OVERNIGHT HEALTH: IPAB repeal would top $3 billion, says CBO

Two House committees have now passed a bill to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board, clearing the way for a floor vote soon.

The Ways and Means Committee cleared Rep. Phil Roe’s (R-Tenn.) IPAB repeal bill by a voice vote, just as the Energy and Commerce Committee did earlier in the week. House Democrats were never enthusiastic about the IPAB, which shifts power from Congress to an unelected board of healthcare experts, but the White House has aggressively defended the board against the latest Republican attack.

{mosads}Healthwatch has the lowdown from Thursday’s vote.

Why now? GOP leaders have said they’re pushing IPAB repeal now because they want to capture some of the attention the healthcare issue will get when the Supreme Court hears arguments over the law later this month. It’s also as good a time as any, from a budgetary standpoint. The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that IPAB repeal would add $3.1 billion to the deficit over 10 years.

The score could help highlight the fact that Republicans are trying to repeal a cost-cutting mechanism, which Democrats have been quick to point out. But it’s worth noting that the original CBO scores of the Affordable Care Act attributed about $15 billion in savings to the IPAB. Finding offsets for that kind of spending would have been much, much harder (and of course these are offsets for a bill that has almost no chance of becoming law as long as Barack Obama is president).

The new CBO numbers are here.

Popularity contest: Why did House Democrats get clobbered so badly in 2010? The healthcare reform law, of course. We suspected as much, but a new PoliSci paper crunches numbers and concludes that about 25 vulnerable Dems could have held their seats without that fateful vote. Healthwatch’s Julian Pecquet has more.

Limbaugh vs. Fluke, Round 362: Insurance giant Humana is suing a Maine company to stop it from using the name “Concentra” to sell memory pills after suffering a backlash over advertising on Rush Limbaugh’s show this week. The name is identical to Humana’s Concentra Health Systems, a chain of medical centers that operate in 40 states. Read more here.

Meanwhile, the head of the super-PAC supporting President Obama’s reelection effort said Thursday that comedian Bill Maher’s comments about Sarah Palin “were vulgar and inappropriate” but not comparable to Limbaugh’s. Healthwatch has more here.

In other contraception news, 12 Democratic women senators urged House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) not to hold a vote on controversial proposals to let religious employers opt out of the Obama administration’s new contraception mandate. Healthwatch’s Sam Baker has the details.

Check, please: Republicans would like an update on Medicaid’s finances. Especially since it was due, like, two months ago. Healthwatch has more here.

Early death: That’s what faces teenage smokers. Not that that’s stopping them — Healthwatch has details from the surgeon general’s depressing report on youth tobacco use.

Friday’s agenda

The National Alliance of State Health Cooperatives holds its annual meeting devoted to co-ops, which the healthcare reform law ended up supporting as an alternative to a public option. Here’s the agenda.

Also, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) wraps up its March meeting. On Friday, the commissioners will consider Medicare coverage of and payment for home infusion therapy; issues for risk adjustment in Medicare Advantage; and Care coordination programs for dual-eligible beneficiaries. Here’s the agenda.

State by state

The New Hampshire House voted to give employers a choice as to whether their health plans should cover contraception.

A bipartisan group of Kansas lawmakers is asking Gov. Sam Brownback to rethink his plan to move Medicaid patients into managed care.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber signs healthcare reforms into law.

Bill tracker

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed bipartisan legislation Thursday morning that would enhance penalties for stealing prescription drugs and medical devices (S. 1002). Healthwatch has the details.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) introduced legislation requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a program for consultation with experts on rare diseases, targeted therapies and genetic targeting of treatments to inform the Food and Drug Administration’s review of drugs and biologic products for rare diseases and drugs and biologic products that are genetically targeted (H.R. 4156).

Lobbying registrations

Ferguson Group / Brown Rudnick on behalf of the Neuroscience Center Foundation of Florida (health innovation and economic development funding and policy)

MFJ International / Hospira, Inc. (Specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company)

Van Heuvelen Strategies / Generic Pharmaceutical Association (user fee legislation)

C2 Group / America’s Health Insurance Plans 

What you might have missed on Healthwatch

Armed Forces Chairman Levin wants Limbaugh dropped from military radio

Bachmann thinks healthcare reform law could be used to limit family birth rates

Comments / complaints / suggestions? Please let us know:

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

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

Follow us on Twitter @hillhealthwatch