenge the president's claim that the Affordable Care Act is "exploding."
NPR Fact Check:
Trump Says Obamacare Is 'Exploding.' That's Not Quite True
President Trump is doing his best to put a good face on defeat in his party's attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. His strategy is simple: declare that the law is failing. And he is selling that message in his own distinctly Trumpian way: concocting it out of simple, bold words and then hammering that message home, over and over: Obamacare, in his words, will "explode." (Kurtzleben and Kodjak, 3/27)
Bloomberg:
Is Obamacare Exploding? Nope. But There Are Some Rough Spots
For years, President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the Affordable Care Act is on the verge of collapse. As he puts it last week, the health care law is “exploding.” Is Obamacare really about to fall apart? The short answer is no -- there are areas of the country where the ACA’s markets are working well. In others, though, it’s struggling. Meanwhile, the Trump administration holds many of the levers that will determine whether the Affordable Care Act lives or dies. (Tracer, 3/28)
As Big Beneficiaries Of ACA, Hospital Stocks Jump On News Of Replacement Defeat
The stock increases stood out on an otherwise dour day for the markets, as investors fret that President Donald Trump's failure to push through the health care overhaul bodes poorly for the rest of his economic agenda.
Bloomberg:
As U.S. Hospital Stocks Soar, Many Warn That Big Problems Remain
One for-profit hospital in south Texas scrimps on scrubs, blankets, mops and employee overtime. A nonprofit in Boston is fighting to preserve its world-renowned academic research program. The future for both hospitals remains uncertain. With the failure of the Republicans’ overhaul of the Affordable Care Act, hospital administrators from every corner of the U.S. have been breathing a sigh of relief. But the respite will likely be short-lived. True, 24 million Americans won’t be losing their insurance, a fact that has investors buoying hospital stocks for now. Even so, the industry is up against market forces that will compel hundreds of hospitals to shrink, remake themselves or even close in the months and years to come. (Lauerman and Greifeld, 3/28)
The Wall Street Journal:
Hospital Stocks Rise Amid Broader Slump
Monday’s climb in hospital stocks continues a rally that began last week, as the Trump administration and House Republicans failed to win support for a bill to dismantle the ACA. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday canceled a vote on the legislation, conceding it lacked enough Republican backing. Hospitals benefited from more paying patients under the Affordable Care Act, most notably in states that expanded Medicaid. (Evans, 3/27)
Reuters:
Hospitals Shares Surge As Market Absorbs Republican Health Bill Failure
Shares of U.S. hospital operators surged on Monday after Republicans' pulled their healthcare bill, preserving for now the benefits that hospitals gained under Obamacare. (Krauskopf, 3/27)
Price, A Fierce Opponent Of The ACA, Now Stuck Holding The Reins On Administering It
Many expect new Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to shift the regulations onto a more conservative path, but don't expect him to try to sabotage it completely.
The Hill:
Price Faces Unwanted Task Of Administering ObamaCare
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price came into office last month ready to lead the charge on repealing ObamaCare. Now, that effort has run into a brick wall, leaving him to oversee a law he fiercely opposes. President Trump last week predicted that ObamaCare “soon will explode,” stirring speculation that the administration could seek to undermine the law. Yet there are also signs that Price and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will take a more pragmatic approach. (Sullivan, 3/28)
WBUR:
The Origins Of A Complex American Health Care System
The problems with the health care system in the United States may seem like they’re new, but they’re not. Historian Nancy Tomes explains to Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson how our uneven, expensive and complicated system came to be. (Hobson, 3/27)
White House Shies Away From Planned Parenthood Defunding Talk
Press secretary Sean Spicer says the Trump administration won't commit to including the hot-button issue in the upcoming spending bill. In other women's health news, some states are still moving to protect access to contraception and Democrats try to reconcile their platform with a need to include anti-abortion voters.
