Trump Unveils Plan To Prevent Drug Use, Boost Treatment And Recovery

The Hill: Donald Trump Signs Executive Order To Fight Drug Addiction
President Trump signed an executive order aimed at combating drug addiction and substance abuse on Thursday, dubbing it “the Great American Recovery Initiative.” The initiative directs federal agencies to use grant funds to support addiction recovery and increase awareness surrounding addiction. The effort will also help agencies consolidate a number of programs including those pertaining to drug prevention, treatment and recovery support. (Manchester, 1/29)

On TrumpRX and PBMs —

PoliticoPro: TrumpRx Launch Delayed
The Trump administration is delaying the launch of its website, TrumpRx, which it announced in the fall as a way for Americans to buy discounted prescription drugs directly from manufacturers, according to four people familiar with the decision granted anonymity to discuss the timing. The portal was scheduled to go live this month. At a Cabinet meeting Thursday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the launch “is going to be happening sometime, probably in the next 10 days.” (Lim, 1/29)

Stat: Senators Raise Concerns About TrumpRx In Letter To HHS Watchdog 
The Trump administration soon plans to launch TrumpRx, a website it says will allow patients to buy prescription drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies at a discount. Over several months, the administration has made deals with more than a dozen pharmaceutical manufacturers to expand access to their drugs through the platform. (Palmer, 1/29)

Modern Healthcare: PBMs Must Disclose Rebates Under Labor Department Proposed Rule
Pharmacy benefit managers would have to follow new transparency requirements under a proposed rule issued Thursday by the Labor Department. Under the proposed rule, PBMs would be mandated to disclose information to large group employers about drugmaker rebates, pharmacy reimbursements and other negotiated compensation. The disclosures would have to include services provided, payments and the arrangements with other parties in the pharmaceutical supply chain, the proposed rule said. It would also allow employers to audit the accuracy of the disclosures and seek relief, if necessary. (Tong, 1/29)

On disabilities, research funding, and 'Havana Syndrome' —

Stat: Lawsuit Challenges Federal Rule That Disabled People Receive Care In Community
A lawsuit targeting a landmark disability law has received new life after nine states filed an update that seeks to undercut federal mandates that people with disabilities receive care in their communities. (Broderick, 1/29)

Stat: Early-Career Researchers Feel Squeezed By Tighter Research Funding 
An aspiring bioengineer, Alex Sathler was walking through the streets of London with a friend last summer when he pulled out his phone and saw that he’d been chosen for a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship right before entering graduate school. He couldn’t believe his luck. (Wosen, 1/30)

The New York Times: Michael Beck, 65, Dies; First To Report Symptoms Of ‘Havana Syndrome’ 
Michael Beck, the first of scores of federal workers to develop neurological symptoms while serving at U.S. government facilities overseas, a condition that has come to be known as Havana Syndrome and which, Mr. Beck claimed, resulted in his diagnosis of a rare form of Parkinson’s disease when he was 45, died on Saturday in Columbia, Md. He was 65. His daughter, Regan, said that he died while shopping and that the cause had not been determined. (Risen, 1/29)

Take a deeper dive into the federal Rural Health Transformation Program —

Tradeoffs: One State's Sprint For Its Share Of $50 Billion For Rural Health: Part 1 
We follow Maryland's 52-day rush to convince the Trump administration to give the state new funding to transform rural health care. Our article explains the basics of the Rural Health Transformation Program and key takeaways from the first round of state awards. (Evans and Gorenstein, 1/22)

Tradeoffs: One State’s Sprint for its Share of $50 Billion for Rural Health: Part 2
Maryland finds out how much the state will get from a nationwide competition for federal rural health investment. (Evans and Gorenstein, 1/29)

Tradeoffs: Inside Maryland's Bid For Trump's $50B Rural Health Fund
Elizabeth Kromm spent the final months of last year locked in a $50 billion competition. The prize: a windfall to make progress on longstanding barriers to health that lead rural Americans to live sicker and die younger than their metropolitan counterparts. Kromm is a top health official in Maryland. She had to convince the Trump administration that her plan to improve rural health was better than the ideas being cooked up in the other 49 states. (Evans, 1/29)

Tradeoffs: What You Need To Know About The New $50 Billion Rural Health Fund 
The Trump administration recently announced how much money each state will receive under an ambitious 5-year initiative known as the Rural Health Transformation Program. (Levi, 1/22)

Tradeoffs: Breaking Down Trump's $50 Billion Rural Health Fund 
Tradeoffs co-hosted a virtual event on Jan. 6 with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania to dig into this rare bit of new federal funding for rural health care. (Levi and Gorenstein, 1/12)