- KFF Health News Original Stories 2
- Wellness At Work: Popular But Unproven
- Obamacare Co-Ops Cut Prices, Turn Up Heat On Rival Insurers
- Political Cartoon: 'Point Of No Return?'
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Wellness At Work: Popular But Unproven
Almost all large employers offer at least one wellness plan, but studies showing these efforts really save money are scarce. (Julie Rovner, )
Obamacare Co-Ops Cut Prices, Turn Up Heat On Rival Insurers
For-profit carriers complain the upstarts have an unfair edge because of low-interest federal loans. (Phil Galewitz, )
Political Cartoon: 'Point Of No Return?'
KFF Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'Point Of No Return?'" by Lisa Benson.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
GINNING UP ANOTHER IPAB FIGHT
Tell me once again
what that board could do if it
ever got started…
- Anonymous
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.
Summaries Of The News:
Gruber, In Hill Testimony, Apologizes And Plays Down His Role In Crafting Health Law
The former administration adviser is blasted by both Democrats and Republicans for his comments suggesting that officials got the law passed through a lack of transparency and "the stupidity" of American voters.
The Washington Post:
Jonathan Gruber: ‘I Am Embarrassed, And I Am Sorry’
“I'm a professor of economics at MIT. I'm not a politician nor a political advisor," Gruber said, stressing that his role with the administration was purely technical. "I did not draft Governor Romney’s health care plan, and I was not the ‘architect’ of President Obama’s health care plan.” The hearing featured several terse exchanges, which highlighted the lighting rod Gruber has become and the sharp partisan divisions surrounding the ACA. (DelReal, 12/9)
The Wall Street Journal:
Gruber Apologizes Before House Committee
Mr. Gruber testified with Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Republicans had criticized both for statements they say show a pattern of deception by the Obama administration in passing and implementing the 2010 law. Both Republicans and Democrats sharply criticized Mr. Gruber for his comments. The remarks reveal “a pattern of intentional misleading” of the public about the Affordable Care Act, said Rep. Darrel Issa (R., Calif.), chairman of the committee. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel, said Mr. Gruber’s statements “gave Republicans a public-relations gift in their relentless political campaign to tear down the ACA and eliminate health care for millions of Americans.” (Armour, 12/9)
The New York Times:
Jonathan Gruber Of M.I.T. Regrets ‘Arrogance’ On Health Law
Jonathan Gruber, the health economist whose incendiary comments about “the stupidity of the American voter” have embarrassed the Obama administration, apologized on Tuesday for what he described as his “glib, thoughtless and sometimes downright insulting comments.” “I am not a political adviser nor a politician,” said Dr. Gruber, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was a paid consultant to the Obama administration in 2009 to 2010. (Pear, 12/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Obamacare Advisor Apologizes To Lawmakers For Controversial Comments
Jonathan Gruber, an MIT professor who worked on the Affordable Care Act, apologized to members of Congress on Tuesday for a series of controversial comments he made about the law, which Republicans have seized on to attack the healthcare legislation. “I behaved badly, and I will have to live with that,” Gruber told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. “But my own inexcusable arrogance is not a flaw in the Affordable Care Act. The ACA is a milestone accomplishment for our nation that already has provided millions of Americans with health insurance.” (Levey, 12/9)
The Associated Press:
Obama Health Adviser Apologizes For ‘Glib’ Remarks
Gruber told groups in 2012 and 2013 that voter stupidity and a “lack of transparency” were important to passing the hard-fought legislation. Appearing before the House Oversight committee Tuesday, Gruber expanded on earlier apologies, repeatedly saying “I was conjecturing in areas beyond my expertise.” Enduring one fierce lecture after another, Gruber said his earlier comments were uninformed, “glib, thoughtless and sometimes downright insulting.” He said he was showing off before various groups, and “trying to be something, I’m not, which was a political expert.” (Babington, 12/9)
Politico:
Gruber Survives
Still, Tuesday’s House hearing never forced Gruber to admit what Republicans wanted to prove: that he was speaking from inside knowledge of the writing of the Affordable Care Act, and therefore had confirmed that Obamacare was a fraud all along. And as much as the Republicans grilled him, Gruber never budged from his story, whether they wanted to believe it or not: He ran numbers for Obamacare, didn’t really know the political strategies he talked about so freely, and did not, in fact, confirm the premise of a lawsuit over subsidies that could give the Supreme Court a new opportunity to unravel the health care law next year. (Nather, 12/9)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog:
Why We Haven’t Seen The Last Of Jonathan Gruber
MIT economist Jonathan Gruber apologized before a congressional committee Tuesday for calling American voters stupid and a number of comments saying that the administration deceived the American public to pass Obamacare almost five years ago. Gruber's much-anticipated testimony tried to serve two main goals — apologize for the comments that opened up Obamacare to new scrutiny and do his best to distance himself from the drafting of the health-care law. (MIllman, 12/9)
Politico:
Jonathan Gruber: I'm Not 'The Architect' Of Obamacare
