Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Historic Drug Pricing Measures Head To Biden's Desk To Sign
The Wall Street Journal: Biden Has Passed A Big Piece Of His Agenda. Will It Move Voters?
President Biden has often said that America wanted to see big legislative accomplishments. Now that he has delivered on some of his goals, he will find out if those wins give him a boost with voters. The passage along party lines of the $700 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill in the House Friday capped a run of legislative victories for the Democrats and the White House in recent months that also included bipartisan bills to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, support veterans’ healthcare and address mass shootings. With November’s midterm elections looming, Mr. Biden and Democrats hope to use these victories to appeal to the electorate as they seek to defend their narrow majorities in Congress. (Lucey and Thomas, 8/14)
The New York Times: A Detailed Picture Of What’s In The Democrats’ Climate And Health Bill
Democrats in Congress have had to scale back their legislative ambitions since last year, but the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by the House on Friday and sent to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for his signature, is still a substantial piece of legislation, which will make big investments in the environment and health care, and increase taxes on some key groups. This table describes everything in the bill, including the prices. (Paris, Parlapiano, Sanger-Katz and Washington, 8/13)
Stat: House Sends Drug Pricing Reforms To President Biden’s Desk
Fifteen years later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fulfilling one of her first campaign promises. When she first took the speaker’s gavel in 2007, Pelosi promised six policy accomplishments, on national security, energy, education, and health care. She passed six bills within 100 hours of assuming power. The only promise that didn’t become law was allowing Medicare to negotiate for prescription drugs — until Friday, when the House passed a major health care, tax, and climate package by a vote of 220 to 207. (Cohrs, 8/12)
What the legislation will mean for Americans —
CNBC: Passage Of Inflation Reduction Act Gives Medicare Historic New Powers Over Drug Prices
There is no official, publicly available list of drugs that HHS plans to target for negotiations. But Bank of America highlighted some potential Medicare D candidates based on how much Medicare spent on them in 2020, including Eliquis, Xarelto, and Keytruda. (Kimball, 8/12)
CNET: Inflation Reduction Act: 3 Ways The Bill Could Save You Money On Your Health Care Costs
The Inflation Reduction Act would extend expiring subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance through 2025 and give Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices for the first time ever. Here's how the Inflation Reduction Act could save you money on your health care costs. (Avery, 8/12)
Axios: Employers And The Government Will Soon Pay Different Prices For Prescription Drugs
Democrats are on the cusp of their most significant health policy victory since passage of the Affordable Care Act, but the legislative wrangling it took to get here came at a steep cost: The prescription drug pricing reforms included in the health, tax and climate package are limited to Medicare and exclude the millions of Americans with private insurance. (Owens, 8/15)
Vox: How Will The Inflation Reduction Act Affect You?
Despite the name, the bill won’t immediately lower inflation, but it should mean lower drug costs for those with Medicare, cleaner air (some estimates put emissions reduction at 40 percent by 2030), stable health care premiums for millions, and significant savings on power bills for most Americans, among other things. Here’s what the bill could mean for you. (Ioanes, 8/12)
KHN: For Medically Vulnerable Families, Inflation’s Squeeze Is Inescapable
Deborah Lewis rose from bed before dawn and signed in to her phone so she could begin delivering fast food, coffee, and groceries to residents in this western patch of the Mojave Desert where test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier generations ago. Lewis prayed she would earn $75, just enough to fill the tank of her Kia sedan so she could drive her 8-year-old daughter, Annabelle, 80 miles south to Los Angeles to receive her weekly chemotherapy treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Just a year ago, the same tank of gas would have cost $30 less. (de Marco, 8/15)
When will people start to see changes? —
Reuters: Explainer: When Will Americans Feel The Inflation Reduction Act's Impact?
Affordable Care Act premiums: At the end of this year, 13 million Americans would have seen their Affordable Care Act premiums increase, after subsidies expanded in COVID-19 spending bills expired. The bill extends those subsidies until 2024, and President Joe Biden's Democrats say they will save each individual $800. (8/12)
The Hill: When Will Americans Feel The Impact Of The Inflation Reduction Act?
On health care, some provisions take effect next year. Others, like most of the drug pricing provisions, won’t kick in for years. The enhanced subsidies for ObamaCare plans are already in effect, and the legislation will extend them for another three years. If the House doesn’t pass the bill, those subsidies will expire on Dec. 31, putting Americans on the hook for major premium increases. (Chalfant and Weixel, 8/12)
On the insulin pricing cap removed from the bill —
The Hill: Democrats Hit Rubio, Johnson With Ad On Insulin Cap Vote
Senate Democrats are out with a digital ad targeting GOP senators Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) over their votes against putting a $35 per month cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs for patients without Medicare coverage. The vote took place on an amendment to the Democratic climate, tax and health care package approved by the Senate last week. The amendment itself was blocked by Republicans. (Vakil, 8/15)
