Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Enrollment Deadline Looming, Obama To Renew His Arguments For The Health Law
President Obama devotes Tuesday to defending his health care law. In the morning, Obama meets with ten people who have written him letters about how the Affordable Care Act has helped them. ... The Obama event with letter writers takes place as the Republican-run House plans to vote again Tuesday to repeal the law, saying it has led to higher insurance premiums and canceled policies. Obama has vowed to veto the House bill, though previous efforts to repeal the health care law have stalled in the Senate. (Jackson, 2/3)
President Barack Obama is seeking to shore up support for his health care law by putting its beneficiaries on display at the White House. The White House says Obama will meet Tuesday with 10 Americans from across the country who wrote him letters about how they benefited from the Affordable Care Act. Obama plans to speak and hold a photo-op with them in the Roosevelt Room. (2/3)
More than 10.1 million people have enrolled in Medicaid and the Children鈥檚 Health Insurance Program in the first 14 months since marketplace enrollment began, the Obama administration reported Monday. (Pugh, 2/2)
Also, some Micronesians in Hawaii are finding themselves kicked off Medicaid --
Hawaii Pacific Islanders, including about 7,500 Micronesians, will automatically be enrolled in insurance mandated by the federal health care law on March 1 after losing their Medicaid coverage Feb. 28. The 7,500 Micronesians are among the more able-bodied among nearly 14,000 citizens of Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia who are living in Hawaii. Medicaid or Medicare coverage still will be retained by people who are blind, pregnant, disabled or 65 years old or older. (2/2)
And news outlets examine what the latest health law battles mean for the GOP --
The Supreme Court could be months away from blowing a huge hole in Obamacare 鈥 and Republicans on Capitol Hill are at odds over how they鈥檒l respond if their side wins. It鈥檚 the latest example in a long-running quandary for Republicans: They don鈥檛 agree on what alternative, if any, their party should offer to President Barack Obama鈥檚 signature health care law. But the issue is taking on new urgency for the GOP congressional leaders as the court takes up a case that could leave more than 5 million people without Obamacare鈥檚 crucial subsidies. (Haberkorn and Raju, 2/3)
鈥淯nder Obama, Average Family Premiums Have Increased $4,154.鈥 The RNC circulated this talking point during the State of the Union address, and it is now popping up in the twitter feeds of Republican House members and state parties. But this is a zombie statistic; a version of it keeps coming back no matter how many times we try to debunk it. So let鈥檚 try to explain once again why it does not really say much about health-care inflation under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. (Kessler, 2/3)