Gruber also drew the ire of committee Republicans for not disclosing all his income from state and federal consulting contracts, and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa threatened to subpoena information on how much Gruber was paid for all of his Affordable Care Act work. Gruber, who has been a sought-after speaker in recent years, advised Washington and a number of states. Gruber would only confirm he received close to $400,000 under a contract with HHS and referred the committee to his attorney to determine what other payments may be released. (Norman, 12/9)
The Fiscal Times:
Gruber Won’t Say How Much He Made as Obamacare Architect
Jonathan Gruber, the embattled former White House consultant and key architect of Obamacare, spent the morning engaged in an awkward battle with lawmakers during a House Oversight Committee hearing about his role in the president’s health care law. (Ehley, 12/9)
The committee also questioned an administration official about a misstep in calculating enrollment numbers -
USA Today:
Gruber Sorry For 'Insulting' Comments On Obamacare
The committee also questioned Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for giving misleading enrollment numbers in previous testimony in September. Tavenner testified that 7.3 million people had signed up for health insurance on state and federal exchanges, but she acknowledged that the number included dental plans — therefore double-counting almost 400,000 subscribers. (Korte, 12/9)
The Hill:
Health Officials Turn Over 19K Obamacare Documents
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has turned over 19,000 pages of ObamaCare enrollment data to a House committee controlled by Republicans. The administration provided the papers just before a high-profile hearing on the healthcare law. An agency official confirmed the documents have been given to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The panel had requested more details about how HHS has counted its healthcare sign-ups after a GOP-led investigation found that the agency had been misreporting its enrollment total. (Ferris, 12/9)
Spending Deal Pushes Some Health Issues Into Next Year
The $1.1 trillion spending bill released Tuesday evening expands funding for international health efforts on AIDS and for fighting Ebola both at home and abroad. But it would bring little change to other domestic health care concerns. In addition, the Medicare “doc fix” got rolled into next year.
The New York Times:
Congressional Leaders Reach Deal On Spending
The spending bill is geared toward combating threats from afar, with roughly $5.4 billion in emergency funds to fight Ebola in West Africa, nearly $74 billion for wars and other overseas operations, and more than half of the overall package going to military spending. ... The final deal amounted to what one Democratic aide called a “split decision” likely to leave both sides unhappy. For instance, the bill would nullify the District of Columbia’s referendum to legalize marijuana, but it would allow Washington to decriminalize the drug, meaning possession of small amounts would no longer be punished. ... Democrats fought off Republican efforts to scuttle Michelle Obama’s rules on nutritional content of school lunches, but Republicans secured flexibility on the use of whole grains. (Parker and Weisman, 12/9)
The Washington Post:
Deal Reached On $1.01 Trillion Spending Bill
At 1,603 pages, the bill includes at least $1.2 billion for agencies to deal with the influx of unaccompanied immigrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. There’s also money to fight the rise of the Islamic State and $5.4 billion to fight the threat of Ebola. ... The Department of Health and Human Services would receive $948 million to provide health and education services to the unaccompanied children — an $80 million increase. (O'Keefe, 12/9)
Politico Pro:
Spending Bill Punts Some Health Issues Into Next Year
The $1.1 trillion spending bill released by the House on Tuesday evening expands funding for international health efforts on AIDS and Ebola both at home and abroad. But it has relatively little impact on other domestic health care issues, and key elements such as the Medicare “doc fix” got rolled into next year. (Norman and Wheaton, 12/9)
CQ HealthBeat:
'Doc Fix' Uncertainty Freezes Other Health Efforts, Panel Is Told
Failure to replace Medicare's oft-criticized physician payment formula has shifted federal attention away from other necessary health reforms, witnesses told a House hearing on Tuesday, further stoking the debate over advancing permanent "doc fix" legislation in Congress. ... Witnesses at a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing urged lawmakers to find a permanent solution for avoiding the scheduled cuts facing Medicare physicians on March 31. Some of their recommendations for offsetting the cost include identifying overpriced services, instituting payment updates that are higher for primary care than specialty care and establishing a primary care bonus that is funded by non-primary care services. (Zanona, 12/9)
Politico:
Conservatives, Democrats Tussle Over Contraceptives In Spending Bill
A tussle over contraceptives has ended with Democrats keeping an attachment pushed by House conservatives out of a trillion dollar government funding bill. Conservatives had asked their party leaders to attach a policy rider to the funding bill that would have allowed corporations potentially to duck contraceptive coverage rules under Obamacare. (French, 12/9)
Politico Pro:
Spending Bill Kicks Off Policy Scavenger Hunt
Republicans will have to wait a little longer, until they officially take control of the Senate, to try to pass cuts directly related to Obamacare: Funding is flat in the spending bill. (Faler, 12/10)
Some Health Law Provisions Become Capitol Hill Targets
As some Republican lawmakers step up their opposition to the health law's Independent Payment Advisory Board and consider turning to the Supreme Court for an assist, medical device makers are pushing for repeal of an Affordable Care Act tax on their products.
