Overnight Healthcare: Optimism grows for Medicare deal

Momentum is building in Congress for a proposal that would abolish Medicare cuts, top Republicans said Thursday, despite the emerging battle over the $174 billion price tag. Optimism has been growing this week that Congress could finally reach its long-sought goal of ending the automatic cuts to doctors under Medicare, which come through what is known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). The package being discussed by House leaders in both parties would partially pay for the cost of the $174 billion fix, sources say. The legislation got a lift Thursday from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Asked if the measure needed to be fully paid for, he said, "I'd do it no matter what it takes." "It's kind of a phony, bookkeeping thing anyway," Hatch said of Congress's ritual of putting off the cuts through what is known as a "doc fix." Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), co-chairman of the GOP Doctors Caucus, said in an interview Thursday that he strongly believes the bill will clear the House this spring. Still, he acknowledged that it would be a struggle to convince some fiscal conservatives to pass a bill that adds to the deficit. "Many of the party's fiscal conservatives say we should find a way to pay for all of it, but then again I don't think they understand, as we do as doctors, that that puts our colleagues into a very difficult situation," Fleming said. Fleming said he believed Democratic support would help carry the bill to passage and eventually to President Obama's desk, where he said he is confident it will become law. A spokeswoman for the White House declined to comment Thursday. "Frankly, I think Democrats would support it in high numbers, and I think you'd get it passed," Fleming said. He also said he believes the party's best option is to slash entitlement spending – starting with creating work requirements for welfare and by reforming food stamps.  Read more here. SPEAKING OF PAYMENT BUMPS FOR DOCTORS: Two senior Senate Democrats introduced a bill Thursday that would boost payments to Medicaid doctors to equal those paid to Medicare doctors. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are hoping to extend a provision of ObamaCare that expired last year that ensures equal payments to all providers. Physician groups have lobbied hard for higher payments for treating Medicaid patients, particularly given that millions of people have been added to the government's low-income healthcare program since 2010. Doctors are paid as much as 60 percent less under most states' Medicaid than they are under Medicare or private insurers. "We should be making it easier for providers to accept new Medicaid patients, not harder," Brown wrote in a statement. The Medicaid bump would cost the federal government at least $11 billion, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Read more here. TRAFFICKING BILL STALLED OVER ABORTION: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed cloture Thursday on an anti-trafficking bill that has been blocked by Senate Democrats amid an abortion fight. GOP senators are still trying to find a way forward on the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which boosts resources for law enforcement and trafficking victims. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) blocked McConnell's attempt Thursday to allow for an up-or-down vote on removing the abortion provision. The Nevada Democrat said McConnell's offer is "not a viable path forward." He called on Republicans to simply strip the abortion language from the anti-trafficking bill. Democrats argue they were tricked by the mention of abortion in the anti-trafficking bill – a claim that the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), strongly disputed. Cornyn held a briefing with several GOP senators, including Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), on Thursday to drum up support for the bill. Read more here. US EBOLA PATIENT HEADED TO NIH: An American healthcare worker who tested positive for Ebola is being flown to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for treatment, the agency announced Thursday. The healthcare worker will be flown in isolation from Sierra Leone through a chartered plane, NIH said. The patient will be treated in the agency's high-level containment clinic, which has previously treated Ebola patients. The individual is the second Ebola patient to be treated at the NIH. The previous patient fully recovered from the disease. The last person to be treated for Ebola in the United States arrived for treatment on Nov. 15. A total of 10 patients have been treated for Ebola in the U.S. since the outbreak began in early 2014. More than 10,000 people have died from Ebola, nearly all of whom lived in Sierra Leone, Liberia or Guinea, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization. Read more here. Friday's schedule President Obama will meet with veterans' healthcare advocates during a visit to the Phoenix VA Medical Center at the center of last year's scandal over long patient wait times. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a telebriefing on the extended enrollment period for ObamaCare. State by state Utah Legislature won't reach deal on Medicaid expansion Florida lawmakers weigh 24-hour waiting period for abortions Washington state's ObamaCare exchange faces funding shortfall What we're reading Ebola deaths top 10,000 Drugmakers turn heat up on insurers by backing copay limits King v. Burwell's mere existence is politically remarkable What you might have missed from The Hill State flexibility in aftermath of King v. Burwell Rural health advocate to assume No. 2 post at HHS Governor touts Kentucky as ObamaCare model for red states Please send tips and comments to Sarah Ferris, sferris@thehill.com, and Peter Sullivan, psullivan@thehill.com. Follow on Twitter: @thehill, @sarahnferris, @PeterSullivan4