Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: July 19, 2017
Kaiser Health News: Congress Squares Off Over Drug Pricing And A Controversial Drug Discount Program
House Democrats are calling foul on Republican assertions that cuts to a little-known discount drug program will eventually reduce skyrocketing drug prices. At a hearing Tuesday, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said high drug prices should be investigated separately from the focus on oversight of the drug discount program, known as 340B. “I think we need an investigation, a robust investigation, and a series of hearings that explore in-depth the reasons for exorbitant cost of drugs and why the prices continue to rise,” DeGette said. (Tribble, 7/18)
The New York Times: How The Senate Health Care Bill Failed: G.O.P. Divisions And A Fed-Up President
President Trump was fed up with the grind of health care legislation, and at a dinner with Republican senators on Monday at the White House, he let them know it. He told the lawmakers how annoyed he was with one Republican who was not there, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who had gone on television over the weekend to oppose a Senate health care bill that once held the promise of victory for Mr. Trump. It is one thing to vote no, Mr. Trump told the group, according to one of the guests. It is another, the president said, to go on all of the Sunday shows and complain about it. The scene on Monday night was an exasperating end for Mr. Trump to a month of negotiations between the White House and Senate Republicans in an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic legacy. (Steinhauer, Thrush and Pear, 7/18)
The Washington Post: A Republican Party At War With Itself Hits The Wall On Health Care
By any measure, the collapse of the Senate health-care bill represents an epic failure for the Republican Party and a major embarrassment for President Trump. The crusade that animated — and bound — conservatives for seven years proved to be a mirage, an objective without a solution. Power comes with consequences. There is no way to spin to those who were promised that the Affordable Care Act would be repealed and replaced once Republicans held full power in Washington that what has happened is the fault of forces outside the party. This has been a GOP undertaking from start to finish. It is as though Republicans unknowingly set a trap and then walked into it without having prepared escape routes. (Balz, 7/18)
The Washington Post: Republicans’ Health-Care Split Goes All The Way To The Party’s Soul
At the heart of the failed Senate effort to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act were irreconcilable differences over the proper role of entitlements and how far the party should go to pursue its small government mantra. Both wings of the GOP revolted — senators who rejected steep cuts to Medicaid, a health program for low-income Americans, and others who felt the cuts were not deep enough. (Paletta, 7/18)
NPR: Trump's Big Repealing Deal: 8 Thoughts On The Senate's Health Care Meltdown Moment
So what happened after seven years of prioritizing the promise to repeal Obamacare? And what does it all mean for what's next? (Elving, 7/19)
The Washington Post: ‘It’s An Insane Process’: How Trump And Republicans Failed On Their Health-Care Bill
Vice President Pence arrived at the National Governors Association summer meeting with one mission: to revive support for the flagging Republican plan to rewrite the nation’s health-care laws. He failed. Instead of rousing cheers on the waterfront in Providence, R.I., Pence was greeted with an icy air of skepticism Friday as he pitched the legislation, which would reduce federal Medicaid funding and phase out coverage in dozens of states. (Costa, Snell and Sullivan, 7/18)
The Wall Street Journal: Why Obamacare Passed But The GOP Health Bill Failed
In 2010, Democrats passed a sweeping health-care bill that polls showed to be unpopular with no support from the other party. In 2017, Republicans sought to do the same. Each party touted the respective merits of its bills, but here is a look at some of the differences that meant one passed and the other stumbled. (Bendavid, 7/18)
The New York Times: The 3 Republican Women Who Doomed A Senate Repeal Of The Health Law
It was men who started it. It may be women who finished it. The Senate effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a process that began with 13 Republican men drafting a plan behind closed doors, collapsed Tuesday, as three Republicans said they would not support an ultimately futile attempt to simply roll back the current health care law without a replacement. (Huetteman, 7/18)
The Washington Post: Senate Republicans’ Effort To ‘Repeal And Replace’ Obamacare All But Collapses
