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DEMOCRATS AVOID INFIGHTING ON DRUG PRICING DURING KEY HEARING: Democrats avoided infighting during a hearing on prescription drug prices Wednesday, a positive sign for the passage of a bill recently introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The hearing, held by the Energy and Commerce Committee’s health panel, was intended to look at several different proposals that would let the government become more involved in setting drug prices, but the Pelosi bill is the one House leaders intend to bring to the floor by the end of October.
The legislation, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, would let the Department of Health and Human Services negotiate the prices of 25 to 250 drugs deemed to lack competition and would extend to drugs covered by the government or by private health insurance. It would impose fines on pharmaceutical companies when they don’t come to the table to bargain.
Progressives have said the bill doesn’t go far enough in cracking down on the pharmaceutical industry, but members did not put their divisions on display during the hearing. Instead, Republicans expressed anger over the swift pace at which Democrats were moving on the legislation and said they were left out of writing the legislation.
“This is partisan politics at its worst,” said Greg Walden of Oregon, the top Republican on the full Energy and Commerce Committee, who pointed out that members had already been working on bipartisan legislation to lower drug prices by increasing competition and allowing for more cheaper generics to hit the market.
Anna Eshoo of California, who heads the subcommittee, noted that when President Trump was running for the Oval Office, he said he supported the idea of letting drug companies negotiate. The Pelosi bill also contains a provision that lets the government determine prices based on what other countries pay, which is something Trump has spoken out on before and that his administration has proposed for drugs given to Medicare patients at the doctor’s office.
“I see where the different fissures are, but that doesn’t mean we can’t stretch ourselves to see if we can’t come together because we all care about it,” she said at the conclusion of the hearing, which lasted 4.5 hours. The bill, she told Walden, would get a markup in the subcommittee.
There’s another hearing up Thursday afternoon in the House Committee on Energy and Labor’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. Tune in.
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.
PATRICK CONWAY LEAVES TOP SLOT AT BCBS NORTH CAROLINA: The CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina, Patrick Conway, has resigned from his spot after local media published details of a police report in June that said he drove drunk and was belligerent with officers. Conway, a former Obama administration health official, had two of his children in the car and clipped the corner of a tractor-trailer truck. He underwent 30 days of treatment after the incident and had told the board about it, but the board released a statement saying it had just learned about all of the details, saying Conway’s behavior “falls short of our standards.”
SECOND ACT: SENATOR TOM PRICE? The former HHS secretary under Trump, Tom Price, has reportedly filed paperwork with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office to take the Senate seat Johnny Isakson is leaving, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Price resigned after a Politico investigation found he racked up $1 million in charter jet expenses.
NEW BILL TO EXPAND CHILDCARE: The Small Business Child Care Investment Act, introduced in the Senate Thursday by Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democrat Jacky Rosen of Nevada, would make non-profit child care providers eligible for Small Business Administration capital access programs as long as they are licensed by the state and their employees have had criminal background checks.
GOP SENATORS REJECT MOTION TO PROVIDE PAID LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Senate Republicans dismissed a Democratic proposal to include paid family and medical leave for federal government workers in the National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday, despite some having proposed similar measures of their own. Democratic Senator Brian Schatz had proposed including the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act in the Senate defense bill. The final vote was 47-48, and, while not a binding vote, it let voters know where the GOP stands on efforts to provide paid leave for some two million federal workers.
The GOP then voted in favor of Ernst’s motion to allow Congress to “consider potential commonsense solutions regarding family and medical leave, including voluntary compensatory time programs and incentives through the tax code.” The final vote was 55-39, and would take into consideration GOP paid leave measures, including one sponsored by Republican Senators Ernst and Mike Lee that would allow new parents to dig into their Social Security funds early to pay for time off.
THE AVERAGE YEARLY COST OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HEALTHCARE SURPASSED $20,000: SURVEY: Premiums for family health plans provided by employers increased by 5% in 2019 to hit $20,576 a year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s annual employer survey. The 8% increase in premium costs to workers surpassed the rate at which wages are rising — 3.4%. Employees are now paying about $6,000 in premium costs for coverage.
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE CALLS FOR GREATER EFFORTS TO END ANIMAL TESTING: The Government Accountability Office is pushing HHS to create a working group to promote an end to animal testing across all federal agencies. Federal law already requires that agencies actively look for alternative means to conduct biological tests that take animals out of the equation. The Tuesday GAO report said HHS, the Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency already take measures to find alternatives to testing on animals, including using computer models, but HHS’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences could do more to encourage other agencies to follow suit.
PETA applauds efforts to save animals otherwise subjected to “misery and death”: Animal-rights group PETA encouraged federal agencies to take the GAO report seriously and to “stop tormenting animals.” PETA wrote Wednesday that failing to find alternative testing methods is “one of the most frequent violations of federal law, and the consequences for millions of animals are misery and death — even when there are better, animal-free methods available that can benefit human health and save taxpayer dollars.”
SHARPLESS SAYS THE FDA DROPPED THE BALL ON PREVENTING A VAPING EPIDEMIC: Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Ned Sharpless said Wednesday that the FDA “should have acted sooner” to put stringent restrictions on the vaping industry — its manufacturing and marketing. The Democratic chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Frank Pallone, said in the committee hearing he wishes the FDA had acted sooner. Sharpless promised the agency would play “catch up” in offering draft guidance for the vaping industry.
The Rundown
Politico Isakson introduces gun action plan
Vox Startups are selling you pills through Instagram. Why don’t they say which ones?
Minnesota Daily Eligibility requirement concerns arise over student health care insurance
FiveThirtyEight We’ve been fighting the vaping crisis since 1937
Los Angeles Times Kaiser Permanente reaches tentative contract covering 85,000 workers
Calendar
THURSDAY | Sept. 26
Sept. 22-26. AHIP National Conference on Medicare, Medicaid, and Dual Eligibles. Agenda.
Sept. 24-26. Atlantic Festival. Agenda.
2 p.m. 2175 Rayburn. House Committee on Energy and Labor’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions hearing on “Making Health Care More Affordable: Lowering Drug Prices and Increasing Transparency.” Details.
FRIDAY | Sept. 27
Noon. Hart 216. Alliance for Health Policy event on “Unpacking Policy Options to Promote Prescription Drug Affordability.” Details.
