Health Beat: GOP Targets Obamacare Changes

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GOP TARGETS OBAMACARE CHANGES
CNN reports on Tuesday’s Congressional swearing-in ceremonies at which Republicans officially gained control of the U.S. Senate and added to their majorities in the U.S. House. TB&P reported on the Arkansas angle.

According to CNN, Republican leadership knows it can’t override a Presidential veto, which Obama has threatened if they send him “major” changes to the federal health care law. However, there are “targeted” changes that GOP leaders say they will push for through early votes. [They include:

• Changing the threshold employers have to reach to provide healthcare to workers from 30 to 40 hours per week.
• Expanding how veterans are counted as employees as an incentive to hire more vets.
• Doing away with the medical device tax that helps pay for the law.

“There is an internal debate among Republicans whether to use a special budget tool – known as “reconciliation” – that could allow them to pass a repeal in the Senate with just 51 votes. But because the President has said he will veto that bill, some Republicans want to save reconciliation, which can only be used once, for another priority, like tax reform, entitlement changes, or energy policy,” CNN reports. Read more here.

ADEQ SEEKS ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD NOMINATIONS
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is accepting entries for its annual Environmental Stewardship Award to recognize citizens or organizations for their efforts to protect and enhance the state’s environment.

Nomination packets must be postmarked by March 13, 2015, in order to be considered for the award, which will be presented at the April 2015 meeting of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the award, dubbed the ENVY award, and there are several categories of participation: Innovation, Green Government, Environmental Education and Outreach, Environmental Improvement or Enhancement, and Sustainability. For more information, www.adeq.state.ar.us.

HEALTHCARE WONK ALERT
In Arkansas, the healthcare debate is about to get even wonkier. Outgoing Gov. Mike Beebe said in his weekly radio address that despite his effort to focus on education and economic development as top priorities, his second term in office was actually dominated by healthcare reform.

On Tuesday, Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson told reporters he planned to deliver a “major speech” on healthcare reform later this month to outline his position on the private option and larger healthcare goals. Hutchinson has been having multiple conversations regarding the subject, which is certainly shaping up to be a major policy arena for his first term.

Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, one of the chief architects of the private option and other reform efforts, sat down on last week’s TB&P TV show to discuss the PO and larger healthcare reform efforts with Democrat-Gazette columnist John Brummett. In a nutshell, Sanders said his goal is to create a consumer-driven, competitive marketplace for healthcare, not a single-payer system.

“I get asked all the time, ‘Are you pro-business or pro-market?’ I’m pro-market,” said Sanders. “What I want to do is look at a way where we can sort of create a better market in Arkansas for healthcare. It means attacking the public side, the private side, the self-insured side, small business, the individual marketplace – all those things.”

Watch excerpts of the Sanders’ interview with Brummett here to gain more insight as to the changes he’ll be proposing in the upcoming session and how he assesses prospects for political passage.

WRIGHT, LINDSEY & JENNINGS ADDS TO MEDICAL MALPRACTICE GROUP
Little Rock law firm Wright, Lindsey & Jennings has added Jason B. Hendren, former partner at Friday, Eldredge & Clark to its practice. Hendren will add to WLJ’s medical malpractice group, defending healthcare providers and facilities in cases of alleged malpractice, as well as handling cases involving pharmaceutical and medical device companies in connection with products liability litigation.

With almost 20 years of experience, Hendren has handled several hundred malpractice cases defending hospital systems, pharmacies and long-term care facilities, as well as individual physicians, physician assistants, CRNAs, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, ophthalmologists, podiatrists, dentists and orthodontists across Arkansas.