Happy
Friday all – well, Washington saw its first dusting of snow which followed the
coldest air temps in two years. The inaugural was spared the extremes as
the clouds lifted after the president’s speech, and the sun began to
shine. Now the real work begins (again) as our elected officials try to
get something done on the budget, gun control, and a host of other important
subjects. New cabinet members are being announced and confirmation
hearings have begun. Secretary Sebelius has announced that she plans to
remain head of HHS so the health arena should remain steady-as-she-goes!
57th
Presidential Inauguration. Around 1 million people were in
Washington to witness President Obama’s second inauguration, up significantly
from the original estimates of 400,000 to 600,000. The president outlined
his vision for the next four years and beyond during his inaugural
address. The New York Times has this chart
of VIPs up on stage with the president.
‘Profound
& Devastating Blow.’ That’s how NIH Director Francis Collins describes
the looming sequestration. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has
directed agencies to start preparing for the automatic cuts. They are set
to occur April 1st unless Congress takes action.
Legal
Ruling on Unlicensed Stem Cells. A recent court
ruling puts the breaks on use of unlicensed stem cells therapies for
conditions, including MS, that many neurologists refer to as the ‘wild West’.
IRS
Proposes new Health Regs for business. Implementation of the
Affordable Care Act isn’t only about what the Department of Health and Human
Services does, it’s the IRS
as well as it proposes new regulations for employer sponsored health plans.
That’ll
be 10.3 miles please. Any Big Mac meal lovers out there (other
than me)? Well, it’s a value meal item making it affordable but any idea
how many miles it takes to burn off the calories of a Big Mac and medium
fries? You
guessed it – 10.3 miles.
Charitable
Giving.
The ‘fiscal cliff’ deal of a few weeks ago preserved the charitable deduction
and in fact, one study indicated that the slight tweak it was given may result
in increased donations. However, many in the non-profit world believe the
threat
has not passed, but rather, that we may all just be lying in wait for the
next battle as the budget war
continues.
Social
Media Tips from HHS. The agency has some ideas
for effective use of hashtags for promoting health related issues.
Debt
Ceiling, Default and Shutdown. The House passed a 3 month lifting
of the debt limit with added incentive that if they don’t
get a deal done, Member of Congress will
not get paid (I hear bi-partisan cheers throughout the country). So
while an official name of such a deal hasn’t surfaced, the subheader might
fictionally read ‘The Congressional Paycheck Protection Act! Senate
Majority Leader Reid said he won’t oppose it and the White House indicated its
support as well. So this will temporarily stop the talk about
whether the United States will default on its $16 Trillion+ debt, whether the
constitution enables the president to ignore
the debt limit, then of course about how great an idea it is to shut
down part or all of the federal government. (Note – on the last
issue, it didn’t work so well in the mid ‘90s for the party in power).
A
Looming Thaw?
In a hopeful sign, Senate Minority Leader McConnell has extended a bit of
an olive
branch to the president, hoping to be able to work together to solve some
of our nation’s largest challenges.
Best/Worst
Congressional Bosses. Interesting study
about staff turnover in congressional offices.
Telemedicine
Red-Tape.
Verizon’s EVP penned this
opinion piece for Politico about how red-tape is tying up the advance of
telemedicine.
Franklin’s
Time Management.
No, not Franklin/Covey, Ben Franklin. While he hasn’t uttered a word in
centuries, his time
management advice is probably more succinct now than ever. The quote
in this graphic is ‘By failing to prepare you are prepared to fail’ which is
on-the-mark!
Health
Reform Implementation News:
- Healthcare.gov gets a facelift: The Obama Administration’s comprehensive website about the Affordable Care Act has a new and improved look. It seems the term “health insurance exchanges” is out, and “marketplace” is in!
- What’s your favorite metaphor? Maybe we should be describing health insurance exchanges more like Turbo Tax than Travelocity.
- Really!?! AZ Governor Jan Brewer’s support for Medicaid expansion in her state sure surprised a lot of people! Will other Medicaid expansion opponents follow suit?
- Coverage Gaps on the Horizon? Could people transitioning from Medicaid to Medicare in a reformed health care system experience gaps in coverage? Our friends at the Medicare Rights Center recommend strategies for states and advocates to adopt to help make sure people don’t fall through the cracks unnecessarily.
- More proposed federal regulations (aka sleep aids). The Public Policy Department is working in coalition with other disability groups to review and comment on a 474-page proposed rule released last week. As proposed, state officials would be able to charge Medicaid patients higher cost-sharing for some services than current regulations allow. The proposed rule also affects a wide range of other Medicaid provisions, including appeals of eligibility determinations; coordination between Medicaid and the new health care law's insurance exchanges; the role of counselors to assist people with their coverage applications; procedures to verify employer-sponsored coverage; and the use of updated Medicaid eligibility categories.
- Pre-Existing Condition Take-Aways. So what lessons did we learn from the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Program that could help ACA implementation?
See you after the Super Bowl!
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