Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House Revising Controversial Proposal On Birth Control Coverage
The New York Times: Trump Administration To Revise Birth Control Exemptions In Hopes Of Saving Them
Having lost in two federal courts and fearing more setbacks, the Trump administration is revising rules that allow employers to deny women insurance coverage for contraceptives based on religious or moral objections. Administration officials hope that the changes, the details of which remain unclear, will overcome the judges’ objections without fundamentally altering the purpose or the effects of the rules. ... It is unclear whether the administration intends to issue the final rules before the midterm elections next week. Opinion polls suggest that the birth control benefit, mandated by the Obama administration under the Affordable Care Act, is popular. (Pear, 10/30)
Axios: Feds Are Ready To Claw Back Billions From Medicare Insurers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is ready to charge ahead with broad audits of Medicare Advantage plans, which could result in companies paying back billions of taxpayers dollars to the federal government. (Herman, 10/31)
Stat: In New Document, Trump Officials Labor To Defend His Drug Pricing Proposal
The Trump administration is ready to defend its sweeping new drug pricing proposals. In a new Q&A, obtained by STAT, its authors parry several key criticisms — some already aired, some expected — from drug makers and other groups. The document, which is expected to be published later Tuesday according to a senior administration official, represents a quick response from the administration, which only unveiled the policy in an address on Thursday. (Florko, 10/30)
Kaiser Health News: People With Disabilities Face Health Care Hurdles With Trump Rollback Of Accommodation Rules
Going to the doctor’s office can feel so routine. You sit in the waiting room, fill out the paperwork, get measured and hop onto the exam table. But medical appointments for patients with disabilities require navigating a tricky obstacle course, full of impediments that leave them feeling awkward and could result in substandard care. (Bluth, 10/31)
San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Denying Our Very Humanity:’ Trump Proposal Wounds Bay Area Transgender Community
Transgender people have fought for decades for the simplest of concessions: for recognition. For the right to be seen as their true selves. To be called by their chosen name, to be addressed by the appropriate pronouns, to see a gender on their driver’s license that matched their identity. Their successes are recent. ... The news last week, that the Trump administration was considering a policy change that wouldn’t just revoke certain rights but dismiss the identities of transgender people, was appalling, say transgender men and women and their supporters. (Allday, 10/30)
CQ: Immigration Rhetoric Stokes Fears Of Doctor Shortages
The Trump administration’s actions and rhetoric on immigration are stoking fears among physician training experts that fewer foreign doctors will want to train and serve in the United States, where they make up a significant portion of a medical workforce that is already short-handed. The commission that certifies graduates of foreign medical schools who come here for their residencies says it is seeing a decrease in the number of people applying from foreign countries affected by Trump’s executive actions on immigrations. Its leaders worry that promising students or doctors from other countries will also think twice about whether to continue their medical training in the U.S. (Siddons, 10/30)
