Health Care News Jan. 31 - Feb. 4

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News
FRIDAY
Virginia to seek expedited Supreme Court review of suit over health-care law
Virginia will ask that the U.S. Supreme Court immediately review the state's constitutional challenge to the federal health-care overhaul, a rare legal request to bypass appeals and ask for early intervention from the nation's highest court, Attorney General Ken T. Cuccinelli II said Thursday.
Dead or alive?
Another blow for Barack Obama’s health reforms is struck by the courts.
Alaska Gov: Enacting Health Care Law May Violate Oath
Parnell told reporters that he took an oath to support and defend the constitutions of the United States and Alaska. While the Republican governor concedes the issue is expected to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, he said he has a duty to uphold the law and wants Attorney General John J. Burns to advise on what that duty is after the Florida ruling.
Medical device makers want tax repealed
The CEOs of 16 medical device companies descended on Capitol Hill to make the case for their industry. Asking for the repeal of the medical device tax in the health care law and continued improvements to the FDA’s 510(k) regulatory process, they said they worried the booming industry would lose its competitive edge in the economy.

THURSDAY
Senate Democrats block GOP bid to repeal health care law
The party-line vote, with all 47 Republicans in favor and 51 Democrats opposed, meant the procedural motion failed to get the necessary 60 votes to pass. Two Democrats didn't vote.
Despite Hurdles, GOP Still Intent on Repealing Health Care Law
Senate Republicans, unfazed by their inability to advance a repeal of the health care law Wednesday, say they plan to offer repeated amendments to bring it down and to strike specific provisions such as the individual mandate.

WEDNESDAY
Not many House Republicans rejecting health benefits on principle
It's now official. Starting Tuesday, members of Congress may receive generous health care benefits -- subsidized by Uncle Sam.
Senate to Vote on Health-Law Repeal
GOP Seizes on Ruling Calling the Measure Unconstitutional; Democrats Downplay Judge's Decision.
Graham, Barrasso Introduce 'Third Front' With Opt-Out Bill
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow states to opt out of certain provisions of the health care bill.

TUESDAY
Federal judge tosses out sweeping health care reform act
A federal judge in Florida has tossed out the sweeping health care reform law championed by President Barack Obama, setting up what is likely to be a contentious Supreme Court challenge over the legislation in coming months.
White House vows to implement health care reform, despite judge’s ruling
The Justice Department says it will appeal US District Judge Roger Vinson’s decision, which declared the health care reform law unconstitutional and void in its entirety.
All Senate Republicans appear ready to repeal health care law
Every Republican in the Senate now appears ready to revoke President Obama's signature health care law. This comes as a federal judge, in Florida, strikes down key parts of the law as unconstitutional.

MONDAY
Health Care Costs in Question as Obama Administration Grants Waivers
The law now forces all plans to offer at least 750,000 dollars in annual benefits, but the administration has already granted waivers to McDonald's and other low wage firms.
Obama Defends Health Care, but Says He's Open to New Ideas
Speaking to allies, the president says he doesn't want to relitigate the last two years.
CHIP Enrollments are Up, but Barriers Remain
A policy brief from the journal Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports that while children’s enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program is up, states are still struggling to find ways of reducing barriers to enrollment.

Economist Comments
FRIDAY
The States Can't Afford ObamaCare
Their budgets will be crushed by the Medicaid expansions that the feds are forcing on them.

THURSDAY
House GOP Weighs Medicare Limits
The Political Gamble Facing Republicans Is Whether Voters Are Willing To Give Up Benefits to Trim the Federal Deficit.
The Nuts and Bolts of the ObamaCare Ruling
The Obama administration attempted to cloak an unprecedented and unsupportable exercise of federal power in the guise of a run-of-the-mill Commerce Clause regulation.
The Politics of Saving 'Granny'
Alice Rivlin and Paul Ryan have a bipartisan plan.
What Now, After Health Care Ruling?
After appeals to the circuit courts, these cases will go to the Supreme Court for consolidated resolution.
States of Resistance
Governors are fleeing ObamaCare after the Florida ruling.
Obamacare As Sin Tax?
The Congressional Research Service already commented on the tax vs. penalty issue in detail last October, finding that though "the power to tax and spend for the general welfare is one of the broadest powers in the Constitution," it doesn't authorize the government to institute any regulation it wants under the guise of taxation.

WEDNESDAY
Why Small Business Wants Repeal of ObamaCare
The law is unpopular among small business owners because it is not making employee health insurance more affordable.
Death Panel for Obamacare Would Look Like This: Ann Woolner
With two federal judges now saying it’s unconstitutional to force Americans to buy health insurance, and two others saying it’s fine, you’ve got to wonder if there isn’t a better way.
Defending the flex spending accounts
Some of the largest of the 500 companies that administer FSAs, as well as drugmakers and business groups, are organizing and funding the drive to change the law, which they say may reduce the number of people using these accounts.

TUESDAY
Health-Care Reform: Separating Fact From Fiction
According to Politico, the health and human services department says the law could save families around 23 hundred dollars in premiums in 2014.

MONDAY
WOLF: Tawdry details of Obamacare
White House quietly exempts pampered politicos.

Blogs
FRIDAY
Anthony Kennedy, a nation turns its angry eyes to you
Liberals basically have their fingers crossed that the Supreme Court will continue to rule that the commerce clause allows Congress to do more or less anything it wants since more or less anything anyone does or doesn't do has some effect or other on interstate commerce.

THURSDAY
Good Riddance 1099 Mandate
Senate Democrats deserve credit for this much: in voting to repeal the so-called "1099 reporting mandate," they have acknowledged that this small part of Obamacare will be a disaster.
Obamacare In Serious Condition
Any way you look at the issue, ObamaCare is in serious condition with the American people, the federal judiciary and Congress.  If President Obama does not take the many legal and political challenges to his unconstitutional health care law seriously, he may force the federal Courts and the Congress to take extraordinary measures to erase ObamaCare from the Federal Code.

WEDNESDAY
The Rule of Law, Obama-Style Part Deux
Here is a threat from our government to America’s Insurance Plans for discussing the impact of ObamaCare on their premiums:

TUESDAY
Florida Ruling Requires Government to Stop Implementing Obamacare
As I continue digesting Judge Vinson’s ruling, I notice two key things beyond the facts that the “individual mandate is unconstitutional”:
Ways and Means Hearing: Obamacare Is Bad for Business
Small businesses currently face an uphill battle to offer insurance to their employees, and the climb is becoming progressively steeper as insurance costs continue to rise. Obamacare will make these obstacles even more daunting.
ObamaCare Goes Down
How badly does today’s ruling hurt the Obama administration’s health reform efforts?
Another Victory on the Road to Repeal
If Congress can penalize a passive individual for failing to engage in commerce, the enumeration of powers in the Constitution would have been in vain for it would be ‘difficult to perceive any limitation on federal power’ and we would have a Constitution in name only.

MONDAY
Obamacare Does No Favors for the Nation’s Fiscal Outlook
The United States faces severe economic consequences if skyrocketing federal spending on health care is not addressed. Rather than acknowledge this, Obamacare left in place an unsustainable policy that adds billions to the deficit each year.

Reports
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