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Legislation Introduced To Tackle California's GPCI Problem, Raise Medicare Rates In Certain High-Cost Counties
U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced legislation sponsored by the California Medical Association to eliminate one of the biggest barriers for seniors to get access to health care - low Medicare reimbursement rates in several counties.
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Ad Update: Religious Groups Back Reform, Unions Target Senators' Tax Plans
"Labor unions are showing their increasing displeasure over [health reform] financing proposals that target their healthcare benefits by launching attack ads against key lawmakers, causing the Senate"s leading advocate of taxing such benefits to seek an end to one especially aggressive campaign," Congress Daily reports. The Laborers" International Union of North America pulled an ad in Montana attacking Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus at the senator"s request, and after he asked to meet with the union"s president to discuss proposals (Dann, 6/30).
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House Committee Approves Amendments Limiting Coverage, Payment For Abortion Under Health Reform
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday continued work on health care reform legislation (HR 3200), passing an amendment that would neither require nor prohibit insurance companies from providing coverage for abortion services, the New York Times reports. The amendment, offered by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and approved by a 30-28 vote, excludes abortion services from the "essential benefits package" that would be defined by the government. While the committee"s reform bill includes subsidies to help pay premiums for low-income people, the amendment prohibits these subsidies from paying for abortion services, stipulating that "insurers must use money from private s to pay for any abortion," the Times reports. The amendment also requires that at least one plan covers abortion services and one does not in every part of the country (Herszenhorn/Pear, New York Times, 7/31).The committee also rejected an amendment that would have been a blanket prohibition on abortion coverage in both public and private plans governed by health care reform legislation, except in very limited cases, the AP/Google reports. The amendment initially was approved when conservative Democrats joined Republicans in supporting it. However, hours later, committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) invoked House rules that allowed him to call for a second vote on the amendment. It was then rejected by a 29-30 vote when Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) changed his vote from "yes" to "no," and Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio) voted "no" after abstaining the first time (AP/Google, 7/31). The failed amendment was introduced by Reps. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) (Amendment text, 7/30).According to the Times, Democrats on the committee also defeated Republican efforts to eliminate a section of the reform bill that would create a public health insurance plan option (New York Times, 7/31). The AP/Yahoo! News reports that the Energy and Commerce Committee is the last of three House committees to act on health care reform legislation. The Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to finish its work on Friday.The Senate has not matched the House"s progress on reform legislation, as bipartisan negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee Thursday said they need more time to produce an agreement for the committee to review (Werner, AP/Yahoo! News, 7/31). The Finance Committee negotiations between three Democrats and three Republicans, including the committee chair and ranking GOP member, are ongoing as they try to agree on a bipartisan bill that can win at least 60 votes on the Senate floor, CQ Today reports (Jansen/Epstein, CQ Today, 7/30).
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Gathering Of Swine Flu Experts At New York Academy Of Sciences May 28

The very latest information on the 2009 swine influenza (H1N1) outbreak is the subject of a landmark afternoon symposium hosted by the New York Academy of Sciences today, Thursday, May 28. Speakers will discuss the new recombinant virus, epidemiology, treatment, vaccine development and the public health implications of a worldwide pandemic. Reservations are required to attend the conference, held from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at academy offices, 7 World Trade Center, 40th floor, 250 Greenwich St. at Barclay St. A reception will follow. Two microbiologists/immunologists from New York Medical College are leading the symposium, which will focus on understanding the pathogenicity and transmission of the viruses to develop improved methods of prevention and control. Keynote speaker Edwin D. Kilbourne, M.D., emeritus professor, developed the first genetically engineered vaccine of any kind more than 30 years ago. He is an internationally recognized research scientist who has made significant contributions to the study and prevention of influenza and other viral diseases. Doris Bucher, Ph.D., associate professor, whose laboratory in Valhalla is one of just three worldwide that reproduces "seed" viruses for the influenza vaccine, which begins the process of producing some 450 million doses of a new vaccine each year. Dr. Bucher is the symposium organizer. Speakers include Michael Shaw, CDC Influenza Division; Dominick A. Iacuzio, Hoffman-La Roche, Inc.; Kanta Subbarao, NIH Laboratory of Infectious Diseases; John Treanor, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; Philip R. Dormitzer, Novartis Vaccines; Scott Harper, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and James Matthews, Sanofi Pasteur, moderator. Information and directions at http://www.nyas.org/about/directions.asp. The program also will be broadcast as a live Webinar, and is sponsored by Emerging Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Discussion Group of the New York Academy of Sciences. Donna E. Moriarty, M.P.H. New York Medical College


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