OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Obama touts ObamaCare

by Sam Baker and Elise Viebeck - 07/18/13 10:50 PM ET

President Obama tried to reclaim the offensive Thursday with a White House address extolling early benefits in his signature healthcare law. Obama pushed back against Republican criticism of the law and chided the House GOP for holding two more votes this week to delay parts of the law — even though 35 Democrats broke with the White House to support the GOP bill delaying the law’s employer mandate.

“If the folks who have been trying to make political hay out of this thing, if they had some better ideas, I’ve already told them I’m happy to hear them. But I haven’t heard any so far,” Obama said. “What I’ve heard is just the same old song and dance. We’re just going to blow through that stuff.”

{mosads}Obama highlighted a provision of the healthcare law that regulates how much insurers can spend on profit and administrative expanses, and he was flanked by people who received rebates from their insurance companies as a result of those rules. Obama also touted early rate filings in 11 states where premiums next year under ObamaCare’s exchanges have come in well below expectations.

“Consumers are getting a hint of how much money they’re potentially going to save,” Obama said.

Healthwatch has full coverage of Obama’s address.

New SGR draft: House lawmakers released a new draft of their proposal to replace Medicare’s payment formula for physicians, ahead of a markup that’s scheduled to begin Monday. The bipartisan framework would not completely eliminate Medicare’s fee-for-service payment model, called the Sustainable Growth Rate, but would allow doctors to opt into a new model that pays based on patient outcomes, rather than the quantity of services provided.

“After over 10 years of patches and last-minute rescues, the “Doc fix” is closer than ever to becoming a relic of the past,” said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which released the bipartisan proposal.

The panel’s Health subcommittee is slated to begin Monday. The committee’s website has more information about its proposal.

No more delays: A top Treasury official on Thursday suggested that his department has no current plans to delay additional provisions of the ObamaCare. J. Mark Iwry, Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health policy, told lawmakers that the employer mandate is the only policy that has been considered for deferral.

“We don’t have any specific provision that we’ve identified for which we would give some relief,” Iwry said in witness testimony.

Healthwatch has more.

New ad: Crossroads GPS, the super-PAC tied by Karl Rove, released a new anti-ObamaCare ad. The first three words: “Obamacare. Tornado. ObamaCareNado.” You can watch it here.

New ad, part 2: Americans United for Change also has a new ad, promoting ObamaCare. It explains the law’s benefits, then criticizes Republicans for voting repeatedly to repeal or defund the law. Watch it here.

State by state

Perry signs 20-week abortion ban bill

Michigan Senate eyes August Medicaid vote

Fewer Utah doctors caring for Medicaid patients

Lobbying registrations

Trimpa Group / Autism Speaks

Platinum Advisors / Medivation

McGuireWoods Consulting / Diamondback Drugs of Delaware

Mayer Brown / Qiagen

American Capitol Group / Cormac Group, on behalf of Association of Community Pharmacists Congressional Network

Reading list

Alison Lundergan Grimes distances herself from ObamaCare