The Hill:
WH Won't Commit To Defunding Planned Parenthood In Spending Bill
The White House refused to commit Monday to defunding Planned Parenthood in an upcoming must-pass spending bill, a sign it’s looking to avoid a government shutdown over the hot-button issue. President Trump viewed the now-dead Republican healthcare bill as “an opportunity to defund” Planned Parenthood, according to press secretary Sean Spicer, who wouldn’t say whether the president would demand defunding in future legislation. (Fabian, 3/27)
The Associated Press:
Some State Lawmakers Seek To Protect Birth-Control Access
Even with the Republican failure to repeal Barack Obama's health care law, Democratic lawmakers in some states are pressing ahead with efforts to protect birth control access, Planned Parenthood funding and abortion coverage in case they are jeopardized in the future. (Crary and Noon, 3/28)
Roll Call:
Abortion Opponents Look For A Home In Democratic Party
For supporters of abortion rights, the Democratic Party has become the only real option. But as the party struggles to make inroads in red states, where its economic message may resonate more than its social values, some Democrats think there needs to be more flexibility on that issue. ... But there’s no easy answer for the Democratic Party. The platform’s narrow focus on abortion rights is borne of a commitment to protect the rights of women to control their own bodies — a self-determination issue from which few Democratic lawmakers in Congress want to back away. (Pathé, 3/28)
Clinic Seeks To Turn Marijuana From 'Gateway Drug' To Gateway To Treatment
A small but growing number of pain doctors and addiction specialists are overseeing the use of marijuana as a substitute for more potent and dangerous drugs. In other public health news: the opioid epidemic, lead standards, childhood trauma, multiple sclerosis, Zika, HPV vaccines and concussions.
The New York Times:
Addiction Specialists Ponder A Potential Aid: Pot
Nine days after Nikolas Michaud’s latest heroin relapse, the skinny 27-year-old sat on a roof deck at a new drug rehabilitation clinic here. He picked up a bong, filled it with a pinch of marijuana, lit the leaves and inhaled. All this took place in plain view of the clinic’s director. ... The new clinic is experimenting with a concept made possible by the growing legalization of marijuana: that pot, rather than being a gateway into drugs, could be a gateway out. (Richtel, 3/27)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin Lawmakers Take Aim At Opiate Epidemic In Advancing Host Of Bills
The Legislature’s budget committee approved legislation Monday to fight Wisconsin’s opiate epidemic. On unanimous votes, the Joint Finance Committee signed off on bills to expand treatment, hire special agents to investigate drug crimes and establish a new charter school to treat teens with addiction. (Marley, 3/27)
Stat:
EPA Sidestepped Decision To Tighten Standards For Lead Levels
The 750,000-ton stack is a mix of lead, arsenic, and other toxic metals, blended with sand and abandoned by the businesses that once employed most of the town, about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, in the Illinois River Valley. When the wind blows, specks of toxic metals sail off the slag heap and land on the town’s modest houses and gardens, in school playgrounds, on church steps and, sometimes, in the water...It is the lead — a toxin that can damage children’s brains at even low levels of exposure — that worries most people here. (Kaplan, 3/28)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
An Intractable Problem
Public health experts in Milwaukee and around the nation now see a direct link between childhood trauma and an incapacitated workforce. Improving the latter is impossible without addressing the former. Children exposed to abuse, violence and neglect may not be able to concentrate in school, much less job training programs. (Schmid and Crowe, 3/27)
Columbus Dispatch:
Multiple Sclerosis Drug Offers Hope Of Halting Disease
In multiple sclerosis, an abnormal immune-system response leads to an attack of nerve fibers and the fatty myelin that surrounds them in the central nervous system... Ocrelizumab works by depleting B cells, which are immune cells that participate in the attack on myelin, Racke said. The drug represents a transformation in MS care, said Dr. Aaron Boster, director of the MS center at OhioHealth, where he also serves as systems medical chief of neuroimmunology. (Viviano, 3/28)
Miami Herald:
Zika Virus: Rick Scott Visits Miami Prepare Mosquito Season
South Florida's battle plan for Zika, expected to rebound with the rainy season, includes more boots on the ground to inspect and fumigate for mosquitoes, more lab resources to speed up test turnaround times and the promise of a more collegial collaboration between the federal and state governments. (Chang, 3/27)
St. Louis Public Radio:
High STD Rates Could Put St. Louis At Greater Risk For Zika Infections, Researcher Warns
A Saint Louis University analysis of mosquito migration patterns and sexually transmitted diseases places the St. Louis region on a map of counties that could see an elevated risk for Zika infections this summer. The virus is spread by mosquitoes but can also be transmitted sexually for several months after symptoms occur. (Bouscaren, 3/27)
Kaiser Health News:
New Vaccine Recommendation Cuts Number Of HPV Shots Children Need
You’d think that a vaccine that protects people against more than a half-dozen types of cancer would have people lining up to get it. But the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which can prevent roughly 90 percent of all cervical cancers as well as other cancers and sexually transmitted infections caused by the virus, has faced an uphill climb since its introduction more than a decade ago. Now, with a new dosing schedule that requires fewer shots and a more effective vaccine, clinicians and public health advocates hope they may move the needle on preventing these virus-related cancers. (Andrews, 3/28)
