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OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Sequester closes in
The across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester are set to set in at the end of the week, and the implications for the healthcare sector are vast. Doctors and hospitals will see their Medicare payments cut, drug companies will likely have to deal with approval delays from the Food and Drug Administration, and cuts to the National Institutes of Health could pose a major setback to medical research.
It seems increasingly likely that the sequester will take effect; President Obama and congressional Republicans are spending far more time trying to pin each other with the political blame for the cuts than trying to avert them. But the question is how long they'll last — if Congress restores funding relatively soon, the impacts won't be terribly severe. But the sequester is set to get steeper in later years, posing a much bigger risk to industry stakeholders.
After lobbying Congress for the past year to cancel the sequester, healthcare providers are now more focused on preparing for the cuts. They're trying to cut costs by limiting new hiring and looking for efficiencies in how they deliver care, but doctors and hospitals say they can't absorb the sequester without losing more than 200,000 jobs this year alone.
Healthwatch has the full story on how the looming cuts would hit healthcare.
AARP pushes Medicaid: AARP, the nation's largest seniors' lobby, says it's stepping up the pressure on governors to accept the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. The group said Monday that it's lobbying in more than 40 states, making the case to governors and legislators that the federally funded expansion is a good deal for states as well as residents who are nearing retirement.
Healthwatch has more.
CBO boosts Amgen: Senate Republicans are defending a piece of last year's "fiscal cliff" deal that benefited Amgen. Armed with new figures from the Congressional Budget Office, they're making the case that the provision has the potential for long-term savings, contrary to a New York Times report that said it would cost Medicare about $500 million.
But CBO estimates released by Sen. Orrin Hatch's (R-Utah) office show that extending the delay would save Medicare money. CBO didn't re-score the fiscal-cliff provision, but looked at options for extending the delay in price controls. Another two years would save Medicare roughly $1.3 billion, Hatch's office said, and permanently avoiding the price controls would save as much as $4 billion.
“This was always good policy, but this good policy for taxpayers and for Medicare patients was overlooked by sensationalistic reporting,” Hatch said in a statement.
In a publication near you: A coalition of more than 40 specialty groups and other advocates is launching advertisements in Beltway publications urging Congress not to allow sequester cuts for graduate medical education. The ad features a female patient sitting on an exam table with the headline, "If there's no doctor, what will you do?" According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, automatic federal spending cuts set to hit Friday will jeopardize important medical education programs as the U.S. healthcare sector rests on the edge of a doctor shortage.
Tuesday's agenda
The House Ways and Means Health subcommittee will hold a hearing on Medicare's benefit structure.
The Global Health Technologies Coalition will unveil a report on U.S. investments in global health research at a Capitol Hill briefing.
The Advanced Medical Technology Association will hold a press briefing on issues facing the industry this year.
National Journal and the Partnership for the Future of Medicare are sponsoring an event on Medicare costs and delivery-system reform. Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) will speak, along with Mark McClellan, the former Medicare chief.
State by state
Could ObamaCare make Medicaid more Republican?
Fla. economists discuss cost of Medicaid expansion
Calif. county call center faces changes under health reform
N.J. to freeze health insurance enrollment
Lobbying registrations
Ernst & Young / Employers for Flexibility in Health Care Coalition
National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans / self-registration
Pitcock Consulting / State of Indiana
Arent Fox / Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Amedisys / self-registration
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta / self-registration
Drinker Biddle & Reath / American Foundation for the Blind
Nathanson+Hauck / Freelancers Insurance Company
Nathanson+Hauck / Independent Workers Services
Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough / Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina
Thorn Run Partners / Abbot Laboratories
Thorn Run Partners / AbbVie
Thorn Run Partners / Affymax
Thorn Run Partners / Childrens Hospital Colorado
Thorn Run Partners / Pacific Pulmonary Services
Twenty-First Century Group / LeadingAge
Reading list
Congress targets Medicare before sequestration deadline
Cancer drugs proving worth earlier in testing
Despite growth, EHR adoption seen as uneven [free reg. req'd]
What you might have missed on Healthwatch
Lew: White House opposes higher Medicare age, Medicaid cuts
Anti-abortion-rights groups demand protections in CR bill
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