Overnight Healthcare: HHS announces major Medicare reforms

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Monday announced an ambitious new effort to reward quality medical care and phase out payments based solely on the volume of services provided in the Medicare program. For the first time, the agency is setting an explicit timetable for transitioning Medicare away from its dominant fee-for-service model. Altogether, the administration is aiming for a 50-percent increase in value-based payments by 2016. The timetable for quality-based payments will become part of Burwell's legacy at HHS. Apart from focusing on the successful implementation of ObamaCare, the former White House budget director has called phasing out fee-for-service payments a major priority of her tenure. Health insurance companies' lead advocate in Washington, D.C., Karen Ignagni, called the announcement a "major step forward" in encouraging wiser spending and better outcomes in the U.S. healthcare system. Read more here. CBO lowers ObamaCare price tag: The total pricetag for ObamaCare’s insurance programs will be 20 percent less than expected, the government’s budget office said Monday. The law’s insurance provisions are now expected to cost $571 billion through 2019 -- a drop of about $139 billion from the government's earliest estimates five years ago, according to new estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The drop in spending is largely due to the smaller-than-expected subsidies load because ObamaCare enrollment has been slower than expected. The CBO had initially expected 13 million people to sign up for ObamaCare by the end of this year, though it since revised that figure to 12 million. The enrollment tally is still far higher than the Obama administration's new target of 9 million people this year. Read more here. Murthy to help with enrollment effort: The first task for the new surgeon general will be driving up enrollment for ObamaCare -- an issue that threatened to derail his confirmation a month ago. Vivek Murthy, who was appointed the U.S. Surgeon General last month, is spending two months meeting with local officials and health leaders in 20 cities, in part to remind them that the last day to sign up for ObamaCare is Feb. 15. Murthy is fresh off a controversial confirmation fight, which centered on his support for gun control and ObamaCare, and which was delayed more than a year. Lawmakers, led by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), had strongly opposed Murthy, blasting him as a dedicated advocate for the president's healthcare law. Read more here. ObamaCare activists focus on youth: ObamaCare activists are mounting a new push to encourage young people to sign up for the marketplaces by Feb. 15, the deadline for buying health insurance this year. Thursday will mark the second annual National Youth Enrollment Day, with activist groups scheduled to hold roughly 200 sign-up events around the country. The initiative is a joint effort of Young Invincibles, Enroll America and several other organizations. Enrollment fairs will take place in at least 20 states at schools, malls, fitness centers and locations where young people gather, according to a media advisory. Read more here. FTC blasts weight-loss supplement: The celebrity nutritionist who promoted a controversial weight-loss supplement on "The Dr. Oz Show" is coming under fire from federal regulators. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday accused Lindsey Duncan and his two health companies, Pure Health LLC and Genesis Today, Inc., of "preying on consumers trying to improve their health." Duncan will pay $9 million to settle charges of false claims about the benefits of green coffee bean extract. "Lindsey Duncan and his companies made millions by falsely claiming that green coffee bean supplements cause significant and rapid weight loss," Jessica Rich, the FTC’s director of consumer protection, said in a statement. Read more here. 'Critical gaps' in Ebola response: One of the largest groups fighting Ebola in West Africa is warning the world not to slow down its response to the disease even as the number of cases continues to plummet across the region. Doctors Without Borders is now treating only 50 patients out of the 5,000 that have entered its eight treatment centers. But its leader declared Monday that the organization is not letting down its guard. "While this is a promising development, [Doctors Without Borders] cautions that a loss of vigilance now would jeopardize the progress made in stemming the epidemic," the agency wrote in a statement. Read more here. Tuesday’s schedule: The House Energy and Commerce Committee is slated to mark up six public health bills, which were nearly all authored or considered in the previous Congress. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Penn.) will hold a briefing to reintroduce his mental health reform bill, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. State by state: Ohio, several state universities sue Obama administration over ObamaCare 'tax' Supreme Court declines to review Oklahoma case against ObamaCare subsidies Questions still surround future of Arkansas Medicaid plan Ohio governor defends Medicaid expansion ahead of potential 2016 run  What we’re reading: What Obama can do if SCOTUS cripples ObamaCare The Obama administration wants to dramatically change how doctors are paid Opinion: Anatomy of a healthcare mess What you might have missed from The Hill: EPA issues new X-ray standards Doctors Without Borders: 'Critical gaps remain' in Ebola response Senate Finance to consider veterans bill Please send tips and comments to Sarah Ferris, sferris@thehill.com, and Elise Viebeck, eviebeck@thehill.com. Follow on Twitter: @thehill, @sarahnferris, @eliseviebeck