Daily on Healthcare: Democratic presidential candidates buy in to the public option

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BUY IN TO THE PUBLIC OPTION: The Democratic presidential candidates who are backing a healthcare “public option” or “buy-in” that would have the government offer medical coverage to compete with private insurers are offering it as a “pragmatic” alternative to “Medicare for All” — but it, too, will be a long shot.

Recent history illustrates the difficulty of enacting the plan. The public option was in an earlier draft of Obamacare, but it was defeated in 2009 by centrist members of the party. Since then, Democrats have viewed the buy-in as unfinished business on healthcare reform.

“This was once seen as something that was mostly supported by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, but this time around it’s the starting point for Democrats,” said Jacob Hacker, a Yale University political science professor sometimes called the “father of the public option.”

But lobby groups are mounting an attack against all public option proposals, arguing that it is part of a slippery slope to a fully government-financed healthcare system.

It’s also not clear whether Democrats will be able to coalesce behind one public option idea. They already have introduced at least five bills in the Senate that reflect the logistical differences a future Democratic president and Congress would have to consider.

Former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, for example, backs the Medicare for America Act, which would automatically enroll the uninsured and people who buy their own coverage into a government plan, while letting employers offer public plans to their workers.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has co-sponsored several different public option bills, while Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., introduced one of his own. Former Vice President Joe Biden hasn’t specified which public option he backs. Several Democratic presidential candidates have co-sponsored both public options and the Medicare for All Act, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Read more from Kimberly’s magazine piece.

Good morning and welcome to the Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare! This newsletter is written by senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and healthcare reporter Cassidy Morrison (@CassMorrison94). You can reach us with tips, calendar items, or suggestions at [email protected]. If someone forwarded you this email and you’d like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe here.

ANTI-ABORTION ADVOCATES COME OUT AGAINST MEDICARE FOR ALL: More than 50 anti-abortion organizations on Tuesday urged Congress not to support any healthcare bills unless they include language banning federal funding for most abortions.

The anti-abortion organizations, in a letter sent to House members and provided exclusively to the Washington Examiner, mainly objected to the Medicare for All Act that would require the government to pay for abortions. The groups also oppose a bill to shore up Obamacare because it doesn’t contain the Hyde Amendment, a provision that bans federal funding of abortion except in the cases of rape, incest, or if a woman’s pregnancy threatens her life.

“We are strongly opposed to any legislation that covers elective abortion in healthcare and urge you to oppose such bills unless amended so that such funds cannot be used for plans that include abortion,” wrote the groups, which include the Susan B. Anthony List, Live Action, the Family Research Council, and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

DEMOCRATS DEMAND ANSWERS ON DOJ’S OBAMACARE STANCE: House Democrats are giving the Department of Justice two weeks to supply documents explaining why it reversed itself and decided to ask the courts to rule that all of Obamacare is unconstitutional.

“If we do not receive a response by [May 24], we will have no choice but to consider alternative means of obtaining compliance,” five committee chairmen wrote in a letter sent Monday to Attorney General William Barr and White House counsel Pat Cipollone, suggesting they would subpoena for the documents.

RULES COMMITTEE TAKES UP OBAMACARE, PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The Rules Committee is meeting Tuesday afternoon to discuss legislation that would add $100 million in outreach dollars to the Obamacare marketplaces and reverse the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term plans. Republicans oppose both of these measures, and Democrats are aiming to put them in a tough spot by pairing the bills with bipartisan actions to lower drug prices.

JAY INSLEE SIGNS BILL MAKING WASHINGTON 1ST STATE TO ADD ‘PUBLIC OPTION’ TO OBAMACARE: Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee approved the first health insurance “public option” in the U.S. on Monday. Inslee can now boast that he is the only Democratic presidential candidates to enact such a measure.

The provision, dubbed “Cascade Care,” is meant to introduce more competition into the Obamacare marketplaces, particularly in counties where only one health insurer offers coverage and at a time in which the state has faced double-digit premium hikes. Proponents said that premiums for the plans will be about 10% less expensive than what people are paying for Obamacare plans now, and will achieve that rate by paying doctors and hospitals less.

GRASSLEY, DURBIN INTRODUCE BILL TO CODIFY HHS RULES FOR DRUG PRICES IN ADS: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced a bill Monday to codify Health and Human Services rules requiring pharmaceutical companies to list drug prices in TV ads. Grassley called the rules a “no-nonsense way to empower healthcare consumers and make informed decisions about their care.”

