This week the Government Accountability Office released a report showing that the now 1,372 groups to which HHS has granted waivers were chosen in a neutral (non-partisan) manner. The report was released less than three days before the Obama Administration announced it was shutting down the program that provided these waivers. After September 22, no new applications will be accepted. Meanwhile, a House Appropriations subcommittee approved a $19.9 billion spending bill, which would prohibit the federal government from enforcing the health reform law’s requirements to buy insurance. While legislators and state agencies met in Virginia and North Dakota to discuss and begin implementing the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchange requirements, Ohio moved closer to including a constitutional amendment on the November ballot allowing Ohioans to opt out of federal health care mandates, and Texas moved toward joining an interstate compact, which could allow states to adopt their own health care rules rather than be bound by federal ones.
AT THE AGENCIES
On Tuesday (6/14), the Government Accountability Office released a report showing that the waivers approved by CMS' Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight were those for which annual limits projected a premium increase of 10 percent of more. By contrast, of 65 plans denied waivers, three-fourths projected premium increases of only six percent or less. The upshot: Democrats argue that the report proves Republican talking points about waivers being handed out as political rewards are unfounded. HHS now has granted a total of 1,372 waivers from the insurance mandates.
On Friday (6/17), the Obama Administration announced that it is changing the way it approves waivers. Rather than approve a new batch of year-long waivers each month, on September 22, CMS will review applications that would apply through 2013. Then, starting in 2014, all plans will have to comply with the law's provisions and the waivers will be moot.
The Mayo Clinic sent a nine-page letter to CMS outlining suggested revisions to the ACO proposed rule and said it will not participate in CMS' accountable care organizations if the rule remains as it is in the agency’s proposal.
ON THE HILL
On Thursday (6/16), House Appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government appropriations approved a $19.9 billion financial services spending bill for 2012 that prohibits the federal government from enforcing the health care reform law's requirement that individuals buy insurance. Markup by the full committee is scheduled for next week, and the bill should reach the House floor by the week of July 11.
Last week, McKinsey & Company reported that at least 30 percent of employers will drop the health benefits they currently offer their employees in 2014, a message that continued to reverberate through the public square this week. The White House and Democrats in Congress are questioning the study and requesting further information, but so far McKinsey has refused to release the details about the report’s methodology.
IN THE COURTS
On Wednesday (6/15), the New Hampshire Supreme Court said in a unanimous opinion that state lawmakers do not have the constitutional power to order their attorney general to join a lawsuit against the federal government challenging the Affordable Care Act. The judges decided the state house bill ordering AG Delaney to join the lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.
IN THE STATES
On Tuesday (6/14), a group of North Dakota legislators agreed to support drafting legislation that would broaden the state's health insurance coverage. The legislature's interim Health Care Reform Review Committee will prepare the measure, which would establish a North Dakota health insurance exchange.
On Wednesday (6/15), the Ohio Senate voted to put a measure on the November ballot that would allow Ohioans to vote on a state constitutional amendment which would allow them to opt out of federal health care mandates. The Ohio House has a similar piece of legislation; however, it has not yet made its way to the House floor for a vote.
On Wednesday (6/15), the Texas House voted to allow the state to join a proposed interstate compact, which, if approved by Congress, would give states power to adopt their own health care rules rather than federal regulations.
In Virginia, the Joint Commission on Health Care met on Tuesday (6/14) to discuss the state of insurance exchange planning in the state. Dr. Bill Hazel, Jr., Virginia's Secretary of Health and Human Services, said it would be prudent to be prepared to establish an exchange given the uncertain outcome of the lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act.
Floridahas returned or refused to spend at least $19 million in federal money. The St. Petersburg Times published an editorial last Sunday accusing Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature of harming “millions of Floridians without affordable or available health coverage to score political points.”
THIS WEEK
On Monday (6/20), HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, CMS Administrator Don Berwick, Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee, and CEO of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging Sandy Markwood will give a press conference to deliver "an important announcement regarding Medicare and the preventative services that will now be available to Medicare beneficiaries thanks to the Affordable Care Act."
The National Quality Forum and HHS will launch a series of patient safety webinars, beginning on Monday (6/20). The webinars will aim to help organizations nationwide make changes that will lead to improved health care quality and cost cutting.
On Thursday (6/23), the Senate Finance Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. in Dirksen 215 to discuss "Healthcare Programs and the Deficit."
As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions.
To view our compilation of recent health care reform implementation news, click here.