Health Care on the Hill - Murkowski Morning Meeting, 11/6/2013

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

What DC’s Reading 

• Washington Post – “Obama’s Sin of Omission on Keeping Health Care Plans”
• Politico – “The Pentagon’s Top Six Priorities”
• Wall Street Journal – “Portents of Election 2013”
• NPR – “Starbucks Most Recent Company to Prioritize Hiring Veterans”

U.S. Senate Events 

Health Care on the Hill

Alaskan Impact: With Enroll Alaska announcing its indefinite delay of enrollments, the number of Alaskans in the health care exchange has slowed to a trickle. One Alaskan with a Computer Programming degree said of the site: “it’s awful, it’s cumbersome, it’s a lot of work.”  Thousands of Alaskans have been notified of health insurance cancellations and Premera is estimating cost rises between 30 and 80 percent. Yesterday, Senator Murkowski questioned Administration official Tavenner about the website accessibility problems, and today members of the Finance Committee questioned HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

6:00 AKDT

Senate Finance Committee Hearing

Topic: "Health Insurance Exchanges: An Update from the Administration."

Testimony From:

• Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services

Senator Hatch: The President’s claim that you can keep your health plan got Four Pinocchios from the Washington Post! (click image for clip)

Murkowski shares stories of Alaskan frustration on Senate floor, 11/5 (click image for excerpt.)

Watch the entire meeting online: finance.senate.gov

Quicker and Smarter Disaster Recovery

Alaskan Impact: While the national media focused on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, here in Alaska residents in Galena continue to seek help recovering from the devastation left behind by last spring’s flooding that left more than 50 homes badly damaged and forced 500 of the community’s residents to evacuate.  With an estimated 40 people still displaced, Senator Murkowski has called for an investigation into how FEMA handled the situation in Alaska and how FEMA response could be improved in the future.  Today a Senate Committee explored how FEMA can improve its performance nationwide.

10:30 AKDT

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Hearing

Topic: "One Year Later: Examining the Ongoing Recovery from Hurricane Sandy."

Testimony From:

• HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan
• Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate
• Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari

Watch the entire meeting online: www.hsgac.senate.gov

U.S. House Events 

The House of Representatives is not in session