BOOKER RELEASES GUN SUICIDE PREVENTION PLAN: Booker on Tuesday released a plan to prevent firearm suicides. It includes a gun license requirement, allowing law enforcement to limit access to firearms for people at risk of hurting themselves, requiring safe storage to keep guns away from minors and at-risk people, expanding education programs for healthcare professionals about suicide prevention, and appointing a White Housel official to organize, consolidate, and implement measures to prevent suicide deaths.

NY LAW LEADS TO FEWER COMPLAINTS ABOUT SURPRISE MEDICAL BILLS: Complaints from New Yorkers about surprise medical bills have declined since 2015 when the state enacted a law to protect consumers from out-of-network emergency care charges, according to a new study from Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. The study showed that the number of complaints declined so dramatically that surprise billing went from being one of the greatest consumer challenges to “barely an issue.” “New York’s approach demonstrates the potential for regulation to make a difference, because it holds patients harmless while also creating a process for negotiation,” said Katherine Hempstead, senior policy adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which helped to fund the study.

MARYLAND’S HOGAN SIGNS LAW TO PROTECT LIVING ORGAN DONORS: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, on Monday signed a bill into law to enact anti-discriminatory protections for living organ donors. Under the new law, life insurance companies cannot discriminate against living donors due to health status by denying coverage or increasing premiums. The law also ensures that when donors are ready to return to work after post-surgery recovery, their jobs will be waiting for them as if they never left. While most transplanted organs come from deceased donors, those from living donors tend to yield better results for recipients. Currently, about 97,000 Americans are waiting for a kidney transplant, including 2,500 from Maryland alone.

JOE BIDEN JOKES ABOUT HIS 2010 OBAMACARE F-BOMB GAFFE: Biden made light of his reputation for gaffes Monday with a joke about his F-bomb into a hot mic when the Affordable Care Act was passed. “I thought no one could hear,” Biden said in Hampton. “Thank God my mom wasn’t around.”

HRSA REWARDS 120 RURAL HEALTH SERVICES $24M TO FUND DRUG TREATMENT: The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $24 million to the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program for the second year. Awards of $200,000 will go to 120 organizations across 40 states for one year to make plans to create substance use treatment resources in the most medically underserved areas.

CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL LEADS MULTI-STATE SUIT AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a lawsuit Monday against the Trump Administration’s rule keeping states from deducting employee benefits and union dues from home- and community-based care workers’ paychecks. Becerra says the law undermines California’s In-Home Supportive Services Medicaid program, which allows workers to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits. Becerra, leading California, Washington, Connecticut, Oregon, and Massachusetts, says Trump’s new rule keeps healthcare workers from advocating for their own rights and from providing quality home- and community-based care.

HOWARD STERN: THE TRUMP I KNOW WASN’T ANTI-ABORTION BECAUSE HE PROBABLY GOT A ‘FEW PEOPLE ABORTIONS’: Longtime radio host Howard Stern said during an interview with “Good Morning America” that he does not believe President Trump is truly anti-abortion because he probably got a “few people abortions.” Stern, who was Trump’s longtime friend, said, “I don’t know what he’s doing. The stance, the women don’t have a right to choose what… I remember the days of women in the back alleys with coat hangers; that’s not acceptable.”

The Rundown

Reuters California jury hits Bayer with $2 billion award in Roundup cancer trial

Daily Bruin Undocumented young adults qualify for health care until age 26 in new state budget

Kaiser Health News Dealing with hospital closure, rioneer Kansas town asks: What comes next?

Stat Joe Biden may resurface a long-held dream: a White House laser-focused on cancer

The Hill Public confidence in GOP on healthcare down by 6 points since Trump joined anti-ObamaCare lawsuit

The New York Times Firing up the neural symphony

Calendar

TUESDAY | MAY 14

May 14-15. Hyatt Centric. Arlington, Va. Population Health Payer Plan Innovations for Medicaid, Medicare, and Duals. Payer Agenda.

Noon. 1333 H St NW. Center for American Progress event on antitrust in healthcare. Details.

4:30 p.m. H-313. House Rules Committee meeting on legislation addressing prescription drugs and the Affordable Care Act. Details.

WEDNESDAY | May 15

May 15-16. Hyatt Centric. Arlington, Va. Population Health Payer Plan Innovations for Medicaid, Medicare, and Duals. Hospital Agenda.

8 a.m. AJAX. 1011 4th St. NW. Axios event on “Easing America’s Pain.” Details.

Noon. Newseum. AIR340B 6^th Annual National Stakeholder Summit.

THURSDAY | May 16

9 a.m. 1301 K St NW. Washington Post Live event on mental health and addiction. Details.

10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn. House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on “HIV Prevention Drug: Billions in Corporate Profits after Millions in Taxpayer Investments.” Details.