OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Conservatives to unveil ObamaCare ‘replace’ plan

by Elise Viebeck - 09/17/13 10:30 PM ET

Dems demand balance: Conflict is brewing within the House Oversight Committee, where Democrats are asking Republican leaders to allow pro-ObamaCare testimony at Wednesday’s hearing on the law. In a letter Tuesday, three ranking Democrats accused the GOP of trying to merely criticize ObamaCare with a slate of four critical witnesses. The speaker list “suggests that this hearing is not designed to improve implementation of the law at all, but rather to bring it down,” Democrats wrote. The event is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m.

McConnell punts on shutdown solution … Read the story at The Hill’s On the Money blog.

$100 or less: Millions of people entering ObamaCare’s new insurance marketplaces will pay less than $100 per month for healthcare coverage, according to a new federal report. The study by the Health and Human Services Department found that about 6.4 million people would be eligible for the coverage at that price because of ObamaCare’s tax credits for middle-income families. Altogether, about half of the uninsured people in the United States will be eligible for health insurance costing $100 or less because the healthcare law expands other federal programs, the report stated. Healthwatch has the story.

{mosads}Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to allow vote on ObamaCare amendment … Check out The Hill’s E2 Wire for more.

Outreach update: Groups working to promote ObamaCare said their efforts are making headway despite polls showing the public is still in the dark about healthcare reform. On a call with reporters, Enroll America President Anne Filipic said her group has seen a drop in confusion about the law both in surveys and on the ground since the end of last year. Find out more at Healthwatch.

Win for birth-control mandate: A U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday that a for-profit manufacturing corporation must cover birth control in its employee health plan despite the religious beliefs of the company’s owners. The decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals represents a victory for the Obama administration in a series of ongoing fights over the contraception policy, which critics see as a violation of religious freedom. Healthwatch has more on the decision.

Win for in-home aides: The Labor Department moved Tuesday to extend minimum wage and overtime pay rights to nearly two million domestic care workers. The burgeoning in-home health industry has long been exempt from those rights with aids and assistant nurses who have traditionally fallen under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “companionship exemption,” under which they are denied the benefits. Advocates of the change, including President Obama, have argued that federal pay regulations reflect a shift toward more in-home care of the elderly and infirm. Read more at RegWatch.

Stagnant: The rate of people without health insurance changed little during 2012, dropping from 48.6 million to 48 million, according to the Census Bureau. The tiny shift was attributed to a rise in people on Medicare, a trend that’s expected to increase sharply as the baby boomer generation ages. Health researcher Dr. David Himmelstein estimated that the current level of uninsurance in the United States causes one preventable death every 11 minutes. Read more at Healthwatch.

Wednesday’s schedule

Two House Oversight subcommittees will host a joint hearing on state governments’ concerns about ObamaCare.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing on how HIV/AIDS affects older patients.

The Senate Cancer Coalition will hold a forum on the next generation of cancer treatment options.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will deliver remarks at the 2013 National League for Nursing Education Summit in Washington, D.C.

More than 170 organizations will lobby lawmakers to protect federal funding for medical research from further cuts.

Officials and lawmakers will speak at a Capitol Hill press conference honoring National Health IT Week.

The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association will host a briefing on Capitol Hill about new research suggesting its centers could save Medicare billions over the next decade.

The Cato Institute will hold a discussion on a new healthcare book, Catastrophic Care.

State by state

GOP lawmakers sue Arizona’s Brewer over Medicaid expansion

Michigan’s Snyder signs Medicaid plan into law

Maine Democrats renew effort to expand Medicaid

Reading list

Opinion: Blame ObamaCare confusion on the old system

Laid off and looking for health insurance? Beware of COBRA

British cosmologist Hawking backs right to assisted suicide

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