Health Program Reauthorization Bill Introduced, Amid Stalled Negotiations

The Hill: Cassidy Introduces Bill To Fund Community Clinics, Citing Stalled Negotiations With Sanders
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), introduced legislation Thursday to reauthorize funding for community health centers as his office says negotiations with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on this issue aren’t progressing. (Choi, 7/13)

Politico: Without Bipartisan Agreement, Cassidy Introduces Health Reauthorization Bill
HELP ranking member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Thursday introduced legislation that would reauthorize several health programs that have long enjoyed bipartisan support. But his bill represents a crack in the consensus over how to fund the programs, as Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pushes ahead with his own reauthorization plan, which includes large boosts to several health programs. (Payne, 7/13)

Meanwhile —

Stat: House Panel Passes Public Health Bills Following Contentious Debate
The House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee on Thursday voted along party lines to pass a bill to let employers provide telehealth-only insurance and another to retroactively require Senate confirmation of the president’s pick to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also passed a bill to renew federal pandemic-preparedness programs, but Republicans blocked attempts by Democrats to add drug shortage reforms. (Wilkerson, 7/13)

Politico: House Subcommittee Approves Permanent Tax Breaks For Telehealth Plans
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee advanced legislation in a largely partisan fashion Thursday that would permanently allow employers to offer telehealth as a tax-free benefit separate from their group health insurance plans. Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig — a sponsor of the bill — was the lone Democrat joining Republicans in a 16-11 vote. (Leonard, 7/13)

Politico: House Panel Advances Opioid Treatment Reauthorization Bill
A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee took its first steps to reauthorize a 2018 law meant to address the opioid epidemic and added resources to combat a deadly new drug cocktail. The health subcommittee advanced the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act to the full panel via voice vote on Thursday. The bill would reauthorize substance abuse programs passed under the SUPPORT Act. (King, 7/13)

Politico: House GOP Proposes Deep Health Spending Cuts
Republicans are proposing to drastically reduce federal spending on a variety of health agencies, cutting or eliminating a slew of programs that tackle everything from the HIV epidemic to teen pregnancy. The draft Labor-HHS spending bill, which the House Appropriation Committee unveiled Thursday, would offer $147 billion in overall funding for programs in its jurisdiction — 29 percent below 2023 levels. HHS would receive $103.3 billion, $14 billion less than fiscal 2023 levels and $26 billion less than what the Biden administration has asked for. (Leonard, 7/13)

On matters of pricing and health costs —

Politico: Hospitals Could Face New Price Transparency Requirements
CMS proposed major changes to how hospitals post prices for certain services in a bid to make them easier for consumers to understand. The agency included new requirements for hospital charge data in the proposed Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule released Thursday. The rule, which lays out payment rates and policy changes for 2024, creates a template for hospitals to share data intended to help consumers price shop. (King, 7/13)

Stat: How A Key Senate Committee Is Planning To Regulate PBMs
A key Senate health care panel has developed a plan to tackle reforms to middlemen in the pharmacy drug payment system, according to bill text obtained by STAT. The draft legislation, authored by Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and ranking member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), includes several measures to regulate how pharmacy benefit managers are paid by health plans to negotiate with drugmakers. (Cohrs, 7/13)

Reuters: Uninsured US Patients Pay Up To $330 For Eli Lilly’s $25 Insulin, Senator Warren Says
Americans without health insurance pay an average of $98 for Eli Lilly’s generic insulin despite the company’s May 1 pledge to cut its list price to $25 per vial, according to a survey of more than 300 U.S. pharmacies by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office released on Thursday. (Wingrove, 7/13)

In other developments —

The Washington Post: White House Planning To Tap Retired General To Lead New Pandemic Office
The White House is planning to name a longtime military health official to lead its new pandemic preparedness office amid growing concerns that efforts to brace for the next global health crisis are flagging. Maj. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, who retired from the military this summer and joined the National Security Council to work on biodefense and global health security, is the planned selection to lead the White House’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a pending personnel move. (Diamond, 7/13)

The New York Times: Democrats Try A Novel Tactic To Revive The Equal Rights Amendment
Democrats in Congress are making a fresh push for the nearly century-old Equal Rights Amendment to be enshrined in the Constitution, rallying around a creative legal theory in a bid to revive an amendment that would explicitly guarantee sex equality as a way to protect reproductive rights in post-Roe America. (Karni, 7/13)

Bloomberg: Senator Questions Eldercare Startup Papa About Abuse Allegations
The chairman of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging sent a letter to the eldercare startup Papa Inc. on Thursday, pressing the company to “provide assurances that it is taking steps to ensure the safety and dignity of care workers and clients” following a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation revealing allegations of sexual assault and harassment. (Anand, 7/13)

Also —

KFF Health News: How A Combination Of Covid Lawsuits And Media Coverage Keeps Misinformation Churning
Public health has had its day in court lately. And another day. And another day. Over the course of the pandemic, lawsuits came from every direction, questioning public health policies and hospitals’ authority. Petitioners argued for care to be provided in a different way, they questioned mandates on mask and vaccine use, and they attacked restrictions on gatherings. (Tahir, 7/14)