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TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL ALLOW IMPORTS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The Trump administration has announced plans to allow the importation of drugs from other countries, a major part of President Trump‘s agenda for lowering the cost of prescriptions.
“This is the next important step in the Administration’s work to end foreign freeloading and put American patients first,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a call with reporters Wednesday.
The proposal, the Safe Importation Action Plan, calls for a rulemaking to authorize state, wholesaler, or pharmacy plans to try to set up drug importation programs that abide by FDA safety standards.
“We are open, there is a pathway,” Azar said. “We will lay out the criteria for states, wholesale retailers, and pharmacies to see that they have a workable plan to lower costs and protect American consumers. But they must work with us and convince us that you have a plan that works.”
Azar said he has spoken with Canada’s health minister, as Canada has been the country most frequently referenced for drug importation, about how the plan will be carried out. He reiterated that execution will rely on state-made plans.
“Those will be issues for states, pharmacies, and wholesale distributors to work out,” Azar said. “How to get tracing and tracking, get relabeling, maintain the supply chain. That is for them to work out.”
Azar said HHS and the FDA haven’t yet spoken to big pharmaceutical companies about the two proposals yet.
Good morning and welcome to the Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare! This newsletter is written by senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and healthcare reporter Cassidy Morrison (@CassMorrison94). You can reach us with tips, calendar items, or suggestions at [email protected]. If someone forwarded you this email and you’d like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe here.
DEMOCRATS TO FORCE VOTE ON OBAMACARE WAIVERS: Senate Democrats are unveiling a resolution Wednesday that would undo guidance from the Trump administration to allow states to make changes to their Obamacare markets, through waivers known as 1332. Democrats can force a majority-threshold vote on the matter under the Congressional Review Act, which gives Congress the power to overrule a regulation. Tune in to the press conference at 12:30 p.m.
SEEMA VERMA TO SLAM ‘MEDICARE FOR ALL’: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Seema Verma is at the Heritage Foundation Wednesday morning to speak on Democrats’ “Medicare for All” proposals. You can tune in to the live stream here.
DEBATE SUM-UP: CENTRISTS POUND WARREN, SANDERS ON HEALTHCARE: Centrist Democratic presidential candidates fired shots at Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren during the second round of debates Tuesday over their defense of “Medicare for all.” Sanders told former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, “You’re wrong!” that support for his plan amounted to “political suicide.”
Delaney, who has proposed giving everyone in the U.S. a basic healthcare plan while allowing private insurers to continue to operate, said it wasn’t necessary to abolish private health insurance. “We don’t have to be the party of subtraction, telling half the country that their private insurance is illegal,” he said.
Warren dodged on whether middle class would see tax hikes: Warren promised that “giant corporations and billionaires” would pay more, and that the middle class would pay less out of pocket for their healthcare. She wouldn’t commit, however, as to whether the middle class would pay higher taxes than they do now, even when pressed by moderators on the issue.
Trump campaign hits Democrats over healthcare for illegal immigrants: The ad, which aired Tuesday and is set to air again Wednesday, paints all the candidates as in favor of “giving illegal immigrants free healthcare at our expense” and for ending private insurance. It goes on to accuse the presidential candidates of “putting illegal immigrants before hardworking Americans.”
Buttigieg credited Obamacare for saving his mother in law: South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s mother in law, Sherri Glezman, has been treated for skin cancer, including through surgery and several rounds of chemotherapy. Glezman has spoken publicly about her treatment and warned others to wear sunscreen and avoid tanning beds.
ACLU, PLANNED PARENTHOOD FILE SUIT AGAINST MISSOURI OVER 8-WEEK ABORTION BAN: The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed suit Tuesday against Missouri over its 8-week abortion ban, which does not make exceptions for cases of rape or incest and was signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson in May.
PALLONE REQUESTS BRIEFING FROM CDC ABOUT CHANGING ‘CRITICAL’ PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS: Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey requested an explanation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the agency’s plans to reorganize the environmental health division which, Pallone says, is a part of the Trump administration’s agenda to discount climate science. He said the agency’s plans could upend efforts of the Climate and Health Program to prevent and adapt to the health effects of climate change.
E&C WANTS FDA BRIEFING ABOUT POSSIBLE BLOOD-THINNER SHORTAGE DUE TO OUTBREAK OF FLU KILLING PIGS IN CHINA: The Energy and Commerce Committee wrote to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Ned Sharpless about a possible shortage of the essential blood-thinner heparin, which is derived from pig intestines. Almost half of the world’s pigs are in China, where about 60% of heparin comes from, but the African swine flu is killing pigs throughout the country. Because the U.S. is dependent on China and Chinese pigs for the critical medication, the committee is asking the FDA for a briefing about actions to take to prevent a possible shortage of heparin.
WAYS AND MEANS BLASTS MEDICARE HOSPICE PROGRAM FOR DEFICIENT CARE, DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM CMS: The Ways and Means Committee demanded answers from CMS about “alarming” and deficient hospice care, based on reports from the HHS Office of the Inspector General. The two most recent OIG studies reported that 87% of hospice centers had at least one care deficiency, including neglecting to treat wounds, resulting in gangrene and limb amputation, and maggots developing around a patient’s feeding tube. Ways and Means is demanding answers about the lacking hospice program “immediately,” though the committee did not give CMS a hard deadline.
SENATE BILL WOULD RETIRE ANIMALS AFTER EXPERIMENTATION: The bipartisan Animal Freedom from Testing, Experimentation, and Research Act introduced Tuesday would direct all federal labs to develop and carry out a plan for monkeys, dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals to be adopted or retired once they’re no longer needed for research. Check out our recent feature on this topic.
CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION SENDING 80 SICK MIGRANTS TO HOSPITALS DAILY: Border Patrol Agents and Field Operations Officers transport about 80 sick migrants to hospitals daily, which CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan says is putting a strain on agents’ ability to keep an eye on ports of entry. “We are looking at $63 million for continued medical assets and high risk support across the southwest border,” Morgan said during a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday.
The Rundown
The New York Times Who won night 1 of the Democratic debate? Experts weigh in
Atlanta Journal-Constitution The 10 leading causes of traumatic brain injuries in children
Stat 5 ways artificial intelligence is already changing cardiac care
Houston Chronicle Vaccination rates show a dropoff
Columbus Dispatch 250,000 fewer Ohioans are on Medicaid, but even the experts don’t know why
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | July 31
Senate in session. House in recess.
10 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave NE. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma to speak about Medicare for All at the Heritage Foundation. Details.
8 p.m. CNN Democratic Debates: Night 2. Details.
FRIDAY | Aug. 2
Aug. 2-6. Walter E. Washington Convention Center. American Veterinary Medical Association annual meeting. Details.
MONDAY | Aug. 5
Congress in August recess.
