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Azar vows to go beyond administration blueprint if drug prices don’t go down. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that drug prices are still too high for patients, and that the administration would go beyond the policies it has laid out in its blueprint if the trend didn’t reverse. He said the administration was open to working with both Democrats and Republicans, as long as the policies “preserve drug safety and keep the patient at the center.”  “Some manufacturers are still in denial about whether bringing down list prices is even an important goal,” Azar said at an event Tuesday by the Council for Affordable Health Coverage. “They claim that these skyrocketing prices don’t matter. But these prices do matter to patients, in a number of important ways.” Azar pointed out that while drug prices had risen in the new year, drug companies took 57 percent fewer price increases on brand drugs compared with the same period in 2017. He said some companies had cut the list price on certain drugs, and that early data suggested that the 2019 price increases were smaller and fewer in number than in 2018.

Welcome to Philip Klein’s Daily on Healthcare, compiled by Washington Examiner Executive Editor Philip Klein (@philipaklein) and Senior Healthcare Writer Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL).  Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list.

Editor’s note: Daily on Healthcare will not publish Jan. 16-18. We will resume our newsletter Jan. 21.

Federal judge freezes Trump’s religious and moral exemptions to Obamacare contraception mandate. A Pennsylvania district court judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration’s exemptions from the federal birth control rules from taking effect across the U.S., less than 24 hours after a similar hold was placed in 13 states and the District of Columbia. The revised rules, which allow employers to opt out of a requirement that they offer health insurance that covers birth control at no cost to their employees, had been in effect in the rest of the U.S. for less than a day before the ruling was handed down. On Sunday, a California judge blocked them from going into effect in D.C. and 13 states. The mandate requires that employers must contract with a health insurer that covers the range of options that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, from the pill to intrauterine devices to emergency contraception. The Trump rules allow employers to object to providing contraception for religious or moral reasons. The decision to block the exemptions was issued Monday afternoon by Judge Wendy Beetlestone, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.

House Democrats open wide-reaching investigation into Big Pharma. House Democrats are quickly intensifying oversight of the pharmaceutical industry, opening what may be one of the most significant investigations into prescription drug pricing in decades. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings of Maryland sent letters to 12 drugmakers requesting detailed information and documentation on “price increases, investments in research and development, and corporate strategies to preserve market share and pricing power,” according to a statement. “For years, drug companies have been aggressively increasing prices on existing drugs and setting higher launch prices for new drugs while recording windfall profits,” Cummings wrote. “The goals of this investigation are to determine why drug companies are increasing prices so dramatically, how drug companies are using the proceeds, and what steps can be taken to reduce prescription drug prices. The panel is focusing its initial efforts on medications that were the costliest for Medicare Part D, as well as those with the most significant price hikes during the past five years. Among the companies that received requests for information are AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Eli Lilly & Co. The oversight committee is slated to hold its first hearing on the issue on Jan. 29.

35 GOP senators support ending government funding of abortion. Thirty-five GOP senators have signed onto two bills to restrict abortion coverage. The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act would ban all government funding on abortion, and the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act would tighten rules about how insurance companies can bill for abortions under Obamacare. The healthcare law does not contain the same anti-abortion language as most spending bills, and is instead held together with an executive order Obama had signed reiterating that federal funds aren’t to go toward abortions. States have the option to block exchanges from covering abortions, but a handful have mandated that all plans must include coverage for abortion. The bills introduced Monday would end the practice, including in D.C., except in the cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s pregnancy is life threatening. The second bill would mandate that insurance companies on the Obamacare exchange be more clear about whether their plans cover abortions. By law health insurance companies on the exchange are supposed to offer a plan that doesn’t cover abortions, but government investigations have suggested this rule isn’t being followed.

March for Life finds anti-abortion Dems scarce. Congress has only a handful of Democrats who oppose abortion, but one of them will join two Republicans in headlining this year’s March for Life rally in the nation’s capital, underscoring anti-abortion activists’ craving for bipartisan support. The activists face a difficult mission, because the number of anti-abortion Democrats in Congress is not just small but also shrinking. Lawmakers such as Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, the Democrat set to speak at the march on Jan. 18 alongside Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., face rejection from members of their own party. While Lipinski is embraced by anti-abortion activists, other lawmakers face skepticism from activists who see electing Republicans as the safer route to enacting legislation.

Mike Pence to address March for Life dinner. Vice President Mike Pence will make a more low-key appearance at the annual March for Life Friday, speaking at a dinner rather than at the larger rally held on the National Mall in protest of abortion. “Throughout his extensive career, Vice President Pence has remained exemplary in his commitment to protecting the sanctity of unborn life and it is our utmost privilege to have a pro-life champion of his stature address this year’s Rose Dinner,” Jeanne Mancini, President of March for Life, said in a statement. Pence addressed the March for Life in 2017, shortly after he and President Trump were sworn into office. The following year, Trump became the first sitting president to address the rally through a live video address.

