Health Care News Feb. 14 - 18

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News
FRIDAY
Senators Introduce Bill to Expand Medicare Mental Health Coverage
Under current Medicare regulations, beneficiaries are offered up to 190 days of inpatient psychiatric treatment in a hospital through the lifetime of the policy. Under Kerry and Snowe's bill the limitation will be eliminated and Medicare mental health coverage would be equal to that offered in private insurance.
S&P: Health Care Costs Increase
Health care costs rose 6.06 percent with commercial insurance costs rising by 7.75 percent and Medicare costs rising by 3.27 percent, according to the report. But both costs are down from the May index, with the Medicare index showing annual growth cut in half from May’s rates.
Justice Dept. Asks Judge to Clarify Health Care Ruling After Alaska Governor Refuses to Enact Law
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Thursday he will not implement President Obama's health care overhaul because a federal judge in Florida ruled it unconstitutional, prompting the Justice Department to take the case back to the judge.

THURSDAY
HHS Awards Grants for Insurance Exchanges
The Department of Health and Human Services awarded grants to seven states today to put toward the state health insurance exchanges required under the health care law.
Paul Ryan vows to target Medicare and Medicaid
The top House budget writer vowed this week to craft a blueprint for the nation’s fiscal future that proposes significant reforms to Medicare and Medicaid — but not necessarily to Social Security — as he criticized President Barack Obama for choosing not to address entitlement spending in his fiscal 2012 budget.

WEDNESDAY
Obama Budget Targets Brand Name Medicines
Big pharmaceutical companies could face increased competition from generic drugmakers under two proposals put forth by the Obama administration on Monday despite earlier savings extracted from drugmakers as part of last year's healthcare law.
Sebelius Defends Health Care Overhaul as Obama Seeks Medical Malpractice Reforms
Sebelius told the Senate Finance Committee that efforts to implement the controversial overhaul will be "exceedingly difficult" if Republicans are able to starve the law of funding through the current budget process.
IRS seeks $119M to enforce health care reform tax changes
The money would go towards hiring hundreds of new full-time employees and set up an account that would fund new technology and infrastructure.
Obamacare vs. Drug Innovation
PhRMA’s quiescence on Obamacare badly hurt the industry — and all those who depend on medical innovation.
Utah's free-market model for health exchanges
Just after the health care law passed, conservatives quickly coalesced around the Utah Health Exchange as the best-case scenario for implementing the new law.
A Tale of Two Bad Laws
‘Obamacare’ collides with Ohio’s regulation of the truth.
Congress plays chicken over paying for 1099 fix
There's one legislative issue lawmakers on both sides of the aisle overwhelmingly agree on: The onerous 1099 tax-reporting mandate that snuck into the health-care reform bill has to be repealed.

MONDAY
The Tea Party’s Next Move
Activists are planning a frontal assault on federal health care programs by re purposing an obscure constitutional provision.

Economist Comments
FRIDAY
Can Health-Care Waivers Be Justified?
The power to waive or dispense with the law is dangerous, it cannot be delegated, and it is not cured by transparency.
To Speed Drug Development, Government Must Get Out of the Way
The Obama administration proposes in its latest budget to create a new billion-dollar federal agency to help develop new medicines. The reason? The government is concerned that private companies aren't doing enough to get new drugs to market.

THURSDAY
Health-Care Reform: Out of Control
As the House tries to strip funding from Obama's sweeping health-care reform, we wanted to show you how the law is not just about health care - it's one of the largest tax hikes ever.
Dick Armey: Don't fix 'Obamacare'
In a memo to House Republicans, obtained by POLITICO, republican strategy firm FreedomWorks pushes members not to improve the legislation - which could run the risk of making the law more popular - and warns against working with industries that do not support the full repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
Back to Basics on Health Care Reform
In framing a sound health care policy to replace this big, sloppy and unconstitutional law over the next two years, lawmakers should remember that they are the representatives of the citizens of a republic.

WEDNESDAY
Obama's Medicaid Provisions Are an Albatross to Economic Recovery
Medicaid's budget problems will only worsen since Congress is unlikely to extend the higher federal Medicaid contribution beyond its June 30 expiration
Obamacare's individual mandate is a dangerous new federal power
Congress has ample means to solve free-rider problems by regulating economic activity and devising tax and spending schemes. It does not need a new and dangerous power to compel every American to do business with a private company. Economic mandates are an unnecessary and improper means to the regulation of interstate commerce.
WOLF: In contempt of court and common sense
One solution is for Congress to defund Obamacare now

TUESDAY
What Health Reform Missed: The Doctor Shortage
Because of this looming doctor shortage, health reform essentially will create market forces that will enact rationing of care. Picking up where insurers left off when it comes to rationing.

MONDAY
DOLINAR: Obamacare yields fewer choices
Overregulation can mean best medicines are banned.
PIPES: A crummy Canadian import
A federal judge recently ruled President Obama‘s health care law unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court no doubt will have to settle the matter, but several of the reform package’s worst offenses have taken root already.

