Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Industry Invests Big In Campaign While Pharma Braces For Possible Change In House Leadership
Bloomberg: Health-Care Companies Pour $46.7 Million Into Midterm Vote
The health-care industry has given $46.7 million to candidates in the midterm elections this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, pouring money into a tightly fought battle between Democrats and Republicans over control of Congress. Of the money given by health-care political action committees -- the official political arms of companies and industry or professional associations -- 57 percent went to Republicans. (Dodge, 10/29)
The Washington Post: Fact Checker: Democrats Hype Estimates Of People With Preexisting Conditions
If Democrats have their way, the midterm elections will turn on the issue of preexisting conditions. As we have documented, some House Republicans have even sought to diminish the impact of their votes in favor of the House GOP plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act by falsely citing our fact checks. But Democrats, in pressing their advantage on the issue, have gone too far in claiming how many people potentially would have been affected if the GOP bill had been enacted into law. Some of their tweets and statements are even undercut by a report issued Oct. 24 by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Kessler, 10/30)
Kaiser Health News: GOP’s Latest Campaign Punch On Health Care Relies On Classic Hook: Medicare
Democrats throughout the election season have been hammering Republicans over votes and lawsuits that would eliminate insurance protections for preexisting conditions for consumers. But now Republicans are working to change the health care conversation with a tried-and-true technique used by both parties over the years: telling seniors their Medicare coverage may be in danger. It’s not yet clear, however, whether these dependable voters are responding to the warning. (Rovner, 10/30)
Stat: Pharma Braces For A Pelosi Speakership And Democrats' Drug Pricing Agenda
{House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi spoke in detailed terms of a federal statute that allows the U.S. government to effectively strip drug companies of exclusive licenses to some blockbuster medicines. ... The boardroom ambush from Washington’s most powerful Democrat could prove the first of many such moments for drug manufacturers, which have come under fire from the White House and lawmakers from both parties in the past two years. Interviews with drug industry lobbyists and Democratic aides across the Capitol suggest the same: that the wing of Pelosi’s party outlining an ambitious agenda to combat high drug costs could turn 2019 into PhRMA’s doomsday scenario. (Facher, 10/30)
