Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition, Part II: March 9, 2017
The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Say Trump Agreed To Pursue Authority To Negotiate Drug Prices
President Donald Trump told a pair of House Democrats he wants to work with them to allow the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for discounts on drugs, the Democrats said. Sitting behind his desk, with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price the only other White House official present, Mr. Trump used the meeting to talk about how the government, with its buying power, could negotiate for lower prices and a better deal for the taxpayer, the lawmakers at the meeting said. (Hughes, 3/8)
The Washington Post: Two Democratic Congressmen Say Trump Wants To Support Their Medicare Drug-Price Effort
Two Democratic congressmen say President Trump told them privately Wednesday that he would support their bill to allow the government to negotiate on behalf of Medicare when buying prescription drugs. After a nearly hour-long meeting with Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.) and Peter Welch (Vt.) said they had procured the president's support for their measure. (Johnson, 3/8)
Stat: Despite Discounts For Hep C Drugs, Coverage Denials Keep Rising
After pricey new hepatitis C treatments emerged a few years ago, public and private payers restricted coverage in order to ease the financial strain on budgets. But even as more competition among drug makers has prompted discounting, payers continue to deny coverage, including to patients who suffer from the most advanced forms of the disease, according to a new analysis. As of last September, 37 percent of patients with little to moderate trace of the disease were denied coverage, a mostly steady increase from 27 percent in October 2015. Meanwhile, 24 percent of those severe forms of hepatitis C were denied, up from 15 percent during the same time period. These figures represent an overall trend that includes commercial and government payers. (Silverman, 3/8)
Stat: Grassley Probes EpiPen Rival Over Its $4,500 List Price
For the second time in recent weeks, a small, privately held drug maker with a piece of the action in two hot markets is being scrutinized by lawmakers over its pricing. In the latest episode, US Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wants Kaleo to explain why it set a $4,500 list price for the Auvi-Q allergic reaction device that is competing with EpiPen. The move is actually part of a complicated pricing strategy that may appeal to some consumers, but not so much to insurers. (Silverman, 3/8)
The Washington Post: Schumer’s Claim That ‘Millions Of Women Turn’ To Planned Parenthood For Mammograms
There are some claims about abortion and Planned Parenthood that just won’t go away. One of them is the repeat claim about Planned Parenthood and mammograms. So of course, Schumer’s tweet caught our attention. (Lee, 3/9)
The Washington Post: Md. Bill Would Direct State Money To Planned Parenthood If Congress Cuts Funding
Leading Democrats in the Maryland General Assembly want to increase funding for Planned Parenthood clinics in the state if Congress cuts federal funds for the reproductive health-care services the organization provides. Lawmakers have sponsored a bill that would allocate $2.7 million to help pay for health-care services that officials say nearly 25,000 women in Maryland could lose under a proposal introduced in Congress this week. (Wiggins, 3/8)
USA Today: Meet The 'World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan Of 2017'
House GOP lawmakers unveiled their Obamacare replacement this week. But while it's a health care plan, it's not the "Greatest Healthcare Plan." That honor goes to a proposal from Rep. Pete Sessions. The Texas Republican last week introduced health care legislation entitled the "World's Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017," a proposal that, among other provisions, would eliminate individual and employer health coverage mandates. (Estepa, 3/8)
Los Angeles Times: A State Single-Payer Healthcare System? Nice Idea, But It's Just California Dreaming
Now, with congressional Republicans and President Trump trying to repeal and replace Obamacare, some Sacramento Democrats think they see an opening to finally adopt a California version of single-payer. Under single-payer, healthcare costs are paid for by the government, rather than by private insurance. The healthcare itself is still delivered by private physicians. Some version that would allow people to buy supplemental private insurance — call it “Medicare-for-all” — presumably could fit into the system these Democrats envision. We really don’t know because they haven’t actually proposed anything. They’re promising details in two weeks. (Ike Skelton, 3/9)
The Associated Press: Senators Want To Prevent Surprise Colonoscopy Bills
Maine Sen. Susan Collins is among a group of senators that wants to make sure senior citizens aren’t charged with unexpected bills after a colonoscopy. Collins, a Republican, is introducing federal legislation that is designed to protect seniors from out-of-pocket costs for preventative colonoscopies. (3/9)
The Associated Press: FDA Issues Warning About Risky Vein Opening Procedure
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday again warned patients and doctors to avoid a risky, experimental procedure promoted as a treatment for several nervous system disorders, including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. The procedure involves inflating a tiny balloon in narrowed veins, usually in the neck, to widen them and improve blood flow. (Johnson, 3/8)
Politico: Obesity's Hefty Price Tag
Memphis may be the heaviest city in the country, but it isn’t much of an outlier. From the trimmest state, Colorado, to the most obese, Mississippi, the entire nation has been on a perilous—and costly—upward track when it comes to extreme weight gain. Severe obesity (a BMI of 40 or more)—the kind most harmful to individual well-being and expensive to society—is rising at an alarming rate and may affect 11 percent of U.S. adults by 2030. (Baker, 3/8)
The Associated Press: California Lawmakers Want To Repeal HIV Criminalization Laws
Exposing a person to HIV is treated more seriously under California law than infecting someone with any other communicable disease, a policy some lawmakers say is a relic of the decades-old AIDS scare that unfairly punishes HIV-positive people based on outdated science. Several lawmakers are promoting a bill by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that would make it a misdemeanor instead of a felony to intentionally expose someone to HIV, the virus that causes the immune system-weakening disease AIDS. The change would treat HIV like other communicable diseases under California law. (Bollag, 3/8)
Los Angeles Times: An Outbreak In Brazil Has U.S. Health Experts Wondering If Yellow Fever Could Be The Next Zika
Yellow fever has broken out in the jungles outside Brazil’s most densely-populated cities, raising a frightening but still remote possibility: an epidemic that could decimate that country’s population and spread throughout the Americas, including the United States. (Healy, 3/8)
The Washington Post: Yellow Fever Outbreak In Brazil Worries U.S. Officials
Top infectious disease experts are warning about a rapidly spreading outbreak of deadly yellow fever in Brazil that could hit parts of the United States. The danger would be most acute if the virus starts spreading by the same mosquito that transmits Zika. (Sun, 3/8)
