Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: May 29, 2015
The Wall Street Journal: GOP Split On Possible Health-Law Fixes
A month before the Supreme Court is expected to rule on a key component of the Affordable Care Act, congressional Republicans are split over their strategy for handling the possible fallout. Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, are divided over whether to extend temporarily the health law’s tax credits if the court voids them in most of the country. An extension, some lawmakers say, would buy them time to enact a broader overhaul of the 2010 health law they have long opposed. (Peterson and Radnofsky, 5/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Judge Considers House GOP’s Case Against Obama’s Health Law
House Republicans filed a lawsuit in November claiming administration officials overstepped their authority by paying back insurers for discounts on health-plan deductibles they are required to offer low-income enrollees. The lawmakers allege that Congress never appropriated money to cover the cost of the discounts. The Obama administration, represented by the Justice Department, filed a motion for the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that the House lacked standing to sue because it hadn’t been harmed. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer heard oral arguments on that motion on Thursday. (Radnofsky, 5/28)
The Washington Post: Judge Weighs Bid To Toss House GOP Suit Against Obama Health-Care Law
The suit was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on a party-line vote last July and filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. It focuses on the administration’s decisions to pay subsidies to insurance companies that they say were not authorized by Congress and to twice waive the deadline for the so-called “employer mandate” requiring larger employers to provide health insurance to employees. (Hsu, 5/28)
NPR: Texas Loses Billions To Treat The Poor By Not Expanding Medicaid, Advocates Say
When the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not compel states to expand Medicaid programs, many Southern and Midwestern states opted out. One quarter of the uninsured live in Texas. (Goodwyn, 5/29)
The Associated Press: Census: No. Of Americans On Assistance May Be Leveling Off
The once-increasing number of Americans getting some kind of public assistance from the U.S. government may be slowing down, according to new information from the U.S. Census Bureau. ... The programs tracked were Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing assistance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and general assistance. Medicaid was the most used program in 2012, with an average monthly participation rate of 15.3 percent, followed by SNAP at 13.4 percent, housing assistance at 4.2 percent, SSI at 3 percent and TANF and general assistance at 1 percent. (Holland, 5/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Speeding Up Drug-Approval Process Could Have Downside
Would a congressional bill designed to jump-start medical innovation end up lowering standards for approving new uses of existing medicines? Consumer advocates are raising this concern about the 21st Century Cures legislation, which passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously last week and, in part, is designed to reform the approval process for drugs. Supporters say the bill is a long overdue move that, among other things, will give the FDA the tools to ensure treatments reach patients faster. (Silverman, 5/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Smith & Nephew’s Cut-Price Solo Strategy
When prices are falling, apply a little pressure. Tougher pricing for hip and knee replacements helped prompt cost-cutting consolidation in the medical-equipment arena. Zimmer last year agreed to buy Biomet. Stryker also cast an eye over the U.K.’s Smith & Nephew . (Thomas, 5/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Fred’s Swings To Loss Amid Pressure In Pharmacy Business
Fred’s Inc. swung to a loss in its first quarter as the discount retailer’s pharmacy business struggled with lower Medicare reimbursements and higher generic drug costs. The Memphis, Tenn.-based company said slow reimbursements, reimbursement rate reductions associated with preferred Medicare Part D networks, and inflation in generic drugs pressured its pharmacy segment during the quarter. (Beilfuss, 5/28)
The New York Times: Teva Settles Cephalon Generics Case With F.T.C. For $1.2 Billion
The pharmaceutical company Cephalon had a cash cow on its hands. In the United States alone, its prescription drug Provigil, which treats sleep disorders, generated over $475 million in sales in 2005 and almost double that in 2007. It made up about half of Cephalon’s business. When the company was faced with an expiring patent and the prospect of generic drug makers selling far cheaper versions of Provigil, it chose to buy off the competition, according to federal regulators. (Ruiz and Thomas, 5/28)