CQ Healthbeat:
GOP Haunted By Phantom Health Advisory Board
Congressional Republicans are renewing focus on the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a 15-member panel created by the overhaul. The panel is supposed to recommend ways to lower Medicare spending. The board is, however, so far a phantom organization: Medicare’s spending hasn’t grown fast enough to trigger it into existence, and Obama has not nominated any board members. Why ask the Supreme Court to slay a phantom? The answer lies not just in critics’ principled dislike of the board. It lies also in the worry that the president could breathe it into life at any moment — hard to imagine since nominees need Senate confirmation — and find fiscal benefits to justify his action. (Bettelheim, 12/9)
Hearst Newspapers:
Device Makers Take Renewed Aim At Affordable Care Act Tax
Medical device makers are hoping a renewed push on Capitol Hill in the new Republican-controlled Congress will halt a tax imposed on their products by the Affordable Care Act. The 2.3 percent excise tax on revenue kicked in last year to offset covering an estimated 25 million uninsured Americans. It applies to most products used in clinical settings. (Freedman, 12/9)
Colorado Legislative Panel Seeks Greater Oversight Of Exchange
After a partial audit found possible illegal payments by Colorado's health exchange, a legislative committee voted unanimously for a comprehensive audit next year. Meanwhile, a Montana economist testifies that Medicaid expansion is a good deal for that state but many lawmakers remain reluctant to move forward.
The Denver Post:
Colorado Legislators Advance Bill To Expand Audit Of Health Exchange
A bill that would expand state oversight of the state health insurance exchange advanced through a legislative committee Tuesday, a day after an audit criticized Connect for Health Colorado for mismanaging federal funds. The House bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Nordberg, R-Colorado Springs, would allow the Office of State Auditor to look not only at Connect for Health's financial systems but to broaden its authority to look at the full performance of the exchange. (Draper, 12/9)
Health News Colorado:
Lawmakers Support Broad New Exchange Audit
Following a scathing audit that found financial mismanagement and possible illegal payments for lobbying at Colorado’s health exchange, bipartisan members of the Legislative Audit Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to conduct a comprehensive exchange audit in 2015. (Kerwin McCrimmon, 12/9)
Billings Gazette:
Economist: Medicaid Expansion A Good Deal For State; Lawmakers Remain Reluctant
Accepting federal money to expand Medicaid to cover thousands of low-income Montanans looks like a good financial and policy deal for the state, a University of Montana economist told a health care conference here Monday. “To the extent that you’re going to leave $200 million to $1 billion a year in Washington?” said Bryce Ward, director of health care research at UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. “It seems like that would be something you’d want to get back.” But whether Montana accepts that money remains a sticky political issue in the Republican-controlled Legislature, others said — and one that will require some compromise to solve. (Dennison, 12/8)
KPCC:
Feds Find Many Errors In Medicaid Provider Lists
In a new report, federal health officials say low-income Americans on Medicaid may be having trouble accessing health care because more than half of the doctors who are listed as available to treat them are not. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services called 1,800 doctors listed by health plans that contract with Medicaid programs in 32 states. They found that 51 percent of the doctors were not practicing at the location listed in the provider directories, not participating in Medicaid, or not accepting new Medicaid patients. (Florido, 12/9)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Report: Many U.S. Medicaid Doctors Often Unavailable
A new federal report suggesting a substantial percentage of U.S. doctors who are supposed to see Medicaid patients are unable or unavailable to do so bolsters outgoing Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s claim that Pennsylvania’s working poor could be better served with private health insurance coverage. In a report issued Tuesday, the U.S. Office of the Inspector General found that “slightly more than half of providers could not offer appointments to enrollees.” Medicaid enrollees are supposed to select their doctors from a list of providers connected to each Medicaid managed care plan. (Toland and Giammarise, 12/10)
CQ Healthbeat:
Audit Finds Flaws In Medicaid Managed Care Plans’ Network Information
Getting enrolled in Medicaid is hard enough, with many people encountering enrollment delays this year. But once consumers get their cards for the health program, they face a new challenge: finding a doctor to treat them, according to a federal audit.
