THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2009

Under the Microscope

MEDPAC REPORT: Improving Incentives in the Medicare Program
MedPAC’s June report focuses on how incentives in the Medicare payment systems could be changed to strengthen the Medicare program and promote quality care for Medicare beneficiaries. [MedPAC, 6/15/2009]
Read the report’s Press Release here.

Read coverage of MedPAC’s report in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and a WSJ blog.

FACT SHEETS: Exploring Ways to Pay for Health Reform
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has come out with a series of fact sheets on various proposals being discussed to help cover the cost of health care reform.
[CBPP, May & June, 2009]

Reducing Medicaid & Medicare Drug Costs Could Help Pay for Health Reform

Limiting the Tax Exclusion for Employer-Sponsored Insurance Can Help Pay for Health Reform

Maintaining Current Value of Itemized Deductions For High-Income Taxpayers Could Help Pay for Health Care Reform

Curbing Flexible Spending Accounts Could Help Pay for Health Care Reform

Reversing the Erosion in Alcohol Taxes Could Help Pay for Health Care Reform

Taxing High-Sugar Soft Drinks Could Help Pay For Health Care Reform

Health Care Headlines

• As Obama Pushes Health Issue, Cost Concerns Arise
  President Obama went before a convention of receptive but wary doctors on Monday to make the economic case for a health care overhaul, both for the nation and for the physicians’ own bottom lines. [New York Times, 6/15/2009]
• Obama’s Health Care Speech Targeted More Than Doctors
  When President Obama brought his campaign to retool the U.S. health care system to the American Medical Association, his pitch wasn’t just directed at the more than 2,000 AMA members assembled in a Chicago hotel for the annual meeting of the influential doctors lobby. [CQ Daily, 6/15/2009]
• CBO Scoring Ramps Up Overhaul Debate
  The portion of a bill from Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Democrats that seeks to extend healthcare coverage universally will cost roughly $1 trillion over 10 years and cause 15 million people to either lose or choose to leave employer-based coverage, CBO estimated Monday. [CongressDaily, 6/16/2009]
• Malpractice Issue So Far a Non-Starter on Hill
  President Obama told doctors on Monday that as part of a health care overhaul, he would like to find ways to reduce the number of medical malpractice lawsuits. [CQ Today, 6/15/2009]
  Read a related story in Politico.
• Dems Hesitant on Conrad Proposal
  Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad’s proposal to create nonprofit health insurance cooperatives as competitors to private insurers was greeted as a potential game changer in the stalled negotiations over a government-run insurance plan. [Politico, 6/16/2009]
• Senate Mulls Over Health-Bill Details
  A key Senate committee wrestled Monday with details of a health plan that would allow nonprofit cooperatives to compete with private insurers and would tax health-care benefits for the first time.
  [Wall Street Journal, 6/16/2009]
• Moderate Republicans to Present Their Health Care Plan
  House Republican moderates Tuesday will propose a health care overhaul focused on expanding private insurance coverage, in part by limiting state regulation of insurance plans offered by national corporations. [CQ Today, 6/15/2009]
• OPINION: A Plan to Boost America’s Fiscal Health
  By Peter Orszag, director, White House Office of Management & Budget
  As the healthcare debate picks up in the US, there has been much discussion about how to pay for it. Coinciding with this debate are vocal concerns about the country’s underlying fiscal position – which some have suggested as a reason to delay healthcare reform. [Financial Times, 6/15/2009]
• OPINION: Repeat After Me: This Is Only a Partial Estimate
  By Jonathan Cohn
  Imagine you were designing your dream house and got an architect's estimate for the building cost, only it was based on a design that lacked wiring, plumbing, and a roof--and assumed you'd need have to pay three different contractors instead of one. [New Republic, 6/15/2009]
• OPINION: Wal-Mart’s Eye on Healthcare
  By Mike Duke, President and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
  We, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., serve 140 million customers every week in the United States and we learn a lot from them about what’s on the minds of the American people. [The Hill, 6/16/09]