The Washington Post:
How A Protein Called ‘NFL’ Could Help The NFL With Brain Injuries
Brain injuries are a danger in many sports, but for none more than football and its most profitable enterprise, the National Football League. The NFL is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a concussion-lawsuit settlement and has poured tens of millions into research on measuring and preventing head trauma. (Bieler, 3/27)
Media outlets report on news from D.C., California, Missouri, Colorado, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The Washington Post:
Howard University Hospital Shows Symptoms Of A Severe Crisis
But over the past decade, the once-grand hospital that was the go-to place for the city’s middle-class black patients has been beset by financial troubles, empty beds and an exodus of respected physicians and administrators, many of whom said they are fed up with the way it is run. The facility has faced layoffs, accreditation issues, and sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits, and it has paid out at least $27 million in malpractice or wrongful-death settlements since 2007, a Washington Post examination has found. (Thompson, 3/25)
Denver Post:
Wheat Ridge Stands Firm On Its Prohibition Of Free-Standing ERs
Free-standing emergency rooms may be on a growth streak in Colorado — there are around three dozen facilities today from just a handful a few years ago — but not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat. On Monday night, the Wheat Ridge City Council voted to extend a year-long moratorium it had placed on free-standing ERs in 2016 for another year as it comes up with regulations for the medically advanced, emergency care centers before the first sets up shop in the city. (Aguilar, 3/27)
Des Moines Register:
Branstad Defends Pledge To Help Medicaid Firms Cover Losses
Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday defended his administration’s decision to help private Medicaid managed care organizations shoulder huge financial losses, and he said it doesn’t mean the project is in trouble. ... The three companies have complained they’ve lost hundreds of millions of dollars in Iowa in the year since they began running the state’s $4 billion Medicaid program. The Des Moines Register reported Friday that the Department of Human Services has signed contract amendments under which the state agreed to help the companies cover some of those losses. (Leys,3/27)
Sacramento Bee:
California Teens Speak Out Against Candy-Flavored Tobacco At State Capitol
More teens are turning to fruit- and candy-flavored tobacco, raising concerns that sweetened e-cigarettes and cigarillos are a gateway to nicotine addiction. A California anti-tobacco campaign targeting teens has ramped up in high schools and at a recent state Capitol rally on Kick Butts Day. (Buck, 3/27)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
St. Louis County Home Health Worker Admits Defrauding Elderly Of $30,000
A home health care worker from St. Louis County pleaded guilty to federal charges Monday and admitted defrauding elderly people in the area, the U.S. Attorney's office said. De’Janay Noldon, 27, worked as a certified nurse's assistant caregiver at a Webster Groves company that provides home health care for the elderly, prosecutors said. She used a nursing home resident's personal information to open lines of credit that she used to pay her own bills, make purchases in stores and online and pay bills for relatives and friends, prosecutors said. (Patrick, 3/27)
NJ Spotlight:
NJ Spotlight Helps Plan For Healthcare Future As GOP Bill Melts Down
Hours before the Republican plan to replace Obamacare died in Congress Friday without a vote, healthcare experts in New Jersey gathered to discuss how the state’s healthcare system can withstand the major changes under consideration in Washington, D.C., and ensure gains made in recent years aren’t entirely lost. Several speakers said that regardless of the fate of the Republican bill, the state needed to prepare for potential changes. Some suggested creating a state-run insurance plan that would essentially extend the existing Medicaid proposal, which now covers one-in-five New Jersey residents, or finding other ways to reduce the cost of care so more can afford to purchase commercial plans. (Stainton, 3/27)
The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com:
In Fight Over EMS, Virtua Hospital Blasts Camden County's 'Political Machine'
Virtua Hospital executives on Monday accused Camden County freeholders of fear-mongering, saying the board is attacking Virtua's emergency response times to clear the way for rival Cooper University Hospital to take over as the county's emergency response provider. The remarks came after Virtua executives learned that freeholders were to host a forum Tuesday morning with mayors from around the county whose agenda would include improvements to advanced life support services. Virtua, which provides such services to municipalities throughout Camden County, was not invited to the meeting, which was described in a letter to mayors as an opportunity to address concerns about response times that are "woefully inadequate" in some areas. (Steele, 3/27)
Different Takes On Who's To Blame For The Demise Of The House GOP Health Plan
Editorial pages across the country offer their thoughts on the blame game as well as the policies and politics that led to last week's dramatic outcome.