Hours after GOP leaders abandoned a bill to overhaul the law known as Obamacare, their fallback plan — a proposal to repeal major parts of the law without replacing them — quickly collapsed. A trio of moderate Republicans quashed the idea, saying it would irresponsibly snatch insurance coverage from millions of Americans. “I did not come to Washington to hurt people,” tweeted Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who joined Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) in opposing immediate repeal. (Eilperin, Sullivan and O'Keefe, 7/18)
The Wall Street Journal: GOP Stares Down Loss On Health-Care Bill
“To just say, ‘Repeal and trust us—we’re going to fix it in a couple years,’ that’s not going to provide comfort to the anxiety that a lot of Alaskan families are feeling right now,” GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told reporters. “There is enough chaos and uncertainty already.” (Peterson, 7/18)
NPR: Vote On Obamacare Repeal Planned By McConnell Lacks Support To Pass
Further, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas tells NPR's Susan Davis, there are probably "five or six" Republicans in total who are against the motion. (Neuman, 7/18)
Politico: New GOP Plan To Repeal Obamacare Meets Fatal Opposition
But McConnell said Tuesday evening that he would hold a vote to proceed to the bill "early next week," which would put senators on the record even if the vote's outcome was preordained. McConnell said the vote was "at the request of the president and vice president and after consulting with our members." (Kim, Haberkorn and Everett, 7/18)
NPR: Repealing Obamacare Is A Risky Gambit Without A Replacement At Hand
The replacement bill's language is based on the repeal bill that that passed by the House and Senate in 2015 but was vetoed by President Barack Obama. Here's how the repeal would have changed the Affordable Care Act, compared with the House and Senate bills. (Kodjak, Hurt and Grayson, 7/18)
The Associated Press: Crumbling Health Bill Dents McConnell Image As Top Tactician
When the banner Republican effort to scuttle and rewrite President Barack Obama's health care law crumbled this week, the falling debris popped a hefty dent into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's image as a dauntless legislative tactician three chess moves ahead of everyone else. (7/19)
Politico: Health Care Collapse A Blow To McConnell
The failure of Obamacare repeal marks Mitch McConnell’s lowest point as Senate GOP leader. Despite having a Republican in the White House, full GOP control of Congress and seven years of campaign promises — “pulling out Obamacare root and branch,” as the Kentucky Republican famously declared — McConnell acknowledged this week that he didn’t have the votes to even start debate on replacing the 2010 Affordable Care Act. (Bresnahan and Everett, 7/18)
Politico: Senate Democrats Open To Bipartisan Health Talks — After Repeal Fails
Senate Democrats are still hanging tight on the same message as the GOP’s seven-year push to repeal Obamacare careens off course: Drop the one-party approach and work with us to fix the health care law. Even the five Democratic senators facing re-election battles next year in states President Donald Trump turned bright red are showing no interest in making deals before Republicans abandon their attempt to push through repeal with a bare majority. (Schor and Kim, 7/18)
Politico: Medicaid Shows Its Political Clout
Medicaid may be the next “third rail” in American politics. Resistance to cutting the health care program for the poor has emerged as a big stumbling block to Obamacare repeal, and Republicans touch it at their political peril. “If they’d gone ahead ... clearly I would think we’d be seeing a transfer of power in a year and a half,” said John Weaver, a GOP strategist for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has called the Medicaid overhaul proposals of his fellow Republicans “unacceptable.” (Pradhan, 7/19)
The Associated Press: In Trump Style, Senators' Tweet Dashed GOP Health Care Hopes
When Sens. Mike Lee and Jerry Moran decided they were in ready to disrupt the GOP rewrite of the health care law, they chose President Donald Trump's favorite medium. They could not support Senate Republicans' plan, the somewhat unlikely pair of conservatives tweeted at 8:30 p.m. Monday night, giving no heads up to the White House or Senate leaders before pressing send. The story behind the statement reveals two senators willing to be branded as bill killers and seemingly unconcerned with trying to soften the blow with party leaders. (Daly, 7/19)
The Associated Press: Cautious Kansas Sen. Moran Steps Into Health Law Spotlight
Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran is nobody's idea of a rabble-rouser. A Republican stalwart with a low-key style and reputation for caution, his decision to publicly torpedo the latest Senate GOP plan to overhaul health care raised eyebrows. The contrast is sharp between Moran and Utah's Sen. Mike Lee, the other senator who scuttled the Republican plan Monday night. Lee is a tea party favorite once willing to shut down the federal government to stymie former President Barack Obama's health care policies. (Hanna, 7/18)
The Associated Press: Republicans Express Frustration After Health Care Failure
Republicans are expressing embarrassment, fear and frustration as party leaders concede that their years-long promise to erase much of Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act is all but dead. Conservative activists blamed establishment Republicans who control Congress. Establishment Republicans blamed a lack of leadership from their president. And the Republican president blamed "a few Republicans" and all Democrats for blocking his agenda. (Beaumont, 7/19)
The Washington Post: With Health-Bill Collapse, Republicans Face Uncertain Electoral Future In 2018
As the seven-year Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act crashed on the threshold of the Senate, President Trump offered his party a rescue strategy. Step one: Blame Democrats. Step two: Win more seats and try again. (Weigel, 7/18)
The Wall Street Journal: Republicans Take Stock After Health-Bill Setback
“The way I look at it is, in ’18 we’re going to have to get some more people elected,” Mr. Trump said in the Roosevelt Room in the White House. “We have to go out and we have to get more people elected that are Republican.” (Hook and Radnofsky, 7/18)
Politico: GOP Repeal Foes Face Blowback After Health Care Loss
The anger commenced not long after Tuesday’s collapse of the Senate GOP bill to replace Obamacare. The Senate Conservatives Fund promised to "identify, recruit, and fund conservative challengers” to GOP lawmakers who vote against a clean repeal.It’s no empty threat in a Republican Party that’s seen a handful of incumbents defeated — or nearly-defeated — in primaries in recent years. (Isenstadt and Debenedetti, 7/19)
The New York Times: ‘Let Obamacare Fail,’ Trump Says As G.O.P. Health Bill Collapses
Mr. Trump declared that his plan was now to “let Obamacare fail,” and suggested that Democrats would then seek out Republicans to work together on a bill to bury the Affordable Care Act. If he is determined to make good on that pledge, he has plenty of levers to pull, from declining to reimburse insurance companies for reducing low-income customers’ out-of-pocket costs to failing to enforce the mandate that most Americans have health coverage. “It’ll be a lot easier,” Mr. Trump said at the White House. (Kaplan, 7/18)
Politico: Trump To Pitch GOP Senators One Last Time To Repeal Obamacare
President Donald Trump is trying to save the GOP's near-dead effort to repeal Obamacare. The president has invited all 52 GOP senators to the White House for lunch on Wednesday to see if he can revive the GOP's moribund plans to repeal and replace the 2010 health law. (Everett, 7/18)
The Associated Press: Trump Making Last-Ditch Effort After Health Bill Collapse
Trump stayed largely on the sidelines as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell struggled unsuccessfully to round up support to make good on the GOP's years of promises to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care law. But with McConnell's third and final effort — on a repeal-only bill — looking like it, too, had collapsed, Trump urged McConnell to delay a make-or-break vote until early next week. (Werner and Fram, 7/19)
Politico: Trump Threatens To Gut Obamacare Markets
Donald Trump holds a fuse in his hands — and he could decide to light it and blow up Obamacare insurance markets as soon as Thursday. That’s the deadline for sending out the next monthly Affordable Care Act subsidies to health plans to defray the cost of care for individuals with low incomes. The president has toyed for months with the idea of stopping the payments to force Democrats to the negotiating table to avoid the prospect of millions of vulnerable Americans losing access to health coverage. (Demko and Dawsey, 7/18)
The Associated Press: Analysis: Trump Unlikely To Avoid Blame For Health Care Loss
It was a far cry from "The buck stops here." President Donald Trump, dealt a stinging defeat with the failure of the Republican health care bill in the Senate, flipped the script from Harry Truman's famous declaration of presidential responsibility and declared Tuesday, "I am not going to own it." He had tweeted earlier, "We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans." (Lemire, 7/19)
The Washington Post: Senators Pushed Trump To The Sidelines. He Happily Stayed There. Republicans Are Paying The Price.
