Overnight Healthcare: Another backup plan for ObamaCare

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Monday that he will unveil a back-up plan to take effect if the Supreme Court strikes down ObamaCare's subsidies in King v. Burwell. A message from IBM and Epic: We are trusted market leaders in Health IT. Together, we bring a complete end-to-end Electronic Health Record that will give military families the nation’s top rated patient-centric, open, and interoperable system, today and into the future. onemilitaryhealth.com SPONSOR-GENERATED CONTENT Hatch said he has been crafting a "solution for those Americans who may be affected" by the looming case, which threatens to end healthcare subsidies for people living in 37 states. "That solution will address immediate concerns and set the stage for a more permanent solution," Hatch said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, about one week before oral arguments in the case are set to begin. The senator said he would share details about his plan "in the coming days." Hatch's announcement of an ObamaCare "backup plan" comes about two weeks after he and two other top Republicans unveiled what they called an ObamaCare replacement plan, though few conservatives have rallied around it. SENATE GOP PRESSES OFFICIALS ON TAX GLITCH: Hatch is also demanding answers on the ObamaCare tax error in which 800,000 people were told to delay their filings because they received the wrong forms. Hatch wants to know how this error happened and who was involved, as well as why the administration timed the announcement after the ObamaCare sign-up period already ended. TURNS OUT IT WAS A CODING PROBLEM: The federal government confirmed Monday that a computer coding error had caused the tax glitch, which affected about 20 percent of tax forms. "An intermittent defect in the code" caused the wrong number to be used on the forms, a federal health official told The Hill. The official did not say whether it was the result of a human programming error, but a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said the issue was still under investigation. OBAMA TALKS UP MEDICAID EXPANSION: Obama made his pitch to more than two-dozen governors who have not yet expanded the controversial piece of ObamaCare. "If your state isn't one of the 28 that has already expanded Medicaid, I'd urge you to consider it, because our team is prepared to work with you to make it happen," Obama told a gathering for the National Governors Association conference. Obama cited Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, who has said that Medicaid expansion saves lives in his state. "I want to thank all the governors, Democrats and Republicans, supporters and some opponents of the ACA who have expanded Medicaid to millions of people over the past two years," he said. "I think there's a recognition that it makes sense, and it's bigger than politics." The Obama administration is coming off recent victories with Republican Govs. Mike Pence of Indiana and Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, who both struck deals on expansion plans. CDC TOUGHENS TALK ON VACCINES: The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is taking a more forceful stance on vaccinations as the number of measles cases continues to rise in the U.S. "Policies that allow people to readily opt out of vaccinating their children for non-medical reasons should change. It needs to be harder to not get a vaccine than to get one," CDC Director Dr. Frieden wrote in an op-ed published byUSA Today. More than 150 people have contracted the measles so far in 2015, a figure that has alarmed public health experts across the country. Read the op-ed here: Tuesday's schedule HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell will deliver remarks on Medicare at a conference hosted by the American Medical Association. Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) will also speak. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice will hold an all-day meeting to discuss how new provider systems and payment models could be affecting competition State by state Kentucky's GOP gubernatorial candidate would eliminate Medicaid expansion Ohio governor wants to triple cost of e-cigarette taxes In pre-primary pivot to right, Walker shifts tone on abortion What we're reading Healthcare opens stable middle class career path, taken mostly by women California's love for ObamaCare only goes so far as sign-ups sag How anti-ObamaCare Florida exceeded every other state's enrollment Hospitals face closures as a new day in healthcare dawns Measles outbreak tops 150 cases What you might have missed from The Hill California lawmaker calls for hearings on "superbug" Republican governors lobby Congress for ObamaCare fix Detecting melanoma? FTC says there's not an app for that Please send tips and comments to Sarah Ferris, sferris@thehill.com, and Peter Sullivan, psullivan@thehill.com. Follow on Twitter: @thehill, @sarahnferris, @PeterSullivan4