Poll shows Americans’ views of healthcare system depend on whether their party is in power. At first glance, the new Gallup data showing that 70 percent of Americans view the U.S. healthcare system as having “major problems” or being in a “state of crisis” suggests a remarkable amount of stability on the question. With all the changes that have taken place in healthcare since 2002 — most notably, the introduction of the prescription drug benefit to Medicare and Obamacare — the number of Americans seeing at least major problems with the healthcare system has been relatively constant. It’s reached as low as 65 percent during that time and as high as 73 percent, but always basically within the range of seven in 10 people. However, looking at the partisan breakdown of the numbers shows that there’s been a lot more movement — it’s just that Democrats tend to think of the healthcare system as being in shambles when Republican presidents are in charge, and Republicans see it as being in a terrible state when there’s a Democratic president.

CVS-Aetna to fund $100 million for health screenings and volunteering to aid healthfulness. CVS Health and Aetna are launching $100 million program to help neighborhoods improve the health of their residents, the latest roll-out for a venture that is expected to change the way medical care is delivered. The initiative, called the Building Healthier Communities, will take place over five years and will use partnerships with local and national nonprofits. The companies are going to provide free health screenings, have their workers volunteer, and invest in what are known as “social determinants of health,” meaning educational and work opportunities, safer homes, access to healthy food, and other aspects of life that factor into health.

Higher Medicare enrollment underpins profit growth at UnitedHealth. A bustling Medicare business, coupled with smaller improvements in its employer and individual insurance units, helped drive double-digit profit growth at UnitedHealth Group.

Veterans Affairs spars with union over claim that the shutdown will kill veterans. The heads of the Department of Veterans Affairs and a top federal government workers’ union sparred Monday over the shutdown’s impact on veterans. The administration said that a union official’s claim that the shutdown would lead to more veteran suicides was out of line, but the union refused to a apologize. “I was surprised and disappointed to see one of the American Federation of Government Employees’ presidents pushing the ‘Veteran as victim’ myth, and going so far as to exploit the real tragedy of Veteran suicide to make political arguments about the partial government shutdown,” VA chief Robert Wilkie said in a letter Monday to AFGE President J. David Cox. Wilkie was referring to a comment by Edward Canales, president of AFGE local 3584 in Dublin, Calif., to ABC on Wednesday. “If this shutdown does not stop, we are going to have fatalities,” he said. “We’re going to have suicides.” The agency head called the notion that veterans can be easily pushed to the brink of mental breakdown or even suicide “a shopworn canard” that it was continually fighting because it did a disservice to veterans.

Hemp tries to get over the hump. Three years ago, an American Indian tribe in Wisconsin watched in horror as their “industrial hemp” crop was bulldozed after a federal agent swabbed a plant and alleged it was marijuana. The field test was incapable of determining if the plants were marijuana or quasi-legal hemp, and experts are bracing for more confusion with the new national legalization of hemp farming after nearly five decades of prohibition. Hemp is a nonintoxicating form of cannabis used for rope, clothing, and food. It was legalized with last month’s farm bill, but questions remain about enforcing a 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, limit that legally distinguishes hemp from marijuana. Read more.

California governor urges Obamacare signups as open enrollment comes to a close. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday helped Covered California promote its Obamacare open enrollment deadline, which comes to a final close at midnight tonight. People who signed up in recent weeks will have coverage that begins Feb. 1. “Covered California is the only place you can go to see if you qualify for financial help that can take hundreds of dollars off the price of your insurance premium,” Newsom said. “An estimated 1.1 million Californians are eligible for quality health care coverage, either through Covered California or Medi-Cal, so do not miss this chance to get coverage that will protect you and your family.”

Rand Paul headed to Canada for outpatient hernia surgery. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is traveling to Canada later this month for hernia surgery. The operation, Paul says, is physical fallout related from an injury incurred in 2017 when his neighbor attacked him while he was mowing his lawn. The attacker, Rene Boucher, broke six of Paul’s ribs and bruised his lung. The outpatient surgery is scheduled for the week of Jan. 21 at Shouldice Hernia Hospital in Thornhill, Ontario, the Courier Journal reported. Kelsey Cooper, a spokeswoman for Paul, pushed back on reports that Paul was benefiting Canada’s government healthcare system, one that he opposes for the U.S. “This is more fake news on a story that has been terribly reported from day one — this is a private, world-renowned hospital separate from any system and people come from around the world to pay cash for their services,” Cooper said.

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal Walmart expected to leave CVS Caremark pharmacy networks amid dispute

STAT If the shutdown drags on at FDA, it will put anticipated new treatments in jeopardy

Propublica Nation’s largest mental health organization urges supported housing reforms

The Associated Press Mississippi could see push-pull on Medicaid expansion

CNN Nebraska officials clear doctor being monitored for Ebola

Argus Leader U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on whether to release food stamp data to Argus Leader