Health Care

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to block money for a program in last year's health care law providing for construction of school-based health centers. House Republicans objected to the authority given the health and human services secretary to distribute grants for the program without getting congressional approval. The bill's sponsor, Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess, says the House is obligated to oversee the money that is spent on behalf of the people of the United States.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and 20 other Republican governors are asking U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to make changes in parts of the federal health care overhaul that they feel put states at a disadvantage. The governors sent a letter Monday seeking flexibility in choosing which licensed insurers can operate in their states and asking the government to waive provisions they say discriminate against consumer-driven health plan like health savings accounts.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A conservative law firm has asked the Supreme Court to strike down the health care overhaul, challenging the first federal appeals court ruling that upheld President Barack Obama's signature domestic initiative. The appeal filed Wednesday by the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., said Congress overstepped its authority in requiring Americans to purchase health insurance or pay financial penalties. A divided three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati rejected the center's argument in upholding the centerpiece of the law, the insurance requirement.

How are you hoping the health care vote goes? The Tribune on Saturday in downtown South Bend asked people that question and whether they are following the debate. Here are some responses: Jeff Kline, Elkhart: Hopefully, they get it over with, and we can get on to something else. I am hoping it works out good for everybody. I hope it passes because it will give a lot of people more benefits and that and more things to look at. (Following it?) How can you not follow it, it’s on TV every day. Dave Kindig, Mishawaka: I am hoping he comes up with some program.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of residents in Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District contacted U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly in recent months to tell him their thoughts about federal health care reform. On Sunday, just hours before the Granger Democrat cast his vote in favor of the legislation, he received a phone call from one of the district’s best-known residents: the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh. Hesburgh, who served as president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987, has been called on for decades to advise policy-makers on important social issues.

For hundreds of local veterans who return from action, the fight is often far from over. Many face a much different battle when they come home. "That's what's left, and that's what saved my kidneys,” Andy Karnes says, indicating a multi-purpose tool in his hands. If it wasn’t clipped to his belt one day in 2004, he might not be alive today. Karnes was a U.S. sergeant in Iraq — going door-to-door in search of insurgents when his team came under attack. He survived, but not without injury.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan's attorney general is supporting a lawsuit filed by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan challenging mandatory contraception coverage in the federal health care law. Bill Schuette says he filed a brief this week in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Monaghan's case is to be heard Thursday. The devout Roman Catholic says contraception is a "gravely immoral" practice. His lawsuit also lists as a plaintiff his Domino's Farms, an office park outside Ann Arbor.

SOUTH BEND — The national discussion about health care is coming to some local pulpits. Religion leaders at some area churches plan to preach or otherwise advocate this weekend about the need for health-care reform. Dubbed the "Reverent Call to Health Care" Sunday, the effort is organized by Indiana Change that Works, the AFL-CIO and the NAACP. Change That Works is an effort started by the Service Employees International Union to gain support for President Obama’s health-care reform plan and other initiatives.

There are still many questions lingering about what health care reform will mean for local families. "I said to myself there's no way they can do this, there's no way," said Leroy Dick from Elkhart. Leroy and his family are bracing for what could come their way -- more bills. "You have people barely making it paycheck-to-paycheck and I'm one of them," he said. He said the Supreme Court's decision on Thursday places his family in a pickle. "It will force me to find another part-time or full-time job to afford health care with the cost it is now," Dick said.

The Supreme Court answered some key constitutional questions about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Thursday, but the political controversy surrounding the health care law seems far from settled. Sean Savage, a Saint Mary's College political science professor, said the court's 5-4 vote left room for members of both major political parties to spin the decision in their own favor and against their opponents. “I think it's kind of a mixed decision for both parties,” he said.

People packed the Lutheran church and filled the streets in Bremen to say goodbye to former Indiana Governor "Doc' Bowen. The beloved longtime family doctor passed away Saturday at the age of 95 and was laid to rest today. As the flag-draped coffin of Otis "Doc" Bowen approached downtown Bremen, the crowd of hundreds lining Center Street quieted down to hear the military band play and to pay their respects to a man many considered a friend and a life saver. "I had rheumatic fever when I was in the fourth-grade of school,” said Kent Coontz.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Indiana's five Roman Catholic bishops are scheduled to attend a daylong conference at the University of Notre Dame that will seek to find ways to reduce poverty and ease the suffering it causes. Organizers say the Indiana Catholic Poverty Summit on Friday - hosted by Notre Dame's Center for Social Concerns - has been inspired by Catholic Charities USA's campaign to reduce poverty in America. Others expected to participate in the summit include the Rev. Larry Snyder, who's president of Catholic Charities USA, and Society of St. Vincent de Paul President Sheila Gilbert.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY - There is a surge in the building of new urgent care health care facilities in St. Joseph County, and a new one is opening in Mishawaka on Tuesday. Physicians Urgent Care holds a ribbon cutting ceremony at noon before opening its doors to the public. The clinic is located on West Cleveland Road, just north of University Park Mall. According to its website, the clinic is open Monday Through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the second urgent care facility to open this year in that area.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A bill advanced by a Michigan Senate committee would allow health care providers to use a "moral objection" or "matter of conscience" standard to refuse service to patients. The Detroit Free Press and MLive.com report the legislation was passed Thursday in the Senate Health Policy Committee. The legislation is expected to get consideration by the full Senate after lawmakers return next month from a break. It's the same proposal that passed the Senate during December's lame-duck session, but it didn't get a vote in the House last year.

It's officially called The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but we all know it as Obamacare. It's the most complex law since Medicare. WSBT examined topics related to health care reform and what it means for all of us.. Our last one - health and religion. For example, do religious institutions have to provide free contraceptive coverage under Obamacare. That is a major debate right now. The Obama administration is working on new guidelines allowing religious-affiliated organizations opposing contraception to opt out of that federal mandate.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan's attorney general is supporting a lawsuit filed by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan challenging mandatory contraception coverage in the federal health care law. Bill Schuette says he filed a brief this week in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Monaghan's case is to be heard Thursday. The devout Roman Catholic says contraception is a "gravely immoral" practice. His lawsuit also lists as a plaintiff his Domino's Farms, an office park outside Ann Arbor.

A few of my friends have been on me lately because I have not written a column on the Affordable Care Act. So I will because I am an avid supporter of the laws of our land, so much so that I might volunteer as president of the John Roberts fan club. While I am at it I also want to give a shout out to the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that first came up with the outline for the plan eventually proposed by President Obama. And I would be remiss if I did not thank Mitt Romney for leading the way in Massachusetts with not only an effective but popular plan that he knew how to sell and implement.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana's decision to deny Planned Parenthood Medicaid funds because it performs abortions denies women the freedom to choose their health care providers, a federal hearing officer said. The state had asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Chicago to reconsider its June 2011 ruling that found changes in Indiana's Medicaid plan unacceptable. But a hearing officer recommended in documents released Friday that a CMS administrator uphold the agency's initial decision.