Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Panel Targets Funds From Medicare's Controversial Prior Authorization Pilot
Fierce Healthcare: House Appropriations Committee Takes Aim At CMS' WISeR Pilot
A key legislative panel voted Tuesday to bar the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from spending funds on a controversial prior authorization pilot. In an amendment added to the broader appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services after a unanimous vote, the House Appropriations Committee determined that "none of the funds made available in this Act or any other Act" should be used to implement the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) model, or another model that would add prior auth to traditional Medicare. (Minemyer, 6/9)
More about healthcare costs and coverage —
AP: Trump Administration Warns Over 500 Hospitals To Provide More Price Information Or Face Fines
The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be. The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or, in more severe cases, requests to submit plans to provide transparent pricing. Failing to comply with the warnings comes with penalties as high as $2 million annually for each recipient that doesn’t create a plan to post clear pricing data. (Boak, 6/9)
Roll Call: Trustees: Social Security, Medicare Outlook Slightly Worse
The financial health of Social Security and Medicare has worsened over the past year, with the programs’ trust funds expected to run dry three months sooner than anticipated, according to reports issued Tuesday by the programs’ trustees. (Krawzak, 6/9)
Chicago Tribune: 92,000 Illinois Consumers Lost Or Dropped Obamacare Insurance
More than 92,000 Illinois consumers lost or dropped their Affordable Care Act health insurance in recent months — an unusually large number — following the expiration of generous tax credits that had helped to curb the plans’ costs. (Schencker, 6/9)
KFF Health News: Looming Medicaid Cuts Supercharge California’s Latest Labor-Industry Fight
The looming impact of federal Medicaid cuts has reignited a long-simmering, costly battle between California’s medical industry and one of its largest health worker unions. SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, with approximately 120,000 members, has put forward two ballot initiatives to cap the pay of medical executives and require community clinics to spend the vast bulk of their revenues on patient care. (Wolfson, 6/10)
NBC News: After Years Of Failed Treatments, This Psych Program Finally Worked. Now Her Family Owes $1 Million.
A specialized psychiatric treatment program helped this 24-year-old with her complex OCD. Now, her family owes the facility more than $1 million. (Bendix, Kane and Snow, 6/9)
On the high cost of prescriptions —
POLITICO: Trump’s Drug Pricing War Comes For Germany
The Trump administration is launching a full-scale charm offensive across Europe to persuade governments to follow Britain’s lead to pay more for medicines. U.S. embassies across the continent are being mobilized to deliver a message to European capitals: American patients are paying too much for medicines — around three times more than Germany for new drugs — and Europe better chip in. If not, the bloc risks losing out on pharmaceutical investment and access to new drugs, two industry figures with knowledge of negotiations told POLITICO. (Hug and Von Der Burchard, 6/9)
Stat: As The U.S. Looks On, European Countries Feel Growing Pressure On Drug Prices
In Europe, two divergent paths are emerging as countries grapple with what to do about drug prices, affecting pharma companies and patients across the continent — and testing the influence of the U.S. (Joseph, 6/10)
