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In a quick response to the announcement from Merck's chief Kenneth Frazier, the president tweeted that the decision would give Frazier “more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!"
The Obama administration reached out to numerous groups to help foster its efforts to get millions of Americans insured through the health law's marketplaces, but it's not clear if the Trump administration will follow suit. In other insurance news, a Colorado group is asking state officials to restrain premium increases, and Reuters reports that some investors are turning cool on insurance stocks.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) says his sweeping proposal is "about the only game left in town." On the House side, members of the conservative Freedom Caucus on Friday filed a discharge petition that, with a simple 218-vote majority, would trigger a floor vote on a two-year Affordable Care Act repeal -- with no replacement -- as early as September. Meanwhile, on the other side of the issue, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is preparing to introduce his Medicare-for-all plan and other Democrats are shopping around a Medicare buy-in plan that would begin at age 50.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Media outlets report on news from Wisconsin, Florida, California, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Arizona.
The more than 500,000 state residents who were in the six plans that are no longer participating will have to switch insurers. Also in Medicaid news, an Iowa woman ties changes in the program there to her husband's death, complaints about Mississippi's program and Maine prepares for a referendum on expanding the program.
Opponents say the measure, now headed for the governor's desk, is another attempt to stigmatize abortion.
Even though the Capitol Hill repeal-and-replace debate -- and its proposed funding cuts -- has quieted, worries persist about the future capacity of these facilities to provide services. The Wall Street Journal, for instance, examines the dangers of childbirth in rural America.
News outlets explore these and a range of other public health developments, including ongoing efforts to improve battle plans against vector-borne diseases such as Zika and Lyme; human-genome editing; end-of-life advice on Medicare's dime; and more.
News outlets also examine efforts to meet the treatment needs of pregnant women as well as recent developments related to the opioid epidemic in Arizona, New Hampshire and Minnesota.
The program, mandated by the health law, has been credited with helping bring down costly readmissions. But hospital and industry leaders say that has hit a standstill. Also in the news, a new report spotlights a slowing of the increases in health care prices, and WebMD's CFO talks about plans for the company.
In addition to the funding for the Veterans Choice Program, the emergency spending legislation provides $1.8 billion for core VA health programs, including 28 new VA medical facilities.
The Senate quickly passed the bill that would allow dying patients access to experimental drugs after Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) had threatened to slow down consideration of a separate bill to renew the FDA’s fee-collection authority. In other drug industry news, the FDA is implementing new rules about hiring foreign scientists, industry tightens controls to keep out counterfeit drugs, cancer trials are low on patients and costs of old drugs rising quickly for Medicaid.
President Donald Trump repeatedly has vowed to cancel the payments that help low-income people pay for deductibles and copayments when they buy insurance on the health law marketplaces.
Even as state insurance commissioners attempt to "enter the breach," reports indicate that Ohio is bracing for increases as high as 48 percent if President Donald Trump opts to stop cost-sharing subsidies paid to insurers for coverage for low-income people and, in Virginia, Anthem announces it will stop selling plans in much of the state. News outlets also detail developments in Florida and Montana.
Republicans were hoping to rescind the health law's levies on both health insurance plans and medical devices. But with action on their bill suspended for now, the industries are working to find other ways to stop the taxes.
Reports indicate that Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Rep. Tom Arthur (R-N.J.) are considering legislation to fund payments to insurers known as cost-sharing subsidies in exchange for increased state flexibility in waiving health law coverage requirements. However, Democrats have a different view. They see must-pass legislation -- such as critical spending fights on tap for September -- as giving them leverage to secure those subsidies.
With a number of must-pass legislative items on the agenda, there are also few working days on the congressional calendar -- and a possibility that GOP lawmakers may make another attempt at an Obamacare repeal. All the while, news outlets examine how President Donald Trump's Twitter and verbal attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could further complicate the days ahead. Meanwhile, during the August recess, Republicans faced a lot of health care questions at town hall meetings. And Democrats use the GOP's failed repeal-and-replace measures to formulate their talking points and political strategies. Abortion politics, though, continue to complicate their message.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced late last week that the deadline would be extended as insurance companies face uncertainty resulting from President Donald Trump's threat to cut off some subsidies paid to them on behalf of low-income people. The uncertainty has disrupted planning by insurance companies and led some to either leave or contemplate leaving the Obamacare marketplaces.
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