OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Boehner wants details on spending cuts

By Sam Baker and Elise Viebeck - 11/29/12 07:37 PM ET

The fight over the "fiscal cliff" raged on Thursday as Republican leaders sounded pessimistic about the prospects for a deal. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he was "disappointed" in the state of negotiations.

“Despite claims that the president supports a balanced approach, the Democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts,” Boehner said.

The White House reiterated Thursday that President Obama will only support a deal that raises tax rates on top earners, and congressional Democrats have held firm against benefit cuts in major entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Although the White House has put a series of Medicare and Medicaid cuts on the table in previous debt talks, Boehner criticized the administration Thursday for failing to provide a specific proposal for spending cuts to avoid the automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to hit in January.

The Hill's coverage is here.

A 'yes' on Medicaid: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) said Thursday that he wants to take part in the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, setting the stage for a fight with the GOP-controlled state legislature that must approve his budget proposal. Nixon said participating in the Medicaid expansion would cover roughly 300,000 uninsured Missourians.

"It's the smart thing to do, and it's the right thing to do," he said in a statement.

Healthwatch has more.

Hospitals push Medicaid: Nixon's announcement came just a day after the Missouri Hospital Association reiterated its support for the Medicaid expansion.

"Medicaid expansion will improve the health of the state and significantly boost the state’s economy,” the group said in a statement Wednesday. “It is a win-win for Missouri."

The hospitals' push underscores that decisions about Medicaid and state exchanges aren't just political. Hospitals very much want to see the states expand Medicaid, and just about every healthcare industry group would prefer state-run insurance exchanges to a federally run fallback. But Republican governors face competing pressures from national conservatives who are looking for the next way to undermine a healthcare law they deeply oppose.

Secret reasoning: There's a fight brewing in Oklahoma over whether Gov. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.) should have to release documents about her decision not to implement a state-based exchange. Her office has denied Freedom of Information Act requests from multiple media outlets, saying she doesn't have to produce records that come from internal deliberations. But a professor at Oklahoma State University says the state constitution doesn't afford her such protection, and the documents should be made public. More details are here.

Recalcitrant cancers: A bipartisan cancer research bill is likely to pass as part of the Senate's defense bill after it was added as amendment Thursday evening. The Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act mandates that federal officials create research frameworks for "recalcitrant" cancers such as lung and pancreatic cancer, which have five-year survival rates of less than 50 percent. The addition of the bill as an amendment signals that the cancer bill's nearly six-year saga could be drawing to a close. Read more about the measure at Healthwatch.

Revolving door: Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), who is on his way out of Congress after losing a primary earlier this year, is taking a K Street post for the nation's largest insurer. Altmire plans to join Florida's arm of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association as senior vice president of public policy, government and community affairs. Healthwatch has the details on Altmire's new gig.

Friday's agenda

The National Pharmaceutical Council Conference will begin in Washington, D.C.

State by state

GOP leader says Michigan won't have state-run health exchange

Nathan Deal: 'Cost and control' behind refusal to set up Georgia exchange

MaineCare program reported $100M short

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