Overnight Healthcare: GOP pitches ObamaCare plans in appeal to court

Republicans are trying to convince the Supreme Court that their party is nearing a consensus on how to replace about $25 billion of ObamaCare subsidies that the justices could strike down later this year. The senators’ last-minute attempt to rally their party is an effort to counter criticism that the party lacks a plan to deal with a victory by the plaintiffs, who are challenging the legality of the subsidies which help 8 million people buy insurance. It is also a direct appeal to the Supreme Court justices as they begin arguments on the biggest ObamaCare case in three years on Wednesday. Senate Republicans are trying to unite their party around a fallback plan in which people could receive temporary government help to keep their subsidies. Five Republican senators have published three separate op-eds in the last week, each presenting slightly different versions of the temporary assistance programs. “Republicans have a plan to create a bridge away from Obamacare,” Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post late Sunday. Republicans are also seizing on statements from the White House and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell that officials have “no plans” in case of a plaintiff victory. “What Burwell does not have – any plan – Republicans do have,” Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told The Hill on Monday. Check out The Hill on Tuesday for more. LABOR POLL: MAJORITY WANTS COURT TO BACK OBAMACARE: A total of 61 percent say they hope the subsidies are upheld in King v. Burwell, according to a national survey conducted by Hart Research Associates for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Even if the Supreme Court rules against the Obama administration, most people believe the subsidies should be available to all Americans. Some 71 percent of people said it shouldn’t matter whether states set up their own exchanges in order to qualify for the subsidies — which is the central question in King v. Burwell. Read more here. DOCTORS DELAYING VACCINATIONS: More than three-quarters of doctors sometimes agree to delay vaccinations for children because of parents' requests, despite their own beliefs that the delay puts the children at risk for diseases, a new study finds. The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, surveyed pediatricians and found that 37 percent often or always agreed to alter the recommended schedule of vaccination because of parents' requests. Another 37 percent of doctors agreed to the delay sometimes. The doctors agreed to the delay, despite 87 percent saying that changing the vaccine schedule put the children at risk for diseases like the measles. Read more here. FOSTER CHILDREN MISSING HEALTH SCREENINGS: Nearly a third of children in foster care who were enrolled in Medicaid did not receive at least one required health screening over the course of a year, a new report from a federal government watchdog finds. Each state has a timeline of required health screenings that must occur when a child enters foster care and on an ongoing basis going forward. But the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general report finds that these required timelines are not always being followed. The report finds 29 percent of children did not receive one or more of the required screenings. Another 28 percent received the screening late. Read more here.  Tuesday’s schedule HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) speak at the Federation of American Hospitals annual meeting A House Appropriations subcommittee holds a hearing on National Institutes of Health funding. State by state As Cover Oregon dissolves, it leaves behind costly legacy Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC posts first loss in 15 years In New York, Cuomo’s quiet healthcare funding challenge Probe finds more scheduling issues at Phoenix VA center What we’re reading Six words might hold the fate of ObamaCare before the Supreme Court The twisted, tortured path ObamaCare took back to the Supreme Court Hospital rating systems differ on best and worst facilities What you might have missed from The Hill Auditors: HHS has 'done little' to address overuse of antipsychotics As ObamaCare case nears, calls for cameras in high court grow Nurse who contracted Ebola in Dallas to sue hospital Lawmakers press company on cost of heroin overdose drug Please send tips and comments to Sarah Ferris, sferris@thehill.com, and Peter Sullivan, psullivan@thehill.com. Follow on Twitter: @thehill, @sarahnferris, @PeterSullivan4