IT?S LAW: ARKANSAS 12-WEEK ABORTION BAN ENACTED OVER GOV.?S VETO ? It?s the earliest ban in the country, blocking most abortions after the first trimester. Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, sent it back to the Legislature, contending that it overtly contradicts Supreme Court precedent. But lawmakers, requiring only a simple majority, passed the law Wednesday over his objection. Per Pro?s Kathryn Smith: ?Abortion rights groups said they would challenge it in court ? and predicted it would be overturned. ? The law, known as the Human Heartbeat Protection Act, will take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns. It bans abortions at 12 weeks into pregnancy if a heartbeat is detected, with exceptions for cases of rape or incest, to save the life of the mother or for a lethal fetal condition.?
Just a few days earlier, both Republican-controlled chambers had overridden Beebe's veto of another bill setting a 20-week limit on most abortions.
--A closer look at the developing legal battle over the ban: http://politi.co/12uJ1da
RAND PAUL: CONGRESS BOWED TO EXECUTIVE BRANCH ON OBAMACARE ? The Kentucky senator?s high-profile filibuster Wednesday of President Barack Obama?s nominee to lead the CIA included a sharp dig at Congress over the health law. The law, he noted, gave the White House broad authority to craft the governing regulations of the law. ?Obamacare had 1,800 references to ?the secretary of health shall decide at a later date.? We gave up power. We gave up power that should?ve been ours. ? As a consequence, we gave that power to the executive branch,? Paul said.
Happy Thursday and welcome to PULSE. First they came for the Marlboros. Then the Krispy Kremes. Then the Big Gulps. Now, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg?s health authorities are warning the city?s youth to turn down that dang music. The Associated Press reports that the city health department is alerting young people to the risk of hearing loss if they listen to their iPods too loudly. http://cbsloc.al/WuOi1y
?We could have had it all ? rolling in the PULSE.?
RIGHT FUMES OVER HOUSE?S DECISION TO FUND OBAMACARE ? Conservatives failed to overturn Obamacare in the Supreme Court and through the 2012 elections. Now, they?re fighting an uphill battle to defund the law in the upcoming fight over funding the government through last March. ?This time, their ire is because Republicans aren?t trying hard enough to defund, or at least whittle away at, the Affordable Care Act by attaching language to the continuing resolution that passed the House on Wednesday,? POLITICO?s Ginger Gibson reports. Their sights are now set on the Democrat-controlled Senate, where odds of traction are slim at best. http://politi.co/YBID7q
HOUSE GOP LEADERS TRAIN SIGHTS ON SENATE BUDGET, NOT RYAN ? Republicans just aren?t sweating the Paul Ryan budget like they used to. Pro?s David Nather and POLITICO?s Jake Sherman report that the conservative House Budget Committee chairman?s iconic budget plan ? and its major overhaul of Medicare ? isn?t the lightning rod it used to be within the GOP caucus. ?The calculus has changed. The Ryan budget ? once seen as overly and unnecessarily risky ? has become the House Republican majority?s most sustainable document,? they report. ?Politically, House Republicans think it carries next to no risk: Conservative truth-telling, they say, is in vogue. ? The focus isn?t on Ryan, GOP leadership says, it should be all on Senate Democrats, who are unveiling their first budget in four years.? http://politi.co/15yYHtD
ARKANSAS GOP STILL AWAITING DETAILS ON MEDICAID EXPANSION DEAL ? Although Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe recently announced a potentially game-changing agreement with the White House in his effort to expand Medicaid, the GOP legislative leaders in his state aren?t ready to roll over. Beebe wants to accept Medicaid expansion dollars but use them to buy private coverage for individuals on the state?s insurance exchange. ?I will say that I feel we?re in a better spot than where we were to begin the session,? House Speaker Davy Carter told POLITICO in a phone interview. ?With that, and with this new proposal, it has spurred a lot of other things that we have to work out. The devil?s in the details.? The Legislature is due to adjourn in mid-April, and legislative leaders say they?re not quite persuaded to support the arrangement. http://politico.pro/14vyn15
**A message from Healthcare Education Project: What if there aren't enough doctors? What if families lose access to care in?their community? Deficit reduction talks are putting Americans' healthcare?at risk with billions of proposed Medicare cuts to physician training and?hospital clinics. It's time to protect America's healthcare. http://www.healthcareeducationproject.org/ **
GRAHAM FILES MENTAL HEALTH-FOCUSED GUN LEGISLATION ? Senators facing stiff reelection challenges next year offered NRA-backed legislation Wednesday that would stiffen mental illness restrictions on gun buyers. ?The bill would add people who plead not guilty by reason of insanity to the electronic background check system that determines if someone can purchase a gun,? POLITICO?s Ginger Gibson reports. ?It adds a list of additional disqualifiers, including being deemed a risk and having a court find the personally mentally disabled.? The bill is sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Democratic Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, all of whom face a tough path to another term. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) also signed onto the bill. http://politi.co/12uV1eH