Los Angeles Times:
Healthcare Debacle Results From Republicans Believing Their Own Myths
Donald Trump and congressional Republicans created a political debacle for themselves by believing a set of scare stories about Obamacare that came back to haunt them. It is an object lesson in how false realities ultimately pop like soap bubbles when pricked by plain old truth. There are five fatal fibs the GOP sold to supporters and to themselves. (David Horsey, 3/27)
Boston Globe:
In Donald Trump’s Oval Office, The Buck Stops Elsewhere
Since US House Speaker Paul Ryan scrapped last week's vote on the Republican proposal to replace Obamacare, Trump has blamed different people for its demise, depending on the day. From the Oval Office on Friday, Trump blamed Democrats. On Saturday, Trump asked people to watch a Fox News Channel show on which the host proclaimed, "Paul Ryan needs to step down as speaker of the House.” (James Pindell, 3/27)
The Wichita Eagle:
Trump’s Ego Costs Him Opportunity On Health Care
When President Trump’s first major governing challenge unexpectedly crystallized last week, his failure to meet it was preordained by his personality. Because he considers himself the center of every universe, an opportunity to step toward greatness was invisible to him. His primary failure wasn’t his inability to persuade the hard-liners in his party to go along with a cobbled-together, cynical and desperate attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Solomon could not have salvaged that wreck. (Davis Merritt, 3/28)
Los Angeles Times:
Who's To Blame For Trump's Failures? Must Be Paul Ryan
Paul Ryan did it. That’s the argument many of the louder voices on the right are shouting. In the story they tell, the speaker of the House is fully responsible for the GOP’s failure to pass an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill last week. President Trump should walk across a Havana ballroom like Michael Corleone in “The Godfather Part II,” kiss Ryan on the mouth and say, “I know it was you, Paul. You broke my heart.” (Jonah Goldberg, 3/27)
The Washington Post:
This Is Why The Freedom Caucus Called The Shots On Trump’s Health-Care Bill
The Republicans’ failed strategy to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is puzzling. Knowing that a more conservative health-care bill would be dead on arrival in the Senate, why did President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) seek the votes of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), a group of about 30 of the chamber’s most conservative members? Desperate to secure a majority, the White House offered significant last-minute policy concessions to the group — turning off the more centrist members of the Tuesday Group, failing to secure Freedom Caucus votes and dooming the bill. (Ruth Bloch Rubin, 3/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
The GOP Entitlement Caucus
The full dimensions of the GOP’s self-defeat on health care will emerge over time, but one immediate consequence is giving up block grants for Medicaid. This transformation would have put the program on a budget for the first time since it was created in 1965, and the bill’s opponents ought to be held accountable for the rising spending that they could have prevented. (3/27)
The Washington Post:
The Freedom Caucus Blows Its Chance To Govern
A few days before the House Freedom Caucus brought down the American Health Care Act, Rep. Mark Meadows laid out the stakes for his group: “This is a defining moment for our nation, but it’s also a defining moment for the Freedom Caucus.” The North Carolina Republican was right. The vote was indeed a defining moment — a test in which the Freedom Caucus had to decide: Would it remain a minoritarian opposition bloc whose only role was to defend truth without compromise? Or could it become something bigger, transforming itself into a majoritarian governing force that could lead Congress toward achievable conservative victories and have a lasting impact on the direction of our country? (Marc A. Thiessen, 3/27)
Huffington Post:
The Death Of Trumpcare Is The Ultimate Proof Of Obamacare’s Historic Accomplishment
Somehow, despite the intense political forces arrayed against it, and the mind-boggling policy problems it tries to solve, the 2010 health care law keeps defying efforts to wipe it out. That says something about the people who wrote it ― and what they have achieved. Obamacare has never been hugely popular, and it has never worked as well as its architects hoped. Millions of Americans don’t like it and, even now, there are parts of the country where the markets are struggling to survive. But the program has provided security and access to care for millions of others. More importantly, it has shifted the expectations of what government should do ― and of what a decent society looks like. (Jonathan Cohn, 3/26)
Los Angeles Times:
The Original Mistake That Distorted The Health Insurance System In America
A World War II-era mistake distorted the U.S. health insurance system. Reformers tried to fix the problem with patchwork solutions until Obamacare dumped yet another layer of misguided policy onto what was already a mess. Now the tangle is so perplexing that a Republican Congress, under a Republican president, could not even bring a health-insurance reform bill to a vote last week. But legislators will no doubt try to tackle the issue again, and when they do, they should consider erasing the original error instead of merely papering it over. (Myron Magnet, 3/28)
RealClear Health:
Five Lessons From The AHCA’s Demise
While the keyhole of history has had insufficient time to bring the failed launch of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) into focus, it’s not too soon to begin learning some of the lessons it can teach us. Legislative efforts have a lifespan but our health care system does not. So whether we are still rejoicing or recriminating, let’s take a look at some timeless principles we can apply to the ongoing effort to improve health care in the United States. (Billy Wynne, 3/27)
Perspectives On What Happens Now: Can Obamacare Be Fixed Or Will It Be Left To 'Explode'?
