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OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Healthcare reform turns 3
It's been three years since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law — and since healthcare helped sweep Republicans into the House majority. But Republicans aren't getting the same mileage out their anti-ObamaCare message these days. Democratic strategists say they're not too worried about the healthcare attacks they'll likely face in 2014 Senate races.
Although the ACA remains unpopular in public polling, continuing to fight over the law is also unpopular. The law has been on the books since 2010, and it was further legitimized by the Supreme Court's ruling last year and Obama's reelection in a campaign that saw plenty of healthcare attacks.
Democrats point to their wins in red states in 2012 to argue that healthcare won't be a potent attack in 2014. And they also note that big parts of the law will be in place in 2014, including its coverage expansion and its most politically popular consumer protections. Republicans might have a harder time campaigning on a repeal platform once those benefits become real, Democrats argue.
Of course, the opposite is also true — if the 2014 rollout goes poorly and predictions of rising costs or erosions in employer-based care come true, Republicans who held fast to their absolute rejection of the ACA might find themselves in a much better position.
We have a full analysis of the state of healthcare politics three years in.
Obama's care: Republicans have filed a slew of healthcare amendments to the Senate's budget proposal. Among them: a proposal to require President Obama, Vice President Biden and members of the Cabinet to get their health coverage through the law's exchanges. The White House has said in the past that Obama would join an exchange once they're online in 2014, and this proposal, from Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), would make that pledge legally binding. Healthwatch has the story.
No 'iPhone tax': The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it has no plans to subject smartphones and tablets to a controversial tax in President Obama’s healthcare law. Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Investigations subcommittee this week seized on reports that the agency could extend the healthcare law's tax on medical devices to iPhones, BlackBerrys and Android devices. But an agency official assured lawmakers on Thursday that smartphones will be exempt from the tax.
Counting calories: A new bipartisan House bill would ease certain nutrition reporting requirements that the food industry says are onerous and nonsensical. The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act from Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) proposes small changes to federal regulations to allow, for example, pizza makers to provide calorie ranges for their products rather than exact counts for every possible pizza. The bill would also allow delivery-service restaurants to provide nutrition information online rather than on a menu board that would not be seen by customers. The American Pizza Community, which includes chains like Domino's, Papa John's and Pizza Hut, praised the measure Thursday as "workable" and "flexible."
'Net gain': A new report from The Urban Institute found that healthcare reform's Medicaid expansion will benefit hospitals more than harm them. Researchers studied the expected loss in private insurance dollars as newly qualified Medicaid beneficiaries switch to public coverage, which is reimbursed at a lower rate.
Using numbers from the Congressional Budget Office and its own modeling, The Urban Institute concluded that hospitals' Medicaid revenue will rise by $2.59 for every dollar lost from private coverage. The report noted that gains for hospitals "depend significantly" on whether states choose to expand Medicaid, which is optional as a result of the Supreme Court's ruling last summer and causing major fights at the state level. Read more at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which provided funding for the study.
Mental health break: Beat the odds! Try the Kaiser Family Foundation's updated quiz on healthcare reform here.
20-week ban: A proposed amendment to the Senate budget urges Congress to criminalize some abortions in the District of Columbia based on the disputed premise that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks of development. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) tried to attach a similar amendment (#252) to last year's cybersecurity bill but was unsuccessful. The House rejected its own 20-week D.C. abortion ban under suspension of the rules in July. Read more at Healthwatch.
Friday's agenda
The National Association of Community Health Centers will wrap up its policy and issues forum.
Microsoft will host a roundtable on the future of HIPAA and the cloud.
State by state
Minn. governor signs bill creating health insurance exchange
States tackle mental illness and gun ownership
Fla. Senate takes first step on Medicaid alternative
Dems say Iowa Senate will soon OK Medicaid expansion
Lobbying registrations
McGruieWoods Consulting / Touro College and University System
Reading list
Obama health law anniversary finds two Americas
FDA to issue mobile app guidance before Oct. 1, official says [free registration required]
High salt consumption tied to 2.3 million heart deaths
US TB rates reach all-time low, but resistance a threat
What you might have missed on Healthwatch
Sebelius: Health law has lowered costs, slowed premium hikes
GOP previews life sciences priorities
HHS touts savings for seniors under health law
Reid marks third anniversary of healthcare law
Dem leader urges media to challenge health law 'myths'
Bachmann turns tables, says ObamaCare 'kills' women, children
Boustany pushes IRS for details on health law work
GOP lawmakers press for study of health law's effect on wages
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