In early May, when Senate Republicans began working on health-care legislation, they quickly turned away from two spectacles: the unpopular House bill and the president of the United States’ premature White House Rose Garden celebration of its passage. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) decided to work up a different bill inside his Capitol office — and left Trump on the sidelines, where he happily stayed. (Kane, 7/18)
The Washington Post: A White House Dinner As A Case Study For Trump’s Inability To Close A Health-Care Deal
As the blame game launches on the Senate health-care bill, there is perhaps no more illustrative example of President Trump's role in the negotiations than this: It's Monday evening. A second version of the Republicans' bill is in danger of flatlining. Two GOP senators are opposed to it, almost a dozen have expressed serious concerns with it, and if just one more Republican opposes it, it's game over for an Obamacare overhaul. Trump is having dinner at the White House with seven Republican senators to talk health care. Of the seven, only Steve Daines (Mont.) had publicly expressed concerns about the bill. (Phillips, 7/18)
The Washington Post: Trump’s Grand Promises To ‘Very, Very Quickly’ Repeal Obamacare Run Into Reality
One week before the election, Donald Trump traveled to the Philadelphia suburbs to deliver a health-care policy speech that was light on details and heavy on grand promises and dramatic warnings. In a hotel ballroom in King of Prussia, his running mate, Mike Pence, introduced him as a dealmaker, fighter and winner “who never quits, who never backs down.” Trump promised to “convene a special session” of Congress as soon as he was sworn in — an idea that confounded many, as Congress was already set to be in session — so that lawmakers could “immediately repeal and replace Obamacare.” All of this would happen “very, very quickly,” he said. (Johnson, 7/18)
The Washington Post: There’s A Trump Tweet For Everything, Failed Obamacare Repeal Edition
President Trump's extensive Twitter history — 35,300 tweets and counting, stretching back to 2009 — virtually guarantees that there's a past tweet to serve as an ironic exclamation point for just about any moment of the Trump presidency. It happens so often that there's a running Internet joke that Trump is actually “a time traveler sent to warn us about himself.” But at no point in Trump's tenure has the president found himself contradicted so much by his own prior tweets as the (perhaps) final implosion of his Obamacare repeal aspirations, which he made a major issue in his campaign. (Ingraham, 7/18)
USA Today: Analysis: What Can Republicans Do If They Can't Repeal Obamacare?
