Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bipartisan Bill Would Pay Doctors To Do End-Of-Life Planning
Medicare would pay doctors and other health care providers to have voluntary conversations about end-of-life care with patients diagnosed with a serious or life-threatening illness under bipartisan legislation re-introduced Wednesday by Sens. Mark Warner and Johnny Isakson. (Kenen, 6/10)
A bipartisan pair of senators who advocate for government-funded end-of-life planning appears to be winning support for the cause, which became politically toxic by "death panel" rhetoric kicked up during the 2010 health law debate. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., on Wednesday unveiled a bill that would create a Medicare benefit to allow people to get medical advice about how they would want to be treated when facing serious and terminal illnesses. (Young, 6/10)
House GOP appropriators on Wednesday proposed chopping IRS resources almost 8 percent, reducing the agency budget to $10.1 billion. It would be a huge hit to the agency responsible not only for overseeing tax collections but administering Obamacare鈥檚 health care subsidies. (Bade, 6/10)
Concerns about a $30 billion federal program meant to encourage the adoption of electronic health records are likely to be addressed in a Senate medical innovation bill later this year, according to Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander. Alexander said his panel is on track to consider its version of legislation to speed medical cures after it finishes a planned reauthorization of higher education law in September. Parallel efforts in the House have been on a much quicker timeline, with the full chamber expected to consider its so-called 21st Century Cures bill as early as next week. (Zanona, 6/10)
Also,聽Sen. Lindsey Graham's push for abortion limits jeopardizes聽colleagues, while a House Republican proposes a prize for curing聽Alzheimer's disease as聽part of聽a bill to repeal the health law -
Sen. Lindsey Graham is renewing a GOP push for a 20-week abortion ban 鈥 a bid that could boost his long-shot presidential campaign but spell trouble for vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection in swing states next year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) earlier promised a vote on the hot-button bill, which already passed the House. Abortion foes say a vote in the Senate would be a historical milestone, the most consequential vote on the issue in more than a decade. (Everett, 6/10)
Could the federal government hasten a cure for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease by offering a $1 billion prize? That鈥檚 one of the new twists in the House Republican Study Committee鈥檚 plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Rep. Robert Pittenger, who represents North Carolina鈥檚 ninth district, pushed that plan when he was in Charlotte recently. Most of the 2015 American Health Care Reform Act, introduced last week, is picked up from the version that debuted in 2013. The plan would repeal 鈥淥bamacare,鈥 eliminating federal mandates that individuals must buy health insurance and that companies have to provide certain levels of coverage, including for people with pre-existing medical conditions. (Helms, 6/10)
Health professionals intend to ask Congress to change some of the rules for Medicare's accountable care organization program, which is considered a key tool for shifting the agency away from a fee-for-service approach to payments based more on coordinated care, said the head of a trade group that represents the industry. Clif Gaus, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of ACOs, or NAACOS, said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should allow waivers for telehealth services and direct admissions to skilled nursing centers without requiring a previous three-day hospital stay for organizations participating in the Track 1 version of the program. (Young, 6/10)