--Pro?s Paige Winfield Cunningham reports on a new study suggesting states with more gun laws experience fewer gun-related deaths. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine and conducted by researchers at Boston Children?s Hospital, focused on states gun laws and deaths from 2007 to 2010. The research ?ranked states based on number of firearms deaths per 100,000 residents in a year. Louisiana had the highest fatality rate (17.9) while Hawaii had the lowest (2.9).? http://politico.pro/XRlUny
CALIFORNIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER CALLS OUT ANOTHER RATE HIKE ? California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is calling out another insurance company rate hike he?s deemed excessive but can?t do much about. Jones has convened a conference call Thursday to discuss an average 11.7 percent rate hike called for by Blue Shield of California Life and Health Insurance Company. He deemed the hike unreasonable and asked the company to reduce it, but his office says his request was denied. Jones has sought the authority to reject rate hikes and plans to take his effort to the ballot next year. ICYMI, Jones called out Anthem Blue Cross California for rate hikes in January: http://politico.pro/Xia5Wn/
FIRST IN PULSE: SEBELIUS CREDITS OBAMACARE WITH SLOWING HEALTH COSTS ? A recent USA Today analysis is the underpinning of a forthcoming blog post by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius declaring that Obamacare is helping drive down health costs, perhaps for the long-term. ?For years, health care costs have been rising faster than inflation, driving up the cost of health care and making it less affordable for families and businesses,? Sebelius writes. ?But now, the good news about the slowing growth of health care spending nationwide is being increasingly recognized by independent analysts.?
--The USA Today analysis heaps credit on the health law for squeezing costs out of the system, but it also cites other major factors contributing to slowing health costs, including sharp growth in people on public health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid, a sharp increase in the use of generic drugs, and greater competition by providers for market share. The analysis: http://usat.ly/14uYBki
PALLONE, MENENDEZ SEEK FUNDING FOR FAMILY DISABILITY FACILITIES ? Rep. Frank Pallone and Sen. Robert Menendez, Democrats from New Jersey, filed a bill Wednesday that would fund facilities aimed at steering disabled Americans to the right health care resources and services. So-called Family 2 Family Information Centers were funded through this year in the fiscal cliff deal, and Pallone and Menendez would like to fund them through 2016.
WHAT WE?RE READING, by Brett Norman
Late yesterday, a U.S. district judge struck down an Idaho ?fetal pain? law that banned abortions after 20 weeks and two other anti-abortion statutes, The Associated Press reports. http://bit.ly/WLl21s
Blue Shield and Aetna will raise their premiums by double digits even though California insurance regulators objected that the increases were ?unreasonable,? the L.A. Times reports. http://lat.ms/YAfcm9
In The Washington Post, Sarah Kliff reports on the cold feet that 19 Pioneer ACOs have about moving from pay-for-reporting to pay-for-performance and a letter they sent to CMS asking for a re-evaluation of performance benchmarks. http://wapo.st/Zgvy1d
Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner highlights the ?central role? Oklahoma is playing in opposing Obamacare. http://bit.ly/WLnjK1
ABC News lays out the Colorado hospital concerns about longer patient wait times and potentially closures due to the 2 percent Medicare sequester cut. http://abcn.ws/XTs3k5
House Republicans in the Florida Legislature are looking for options other than the Medicaid expansion for covering the state?s uninsured, the Miami Herald reports. http://hrld.us/14vCOJv
**A message from Healthcare Education Project: Deficit reduction talks are putting everyone's healthcare at risk with drastic proposed Medicare cuts to graduate medical education and hospital?outpatient payments. America is already facing a physician shortage, with a?third of all doctors set to retire in the next decade and an aging?population straining healthcare services. In many urban and rural?communities, hospital outpatient clinics are the only source for healthcare.?The billions of dollars in proposed cuts to these clinics ignores the added costs hospitals?incur for caring for the uninsured and underinsured, and will force?closures across the country. Fixing our deficit by accelerating our?doctor shortage and cutting care for patients isn't the answer. Protect?access. Protect your care. http://www.healthcareeducationproject.org/ **
Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=416c7128f2f4ebe17a891844031ef7e4
j lo j lo sacha baron cohen ryan seacrest octavia spencer meryl streep oscars school shooting ohio billy crystal
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.