For four successive congressional campaigns, Republicans have exploited frustrations about the Affordable Care Act with considerable electoral success, and the GOP won the White House last November with a gauzy promise by candidate Donald Trump to replace it with something "beautiful." But six months later, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled the repeal-and-replace bill from consideration late Monday in the face of certain defeat. (Page, 7/18)
The Associated Press: What's Next? Senate GOP Scrambles After Health Care Flop
Now what? Senate Republicans are scrambling to pick up the pieces after their attempt to repeal and replace the Obama-era health care law collapsed a second time. (7/18)
Los Angeles Times: Collapse Of Obamacare Repeal Campaign Ups Pressure On Republicans To Work With Democrats
Tuesday afternoon, Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) indicated he would convene hearings soon to explore ways to develop more-limited healthcare legislation. (Levey and Mascaro, 7/18)
The Wall Street Journal: Odd Position For The GOP: Working To Boost The Health Law, Not Kill It
Republicans could soon find themselves in a situation they didn’t expect: shoring up rather than dismantling the Affordable Care Act. With the demise of the Senate Republican health push, a growing number of lawmakers and governors from both parties say the urgent next step is to bolster the ACA insurance exchanges, which have suffered from rising premiums and fleeing insurers. (Armour, 7/18)
The Washington Post: Here Are The ‘Three Easy Things’ That Chuck Schumer Thinks Can Shore Up Obamacare
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday blasted President Trump’s vow to “let Obamacare fail,” saying it shows a “lack of leadership” and could be politically perilous for Republicans in next year’s congressional elections. Speaking just hours after the dramatic collapse of GOP plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Schumer said Democrats remain willing to work with Republicans to shore up insurance markets and enact broader fixes to the current health-care law. But that didn’t stop him from tweaking Trump. (O'Keefe and Sullivan, 7/18)
The Washington Post: Affordable Care Act Remains Intact, But Consumers And Insurers Are Left With New Worries
The implosion of the Senate Republicans’ health-care ambitions leaves the Affordable Care Act intact for the moment — but immediately creates worrisome unpredictability for the 10 million Americans who buy health plans through the law’s insurance marketplaces. These consumers could face a rocky few months at the least, as the insurers on which they rely decide how to respond to the political chaos. Some companies could become more skittish about staying in the marketplaces for 2018, while others could try to ratchet up their prices depending on how events in Washington unfold. (Goldstein and Winfield Cunningham, 7/18)
The Wall Street Journal: Health Insurers Brace For New Uncertainty After GOP Bill’s Collapse
For the health-care system, it’s back to square one. Insurers, hospitals and state officials are facing the prospect that the Affordable Care Act will remain the law of the land for now at least, but they also are left with huge questions about how key aspects of the law will be handled under the Trump administration as deadlines loom for insurers’ decisions about next year. (Wilde Mathews and Evans, 7/18)
Reuters: As Obamacare Repeal Falters, Insurers Start To Press On Subsidies
A failed Republican effort to replace Obamacare raised new concerns on Tuesday for U.S. health insurers over whether the government will continue to fund billions of dollars in medical benefit subsidies. The healthcare bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate would have settled the funding question, but was scrapped after Republican leaders were unable to rally enough party members to win approval. (Humer and Abutaleb, 7/18)
The Associated Press: 'Repeal Now, Replace Later' Has Immediate Consumer Impact
Consumers would feel the impact immediately if Republicans repeal "Obamacare" with no replacement. Problems could start this fall for customers buying individual health policies, say independent experts, with more insurers likely to exit state markets around the country, and those remaining seeking higher rates. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/19)
The Associated Press: UnitedHealth 2Q Profit Surges As ACA Participation Shrinks
UnitedHealth Group's second-quarter earnings soared as the nation's largest insurer dove deeper into government-funded health coverage like Medicare and Medicaid and continued to distance itself from the turbulent Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges. (Murphy, 7/18)
The Washington Post Fact Checker: No Spending Cuts To Medicaid? Then No Tax Cuts Either
Washington politics often revolves around numbers. And no number is more important that the “baseline.” When politicians talk about “spending cuts” or “tax cuts,” they are measuring against a baseline. But it’s a process open to manipulation and hypocrisy, so here’s an explanation. (7/19)
Los Angeles Times: The U.S. Spends More On Healthcare Than Any Other Country — But Not With Better Health Outcomes
Despite repeated attempts by Senate Republicans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare debate in Washington appears to have collapsed — for now. The United States has much room for improvement when it comes to healthcare, experts said. “The U.S. spends more on healthcare, but we don’t have the same health outcomes [as other countries],” said Cynthia Cox, associate director at Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that researches national health issues. (Etehad and Kim, 7/18)
USA Today: Will Trump's Exercise And Eating Habits Catch Up To Him As Stress Mounts?
