AHLAlerts: American Health Line’s Blog

It was an exciting week on the health policy front. Doctors can breathe easier — at least until the end of the year — after President Obama signed a 10-month “doc fix.” Meanwhile, the Supreme Court was active in regard to health this week, both adding 30 minutes to the oral arguments in the case against the federal health reform law and sending a case that will determine whether beneficiaries and providers can sue to block Medicaid provider cuts back to a lower court.

That’s not all, though. Everything you need to know about health policy in the last week is after the jump.

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On Friday, the House voted 293-132 and the Senate voted 60-36 to approve legislation (HR 3630) that would extend the payroll tax cut, continue unemployment benefits and delay scheduled cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement rates.

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One major issue dominated the health policy news cycle this week: the new federal contraception rules under the federal health reform law. Just today, the Obama administration announced revisions to the rules.

Under the revision, religiously affiliated employers will not have to provide contraceptive coverage for their employees, but their health insurance companies will be required to directly reach out to women and offer them the coverage at no charge.

The rules implement a provision in the federal health reform law that requires health plans to cover preventive services without copayments or deductibles. The policy previously exempted certain religious employers, such as houses of worship, from providing contraceptive coverage, but not Catholic hospitals, schools or other religiously affiliated organizations. HHS announced on Jan. 20 that it would not expand the exemption but would give religiously affiliated employers an extra year to comply, meaning they will have until Aug. 1, 2013, to begin providing the coverage.

According to a White House fact sheet delineating the revision, “Contraception coverage will be offered to women by their employers’ insurance companies directly, with no role for religious employers who oppose contraception.” Religious employers will not have to subsidize the coverage.

While a huge story, the contraception issue wasn’t the only health policy news this week. Below is the other important news of the week.

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Though there were three major health policy news events this week, only one has any real significance over the long term. Keep reading to find out which one.

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As February looms, it’s becoming a matter of days, not months, before the Supreme Court begins hearing the case against the federal health reform law.

IT’S OH SO QUIET: Democrats, led by President Obama, have come to a collective hush on the federal health reform law. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Obama spent little time discussing the federal health reform law.

In fact, Obama’s speech included just 44 words on the overhaul, far fewer than in his previous addresses. During the address, he said that the makeup of the overhaul — which he noted relies on a “reformed private market, not a government program” — is a sign that he is willing to work with Republicans.

Obama also said he “will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage or charge women differently from men.”

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With the House already in session and the Senate set to start up again next week, the second session of the 112th Congress is about to begin in earnest. The early goings on during the session should be exciting, as lawmakers have just over a month to hash out an agreement on a longer-term “doc fix.” The current two-month agreement expires at the end of February.

In addition, as we bear down on February, the days are ticking away until the Supreme Court begins hearing arguments in the multistate lawsuit against the federal health reform law.

Given both of those events are in the future, it’s time for the calm before the storm. Or, as lawmakers like to call it, getting out ahead of the issue.

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Four major issues carried the week: the end of the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, the release of a bipartisan Medicare reform plan, lawmakers working toward temporarily offsetting a scheduled reduction in Medicare physician payments and Congress passing an omnibus budget bill that includes funding for HHS. Everything you need to know about health policy in the last week is after the jump.

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As the year begins to wrap up, the health policy arena is full of action. From CMS and HHS releasing final rules, the HHS secretary overruling the FDA commissioner, a temporary “doc fix” and finally knowing when the Supreme Court will review the federal health reform law, this past week had almost everything.

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Two major issues carried the week: The U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear the case questioning the constitutionality of the federal health reform law’s individual mandate, and the debt panel’s bipartisan battle over tax increases and entitlement cuts.

Here’s what you need to know from the last week in health policy news:

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The bipartisan panel created with the goal of reducing the federal deficit by at least $1.5 billion has been in discussions for almost two months now, but its members are no closer to an agreement than when they began. [Ed. Note: Click here for background on the debt panel and its savings goals]. The impasse remains over the same issue: Democrats are resisting deep cuts to entitlement programs, while Republicans are insisting against tax increases.

Here’s what you need to know from the last week in health policy news. Read the rest of this entry »