More than half of the 1,800 primary care doctors or specialists that the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general contacted either were not at the location that their health plan listed for them, or refused to treat program enrollees. The biggest problem – affecting 35 percent of the providers that auditors contacted – was that private managed care plans administering Medicaid benefits were not providing accurate information about providers. In some cases, a doctor had retired. Other times, a physician group didn’t know the doctor listed in a plan’s provider directory as a member. (Adams, 12/9)
Kaiser Health News:
Obamacare Co-Ops Cut Prices, Turn Up Heat On Rival Insurers
HealthyCT is one of at least a half dozen co-ops created through the Affordable Care Act that have lowered 2015 premiums in a bid to boost membership in their second year of operation. But those low premiums are upsetting so-called “legacy” insurance plans like Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates that have traditionally dominated insurance markets. ... For 2015 at least, co-ops are offering the lowest-cost silver plans in all, or large parts of Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico and New Jersey, according to NASHCO. (Galewitz, 12/10)
Study: Workers' Share Of Health Costs Nearly Doubles In A Decade
The amount that workers contribute toward premiums for their job-sponsored insurance climbed from $606 in 2003 to $1,170 in 2013, according to the Commonwealth Fund report. Meanwhile, the wellness programs that many employers have instituted to curb rising health costs are still unproven.
Minnesota Public Radio:
Study: Workers' Health Coverage Burden Jumps In A Decade
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund says U.S. workers' portion of health insurance costs increased 93 percent over the past 10 years. The amount that workers contribute toward premiums climbed from $606 in 2003 to $1,170 in 2013, the nonprofit health care research group reported Tuesday. (Zdechlik, 12/9)
Kaiser Health News:
Wellness At Work: Popular But Unproven
If you get health insurance at work, chances are you have some sort of wellness plan, too. But so far there’s no real evidence as to whether these plans work. One thing we do know is that wellness is particularly popular with employers right now as they seek ways to slow the rise of health spending. These initiatives can range from urging workers to use the stairs all the way to requiring comprehensive health screenings. The 2014 survey of employers by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 98 percent of large employers and 73 percent of smaller employers offer at least one wellness program. (Rovner, 12/10)
Minn. Nursing Home Handles Residents' Agitation Without Risky Drugs
The efforts buck a national trend toward using antipsychotic drugs to treat the elderly, NPR reports. In other news about quality of care issues, The Philadelphia Inquirer examines the debate on end-of-life treatments and HHS awards grants to some health centers.
NPR:
This Nursing Home Calms Troubling Behavior Without Risky Drugs
It's a sunny autumn afternoon and a good time to make apple crisp at Pathstone Living, a memory care facility and nursing home in Mankato, Minnesota. Activities staffer Jessica Abbott gathers half a dozen older women at a counter in the dining area, where the soundtrack is mostly music they could have fox-trotted to back in the day. ... That can help to relieve the agitation common in some people with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia — agitation that in other nursing homes might be managed with antipsychotic drugs. (Jaffe, 12/10)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
A Debate Over End-Of-Life Care
Brittany Maynard and the Death With Dignity movement have received significant attention this fall, but one stalwart in end-of-life care says the push for physician-assisted suicide is premature, and distracts from a much more important issue. Joanne Lynn, a geriatrician, hospice physician, former Medicare medical director, and author, has spent her career fighting to improve care of the dying. She says laws such as Oregon's - allowing terminally ill, mentally competent people such as Maynard, with six months or less to live, to end their lives - would not be applicable to most Americans. ... Suffering from brain cancer, Maynard, 29, ended her life Nov. 1. (Vitez, 12/9)
The Hill:
HHS Doles Out $36M In Patient Care Improvement Grants
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is handing out $36.3 million to more than 1,000 health centers across the country that have significantly improved the quality of their patient care. The health centers that received funding have all proven “high levels of quality performance” that aligns with the government’s attempts to strengthen care and cut costs under ObamaCare, according to a release Tuesday from HHS. (Ferris, 12/9)
FDA Meeting Likely To Highlight Clash Between Brand-Name, Generic Drug Makers
CQ HealthBeat sets the scene for next month's Food and Drug Administration meeting. Also in the news, Bloomberg reports that drug makers are increasingly using pharmacy records to target patients with web ads.
