Health Insurers, Lawmakers Lock Horns Over High Cost Of Medical Care
The chief executive officers of five large insurance companies largely deflected the blame for soaring costs, arguing it's the hospitals, doctors, and drug companies that charge too much to begin with. Lawmakers were united in their criticism, with Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., telling the CEOs, “You all have been very delinquent in your duty.” Plus, a look at the VA's plan to expand community care.
The New York Times:
Big Insurers Try To Shift Blame For High Health Costs To Hospitals And Drug Makers
In response to palpable, bipartisan frustration among lawmakers over soaring costs for medical care, the chief executives of the country’s largest health insurers on Thursday attempted to place the blame on others, namely hospitals and drug makers. But the executives, summoned to appear at back-to-back House hearings on the affordability of health care, said little that seemed to appease congressional representatives seeking ways to hold the insurance industry accountable. (Abelson, 1/22)
Fierce Healthcare:
Blue Shield CEO: Hearings Highlight Need For 'Systemic' Change
Paul Markovich, CEO of Ascendiun, the parent company of Blue Shield of California, and one of the executives called to the panel, told Fierce Healthcare that the long debate ultimately proves that problems of this magnitude require massive changes. (Minemyer, 1/22)
Bloomberg:
Cigna Sees Up To $600 Million Earnings Hit From Pharmacy Plan
Cigna Group’s plan to end drug rebates will reduce earnings by $500 million to $600 million, the company’s chief executive officer said at a congressional hearing Thursday in which the country’s biggest health insurers were grilled about health-care affordability. It’s the first time Cigna has quantified the impact of its decision to end drug rebates, payments between drug companies and insurers that critics argue drive up health-care costs. (Tozzi and Reilly, 1/22)
On health care funding —
Fierce Healthcare:
House Passes Health Funding Package, Including PBM Reform
The House passed a key appropriations package that would fund the Department of Health and Human Services through Sept. 30, including a step toward reforms for pharmacy benefit managers. The package passed by a 341-88 vote, and it includes elements that would prevent PBMs from tying compensation in Part D to the list price of drugs, and boost price transparency for employers in their PBM contracts. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Georgia, a pharmacist and vocal supporter of PBM reform, celebrated the passage in a statement. (Minemyer, 1/22)
KFF Health News:
‘What The Health? From KFF Health News’: Health Spending Is Moving In Congress
Congress appears ready to approve a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services for the first time in years — minus the dramatic cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Lawmakers are also nearing passage of a health measure, including new rules for prescription drug middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, that has been delayed for more than a year after complaints from Elon Musk, who at the time was preparing to join the incoming Trump administration. (Rovner, 1/22)
In related news about veterans' health care —
Stars and Stripes:
‘Cost Explosion’ Or ‘Revolutionary Idea’? Lawmakers Debate VA’s Trillion-Dollar Plan To Expand Community Care
The Department of Veterans Affairs unveiled a massive plan Thursday for expanding its community care network with the purchase of $1 trillion in private health services over the next decade. At a contentious hearing of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the VA’s chief financial officer detailed a proposal for restructuring community health care as a nationwide network of providers — including doctors, dentists and pharmacists — managed by third-party administrators. (Hersey, 1/22)
Military Times:
VA Leader’s Policies Delaying Care, Destroying Work Force, Report Says
Under the Trump administration, wait times for mental health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs have increased while morale among employees has plummeted with the loss of 40,000 people, Senate Democrats said in a new report released Thursday. Actions taken by President Donald Trump, VA Secretary Doug Collins and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in the past year have affected services and research at the VA, harmed workers and delayed care and benefits to veterans, said Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. (Kime, 1/22)
Los Angeles Times:
VA Promises Hundreds Of Tiny Homes On Its West L.A. Campus; Veterans Want Something Nicer
A plan by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to put up to 800 new tiny homes this year on its West Los Angeles campus drew an immediate rebuke from veterans who won a federal court order requiring the agency to build thousands of new units of temporary and permanent housing there. “I don’t think that’s suitable at all,” said Rob Reynolds, an Iraq war veteran who speaks on behalf of several veterans who filed a 2022 federal lawsuit asking for more housing and an end to leases of large portions of the 388-acre campus to outside interests. The 8-foot-by-8-foot sheds have become a staple of quick solutions to homelessness but face the criticism of being cramped, flimsy and undignified. (Smith, 1/22)
