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White House formally announces its plan to overhaul family planning fund. The Trump administration filed a proposal to cut off funds to medical facilities that also perform abortions and remove a requirement that doctors refer patients to abortion doctors when they seek them. The proposal announced Tuesday also would cut off funding to facilities where doctors or nurses refer patients to abortions for the purpose of family planning, rather than in cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s pregnancy endangers her life. Critics, including Planned Parenthood, call that provision a “gag rule.” The Trump administration is taking direct aim at Planned Parenthood through its proposal, though it also would affect other clinics and programs. The administration has defended its position by saying that funds should be diverted to community health centers. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the president for the rule and urged opponents to submit public comments to express their disapproval. “Restricting which doctors and healthcare providers can get these vital funds will prevent far too many women from getting the medical care that they deserve, all so that Republicans can continue their war against Planned Parenthood and women’s reproductive rights,” the New York Democrat said.

Trump administration adds proposal to involve more parents in minors’ abortion, birth control choices. The proposal on Title X funding also would require certain clinics to “encourage” minors to receive parent consent when they are seeking abortions or birth control. The proposal may clash with state laws, which vary by age or type of reproductive healthcare, whether it be treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, maternity care, or abortion.

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Trump touts anti-abortion achievements, slams Senate Democrats at Susan B. Anthony List dinner. President Trump promised to help elect pro-life Republicans and further roll back legal abortion protections during a speech Tuesday night at the Susan B. Anthony List’s Campaign for Life gala, an appearance that was as much a nod to his evangelical supporters as it was a campaign rally in a competitive midterm year. “For the first time since Roe v. Wade, America has a pro-life president a pro-life vice president, a pro-life House of Representatives, and 25 pro-life state capitals,” Trump said at the antiabortion event in Washington, urging the crowd to keep Republicans in power. The president took a series of shots at Senate Democrats, who have successfully blocked legislation that would ban women from receiving abortions after the second trimester, and who have routinely offered little to no support for his conservative judicial nominees. The extended applause Trump received at the event served as a testament to the stunning relationships he’s developed with groups that once implored voters to choose anyone but him, including the Susan B. Anthony List, which warned Republicans ahead of the 2016 Iowa caucuses that “Mr. Trump cannot be trusted.”

Committee advances pandemics bill as Ebola re-emerges. A key Senate committee today advanced a law that helps the U.S. prevent and respond to pandemics, just as deaths from Ebola are seeing a resurgence overseas. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only senator on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee who did not support the measure, a reauthorization of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act, or PAHPA. If passed on the Senate floor, it would  be the third reauthorization for the bill, which will otherwise expire by September.

Walden predicts opioid bills coming to House by middle of June. The House likely will take up 57 bills to combat the opioid crisis by the middle of June, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Tuesday. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said work is being done to prepare the 57 bills for the House floor. The panel advanced the legislation out of committee during a marathon markup session last week. “I think it will probably be up to the [majority] leader to announce when this is all going to happen,” he said. Walden initially wanted the bills to be taken up before the House’s week-long Memorial Day recess. It is not known how the bills would fare in the Senate, where committees are working on their own response to the opioid crisis.

House passes bill to let terminally ill patients try experimental treatments. The House passed legislation on Tuesday that would give terminally ill patients the right to try experimental treatments, sending a major White House priority to Trump’s desk after several false starts. The bill, which passed 250-169 and has been a priority for conservative think tanks and outside groups, now goes to Trump, who has indicated he will sign it. Trump famously made a push for the bill, known as “right to try,” during his first State of the Union address in January. The bill is identical to a version that passed the Senate in August and sponsored by Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind. The legislation would create a new pathway for terminally ill patients to try an experimental treatment.

House also passes Childhood Cancer STAR Act unanimously. The House passed a less contentious health bill unanimously through a voice vote on Tuesday: the Childhood Cancer STAR Act. The bill aims to advance research on treatments for pediatric cancer. It also would require the National Cancer Advisory Board to have at least one pediatric oncology expert on the board and boost surveillance of pediatric cancer. “This bill will bolster research efforts, while also providing heightened resources for those battling a form of pediatric cancer, as well as those who are now in remission,” said Reps. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, and Greg Walden, R-Ore. Walden is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Burgess heads the panel’s health subcommittee. The bill now heads to President Trump’s desk.