He’s 71, holds down an incredibly stressful job, and is overweight. He doesn’t exercise. His eating habits are less than ideal. And to top it all off, he doesn’t get enough sleep. For anyone walking into a doctor’s office with those symptoms, stern warnings to change one's lifestyle are sure to follow. (O'Donnell, 7/17)
The Associated Press: Brain Scans May Change Care For Some People With Memory Loss
Does it really take an expensive brain scan to diagnose Alzheimer's? Not everybody needs one but new research suggests that for a surprising number of patients whose memory problems are hard to pin down, PET scans may lead to changes in treatment. (7/19)
The Washington Post: PET Scans Show Many Alzheimer’s Patients May Not Actually Have The Disease
A significant portion of people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia who are taking medication for Alzheimer’s may not actually have the disease, according to interim results of a major study currently underway to see how PET scans could change the nature of Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment. (Bahrampour, 7/19)
NPR: Dementia Patients Benefit From Sense Of Control And Independence
In nursing homes and residential facilities around the world, health care workers are increasingly asking dementia patients questions: What are your interests? How do you want to address us? What should we do to celebrate the life of a friend who has passed away? (Wang, 7/19)
The Washington Post: 10-Year-Old Dies With Heroin And Fentanyl In His System, Fla. State Attorney Says
A Florida state attorney is voicing alarm after a 10-year-old boy died last month with a dangerous opioid mixture in his system — making him one of the youngest victims in the state's drug epidemic. (Bever, 7/18)
NPR: Hospitals Have Reduced Patient Readmissions Without Raising Risk Of Death
Too often, people return home from the hospital only to find themselves heading back soon after. Sometimes the need arises because, despite the best care, it is difficult to slow the progression of disease. But other times, it's because we in the health care system fail to communicate, coordinate and orchestrate the care that people need to successfully make the transition from hospital to home. (Dharmarajan and Krumholz, 7/18)
Los Angeles Times: USC President Tries To Quell Outrage Over Drug Allegations Against Former Medical School Dean
Acknowledging widespread concern on campus, USC President C.L. Max Nikias said Tuesday the university would “examine and address” a report in The Times that its former medical school dean abused drugs and associated with criminals and drug users. Nikias, speaking about the controversy for the first time in a letter to the campus community, said that “we understand the frustrations expressed about this situation” involving Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito and “we are working to determine how we can best prevent these kinds of circumstances moving forward.” (Parvini and Hamilton, 7/18)
The New York Times: Uber Discriminates Against Riders With Disabilities, Suit Says
All around Valerie Joseph, there is a fleet of Uber cars rolling by on New York City streets. But though she could really use the ride-hailing app, Ms. Joseph said she does not bother because Uber has so few wheelchair-accessible cars to dispatch. “It’s plain unfair,” said Ms. Joseph, 41, who relies on a wheelchair. (Hu, 7/18)
Los Angeles Times: Half Of Americans Have Diabetes Or A High Risk For It — And Many Of Them Are Unaware
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and … diabetes. That’s right. The metabolic condition is about as American as you can get, according to a new national report card on diabetes released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Kaplan, 7/18)
The Washington Post: Diet Drinks May Cause Weight Gain, New Research Suggests
Over the past decade, Americans have soured on artificial sweeteners. Once heralded as sweet substitutes for sugar without as many belt-busting calories, people once couldn't get enough sucralose and aspartame. But recently, people have started looking at the molecules with increasing suspicion, amid studies that linked them to increased belly fat — and bogus but widespread rumors that they led to things much worse. (Wootson, 7/18)
The New York Times: Former Employee Testifies Shkreli Threatened Him And His Family
Tim Pierotti, who once ran a consumer hedge fund for Martin Shkreli, said he had already lost faith in his boss by the end of 2012. Then a letter from Mr. Shkreli came to his home, addressed to his wife. “Your husband has stolen $1.6 million from me,” it read. (Clifford, 7/18)
