Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden To Sign Executive Order Today Meant To Help Lower Rx Costs: Official
Reuters: Biden To Sign Order Seeking New Prescription Drug Cost Savings - Official
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Friday pushing federal officials to drive prescription drug costs down during a pre-election trip designed to promote Democrats' health policies, an official said. The order requires the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to outline within 90 days how it will use new models of care and payment to cut drug costs, according to the White House official, who declined to be identified previewing the president's action. (Hunnicutt, 10/14)
AP: Biden Pushing Lower Prescription Drug Costs In Midterm Press
President Joe Biden is set to highlight his administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs on Friday as part of his three-state Western tour this week, as he confronts a sobering inflation report in the waning weeks before midterm elections. (Long, 10/14)
More on Medicare drug prices and payments —
Axios: The Biden Administration's Next Challenge: Paying For Discount Drug Mistakes
Four months after it lost a high-profile dispute at the Supreme Court, the Biden administration has yet to figure out how it will reimburse hospitals for as much as $10 billion in unlawful cuts to Medicare outpatient drug payments. (Goldman, 10/14)
Axios: Democrats' New Medicare Negotiations Law Attempts To Marry Drug Prices To Value
Democrats' new law giving Medicare the authority to negotiate some drug prices attempts to do something critics say is often lacking in today's market: Tying what the government pays to the treatments' value. (Owens, 10/14)
KHN: Lawsuit By KHN Prompts Government To Release Medicare Advantage Audits
Federal health officials have agreed to make public 90 audits of private Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors that are expected to reveal hundreds of millions of dollars in overcharges to the government. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services agreed to release the records to settle a lawsuit filed by Kaiser Health News against the agency in September 2019 under the Freedom of Information Act. (Schulte, 10/14)
In other news from the Biden administration —
Fox News: Biden Expanding Access To Taxpayer-Funded 'Gender-Affirming Care' For Federal Employees
The Biden administration is expanding the range of taxpayer-financed "gender-affirming" health care options available to federal employees, starting in 2023, according to an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) explanation of federal benefits released in late September. (Hauf, 10/13)
KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Finally Fixing The ‘Family Glitch’
The Biden administration this week issued regulations aimed at fixing the Affordable Care Act’s “family glitch,” which has prevented families that can’t afford their employer insurance from getting subsidized coverage from the insurance marketplaces. The Obama administration had decided that only Congress could fix the glitch. Meanwhile, open enrollment for Medicare begins Oct. 15, when beneficiaries can join or change private Medicare Advantage plans or stand-alone prescription drug plans. (10/13)
