Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Republican Freshmen Want New Health Law Repeal Vote 'For The Record,' Argue Tactics
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won his resounding 2014 reelection 鈥 and control of the Senate 鈥 with a pledge to try to repeal Obamacare 鈥渞oot and branch.鈥 That hasn鈥檛 happened. So far, the Republican-controlled Senate has only held one non-binding repeal vote. And nothing more is expected until at least September. (Haberkorn, 7/15)
The House easily passed legislation on Wednesday to make it easier for people with Lou Gehrig鈥檚 disease to buy speech-generating devices. Lawmakers passed the bill by voice vote in both the House and Senate, which now sends it to President Obama鈥檚 desk. (Marcos, 7/15)
The House revived legislation Wednesday to help increase funding for breast cancer research, one day after GOP leaders pulled it from consideration due to a fight over abortion. The bill, which passed 421-9, would create a pink gold commemorative coin in 2018 and donate proceeds from the coin sales to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) voted "present," while all nine votes in opposition were from Republicans. (Marcos, 7/15)
The Supreme Court fights over the Affordable Care Act may be over for now. But before you get too comfortable, there鈥檚 still plenty of fighting left to do. The latest example can be seen in Washington where Fortune 500 companies and labor unions have teamed up to lobby Congress to kill a tax on generous 鈥 some say lavish 鈥 health plans. In the health policy world, they call it the "Cadillac Tax," but for employers 鈥 and employees 鈥 who may get hit by it, it鈥檚 more like a "Ford Fusion Tax." (Gorenstein, 7/16)