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HERE COMES TRUMP’S HEALTHCARE ANNOUNCEMENT: On Thursday President Trump will announce an executive order aimed at batting back criticism about his administration’s efforts to undo Obamacare and at contrasting himself with liberal Democrats who want enroll everyone in the U.S. into government healthcare through “Medicare for all.”
The president will make his speech in The Villages, a Florida retirement community, in a speech that top administration say will focus on broadening his healthcare message beyond Obamacare. The focus will be on Medicare, the program that covers seniors and people with disabilities, but also on private health insurance, as changes to Medicare tend to ripple across the healthcare system.
“This president has been focusing on health issues that other administrations have been ignoring for decades,” Joe Grogan, head of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, said on a phone call with reporters Thursday morning.
The executive order, called “Protecting and Improving Medicare For Our Nation’s Seniors,” will allow for private plans that operate in Medicare, known as Medicare Advantage, to add more wellness benefits and to offer more plans, including allowing them to set up savings accounts to pay for care and letting plans cover adult day care. The administration will also change regulations that discourage telehealth so that patients can use computers and smartphones to get in touch with their doctors.
Another key part of the order will look at taking down regulations that force nurse practitioners and physician assistants to practice under a doctor’s supervision. This move would help to fight the doctor shortage, particularly in rural areas, officials said.
“This is the most comprehensive vision for healthcare I can recall any president putting forth,” said Alex Azar, Health and Human Services Secretary.
Officials promised savings in traditional Medicare. But from the information provided to reporters on the call, it doesn’t look like they’ll come in the form of cuts. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said that Medicare savings in the traditional government program would go up because the administration would reduce regulations. She noted that premiums were going down in Medicare Part D, which pays for prescription drugs, affecting how much the program overall is spending.
Some of the plans to be announced reinforce agenda items the administration already has set in motion, including giving people other benefits in Medicare Advantage that allow their plans to pay for nutrition or transportation to a doctor’s office. The administration also put work into improving the website on Medicare that lets people compare health plans. Read more.
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.
OCR RAPS DENTIST FOR POSTING PATIENT INFO: The Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services has fined Elite Dental Associates in Texas $10,000 under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule. According to OCR, the dental provider responded to social media reviews by disclosing patients names and details of their health conditions.
SANDERS CAN PROBABLY EXPECT TO BE BACK ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN AS SOON AS A WEEK: Patients who undergo procedures to unclog their arteries, as Bernie Sanders did, can expect to get back to their normal routines in as early as a week to several weeks, according to cardiologists. The Sanders campaign announced Wednesday that surgeons inserted two stents into one of Sanders’ arteries after discovering a blockage there. Stents help reduce the risk of a heart attack, and patients typically are put on aspirin and blood thinners afterward.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO BEGIN DNA TESTING THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS IN DETENTION: The Trump administration will conduct DNA testing on the migrants detained at the southern border each year, and send the results to the FBI’s national DNA database, as reported in the New York Times. The FBI normally uses testing to track criminals who have been charged with major crimes, including murder, but the latest Trump administration move will allow for at least 40,000 new entries — the number of immigrants currently in detention. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used DNA testing on a smaller scale over the summer along the southwestern border to detect “fraudulent family units.” Unlike the summer pilot program, the new DNA testing program would send results to a national database available to law enforcement agencies.
HARRIS TAKES A SWIPE AT WARREN ON CAMPAIGN PROMISES: Presidential contender Kamala Harris jabbed fellow candidate Elizabeth Warren at a Wednesday gun town hall, saying: “By the way, another part of my intention, I’m not going to say plan, everyone has a plan for something, right?” Harris’ swipe at Warren was in response to the Massachusetts senator’s new unofficial slogan of having “a plan for that.” Harris said she fully intends — not plans — to “put a nurse, put a nurse and a social worker in every school” because “often the first time a child will have an interaction with someone who is not a relative of that child, which means the first time someone who has fresh eyes on that child, will be when they start school.”
TRUMP ATTACKS PELOSI ON TWITTER, PROBABLY NOT FOR THE LAST TIME: Trump attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday for using promises to lower drug prices as “camouflage for trying to win an election through impeachment.” Pelosi said in a news conference earlier Wednesday that she hoped to work with the White House to lower drug prices. Lowering drug prices and impeachment “have nothing to do with each other,” Pelosi said. “We have the responsibility to the oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” she said. “We also have a responsibility to get the job done for the American people.”
ARKANSAS ‘REQUIREMENT TO WORK’ FOR SNAP LEAVES PEOPLE WITH MORE CONFUSION THAN ASSISTANCE: Arkansas residents say they don’t understand the state’s work requirements for receiving food stamps, and lack training opportunities to get steady, long-term employment, according to an Urban Institute analysis. Without comprehensive job training, Arkansas residents say they don’t have the necessary tools to get the jobs they need to qualify for government assistance, and later be able to support themselves, which work requirements aim to do in the first place.
JUDGE SAYS PHILADELPHIA SUPERVISED DRUG INJECTION SITE CAN MOVE FORWARD: District Judge Gerald McHugh wrote Wednesday that a planned injection site in Philadelphia, at which drug users will be supervised by medical professionals who can act in the event of an overdose, does not violate federal law. McHugh wrote: “No credible argument can be made that facilities such as safe injection sites were within the contemplation of Congress” when lawmakers adopted the Controlled Substances Act in 1986. In the amended 2003 law, Congress included a provision, the Crackhouse Statute, that would aim to shut down any place where drugs are used or distributed. Law enforcement and Congress have repeatedly said the Philadelphia safehouse would allow and even encourage drug use, technically making it a crackhouse. McHugh’s decision is unprecedented, and may aid in opening similar sites in other states, including Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and New York.
The Rundown
The Washington Post Health insurance premiums for federal employees, retirees to go up an average of 5.6 percent next year
NPR Planned Parenthood to open large new facility in Illinois near Missouri border
The Chicago Tribune Walmart to test new health care services for workers
The New York Times New York says end of AIDS epidemic is near
WJCT Florida’s health care cost markup among nation’s highest
The Wall Street Journal Researchers say vitamin E likely isn’t the culprit in vaping-related ailments
Calendar
THURSDAY | Oct. 3
Congress in recess.
1 p.m. President Trump to sign executive order on Medicare. Tune in.
