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Harvey prompts HHS emergency declaration. The Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency for Louisiana after massive rains from Hurricane Harvey hit the state. The declaration comes several days after a similar one was made for Texas. The declaration can help cut red tape for Medicare and Medicaid providers in the states and it frees up funding for disaster response. The agency said that in addition to added flexibility for providing assistance to beneficiaries, HHS is deploying about 550 personnel to affected areas.
Poll: Half of the country supports Medicaid work requirements. About half of voters support adding work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a new poll from Morning Consult and Politico. The poll released Monday found 51 percent of 1,997 voters surveyed supported requiring individuals to have a job to receive Medicaid benefits. Republicans tried to include work requirements for some beneficiaries as part of Obamacare repeal and replace efforts that fell short in the Senate last month. Work requirements are gaining traction in states after the Trump administration signaled it would be more lenient in approving waivers that allow the practice.
Welcome to Philip Klein’s Daily on Healthcare, compiled by Washington Examiner Managing Editor Philip Klein (@philipaklein), Senior Healthcare Writer Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and Healthcare Reporter Robert King (@rking_19). Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list.
Kasich and Hickenlooper push their Obamacare fix. Governors John Kasich, an Ohio Republican, and John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, are lobbying their fellow governors to support their new plan to stabilize Obamacare, which they are expected to release this week.
Kasich said he and Hickenlooper are sharing the ideas with “Republican and Democrat governors in our coalition.” They gave some hints last week about what could be in the plan.
They told Colorado Public Radio they would like to see changes to Obamacare’s employer mandate that demands employers with 50 or more employees provide health insurance. They also have stoked speculation that they may run in 2020 as a unity ticket. However, both have tried to quash those rumors. Congress returns Sept. 5 from a month-long recess to begin mapping out their own plan.
Aetna sued after revealing HIV info on envelope. The major insurer is facing a class-action lawsuit after it inadvertently revealed that about 12,000 of its customers have HIV. A 52-year-old man in Bucks County, Pa., is suing the insurer because his sister learned that he had HIV by looking at an unopened envelope sent by the insurer. Information showing that he was taking HIV medications could be seen through the large window on the envelope, according to a statement from the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which filed the lawsuit Monday.
The same type of envelope was used to mail sensitive information to about 12,000 customers in at least 23 states, the lawsuit said. Aetna last week apologized to “those affected by a mailing issue that inadvertently exposed the personal health information of some Aetna members. This type of mistake is unacceptable and we are undertaking a full review of our processes to ensure something like this never happens again.”
CDC report says 28.1 million people uninsured. A new federal report estimates that 20.5 million people have gained health insurance since 2010, the year Obamacare was signed into law, although the report didn’t attribute that entire increase to health plans bought under Obamacare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 28.1 million people in the U.S. are uninsured, which is about 500,000 fewer than in 2016 and 20.5 million fewer than in 2010, according to a report released Tuesday on the uninsured rate for the first three months of 2017. But the CDC also estimated that more people have high-deductible plans. This year, it estimated that 42.3 percent of people under 65 have a high-deductible plan, compared to 39.4 percent last year. The report is based on the 2017 national health interview survey of 19,846 people.
RUNDOWN
The Hill: Op-ed: We might end up with single-payer healthcare, whether we like it or not
Axios Pharma advertising skyrockets while other categories declining
Washington Post Democrats defending Obamacare are left with this one option – the pen
Bloomberg Businessweek Medical journals have a fake news problem
New York Times Houston hospitals treat storm victims and become victims themselves
Kaiser Health News Mayo pain expert: Holistic approach helps patients ditch opioids
Roll Call DCCC launches healthcare Facebook ads in targeted districts
Associated Press Public health dangers loom in Harvey-hit areas
Calendar
CALENDAR
TUESDAY , Aug. 29
Aug. 29-31. Paralyzed Veterans of America Annual Summit. Details.
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 30
1 p.m. Rural Health Information Hub, CDC and National Cancer Institute hold webinar on rural cancer. Details.
THURSDAY, AUG. 31
7 p.m., Rockville, Md. Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin holds a town hall to discuss healthcare at Johns Hopkins University’s Rockville, Md., campus. 9601 Medical Drive. [email protected]
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 6
10 a.m. 430 Dirksen. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on stabilizing the Obamacare exchanges. State insurance commissioners will testify. help.senate.gov/hearings/stabilizing-premiums-and-helping-individuals-in-the-individual-insurance-market-for-2018-state-insurance-commissioners
THURSDAY, SEPT. 7
9 a.m. 430 Dirksen. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a second hearing on stabilizing the Obamacare exchanges, with several governors testifying. help.senate.gov/hearings/stabilizing-premiums-and-helping-individuals-in-the-individual-insurance-market-for-2018-governors
