Welcome to The Morning CheckUp, ThinkProgress Health’s 7:00 AM round-up of the latest in health policy and politics. Here is what we’re reading, what are you?
– White House insists Ryancare is a voucher plan: Hours after Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) “asked President Obama to stop ‘demagoguing’ his Medicare reforms by calling it a voucher plan, the White House declared it has no intention of backing off. “What you call it doesn’t change what it is and what it does,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney. “It is a voucher plan.” [The Hill]
– Obamacare on trial in Ohio: All three jurists “asked tough questions of the plaintiffs, suggesting all Americans at some point would need medical care, and that choosing to stay out of the health care market may not be practical if the goal is to control costs and maintain quality of care.” [CNN]
– Huntsmancare: “The initial plan that his office released, in conjunction with outside groups like the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and the United Way, called for a mandate and the creation of a nonprofit health exchange, both features that ended up in President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The Chamber signed onto the plan in early 2008, just as the legislature took up the bill.” [Ben Smith]
– Why are the high-risk pools in trouble? Pelosi thinks it’s “due to a lack of information about the high-risk pools, rather than the brass tacks of the program.” [Suzy Khimm]
– CNN poll says GOP is losing the Medicare debate: “58 percent of the public opposes the Republican plan on Medicare, with 35 percent saying they support the proposal.” The poll also finds that “a majority of conservatives and even 50 percent of Republicans oppose the plan.” [Greg Sargent]
– Redefining personhood: Anti-choice activists are “trying to rewrite the laws and constitutions of every state — and some countries — to recognize someone as a person “exactly at creation.” [Julie Rovner]
– Cancer and cellphones: “I remain much more concerned about myriad public health risks than I about whether my Verizon guy sold me a carcinogen. Radiation—from power lines, microwave ovens, cell phones, and (went there) nuclear power—has always occupied outsized concern in the public mind relative to its true health impact.” [Harold Pollack]
– IPAB and judicial review: Kevin Outterson explains why Congress limited judicial review of IPAB implementation. [Incidental Economist]
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