The Associated Press: Teva Pays $1.2 Billion To Settle Pay-For-Delay Allegations
Federal regulators announced Thursday that Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries will pay $1.2 billion to settle charges that one of its subsidiaries illegally blocked the launch of low-cost generic versions of the blockbuster sleeping pill Provigil. (5/28)
Los Angeles Times: Justice Department Investigates Scope Maker Olympus Over Superbug Outbreaks
The Justice Department is investigating embattled scope maker Olympus Corp. and its role in recent superbug outbreaks at UCLA and other U.S. hospitals. The Japanese company said it received a subpoena in March from federal investigators that “seeks information relating to duodenoscopes that Olympus manufactures and sells.” The company disclosed the inquiry in a financial filing this month. (Terhune and Petersen, 5/28)
The Washington Post: Women Of All Ages More Likely To Have Serious Mental Health Problems Than Men, Report Says
Women in every age group in the United States were more likely than men to have serious mental health problems, according to federal health statistics released Thursday. The report from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found that more than one-fourth of people age 65 or older who are afflicted with these mental health problems have difficulty feeding, bathing and dressing themselves. (Sun, 5/28)
USA Today: Universities, Feds Fight To Keep Lab Failings Secret
Transparency is an important cornerstone in maintaining public trust in biological research, says the National Institutes of Health, which has issued guidance to laboratories that receive federal funding. While many research organizations answered USA TODAY's questions and provided basic records about their biosafety committees' work, dozens of others were not so forthcoming. (Young and Penzenstadler, 5/28)
NPR: CDC Investigates Live Anthrax Shipments
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still trying to figure out how the military managed to ship anthrax spores that were apparently live from one of its facilities to more than a dozen labs across the United States. "We have a team at the [military] lab to determine what may have led to this incident," says CDC spokesman Jason McDonald. In addition, he says, the agency is working with health officials in nine states to make sure the potentially live samples are safely disposed of and the labs affected are decontaminated. (Brumfiel, 9/28)
USA Today: 10 Incidents Discovered At The Nation's Biolabs
Records obtained by the USA TODAY Network show hundreds of incidents have occurred in labs across the country in recent years. Here are a few examples of how things can go wrong. (Young and Penzensadler, 5/29)
Los Angeles Times: Scaled-Back Immigrant Healthcare Bill Clears Key Fiscal Panel
A sweeping measure to offer state-subsidized healthcare coverage to people in the country illegally was significantly pared back Thursday in an effort to rein in costs as it cleared a key legislative hurdle. Rather than extend Medi-Cal--California's healthcare coverage for the poor--to all eligible adults regardless of immigration status, as originally proposed, the amended bill by state Sen. Ricardo Lara would set up a limited enrollment healthcare program. (Mason, 5/28)
Politico: Welcome To The Red State HIV Epidemic
It t wasn’t supposed to happen here. Not in Austin, a one-doctor-and-an-ice-cream-shop town of 4,200 in southeastern Indiana, nestled off Interstate 65 on the road from Indianapolis to Louisville, where dusty storefronts sit vacant and many residents, lacking cars, walk to the local market. Not in rural, impoverished Scott County, which had reported fewer than five new cases of HIV infection each year, and just three cases in the past six years. Not in a state where, of the 500 new cases reported annually, only 3 percent are linked to injection drug use. But it did. And it could happen in many more backwoods towns just as unprepared as Austin. (Wren, 5/28)
The Associated Press: US Alleges Pain Clinics Operated As ‘Pill Mills’
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday that the indictments were returned on May 20 and unsealed Wednesday. They allege that the owners, operators and other associated with four clinics plotted to distribute oxycodone. The indictments name four pain clinics: PG Wellness Center of Oxon Hill, Maryland; A Plus Pain Clinic of Washington; First Priority Health Care of Elkridge, Maryland; and MPC Wellness Center of Greenbelt, Maryland. (5/28)
