OVERNIGHT HEALTH: CLASS repeal moves forward

Abortion fight: New Hampshire could be the next state to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. The state House passed a bill Wednesday morning that would block Planned Parenthood from being paid for healthcare services and redirect the money to organizations that do not provide abortions.

“For many New Hampshire women, Planned Parenthood is the only affordable option for health care. This legislation puts at risk basic access to cost-effective, preventive services such as cancer screenings, breast exams, access to birth control and other disease prevention services,” Planned Parenthood of New England said in a statement.

{mosads}The anti-abortion-rights Susan B. Anthony List, meanwhile, praised the vote as “a great victory in what has become a nationwide battle to stop taxpayer funding of abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.”

Bad news bears: Everybody likes to talk about cutting healthcare costs by rewarding “quality, not quantity.” But, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report, efforts to push the system in that direction have not saved any money. CBO said 10 major demonstration projects over the past 20 years have either had no effect or have actually cost more than traditional fee-for-service payments. Healthwatch has the details.

The fight for states’ hearts: Every state in the nation has taken some kind of action to implement the healthcare reform law since it was passed two years ago, the White House said in a new report released Wednesday. The report in particular looked at the 28 states that have been granted federal funds to create state-based exchanges.  

Healthwatch has more on the administration’s arguments here.

Baloney, say Ways and Means Republicans. They point out that accepting a $1 million federal planning grant “does not indicate a state is pursuing a state-based exchange, nor its ability to meet the January 1, 2013 deadline to establish a state-based exchange.”

Grade ‘F’: Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), both leaders on the House Oversight panel, are pressing the administration for answers about eight regulations implementing the healthcare reform law after free-market university researchers gave them an “F.” In particular, the lawmakers allege that the regulations understated their “real-world costs.”

Here’s their letter to Regulatory Affairs Administrator Cass Sunstein. And here’s the unflattering study.

Medicaid and CHIP: The healthcare law’s requirement that states maintain their eligibility levels and enrollment and renewal procedures was central in preserving coverage amid state fiscal challenges in 2011, the Kaiser Family Foundation concludes in its annual 50-state survey. 

Two states — Arizona and Nevada — made Medicaid eligibility reductions for low-income adults under the limited exceptions to the law’s requirement, the report found, “suggesting that, without the requirement, it is likely that more states would have rolled back coverage as a result of ongoing budget pressures, which would limit coverage options for low-income families, increase the number of uninsured, and weaken the coverage base for broader health reform.”

You can read the full report here.

Sexual assault: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced new Pentagon initiatives Wednesday to try to reduce an “unacceptable” number of sexual assaults in the military. Our friends at DEFCON Hill have more.

Moving up: Samantha Burch has been promoted to vice president for quality and health information technology at the Federation of American Hospitals. She was previously the FAH’s director for Health Care Policy and Research.

Thursday’s agenda

Congress is out for the rest of the week as House Republicans head to Baltimore for their annual retreat. Rep. Tom Price, (R-Ga.), will be leading the discussion on healthcare, sources told Healthwatch. One of the topics on the agenda: GOP alternatives to President Obama’s healthcare reform law.

Off the Hill, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addresses the Families USA annual conference at 8:30. She’ll be followed by Reps. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). Here’s the agenda.

State by state

Washington state holds its first hearing Thursday on the proposed “Reproductive Parity Act,” which would require private and public insurers that provide maternity coverage to cover abortion services as well.

The federal government’s takeover of insurance rate regulation in states that fell short of the health law’s standards is having an impact in Arizona.

Maine hospitals say they’re owed $125 million for serving Medicaid patients that aren’t fully reimbursed by the state.

Reading list

Country singer Garth Brooks is suing an Oklahoma hospital to get a $500,000 donation back after it failed to name a building in his mother’s honor, The Associated Press reports.

Rick Santorum compared Medicare to Mitt Romney’s reforms in Massachusetts because “it will eventually mean that a lot of seniors aren’t going to get the care that they need,” Think Progress reports.

PCORI is a funny acronym for a panel that does serious work, The Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff writes.

What you might have missed on Healthwatch

Court angst for left over healthcare

Healthcare reform advocate blasts White House for caving on public option in new book

Former Obama administration health official jumps to KPMG

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Julian Pecquet: jpecquet@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com / 202-628-8527

Sam Baker: sbaker@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com / 202-628-8351

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