More Stem Cell, Patients’ Rights Debates Ahead for Congress, CQ’s Goldreich Predicts
In a new "Congressional Quarterly Audio Report," senior reporter Samuel Goldreich discusses the latest news in several health policy areas, including the following:
- Stem Cells: HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson "raised more questions than he answered" last week in testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on President Bush's decision to limit federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to the 64 lines in existence at the time of Bush's Aug. 9 speech. Thompson allayed some concerns that patent rights would interfere with research by announcing that NIH had reached a deal with the University of Wisconsin to allow researchers receiving NIH funds to perform research on stem cells patented by the university-affiliated WiCell Research Institute. But Thompson also announced that only 24 or 25 of the 64 lines are ready for research, raising other concerns. Goldreich notes that public opinion polls have supported Bush's decision to date, but "public attitudes could shift against the president if debate in Congress drags far into next year." Another hearing on stem cells is scheduled for Sept. 12 in the Senate Appropriations health subcommittee, whose chair, Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), has cosponsored a bill to loosen federal funding guidelines. (Note: This hearing will be HealthCast live at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sept. 12.)
- Patients' Rights: Goldreich discusses Rep. Charlie Norwood's (R-Ga.) announcement last week that he wants to see changes to the deal he reached with President Bush to push the patients' rights bill (HR 2563) through the House in August, saying it "sure looks like [Norwood] was taking another 180-degree turn on the issue" ("Congressional Quarterly Audio Report," kaisernetwork.org, 9/10). Norwood said he was "not satisfied" with "language that seeks to preserve existing state laws" that permit HMO members to sue their health plans. In addition, Norwood suggested making it "easier" to prove that a health plan is linked to an injury, saying the standard should be changed from the health plan as "the proximate cause" of the injury to "a proximate cause" (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/7). But Goldreich says that Norwood "isn't budging on two bigger aspects": moving all malpractice suits against health plans to federal court and requiring "courts to accept grievance panel rulings favorable to health plans as strong evidence against patients' claims." As a result, the push for patients' rights is "still likely" to fail in a House-Senate conference committee.
- Medicare Reform: The issue of Medicare reform and the addition of a prescription drug benefit for seniors "will only grow in volume even if action grinds to a halt under weight" of the shrinking federal surplus, Goldreich says. Though Democrats are criticizing President Bush for "raid[ing]" the Medicare and Social Security trust funds, "the reality is that Congress has very few legislative days left in the fiscal year and nobody expects much of anything other than spending bills to be passed."