Blogs
FRIDAY
Bad Medicine: One-Year Review Of Obamacare
It has been a year since President Obama’s health care reform bill was signed into law. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents the most significant transformation of the American health care system since Medicare and Medicaid. It will fundamentally change nearly every aspect of health care, from insurance to the final delivery of care.
Alaska’s Parnell Becomes 2nd Gov. to Refuse to Implement ObamaCare
The Associated Press reports that Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce that he will not be implementing ObamaCare:
House Education and Workforce Committee: Obamacare Is a Job Killer
The effects of Obamacare will reach every niche of the health care system, but they won’t stop there. The new health law will also have widespread negative effects on the economy, especially businesses, which are already facing growing health care costs and incentives to dump coverage altogether.
Prepare for Health Care Ping Pong
The Affordable Care Act will extend health insurance coverage by both expanding Medicaid eligibility and offering premium subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance through state health insurance exchanges. But by definition, eligibility for these programs is sensitive to income and can change over time with fluctuating income and changes in family composition.
Obamacare and Entitlement Reform
Okay, maybe the Republicans are serious about reforming entitlements — especially Medicare, the Big Kahuna. Usually, politicians’ claims to be almost willing to make preparations to eventually propose having an “adult conversation” about entitlements are not worth wasting time on. But this time may be different — and I credit the fight against Obamacare with moving the goalposts.

THURSDAY
House GOPers propose amendments to defund health care law
Among the dozens of amendments filed last night with the House Rules Committee are two that would attempt to defund the Democratic health care law passed last year.
President (and Governors) Should Heed Court and Stop Implementing ObamaCare
In so uncertain a legal context, it is simply reckless for financially strapped federal and state governments to pour resources into changing our health care system when those changes may not ultimately pass constitutional muster.
The Great Stagnation in medicine
In both Washington and in the blogosphere, we're very focused on insurance and coverage issues, but is not the innovation pipeline more important?  Does it receive one-tenth the discussion?  One-fiftieth?  Does a slow pipeline mean that health care policy is doomed to be unpopular?
President’s Budget Contains One Sorry Excuse of a Doc Fix
Every year, physician reimbursement for treating Medicare patients is scheduled to decrease according to the “sustainable growth rate” formula. This complex and unworkable policy is intended to create savings, but Congress has delayed the cuts for years, since allowing such dramatic cuts would cause many physicians to drop Medicare patients altogether, resulting in severely reduced access to care for seniors.

WEDNESDAY
Now Is the Best Time to Defund Obamacare
Now—when the House considers the bill to fund government for the rest of the year and seeks to reduce spending by $100 billion—is the best of all times to defund Obamacare. But although it’s a golden opportunity, so far defunding Obamacare is not on the agenda.

TUESDAY
Side Effects: List of Missed Obamacare Deadlines Grows
Missed deadlines by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continue to show us the absent-minded way in which Obamacare was put together.
A Dishonest Budget, as Told in One Graph
It's the same old story: dessert today, spinach tomorrow.
Breaking Health Care Research: How Obamacare Undercuts Existing Health Plans
Since the PPACA was signed into law and began down the long road of enactment, the truth has proven to be the opposite: No matter how much individuals may like their current health plan, under the new law, there’s no guarantee they can keep it.
More Productivity or More Subsidies?
What exactly do we mean when we say we’re making health-care insurance cheaper? We could subsidize expensive coverage, thus lowering the price of insurance coverage at the point of sale. Or we can reduce the underlying cost of providing high-quality medical care. We could, of course, do both, but these strategies aren’t always compatible.

MONDAY
Obamacare and the States: Freedom To Do What Sebelius Tells Them To Do
Any state flexibility that may remain after enactment of PPACA is at the discretion and even indulgence of the federal government. The flexibility that Sebelius cites are, as she herself reveals, what the PPACA permits the states to do.
Obamacare Defenders Grasping at Straw Men
Setting aside the issue of why Congress is only now getting around to holding hearings on the constitutionality of a fundamental piece of legislation it passed nearly a year ago, it's clear now at least that the proponents of limitless, extra-constitutional government are running scared.  Obamacare delenda est.
How Big is the Health Care “Free-Rider” Problem?
One of the most common arguments for an individual mandate is that “free-riders” – the uninsured who consume emergency room care with no way to pay for it – are jacking up health care costs for everyone else.
Obamacare Waivers Mount, Still
On Wednesday, HHS updated its Web site to show that it has now granted 915 waivers to Obamacare’s requirements on benefit limits in health insurance plans.

Reports
FRIDAY
Easy Access Quality Care: The Role for Retial Health Clinics in New York
Beginning in 2014, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010, is expected to significantly extend health-insurance coverage in New York by increasing Medicaid enrollment and offering federal subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance. However, there is no guarantee that the newly insured will be able to access the health-care system in a timely fashion as new demand for services outstrips physician supply.

WEDNESDAY
Accountable Care Organizations: The End of Innovation in Medicine?
The Obama administration is pinning its hopes for controlling Medicare costs on accountable care organizations (ACOs)—a system in which groups of doctors are given responsibility for a large population of patients, with a share of the doctors’ reimbursement dependent on their ability to reduce spending and improve clinical outcomes.