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WHILE TRUMP WAVERS, STATES AND CITIES ARE CRACKING DOWN ON VAPING: President Trump is set to talk vaping this afternoon at the White House. Earlier this month, he reportedly backed off plans to impose a ban on flavored e-cigarettes out of fear that it could hurt him in next year’s election.
In the meantime, as the outbreak of vaping illness has worsened — the number of lung injuries linked to vaping has reached 2,290 and 47 people have died — states and cities have moved ahead with bans or restrictions of their own.
On Thursday, the New York City Council agreed to outlaw all flavored vaping products, with 30 council members of 51 cosponsoring the ban. It’s the most populous jurisdiction to do so yet: The ban would affect the 8.2 million residents of the five boroughs.
The city has already outlawed sales of flavored tobacco products but allows sales of mint and menthol-flavored e-cigarettes. The city council will vote on Tuesday, and if it passes, will go to Mayor Bill de Blasio to sign. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a state-wide flavor ban in September, but a judge issued a temporary injunction in October.
Massachusetts is also moving toward a ban: The Massachusetts state Senate and House this week passed a bill to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes, as well as to place a 75% tax on all non-flavored e-cigarette sales Wednesday, although Republican Charlie Baker has yet to sign the bill. No word yet on whether he plans to approve the ban, but Baker signed an emergency four-month ban in September that includes flavored as well as non-flavored vaping products.
If Baker signs the bill, flavored vaping products would be banned immediately, but flavored tobacco products like menthol cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco could be sold legally until June 2020.
California has seen several restrictions: Even though California has not enacted a state-wide vaping flavor ban, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in September allocating about $20 million to an anti-vaping awareness campaign and requiring vaping product retailers to display written warnings about vaping in their stores. San Francisco was the first city to pass a ban on selling every form of e-cigarettes and vaping products, in June. By the way, e-cigarette giant Juul is based in San Francisco.
MICHIGAN: Governor Gretchen Whitmer was the first state official to sign a vaping ban, but a judge in Michigan’s Court of Claims blocked the September legislation, which would have lasted 180 days. When the ban was blocked in October, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the state would appeal: “We are resolute in our efforts on behalf of Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services to protect the health of Michigan’s children.”
WASHINGTON: The Washington State Board of Health issued an emergency ban on sales of all vaping and e-cigarette products, including any products used specifically to create vaping liquids at home. The rule went into effect in October and will last 120 days. Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, then issued an executive order calling on the Board of Health to ban not only flavored vaping produces, but also those containing THC, as mounting evidence shows the psychoactive chemical could be the cause of over 2,200 lunch injuries.
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.
OBAMACARE MARKET IS SHOWING NEWFOUND STABILITY — AMERICAN ACTION FORUM: In Obamacare’s seventh year, individual market health insurance exchange appears to be experiencing of stability, the American Action Forum finds in a new analysis. In previous years, insurers found it difficult to set premiums because of several issues: uncertainty of the overall health and size of the enrollment pool, the shifting regulatory burden, and the disappearance of promised reimbursement to insurers in the form of cost-sharing reduction payments. Now, 2020 premiums are fluctuating at more marginal rates thanks to a less volatile marketplace.
DEMOCRATS CALL ON AZAR AND VERMA TO FIX HEALTHCARE.GOV: The number of people who signed up for healthcare on Healthcare.gov in the first week was expected to be about 275,000, while the first three days of enrollment last year saw 371,676 sign-ups. The shortfall was most likely due to technical errors on Healthcare.gov, so Senate Democrats including Patty Murray and Ron Wyden, and Reps. Frank Pallone and Richard Neal called on Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma to fix the site. Democrats have given HHS and CMS until Dec. 2 to make improvements.
PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR VETOES BILL OUTLAWING ABORTIONS FOR BABIES WITH DOWN SYNDROME: Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Tom Wolf vetoed a bill Thursday that would have prohibited abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Wolf’s message on the veto: “Physicians and their patients must be able to make choices about medical procedures based on best practices and standards of care.” Opponents, including Planned Parenthood said it violated a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions, while supporters said it protected a vulnerable population: people with disabilities.
BRITAIN’S NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE IS THE TOP ISSUE IN THE BREXIT VOTE: The fate of the National Health Service will be the top issue in the Dec. 12 general elections in the United Kingdom called by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to determine the fate of Brexit.
“Health care has overtaken Brexit as the most important issue on voters’ minds, according to a campaign tracker from polling service Ipsos MORI,” Bloomberg’s John Lauerman reports.
Note: “Britons collectively shuddered when U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this year that the agency would be “on the table” in trade negotiations after the U.K.’s departure from the EU.”
The Rundown
The Wall Street Journal New York City sees decline in number of new HIV cases
Reuters Bankrupt Insys reaches deal to divvy cash among opioid victims
The Baltimore Sun Tuerk House in West Baltimore marks tenfold increase in inpatient opioid treatment services
Politico Trump pledge to forgive disabled veterans’ student loans delayed — at Education Department
The Philadelphia Inquirer Hahnemann closure puts $51 million in Medicaid funds in play. Will the money stay in Philly?
Stat As FDA toils over how to regulate CBD, frustration builds on all sides
Calendar
FRIDAY | Nov. 22
House not in session.
Senate not in session.
