Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ohio's AG Sues Over Health Law Tax On State, Local Governments
Applying a tax aimed at helping keep premiums affordable under the federal health care law to state and local governments is unconstitutional, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine claimed in a lawsuit filed Monday. The complaint argues there's no precedent for the collection of $6.25 million for 2014 from government entities and nothing in the health overhaul law that allows such a tax. (Welsch-Huggins, 1/26)
Tom Till eyes the morning’s email to see who’s angling to hire his students: A local employer, which had already hired 23 people in less than a year, says it needs three more to help make the artificial hips, knees and other devices manufactured here in the self-proclaimed 'Orthopedic Capital of the World.' 'Everyone is going gangbusters,' said Till, who oversees an advanced manufacturing program at Ivy Tech Community College in this lake-dotted region two hours north of Indianapolis. Till’s bullish view of the medical device industry – he says he can’t crank out graduates fast enough — contrasts sharply with what industry lobbyists are telling lawmakers in the nation’s capital. They say a 2.3 percent tax on the sale of medical devices put in place two years ago by the Affordable Care Act has already cost more than 30,000 jobs and is stifling innovation. (Appleby, 1/27)
The Health and Human Services Department is shelling out billions of dollars on three new federal programs that essentially do the same thing. The Affordable Care Act provides funding toward new initiatives aimed at improving the quality of care. But a new report from the HHS Inspector General found that at least three other programs that serve essentially the same purpose are being used by many of the same hospitals. (Ehley, 1/26)
National health reform was supposed to open the doors to mental health services for hundreds of thousands of people who couldn't previously afford to get treatment, but Maryland patients are finding there aren't enough doctors. A study released Monday by the Mental Health Association of Maryland found that consumers who buy private plans on a state exchange under health reform are supposed to have access to 1,154 psychiatrists. But when researchers tried to call these doctors, they found that only 14 percent were accepting new patients and available for an appointment within 45 days. (Daniels, 1/26)
