News in brief - Nov. 19, 2007

Bush opposes SCHIP tobacco tax - Final HHS budget bill maintains NIH funding increase - Mass. doctors seek "I'm sorry" law

Bush opposes SCHIP tobacco tax

President Bush told lawmakers Oct. 30 he would not sign a reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program with a tobacco tax increase, further widening the gulf on SCHIP between the president and Democratic and Republican SCHIP bill supporters.

The last two versions of the $60 billion reauthorization measure would raise $35 billion by increasing federal cigarette taxes by 61 cents, to $1. The Senate adopted the latest SCHIP measure 64-30 on Nov. 1, one week after the House passed it 265-142. The bill, like its predecessor, faces a presidential veto, despite revisions that would limit SCHIP eligibility to 300% of the federal poverty level and phase out coverage of adults in one year instead of two. SCHIP funding will run out on Nov. 16 unless new legislation is passed. At press time, House and Senate lawmakers were negotiating on a new SCHIP bill in an attempt to reach a veto-proof two-thirds majority in both chambers.

Final HHS budget bill maintains NIH funding increase

A House-Senate compromise on fiscal 2008 Dept. of Health and Human Services appropriations includes a $30 billion National Institutes of Health budget -- $1.1 billion more than in 2007. President Bush proposed reducing the NIH budget by $310 million. The increase would be the first step toward reversing the trend of flat NIH budgets and bolstering research, said Robert E. Palazzo, PhD, president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

President Bush has threatened to veto the HHS budget legislation and nine of the 12 other appropriation bills because of "excessive spending." The HHS measure includes $68.5 billion in discretionary spending, $5.3 billion more than the president's request.

Mass. doctors seek "I'm sorry" law

The Massachusetts Medical Society is asking lawmakers to pass legislation that would let physicians and other health care professionals apologize to patients when an adverse event occurs, without those statements being used against them in court. Doctors hope the measure will help reduce medical liability lawsuits by encouraging better communication with patients. Trial lawyers have opposed the measure.

Doctors are looking to pass the bill as part of a larger proposed tort reform package that includes stricter expert witness requirements and allows physicians to pay judgments in installments instead of one lump sum. At least 27 states have passed apology statutes, according to American Medical Association research.

Vote refines AMA stance on health reform
The AMA House of Delegates rejected attempts to rescind support of a U.S. House health reform bill and any new government-sponsored health insurance plan during the 2009 Interim Meeting.
Story - AMA House - Slideshow