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LAWMAKERS STUCK ON OBAMACARE IN UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE HEARING: Obamacare loomed large Wednesday during a House Democratic hearing meant to focus on “Medicare for all” and other forms of universal health coverage.
Republicans warned that proposals to increase the government’s role in healthcare would have the same disruptions that Obamacare did, but at a larger scale, including forcing people from health insurance plans they might like.
Democrats, on their end, praised Obamacare’s rules obligating insurers to cover people with pre-existing illnesses. They blamed Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration for problems that the market has faced, and appeared to conclude that they would need to shore up or expand Obamacare before pursuing other, more comprehensive measures.
At the end of the hearing, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told Republicans that they had an opportunity to vote for improvements to Obamacare. House leadership has moved quickly on passing bills to shore up Obamacare, which have support from the healthcare industry.
Neal’s office set up Wednesday’s hearing to discuss other ways that lawmakers might help cover the remaining 30 million uninsured living in the U.S. The event was in part to assuage concerns of progressives who back more sweeping policies embodied in the Medicare for All Act.
Witnesses supported shoring up Obamacare: The Obamacare plans remain prohibitively expensive for millions of people, and proponents of the healthcare law want to see more states unlock its provision to expand Medicaid to low-income people.
“I don’t see competition between the Medicare for All idea and the preservation and continuation of the Affordable Care Act en route to doing that,” said Dr. Don Berwick, senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Berwick, a supporter of government healthcare, helped to implement Obamacare as the former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Pam MacEwan, CEO for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, recommended allowing more federal subsidies to go to people who buy their own health insurance and adding a reinsurance fund. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, managing director at Manatt Health, recommended improving outreach about the plans so that more people enroll.
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.
CMS APPROVES WASHINGTON STATE’S ‘NETFLIX’ DRUG PRICING PLAN: CMS authorized a plan Wednesday that will allow the state’s Medicaid program to pay for hepatitis C drugs with a flat fee that will give them unlimited access to the medications. The state will contract with AbbVie, whose cure for hepatitis C otherwise carries a list price of $13,200 for a four-week treatment, and needs to be taken for 8-16 weeks.
About 65,000 Washingtonians have hepatitis C and Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who is also running for president, has set a goal of eliminating the infection in the state by 2030.
OKLAHOMA LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO GET MEDICAID EXPANSION ON THE BALLOT: The group Oklahoma Decides Healthcare launched a campaign Wednesday aimed at locking in 178,000 signatures to turn the question to voters over whether the state should expand Medicaid under Obamacare. Roughly 200,000 people would be expected to enroll in the program.
AMA WANTS MEDICAID TO COVER POST-PREGNANCY FOR A YEAR: Under current law, Medicaid covers women during their pregnancy and 60 days after, but government data show that women are still dying and becoming disabled after that time. The American Medical Association voted during its meeting in Chicago to lobby Congress to have Medicaid cover women for a year after they give birth. Medicaid pays for roughly half of pregnancies in the U.S.
ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL DECLARING ABORTION A ‘FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT’: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a controversial bill into law Wednesday that provides for broad access to abortion and throws out restrictions on the procedure in the third trimester.
The law, the Reproductive Health Act, declares every person in Illinois has a “fundamental right” to abortion, pregnancy care, or sterilization, and that “a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of this state.” It takes effect immediately.
The law throws away a requirement that abortions happening after viability need a sign-off from a second doctor, requires all health insurers to cover abortions, repeals the state’s Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, and allows more medical workers to provide abortions.
9/11 VICTIMS COMPENSATION FUND EXTENDER GOES TO HOUSE: The House Judiciary Committee passed the Never Forget the Heroes Act Wednesday, which would extend funding for medical costs of 9/11 survivors and first responders, a day after advocates, including comedian Jon Stewart, made an emotional plea to Congress. The bill, passed unanimously in committee, now goes to the House for a full vote.
Chuck Schumer pleads for a vote: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., begged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to bring the bill to the Senate floor as a standalone vote as soon as it passes the House. “We will reach the point soon…when more will have died from 9/11-related illnesses than on 9/11 itself. It has been over 17 years since 9/11, but unfortunately, brave Americans are still dying. Let’s do our job. Let’s take care of them,” Schumer said.
TWO MORE EBOLA CASES CONFIRMED IN UGANDA: In addition to the five-year-old boy diagnosed with Ebola in Uganda, who died Tuesday night, the World Health Organization has confirmed two new Ebola cases in Uganda- the boy’s 3-year-old brother and his grandmother. Both the child and his grandmother are in isolation.
In response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday it will activate its Emergency Operations Center. The current Ebola outbreak in the DRC, directly west of Uganda, has killed over 1,400 people since August 2018. While most WHO resources and medical personnel have been deployed to the DRC, WHO will now ship additional resources to Uganda, knowing how quickly the virus spreads.
CRUZ ASKS AOC ABOUT TEAMING UP TO MAKE BIRTH CONTROL OTC: Unlikely duo Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, might team up to make birth control available without a prescription. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted last week that birth control should be available without a prescription. On Wednesday, Cruz offered to work with her to write a “simple, clean bill making birth control available over the counter. Interested?”
SCHULTZ TAKES A BREAK FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE TO RECOVER FROM BACK SURGERIES: Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering running for the White House as an independent, said he has had three back surgeries in two months and has reluctantly “decided to take the summer” to recuperate. “I look forward to being back in touch after Labor Day,” he said.
NIH DIRECTOR WON’T DO ANY MORE ‘MANELS’: Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, announced he would no longer appear in all-male speaking panels. “I challenge other scientific leaders across the biomedical enterprise to do the same,” Collins said.
MAINE LEGALIZES MEDICALLY ASSISTED SUICIDE: Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill Wednesday to legalize medically assisted suicide, making Maine the eighth state in the U.S. to do so. The proposal provides patients who have received diagnoses that they will die within the next six months the option to request a fatal dose of medication after passing a screening test and receiving approval from two physicians.
‘DEATHS OF DESPAIR’ INCREASE AMONG MILLENNIALS: Well Being Trust and Trust for America’s Health found that drug-related deaths of 18 to 34-year-olds increased by 400% from 1999 to 2017, due in large part to the opioid epidemic. Synthetic opioids alone caused a 6,000% increase in deaths. In addition, suicides increased by 35% between 2007 and 2017.
Suicides, drug- and alcohol-related deaths have increased nationally: West Virginia has seen the most drastic increase in drug-related deaths from 2005 to 2017, from 10.5 for every 100,000 to 57.8 – a five-fold increase. A Commonwealth Fund study revealed Wednesday that, nationally, the rate of overdose-related deaths more than doubled between 2005 and 2017. Suicides and alcohol-related deaths have increased by 30% and 2% respectively, from 2005 to 2017.
The Rundown
New York Times Planned Parenthood to host women’s health forum for 2020 Democrats
The Hill Pelosi to change drug-pricing plan after progressive complaints
Kaiser Health News Drug users armed with naloxone double as medics on streets of San Francisco
The Washington Post Five men outlaw abortion in a Texas town, declaring a ‘sanctuary city for the unborn’
The Associated Press New gene tests for germs quickly reveal source of infections
Calendar
THURSDAY | June 13
June 13-15. Hyatt Regency Washington. Mental Health America annual conference on “Dueling Diagnoses: Mental Health and Chronic Conditions in Children and Adults.” Agenda.
TUESDAY | June 18
9:30 a.m. 430 Dirksen. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on lowering healthcare costs. Details.
WEDNESDAY | June 19
10 a.m. 2123 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on “Protecting Title X and Safeguarding Quality Family Planning Care.” Details.
