Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a new Associated Press poll that finds Americans want the president and Congress to work on another health overhaul package if the Supreme Court overturns the health law.
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Poll: Political Leaders Should Work On New Bill If Supreme Court Throws Out Obama Health Law
Americans overwhelmingly want the president and Congress to get to work on a new bill to change the health care system if the Supreme Court strikes down President Barack Obama’s 2010 overhaul as unconstitutional, a new poll finds (6/20).
Politico: Fix Health Care After Supreme Court Ruling, Poll Says
If the Supreme Court strikes down President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law, 77 percent of Americans want the president and Congress to work on new legislation overhauling the system, according to a new AP-GfK poll on Wednesday. Only 19 percent of Americans want lawmakers to leave health care the way it is (Robillard, 6/20).
For more headlines …
The Wall Street Journal: Band-Aids For The Health Law
White House officials say they are confident the Supreme Court will uphold the health-care law, but they also are preparing for a range of outcomes, including pressing ahead with what remains of the law if the court strikes down only part of it (Meckler and Radnofsky, 6/19).
Politico: Health Care Ruling: What To Expect
No matter what the Supreme Court finally rules on the health law, tens of millions of Americans are not going to like it. And judging from the wildly contradictory polls and expectations of the past few years — in which people often declare how much they detest the health law and at the same time say how much they like what’s in it — many won’t understand the ruling, either (Kenen, 6/19).
Reuters/Chicago Tribune: Health Benefits Americans Could Lose In Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by the end of this month on the fate of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law. Following are some of the provisions already in effect under the law that Americans would lose immediately if it were to be overturned. Other provisions not listed below would come into force in 2014 if the court were to leave the law in effect (6/19).
Los Angeles Times: California To Lose Big If Supreme Court Scraps U.S. Healthcare Law
If the Supreme Court scraps the Affordable Care Act in the coming days, California will lose out on as much as $15 billion annually in new federal money slated to come its way, dealing what state officials say would be a critical blow to efforts to expand coverage to the poor and uninsured. The state is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the federal healthcare law because of its large number of uninsured residents — about 7 million people, or nearly 20% of California’s population (Terhune, Gorman and Loury, 6/20).
The New York Times’ Economic Scene: Self-Interest Meets Mandate
Odds that the justices will reject this measure, the so-called individual mandate, are approaching 80 percent on Intrade, a market where investors can bet on the outcome of pretty much everything. What’s harder to figure out is what will then happen to health insurance. Advocates of health care reform argue that eliminating the mandate could gut the president’s plan. Most health economists would probably agree. But this consensus is based on a fairly optimistic view that the individual mandate and accompanying fines for failing to comply will be highly effective at persuading Americans to buy health insurance that they would otherwise forgo (Porter, 6/19).
NPR’s Shots Blog: How Opponents Won The Health Care Messaging War
OK, so it’s not exactly news that the Obama administration hasn’t done the best job in the world selling the Affordable Care Act to the American public. But now the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism has some statistics to demonstrate just how sorry that job has been. And it suggests that the media gets at least some of the blame (Rovner, 6/19).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Senate Judiciary Committee Leaders Request Live TV For Supreme Court Health Care Decision
Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are asking the Supreme Court to allow live television coverage when it delivers its ruling on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking Republican Charles Grassley said the issues in the case are as important and consequential as any in recent court history (6/19).
The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire: Senators Want TV Cameras At Supreme Court
It’s hard to predict how the Supreme Court will rule on the Obama health law, but we can safely forecast the court’s action in one aspect of the case: It will strike down a request by the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee to televise the ruling (Landers, 6/19).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Health Officials Say 3.1M Young Adults In US Gain Insurance Coverage With Affordable Care Act
U.S. health officials say the number of young adults with medical coverage grew by more than 3 million since the new health care overhaul took effect. The Affordable Care Act mandates that insurers allow young adults to remain on their parents’ plans until they turn 26, even if they move away from home or graduate from school. About 64 percent of adults ages 19 to 25 had insurance when the policy took effect in 2010 (6/19).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Some States Socking Away Cash To Refill Reserves Drained To Balance budgets During Recession
States starting to turn the corner on their Great Recession budget woes are taking the cautious approach, socking away millions of dollars in rainy day funds rather than restoring spending for education, health care and social services (6/19).
The New York Times: In Romney And Obama Speeches, Selective Truths
Despite Mr. Romney’s claim, the new health care law will not drive government spending up to half of the economy, unless all health care spending in the country is reclassified as government spending. Given that the new law still relies heavily on private insurance provided by employers, it is a stretch to treat all of that as if it were government expenditures (Baker and Cooper, 6/19).
The Washington Post’s Two Chambers: Mitt Romney Adviser Mike Leavitt Meets With Conservative GOP Lawmakers About Health Care
A campaign adviser to Mitt Romney who supports elements of the 2010 health-care reform law huddled Monday with conservative Republican lawmakers to discuss health care just days before the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the reforms (O’Keefe, 6/19).
The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire: SEIU To Focus ON 8 Battleground States
The union’s goal is to inform the public where candidates stand on issues such as job creation, taxation, immigration overhaul, Social Security and Medicare. It plans to convey that President Obama is the candidate who’s prepared to help working people (Trottman, 6/19).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: McConnell Says Obama’s Health Care ‘Europeanizing America,’ Says It’s Time To ‘Start Over’
The top-ranking Republican in the Senate calls the Obama health care law the first step in “Europeanizing America” and says Congress should “start over” if the system is ruled invalid by the Supreme Court. Kentucky’s Sen. Mitch McConnell says Republicans believe Americans want to “repeal the whole thing” (6/19).
Chicago Tribune: Minnesota Seeks To Expand Suit Against Accretive Health
The Minnesota attorney general’s office moved Tuesday to expand its lawsuit against Chicago-based Accretive Health Inc., after more patients have come forward with complaints of aggressive collection of current and past-due bills (Sachdey, 6/19).
The New York Times: Employee Sues For Benefits To Cover Same-Sex Spouse
A lesbian employee of St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Westchester County filed a class-action lawsuit on Tuesday claiming that her spouse is entitled to the same medical coverage as the spouses of heterosexual employees (Otterman, 6/19).
