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BIDEN INVOKES PELOSI AND THE SENATE AGAINST ‘MEDICARE FOR ALL’: Yesterday we predicted that the healthcare portion of the Democratic presidential debate would feature questions about financing “Medicare for all” and not much else. We were right. It’s worth highlighting a few of the most interesting and/or illuminating exchanges from the evening, on “Medicare for all” and also topics further afield.
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS AREN’T THERE ON ‘MEDICARE FOR ALL’: Joe Biden pointed out that the “Medicare for all” advocates on the stage, such as Elizabeth Warren, have yet to win over many Democratic members of Congress, referencing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s opposition.
“I’m not a big fan of ‘Medicare for all,'” Pelosi said earlier this month.
Biden also made the pitch Wednesday night that he would be the candidate to help Democrats increase their numbers in Congress by winning in places like Georgia, where the debate was held.
Bernie Sanders also looked to set himself apart from Warren, who unveiled a plan last week to phase in “Medicare for all,” by saying that he would pursue legislation to enact the government-financed healthcare system in his first week of taking office, which is “what the American people want.”
WARREN AVOIDS GETTING BOXED IN ON INTRAPARTY ABORTION POLITICS: Is there room in the Democratic Party for politicians like John Bel Edwards, the governor of Louisiana who signed a six-week abortion ban in May and just won re-election in the deep-red state? Warren declined to say outright. “Protecting the right of a woman to be able to make decisions about her own body is fundamentally what we do and what we stand for as a Democratic Party,” she said. But then, when asked directly about Edwards in a follow-up, Warren declined to expressly read him out of the party.
This has been a tricky issue for Democrats in recent years. Sanders, for instance, caused a bit of a stir in 2017 when he campaigned unapologetically for an anti-abortion mayoral candidate in Omaha.
It was also relevant because Georgia is one of several states that has passed a “heartbeat bill” restricting abortion, which was recently blocked by a federal judge.
It’s worth noting that Edwards is not an outlier in Louisiana. The bill he signed was written by a Democrat and had Democratic support.
BIDEN VERSUS BOOKER ON MARIJUANA: Biden said recently that studies have yet to disprove the claim that marijuana is a gateway drug. Cory Booker got a ton of laughs by bringing up the comments and saying: “I thought you might have been high when you said it.”
“I think everyone — anyone who has a record should be let out of jail,” Biden said in defending himself. “Their records expunged… But I do think it makes sense based on data that we should study what the long-term effects are for the use of marijuana.”
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.
HEALTHCARE.GOV SIGN-UP RATES ARE DOWN FROM LAST YEAR: It’s week three of open enrollment and the number of signups so far this year, 737,392, is a 1% decrease from last year, and the number of people renewing their plans is 3% lower than week three last year.
HOUSE JUDICIARY ADVANCES BILL TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA: The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule 1 drugs (a list that includes heroin and cocaine). The bill would also incentivize states to take measures to expunge the records of criminals convicted of low-level marijuana offenses.
MYSTERIOUS ANTI-PHARMA GROUP REVEALED: Citizens for Truth in Drug Pricing, the group that has spent $1 million in radio ads bashing big pharma and calling for drug pricing reform legislation, is a joint creation of a former executive at the American Hospitals Association and a former consultant for CVS Health, according to Stat. A 2018 tax filing showed that the group had ties to the hospital lobby, CVS, and Republican operatives, many of whom had ties to President Trump. CVS Health said it has been funding campaigns to “help counter the hundreds of millions of dollars the pharmaceutical industry has spent running a misinformation campaign on the root cause of skyrocketing drug prices,” but said the company has no ties to Citizens for Truth in Drug Pricing.
BIZ GROUPS WANT HEALTHCARE TAXES NIXED: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the National Association of Manufacturers called on Congress to repeal the Health Insurance Tax, the Medical Device Tax, and the “Cadillac tax” on generous employer-sponsored health plans, all included in Obamacare. Katie Mahoney, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Health Policy said, “These taxes threaten to erode comprehensive benefit coverage, eliminate tens of thousands of jobs and unnecessarily increase insurance premiums, and it is critical that Congress again enact legislation that repeals or at the very least extensively suspends them.
CRENSHAW AND WALDEN TALK PELOSI DRUG PRICING BILL PITFALLS: Republicans Dan Crenshaw and Greg Walden say in a new GOP Energy & Commerce explainer video that Pelosi’s drug pricing bill is less negotiation and more price-setting. The plan, they say, most negatively affects the small companies that make new, innovative drugs and will often sell the rights to the drugs to big pharma companies so they can be patented and hit the market. But with Pelosi’s tax plan, Walden said, big pharma would lose the incentive to buy up the new drug formulations from smaller companies for fear of not getting a return on their investment if the drug doesn’t sell. Whether the drug is a success or not, big pharma companies still having to pay a hefty tax.
The Rundown
The Wall Street Journal Massachusetts lawmakers pass bill to ban flavored tobacco, menthol cigarettes
The Hill Tennessee becomes first state to ask permission for Medicaid block grants
WBUR Why some Boston doctors are taking up immigration advocacy
Stat Measles immunity passed from mother to baby may erode quicker than believed, study says
Bloomberg Businessweek Mental health coverage continues to fall short, study shows
Kaiser Health News No safety switch: how lax oversight of electronic health records puts patients at risk
Calendar
THURSDAY | Nov. 21
8:30 a.m. Senate Russell 325. Committee for a Responsible Budget discussion on lowering healthcare costs featuring Senators Grassley, Wyden, and Hassan. Details.
3 p.m. 6001 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, Maryland. NIMH Speaker Series: “Neural Decoding and Control of Multiscale Brain Networks to Treat Mood Disorders and Beyond.” Details.
FRIDAY | Nov. 22
House not in session.