Opinion writers offer their thoughts on this question, outline ways the health law can be spared and examine the direction in which the political winds could send the ongoing debate.
The Washington Post:
Obamacare Is The Law Of The Land. But It’s Still Vulnerable.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s (R-Wis.) decision to pull legislation to reconfigure the nation’s health-care system is a major setback to President Trump and the GOP. For seven years, Republicans promised to repeal and replace Obamacare. Their failure to deliver on this promise exposes intraparty divisions that will not be easily healed. (Eric Patashnik and Jonathan Oberlander, 3/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Can Trump Be Stopped From Making Obamacare 'Explode'?
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act may have celebrated prematurely at the demise last week of the House Republicans’ proposal for its repeal. Yes, the most immediate threat to the future of Obamacare is dead, for now. And in the wake of the House fiasco, President Trump as well as some Senate Republicans have made noises about reaching out to Democrats to shore up the health insurance program. But the Trump White House and congressional Republicans still have it within their power to damage the prospects of health coverage for millions of Americans, whether by actively undermining the Affordable Care Act by administrative fiat or by letting it wither by neglect. (Michael Hiltzik, 3/27)
The Atlantic:
Obamacare Won't Explode Unless Trump Wants It To
The scope of Obamacare’s problems is small, but significant. While health-care costs have been going up less than normal in recent years and premiums for people insured by their employers have also been fairly stable, people who buy their own insurance through the Obamacare marketplaces saw premiums spike by an average of about 25 percent this year. Also, several insurers pulled out of the Obamacare exchanges in the past year, leaving 21 percent of exchange enrollees with just one insurance option and people in Knoxville, Tennessee with potentially no insurers at all. (Olga Khazan, 3/28)
The New York Times:
Pushing Obamacare Over The Cliff
After Republicans pulled their legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act last Friday, President Trump told The Washington Post, “The best thing politically is to let Obamacare explode.” Or he could light a match. Republicans may have conceded defeat in their legislative effort to get rid of Obamacare, but their guerrilla war to achieve its demise remains underway. (Steven Rattner, 3/28)
The Washington Post:
Why Trump Won’t ‘Let Obamacare Explode’
As President Trump licked his wounded ego Friday, he told The Post in an interview, “The best thing politically is to let Obamacare explode.” His Office of Management and Budget director, Mick Mulvaney, echoed that sentiment on “Meet the Press." (Jennifer Rubin, 3/27)
The Des Moines Register:
It's Time To Embrace And Fix Affordable Care Act
“I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject,” President Donald Trump told governors during a meeting last month. “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.” Nobody except everyone else. That is why the 2009 Democratic-controlled Congress spent a year debating and ironing out the details of what eventually became the Affordable Care Act. The two-part law and regulations total thousands of pages. Before passage, lawmakers met with insurers, hospitals, physicians and patient advocacy groups to build a consensus for what they all understood was a labyrinthine endeavor. (3/27)
The New York Times:
Republicans For Single-Payer Health Care
Without a viable health care agenda of their own, Republicans now face a choice between two options: Obamacare and a gradual shift toward a single-payer system. The early signs suggest they will choose single payer. That would be the height of political irony, of course. Donald Trump, Paul Ryan and Tom Price may succeed where left-wing dreamers have long failed and move the country toward socialized medicine. And they would do it unwittingly, by undermining the most conservative health care system that Americans are willing to accept. (David Leonhardt, 3/28)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Post-AHCA, How Health Reform Can Move Forward In Georgia
When Roswell’s Tom Price moved from Congress to the executive branch as secretary of health and human services, he instantly gained the power to reshape much of the way health care works in this country, regardless of what becomes of Obamacare. Ironically, it’s Obamacare that gives him that ability... It also gives Price’s department the authority to grant the states waivers to the law’s requirements for health plans offered on their insurance exchanges, and that’s where this gets interesting. (Kyle Wingfield, 3/27)
WBUR:
Can Gov. Charlie Baker Fix Health Care In America?
