News in brief - Oct. 24, 2011

Tobacco companies ask for injunction against graphic warnings

A judge is expected to decide by November whether to temporarily ban a new guideline requiring graphic warning labels on cigarette packages.

Five tobacco companies, including Reynolds American, asked a judge on Sept. 21 for an injunction against the requirement while their legal challenge against the warnings proceeds. The companies say the graphic warnings are unfair and would require millions of dollars in equipment to print the new warnings.

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring tobacco manufacturers to start placing the graphic warnings on cigarette packages by September 2012. The pictures include an image of a man smoking through a tracheotomy hole and a dead man with a surgery-scarred chest.

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House adopts bill requiring exchanges to include a plan that bans abortions

The House on Oct. 13 voted 251-172 along party lines to adopt a bill that would require health plans in health insurance exchanges to offer at least one plan that does not cover abortions.

The bill is similar to a measure the House adopted in May. Both have exemptions for cases of rape, incest or when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger.

The Democratic-led Senate is not expected to act on the measure. The White House issued a statement on Oct. 12 threatening to veto the bill and noted the health system reform law already requires health plans in the exchanges to separate federal funding from funding that would pay for abortions. The reform law is expected to allow about 16 million people to gain coverage through private plans offered in health insurance exchanges beginning in 2014.

Congressional Democrats said the bill is redundant and would go beyond a longstanding compromise that prevents federal funding from being used to pay for abortions. "It is a step towards eliminating a choice that our Supreme Court has deemed legal and remains legal to this day," said Rep. Frank Pallone (D, N.J.), the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.

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Senators want to raise Medicare rates for rural physicians

Proposed legislation in the Senate would increase Medicare payments to physicians and hospitals in rural areas.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act on Oct. 12. The proposal would extend a geographic work adjustment increase to Medicare payments and a 10% Medicare bonus to doctors who practice in health professional shortage areas. Both provisions are set to expire on Dec. 31.

The bill also would increase pay to rural facilities with a disproportionate share of Medicare and Medicaid patients as a percentage of total discharges. Another section of the legislation would express the "sense of the Senate" that Congress must work to improve health care in rural communities.

"Americans deserve access to the best health care in the world, whether they live 50 yards or 150 miles from the nearest hospital," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D, Iowa), one of the bill's sponsors.

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CMS finalizes coverage for depression, alcohol screening

The Medicare program will now cover screening for depression and counseling for alcohol misuse, according to an Oct. 14 coverage decision memo from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The new preventive services will be available to Medicare patients at no cost. Annual screening for depression is covered in primary care settings with staff resources to follow up with treatment and referrals, CMS said. The purpose of the screening is to ensure accurate diagnosis and care for depression.

Primary care physicians or nurse practitioners can provide annual alcohol misuse screenings, CMS said. The benefit includes four behavioral counseling sessions a year when the patient screening is positive for misuse.

CMS had proposed the new services in July. The proposal was finalized after a comment period.

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