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JUDGES WEIGH STRIKING DOWN OBAMACARE: Federal appeals judges in New Orleans are entertaining the idea of striking some or all of Obamacare, appearing uncertain during oral arguments Tuesday over whether Congress intended to toss the entire healthcare law.
During the 90-minute hearing, the two Republican-appointed judges asked attorneys from both sides questions as they sought to determine whether Obamacare’s mandate to buy health insurance was constitutional and whether it could be severed from the rest of the law.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt, who was appointed by President Trump, questioned why Congress couldn’t step in to remedy the situation. Lawmakers could pass legislation to clarify that the law could remain in place even without the penalty in order to render moot the question about severability, he said.
“Why does Congress want the judiciary to become the taxidermist for every legislative, big-game accomplishment that Congress achieves? Congress can fix this,” he said.
Douglas Letter, the attorney for the Democrat-controlled House, shot back: “And obviously the president would sign that, right? No, obviously not.”
Obamacare’s defenders said that Congress had intended only to strike the penalty on the uninsured, and not the rest of the healthcare law. But Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, raised the fact that Republicans had long sought to undo more of the law.
“How do we know that some members of Congress didn’t say, ‘Aha! This is the silver bullet that will undo [Obamacare]? So we are going to vote for this just because we know it’s going to bring it to a halt,'” she said.
The third judge on the 5th Circuit panel, Carolyn Dineen King, who was appointed by Jimmy Carter, did not ask questions or make any comments about the case.
Click here to hear the full oral arguments and here to see more about what happened in New Orleans.
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.
Democrats are ready to make the Obamacare lawsuit a campaign issue: Congressional Democrats gathered on the steps of the Capitol Tuesday to protest the case by holding up signs of people with preexisting conditions who might have been denied health insurance before Obamacare passed. “The stakes can’t be higher,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. This morning, House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats are holding a hearing about the lawsuit. Tune in.
TRUMP SIGNING EXECUTIVE ORDER TO OVERHAUL KIDNEY CARE AND TRANSPLANTS: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR: Trump is signing an executive order to boost kidney transplants and increase care provided at home. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced significantly more patients will receive dialysis at home by 2025, and the number of available kidneys will double by 2030. New payment models will incentivize clinics to provide dialysis treatments in the home, and do more to help patients receive transplants to avoid long-term dialysis. The administration will also develop artificial kidneys to make a dent in the kidney transplant wait list, which is about 10,000-people long. Also, incentives for living donors will include compensation for donors and provide childcare. The announcement is coming at 11:15 a.m. Tune in.
BORDER PATROL AGENTS SAY THEY’RE SUFFERING TOO: Border Patrol agents have undergone their own personal trials. The National Border Patrol Council, the union for agents, said many agents are drinking more than usual, experiencing depression, and, in the case of military veterans, are experiencing PTSD by seeing thousands of unaccompanied minors come over to the border detention facilities. “We have no metric for measuring it, but me being a representative of the agents, depression is going up. PTSD that agents already had from their service in the military is now being retriggered all over again,” said Wesley Farris, second vice president for the El Paso union chapter.
BILL CASSIDY MEETS WITH IVANKA ON PAID LEAVE: Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana met with Ivanka Trump Tuesday to discuss paid family leave. The meeting was the first for Cassidy since being named chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan working group on the issue in May. “My priority — the priority of the working group — is a common ground solution that empowers families and makes it more likely for their employer — the business owner — to also succeed,” Cassidy said in a statement after the meeting. He is expected to unveil bipartisan legislation soon with Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
GOOD NEWS FOR CALIFORNIANS: HEALTH PLANS UNDER OBAMACARE ARE ABOUT TO COST THEM LESS: Having increased by almost 8% on average since 2014, Obamacare premiums in California are expected to increase by 0.8% in 2020, the lowest rate of increase since Covered California took effect in 2014. About 922,000 Californians are expected to pay less for coverage as a part of a law signed by Democratic governor Gavin Newsom to allow subsidies for people who are making up to $75,000 a year. The state brought back their own version of the individual mandate fine that had been zeroed out at the federal level, though, making health insurance obligatory rather than voluntary.
APA CALLS ON ADMINISTRATION TO MITIGATE ‘TRAUMATIC EFFECTS’ ON MIGRANT KIDS IN DETENTION CENTERS: The American Psychiatric Association is pushing the Trump administration to improve conditions at border facilities to prevent lasting mental effects on children and adolescents in detention without their parents. The APA said that holding young people in conditions that have sparked outrage nationally will expose children to “chronic or intensely stressful life events are known to be at increased risk of developing depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder as well as long-term developmental, learning and health problems. Separating children from their parents and keeping them in extended custody in overcrowded conditions increases the risks for negative long-term psychological harm.”
WARREN AND DAINES LOOK TO CURB MILITARY GAMBLING PROBLEMS: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, have reintroduced a bill to address problematic gambling by service members. National Council on Problem Gambling research has found that service members overseas are exposed to over 3,000 slot machines on military bases.
CDC ASKS DOCTORS TO MONITOR MYSTERIOUS POLIO-TYPE VIRUS: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging doctors to quickly report any cases of a mysterious, polio-like illness that primarily hits children in an effort to understand the sickness before the next outbreak. Government scientists still don’t know what causes the illness, known as acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, and leads to limb weakness that can become so severe that children need to be hooked up to a breathing machine. At least 233 people were infected during the 2018 outbreak.
The Rundown
Kaiser Health News ‘An arm and a leg’: the full story of insulin and its cost ― no sugarcoating it
The Texas Tribune As Texas seeks to overturn Obamacare, attention focuses on a potential swing judge
Stat CDC made a synthetic Ebola virus to test treatments. It worked
Cleveland.com Cleveland Clinic successfully delivers baby born from deceased-donor uterus
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | July 10
Congress in session.
July 9-11. Orlando. National Association of County and City Health Officials annual conference. Details.
9:30 a.m. Dirksen 106. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on “Redefining Reality: How the Special Diabetes Program is Changing the Lives of Americans with Type 1 Diabetes.” Details.
10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn. Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on “The Trump Administration’s Attack on the ACA: Reversal in Court Case Threatens Healthcare for Millions of Americans.” Details.
11:15 a.m. President Trump to sign executive order on improving kidney health. Tune in.
2 p.m. HVC 210. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee hearing on “The Cost of Caring.” Details.
THURSDAY | July 11
10 a.m. 2123 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee to mark up 10 healthcare bills.
10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn. House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on “Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Childhood Trauma: A Pervasive Public Health Issue that Needs Greater Federal Attention.” Details.
10:15 a.m. Rayburn 2175. House Education and Labor Committee Workforce Protections Subcommittee hearing on “From the Fields to the Factories: Preventing Workplace Injury and Death from Excessive Heat.” Details.
MONDAY | July 15
Noon. Dirksen G-50. Alliance for Health Policy congressional briefing on “Balancing the Bills: Policy Solutions to Address Surprise Billing.” Details.
TUESDAY | July 16
10 a.m. 2123 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee to hold hearing on “Oversight of Federal Efforts to Combat the Spread of Illicit Fentanyl.” Details.