CQ Healthbeat:
Battle Over Copycat Biotech Drugs To Be Waged Next Month At FDA
A Food and Drug Administration meeting next month about a copycat version of a biotech drug likely will provide a public forum for simmering fights between brand-name pharmaceutical companies and generic drug manufacturers. The FDA on Monday announced that its panel of cancer advisers will meet Jan. 7 to review a pending application from Novartis AG for its version of Amgen Inc.’s Neupogen, or filgrastim, a medicine used to fight infections in people undergoing cancer treatment. The product is viewed as the leading contender to be the first generic biologic drug to be cleared for the United States. (Young, 12/9)
Bloomberg:
Pharma Targets Patients With Web Ads For Drugs
Ever since the days of castor oil laxatives and mercury syphilis tablets, pharmacists and patients have had a tacit understanding: whatever you buy, the information is confidential. No longer. Drugmakers and Internet companies are quietly joining forces to link U.S. pharmacy records with online accounts to target ads to people based on their health conditions and the prescription drugs they buy. In a little-known process, third-party companies assign patients unique numerical codes based on their prescription-drug records, a practice websites also rely on to track their registered users.(Robertson and Pettypiece, 12/10)
State News: N.Y. Single-Payer Hearing; Texas Bill On 'Compassionate-Use' Policies
Also, a selection of health policy stories from North Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Connecticut, Oklahoma and Maryland.
The Associated Press:
Hearing Set On Single-Payer Proposal For New York
Buffalo is the next stop in a series of statewide hearings on a proposal to establish a single-payer health care system in New York. Wednesday's hearing in Buffalo will be the third on Assemblyman Richard Gottfried's proposed New York Health Act. The proposal would replace private health insurance with a publicly funded system. (12/10)
The Houston Chronicle:
Texas Bill Seeks Pharma Info For Seriously Ill Patients
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, introduced a bill Monday requiring that all pharmaceutical companies make their “compassionate use” policies regarding experimental drugs publicly available to patients with serious or life-threatening conditions. The Andrea Sloan CURE Act aims to increase transparency with this program and comes almost one year after Andrea Sloan, an Austin resident, died from a seven-year bout of ovarian cancer after denied access to an experimental drug. (Hagen, 12/9)
The Charlotte Observer:
Legislative Differences On Future Of State Medicaid Program Persist
After months of talk, legislators continue to disagree over the structure of the state Medicaid program and whether insurance companies should be allowed to manage patient care. The differences reached a pivot point Tuesday when a legislative committee on health and human services voted to strip language from a proposal that envisioned insurance companies and provider-led care networks in regional competition for Medicaid patients. (Bonner, 12/9)
Georgia Health News:
Sagging Rural Hospital Tries To Get An Urban Boost
A struggling rural hospital in east-central Georgia hopes to gain firmer financial footing through a new partnership with University Health Care System in Augusta. University Health Care will manage Washington County Regional Medical Center in Sandersville beginning Jan. 1, under an agreement announced Monday. Such rural hospitals and their survival have been a focus for political leaders in Georgia after the closure of four of these facilities in the past two years. (Miller, 12/9)
The Associated Press:
Kansas Governor Unveils Plan To Close Budget Gap
The plan, which applies only to the current budget year, avoids reducing aid to the state’s public schools, its Medicaid health care program for the needy, prison operations or state universities. (12/9)
Connecticut Mirror:
Waterbury Says Regulators Endanger Hospital Deals
Waterbury’s mayor and the state’s hospital industry say that Connecticut regulators are jeopardizing plans by a national for-profit hospital chain to buy the city’s two struggling hospitals and others in Bristol, Manchester and Vernon. (Pazniokas, 12/10)
The Associated Press:
Oklahoma Looks To Funds For Decreasing ER Visits
