Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Prices, Affordability, Shift Toward Value Care And Opioids Top New HHS Head's Priorities List
Modern Healthcare: 4 Top Priorities On New HHS Secretary Alex Azar's Agenda
With his confirmation last week, Alex Azar officially took the reins at HHS. During his confirmation hearings, Azar addressed four key priorities for the department: 1. Soaring drug prices: Azar offered few details on how he would bring prices under control, other than including praise for the pharmacy benefit managers' system for Medicare Part D and a plug for applying Part D ideas to rein in the spiking growth in Part B drug costs. 2. Affordability: Even before Azar took over, HHS was moving forward with plans to relax Affordable Care Act insurance reforms. (Weinstock and Luthi, 1/ 27)
CQ: Anatomy Of A Vote: Democrats Can't Derail Vote On Health Chief
It’s a sign of just how divided things have gotten in Washington that a relatively qualified nominee like Alex Azar can somehow garner 43 no votes. Such was the case Jan. 24, when the former Eli Lilly executive, who had previous stints in the federal government as a deputy secretary, was confirmed by the Senate for Health and Human Services secretary. The only HHS secretary to get more no votes was Azar’s predecessor, Tom Price, who resigned from his post in September following a Politico report that showed the Georgia Republican had billed taxpayers for more than $1 million in travel on private and military jets. (Miller, 1/29)