Gottlieb concerned companies will abandon making cheaper drugs. The head of the Food and Drug Administration lamented Wednesday that drug companies may abandon making cheaper versions of high-cost specialty drugs because the market is too hard to penetrate. Scott Gottlieb said during an event sponsored by the Atlantic that it is hard for drugs called biosimilars to get covered by drug plans and insurers. A biosimilar is a drug that is similar to a tissue-based drug called a biologic but is usually cheaper. “Because the market is hard for a biosimilar to penetrate, I worry that companies are going to pull out and not develop new biosimilars,” he said. The FDA has approved 10 biosimilars since a 2010 law created a new regulatory pathway. But Gottlieb noted that only a few of them have actually made it to the market and the rebate system makes it harder for insurers to cover the drugs.

Gottlieb also lays out ‘toxicity roadmap’ for faster drug approvals. Gottlieb admitted during the event that the name “toxicity roadmap” was pretty wonky, but he was excited nonetheless. The toxicity roadmap refers to an effort to introduce new technology into the drug approval process. Gottlieb signaled a possible shift away from requiring animal studies for new drugs. “We’re looking at using things like cellular assays and lab on a chip to look at signs of toxicology where previously we did animal models,” he said.

FDA cracks down on dietary pills claiming to mimic sunscreen. Dietary companies are breaking the law by selling pills that falsely claim to protect people from the sun’s harmful rays, prompting the Food and Drug Administration to issue a slew of warning letters. The letters have gone out to Advanced Skin Brightening Formula, Sunsafe Rx, Solaricare, and Sunergetic. The FDA says the companies’ description of the pills are giving people a false sense of security, because they don’t protect people against skin cancer, sunburn, or early aging caused by the sun, as they claim on their labels and packaging.

Michigan’s Dan Kildee blasts Scott Pruitt for refusing to release study on dangerous chemicals. Michigan Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee on Tuesday rejected a contention by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt that his agency can’t release a study on the dangers of chemicals in the water supply. Kildee, in a May 14 letter, demanded the EPA and Department of Health and Human Services release a federal study that found a class of chemicals called PFAS that have contaminated water supplies are harmful to human health at lower levels than the EPA previously deemed safe.

HHS says it will release chemical study soon. HHS plans to release the chemical study soon, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday night. “As part of the peer review process, our scientific peers at EPA and other federal agencies provide expertise on all toxicological profiles, including this profile. This document has been through the normal review process, leading to a number of revisions, resulting in multiple rounds of peer review and public comment. We do not have a release date identified for the next public comment period, but additional comments received on this draft will be incorporated into the final PFAS Toxicological Profile,” said Bernadette Burden. Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner implored HHS Secretary Alex Azar Tuesday to release the study.

Anthem to acquire former Senate majority leader’s palliative care company. Health insurer Anthem on Wednesday announced it would acquire palliative care provider Aspire Health, a company founded by former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Anthem did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition, but the company said it expects the transaction to close in the third quarter.

Fentanyl seizures at U.S.-Mexico border up 750 percent. Fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border have jumped 750 percent in the first seven months of fiscal 2018 from the same period a year earlier, according to a Department of Homeland Security representative.

Vote expected on maternal mortality bill June 20. Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he hoped a bill aimed at reducing maternal mortality could receive a vote June 20, among other legislation the committee is considering. He noted that Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, had urged him to advance the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. The Senate bill, the Maternal Health Accountability Act, would allow the federal government to support the creation of maternal mortality review committees in states, which study maternal deaths and make recommendations about how they can be prevented.

RUNDOWN

Politico Trump spending cuts allowed to target kids’ health insurance

Washington Post After long decline, death rates from prostate cancer stop falling

Kaiser Health News Drug makers blamed for blocking generics have jacked up prices and cost U.S. billions

Associated Press In the addiction battle, is forced rehab the solution?

STAT News FDA plans to speed up path to approval for some gene therapies, starting with hemophilia

NPR California’s message to hospitals: Shape up or lose ‘in-network’ status