NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Congressional map battle: A request by Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania Legislature to stop a new congressional map from being implemented is now in the hands of the nation’s highest court. The filing made this week asked Justice Samuel Alito to intervene, saying the state Supreme Court overstepped its authority in imposing a new map. More litigation may follow, as Republicans are considering a separate legal challenge in federal court in Harrisburg this week. The state Supreme Court last month threw out a GOP-crafted map that was considered among the nation’s most gerrymandered, saying the 2011 plan violated the state constitution’s guarantee of free and equal elections.
2 Medicare fraud: A prominent Florida eye doctor once accused of bribing Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey received a 17-year sentence Thursday for stealing $73 million from Medicare by persuading elderly patients to undergo excruciating tests and treatments they didn’t need for diseases they didn’t have. In a Fort Lauderdale court, Dr. Salomon Melgen was convicted of 67 crimes, including health care fraud, submitting false claims and falsifying records in patients’ files. Melgen, 63, was ordered to pay $42.6 million in restitution to Medicare.
3 New health plan: A major liberal policy group is raising the ante on the health care debate with a new plan that builds on Medicare to guarantee coverage for all. Called “Medicare Extra for All,” the proposal released Thursday by the Center for American Progress gives politically energized Democrats more options to achieve a long-sought goal. In a nod to political pragmatism, the plan would preserve a role for employer coverage and for the health insurance industry. Employers and individuals would have a choice of joining Medicare Extra, but it would not be required. That differs from the more traditional “single-payer” approach advocated by Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, in which the government would hold the reins of the health care system. Even though the plan has no chance of passing in a Republican-controlled Congress, center president Neera Tanden said, “We think it’s time to go bolder.”
4 Executions: Florida executed a man Thursday who was convicted of raping and killing a college student in 1993 so he could steal her car. Eric Scott Branch, 47, was pronounced dead after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. In Alabama, officials postponed the Thursday execution of Doyle Lee Hamm, saying there wasn’t enough time to prepare him before a death warrant expired at midnight after the Supreme Court lifted a temporary stay. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott spared the life of convicted killer Thomas “Bart” Witaker shortly before the man’s scheduled execution Thursday for masterminding the fatal shootings of his mother and brother. Abbott accepted the state parole board’s rare clemency recommendation.
Chronicle News Services