First Edition: April 1, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
The Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court Rules Medicaid Providers Can’t Sue States For Higher Pay
Federal law gives states discretion in setting Medicaid rates, as long as they follow a broad set of factors intended to ensure health services remain available to the poor without encouraging the “unnecessary utilization of such care.” In Idaho, several companies that provide home care for intellectually disabled people sued state officials claiming reimbursement rates set by the state were too low. (Bravin, 3/31)
Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court Bars Judges From Setting Medicaid Rates
Tuesday's ruling reverses a decision from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which has repeatedly blocked California from making cutbacks in its Medicaid payments. It is not clear what effect the ruling will have on the Medicaid program because significant cutbacks are not pending. (Savage, 3/31)
USA Today:
Justices Limit Lawsuits Against State Medicaid Programs
The court's majority said that section of the law was written too broadly to allow for private lawsuits, such as the one filed by home-care providers in Idaho claiming insufficient reimbursement rates. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, called it "judicially unadministrable," adding, "It is difficult to imagine a requirement broader and less specific." Scalia was joined by three other conservatives and by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the dissent, joined by two other liberals and by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who most often is in the middle. (Wolf, 3/31)
The Washington Post:
Supreme Court Says State Medicaid Payments Not Open To Private Lawsuits
Five justices — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Stephen G. Breyer and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — agreed. Scalia wrote the majority opinion, but Breyer’s was the controlling vote. “I recognize that federal courts have long become accustomed to reviewing for reasonableness or constitutionality the rate-setting determinations made by agencies,” Breyer wrote. But he said he feared that siding with the providers would lead to “increased litigation, inconsistent results, and disorderly administration of highly complex federal programs that demand public consultation, administrative guidance and coherence for their success.” (Barnes, 3/31)
Los Angeles Times:
U.S. Supreme Court Decision Could Curtail Medi-Cal Lawsuits
During California's budget crisis, attempts to cut costs by reducing public services often became tied up in litigation. But on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly curtailed that legal avenue for advocates protesting spending cuts. The justices, in a 5-4 decision, said healthcare providers could not sue when they think Medicaid rates in their state are too low. (Megerian, 3/31)
Reuters:
U.S. Congressional Budget Leaders Haggle During Recess
Top Republican budget writers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives were working over a two-week congressional recess to iron out differences between their budget plans passed last week, including ideas for changing Medicare. Aides said House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price and his Senate counterpart, Mike Enzi, want Congress to approve a combined budget by April 15 - just three days after lawmakers return to Washington from their Easter and Passover break. (3/31)
Reuters:
Exclusive: Republican White House Hopefuls Attack Obamacare But Take Money
Several Republican governors likely to run for president have secured hundreds millions of dollars under Obamacare while working to dismantle the healthcare law, according to a Reuters review of federal spending records. Governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and former Texas Governor Rick Perry, all staunch opponents of President Barack Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act, have collectively applied for and won at least $352 million through grant programs set up by the law, federal records show. (4/1)
The Washington Post:
Congress Congratulates Itself For The ‘Doc Fix’ Deal, But Can It Happen Again?
The heretofore “do-nothing” Congress is on the cusp of becoming a “did-something” Congress, and Capitol Hill couldn’t more pleased with itself. As Congress prepared to leave Washington for a two-week Easter break, lawmakers celebrated a bipartisan deal that would end the dreaded yearly ritual known as the “doc fix” while extending popular federal health-care programs for low-income families. (DeBonis, 3/31)
Politico:
Robert Menendez Indictment Could Come Wednesday
An indictment of Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez on federal corruption charges is expected as early as Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the case. The FBI and the Justice Department have been investigating Menendez’s ties to Dr. Salomon Melgen, a close friend and financial backer of the New Jersey senator, for months. It’s not clear exactly what charges Menendez could face, although honest services fraud, receiving improper gifts, and misusing his office for personal gain are all possibilities, according to the sources. Both Menendez and Melgen have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. (Bresnahan and Raju, 3/31)
The New York Times:
The Healing Power Of Your Own Medical Records
Steven Keating’s doctors and medical experts view him as a citizen of the future. A scan of his brain eight years ago revealed a slight abnormality — nothing to worry about, he was told, but worth monitoring. And monitor he did, reading and studying about brain structure, function and wayward cells, and obtaining a follow-up scan in 2010, which showed no trouble. ... So when he started smelling whiffs of vinegar last summer, he suspected they might be “smell seizures.” (Lohr, 3/31)
The New York Times:
Arizona Doctors Must Say That Abortions With Drugs May Be Reversed
Once again, Arizona finds itself on the frontier of anti-abortion legislation: Late Monday, it became the first state to pass a law requiring doctors who perform drug-induced abortions to tell women that the procedure may be reversible, an assertion that most doctors say is wrong. The provision is part of a broader law signed by Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, meant to prevent plans offered in Arizona through the federal health care exchange from providing coverage for most abortions. (Rojas, 3/31)
The Wall Street Journal:
23 People Charged In ‘Sneakers Case’
The patients were recruited by the hundreds: Medicaid cardholders picked up at homeless shelters and welfare agencies with the promise of free sneakers and shoes, then brought to corrupt clinics for unnecessary medical tests and devices. Those tests and devices brought in nearly $7 million in fraudulent Medicaid and Medicare billings, according to a 199-count indictment unsealed Tuesday by the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. (Davis O'Brien, 3/31)