A new public health laboratory to replace a lab built more than 40 years ago, as well as a vaccine program to assure that all Oklahomans have access to immunization are the Oklahoma Board of Health's top budget priorities for 2015, officials said Tuesday. Officials said they will seek additional funds when the Oklahoma Legislature convenes in February for programs designed to reduce preventable hospitalizations and emergency room visits for the uninsured and to fund a public-private partnership to improve the health of adolescents and children. (Talley, 12/9)
The Baltimore Sun:
Md. Pharmacies To Stock Heroin Antidote
Gov.-elect Larry Hogan pledged to declare a "state of emergency" to combat the spike in heroin-related deaths, state officials said Tuesday that about 140 pharmacies in 22 counties have agreed to stock a powerful overdose antidote. The agreement with CVS Health, Safeway and Walgreens, as well as some smaller businesses, is part of a broader push in Maryland and elsewhere to make the overdose-reversing drug, known as naloxone or narcan, easier to access. (Sherman, 12/10)
Viewpoints: Gruber In The Hot Seat; Obama's Reflux; Transplant Rule Changes
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
The Wall Street Journal:
Forrest Gump, Ph.D.
Maybe it’s easier to get tenure at MIT than we thought. At least that’s our reaction to the Forrest Gump routine put on Tuesday before Congress by MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, who sounded for all the world as if he knew nothing more about politics and health care than the lovable bumpkin who always showed up when history was being made. (12/9)
The Washington Post:
The Jonathan Gruber Hearing Was A Zany Coda To Darrell Issa’s Tumultuous Tenure
A gaffe, under the oft-cited Michael Kinsley rule, is when somebody in Washington accidentally speaks the truth. But what happens when frankness leads you to say something so monumentally stupid — the verbal equivalent of a pratfall, a face-plant into a mud pit — that “gaffe” doesn’t cover it? In that case, you have Grubered yourself. (Dana Milbank, 12/9)
Los Angeles Times:
'Grubergate' Shows The Sad State Of Debate On Obamacare
On Tuesday, the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight took obvious pleasure in raking MIT economist Jonathan Gruber over the coals about foolish and uninformed comments he made regarding the politics of health reform. Gruber was deeply apologetic, acknowledging that he is not an expert on politics and that his off-hand comments about the politics of health reform were uninformed and at times offensive. In public appearances, he called American voters "stupid" and suggested that politicians had deliberately obscured aspects of the Affordable Care Act. (Theda Skocpol, 12/9)
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
For All The ‘Grubergate’ Talk, Few Americans May Have Listened
But it turns out that Americans have reacted to Grubergate with a shrug, at least so far. Preliminary data from this month’s Kaiser Health News Index shows that just about 2 in 10 Americans say they have been following the story closely (and just 1 in 10 say very closely), which puts Grubergate far behind major news such as the protests that followed the Ferguson, Mo., grand jury’s decision not to indict (closely followed by about 8 in 10) and the conflicts involving ISIS and other militant groups (closely followed by about 7 in 10). (Drew Altman, 12/9)
The Washington Post:
Obama’s Acid Reflux May Help Others Receive Proper Diagnosis And Treatment
President Obama reportedly had a mysterious sore throat for weeks, but now the diagnosis is in: acid reflux into the throat .... Since 1975, the occurrence of reflux has increased 400 percent ... and reflux-related esophageal cancer has increased more than 500 percent to become the most rapidly increasing cancer in the United States. ... It may not offer him a lot of comfort, but Obama’s acid reflux could have a silver lining because so many Americans are similarly affected and so many of these cases are misdiagnosed. Greater awareness can do much good for many people. (Jamie Koufman, 12/8)
Bloomberg:
Old, Sick And Need A Kidney? Good Luck
In the past, how long you’d been on the waiting list was the main factor that determined how close you were to getting a compatible kidney. ... The longer you waited, the further you moved up the list. The clock started when your transplant center did the necessary tests and listed you as a transplant candidate. The old system hurt those patients, most of whom were black, who had spent years on dialysis before they got referred for transplants, whether because of medical factors, insufficient health insurance or complacent nephrologists. ... The new system instead starts the clock when a patient goes on dialysis. (Virginia Postrel, 12/8)