Republicans have long hyped the need for a replacement bill by sowing the fear that Obamacare is imploding. Yet they hypocritically ignore their own complicity in creating the conditions for failure. Now that their bill has collapsed, the new mantra is to practice saying “I told you so,” in the event their self-fulfilling prophecy comes to fruition. (Lauren Stiller Rikleen, 3/28)
The CT Mirror:
As Costs Rise, Will Narrow Network Insurance Plans Catch On In CT?
Officials at Connecticut’s health insurance exchange are betting some customers would welcome that tradeoff. The marketplace’s board recently voted to loosen the requirements on the size of insurance provider networks on plans sold to its customers starting next year. (Levin Becker, 3/28)
The Washington Post:
Why Trump And The GOP Could Fail On Tax Reform, Too
There are many lessons to be learned from the failure of the GOP health-care effort. An important one is that being a businessman, even a successful one, does not prepare you for the complexities of governing, any more than being a successful software engineer means you could easily become a great carpenter. (Paul Waldman, 3/27)
Viewpoints: Short Shrift For Mental Health Coverage; Medicare's Firewall From 'Harmful' Changes
A collection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Boston Globe:
Changing Attitudes Is Harder Than Changing The Law
Someone trying to access mental health care is twice as likely to be denied coverage by a private insurer than someone seeking surgical or other medical care, according to a survey of 84 insurance plans in 15 states by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Matt Selig, executive director of Health Law Advocates, a Boston-based nonprofit group that represents low-income residents, said that last year alone his agency opened cases for 158 people who were denied coverage for mental health or substance use treatment, nearly half of them children. (Kevin Cullen, 3/27)
Arizona Republic:
McCain Can Stop Cuts To Seniors' Health Care
The future of Medicare and Medicaid may depend on John McCain. He is one of a handful of Senate Republicans who could serve as a firewall against harmful changes to this crucial program that Arizona seniors rely upon. ... Looking down the road, the majority in Congress has also proposed to privatize Medicare and raise the eligibility age from 65 to 67. These actions could reduce health care coverage and increase out-of-pocket costs for Arizona’s 1,134,000 seniors and people with disabilities. (Max Richtman, 3/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Note To Republicans: Drop The Crusade Against Planned Parenthood
Millions of Americans who rely on the Affordable Care Act for their insurance coverage dodged a bullet last week when Republican infighting killed a bill by the House GOP leadership to repeal and replace the healthcare law. So, thankfully, did Planned Parenthood. Embedded in the bill was a provision to bar federal funding temporarily for this well-regarded and crucial healthcare provider, which the GOP has tried, obsessively, to dismantle for years. (3/28)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Saluting Our Doctors: The Calm Within The Storm
For many, the role of physicians in hospice is especially important — as they attend to patients and families at this most vulnerable time, guiding and comforting them through the toughest decisions they will ever make. What kind of quality of life does the patient want? What side effects can be expected from chemo or certain medications? What’s the best way to deal with pain? It’s a role hospice doctors readily accept. (Dr. Hashim Raza, 3/28)
The New York Times:
Training Your Brain So That You Don’t Need Reading Glasses
By middle age, the lenses in your eyes harden, becoming less flexible. Your eye muscles increasingly struggle to bend them to focus on this print. But a new form of training — brain retraining, really — may delay the inevitable age-related loss of close-range visual focus so that you won’t need reading glasses. Various studies say it works, though no treatment of any kind works for everybody. (Austin Frakt, 3/27)