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TRUMP DRUG IMPORTATION PLAN SCRAPES IN AHEAD OF 2020: The Trump administration’s drug importation plan, released on Impeachment Day, will prove useful to President Trump’s reelection efforts.
A new poll from PBS, which is co-hosting the Democratic debate on Thursday, found 68% of voters say that prescription drug legislation is the most important consideration for lawmakers, compared with only 25% of voters who said impeachment was the priority.
The Trump plan to let states import prescription drugs from Canada, released less than one week after House Democrats passed their own prescription drug bill, would permit states to draw up plans about how they would import prescriptions from Canada, a country that heavily regulates prices, so that patients in America can take advantage of lower costs.
The plan won’t be in effect for a while — it needs to go through the regulatory process before states set up programs and will likely face litigation — but the rollout now allows Trump to run on it.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Tuesday that the administration does not know when they will begin considering states’ proposals, but said they are working as quickly as federal regulations will allow.
“I can only assure you that President Trump is fervently committed to bringing down drug prices, fervently committed to the importation of safe drugs from Canada, ending foreign free-riding,” he said.
Administrative moves are key for Trump politically right now given that other White House ideas to lower drug prices were either abandoned or held up in court, and that Congress has been unable to arrive at an agreement on the issue. Instead, they’ve punted the issue into 2020, but there’s no guarantee that a bill would pass only months before the presidential election. While the CREATES Act, included in the spending bill, will allow generics to come to market sooner, it hardly fits the rhetoric of massively overhauling prescription drug prices in the way lawmakers have promised.
And Trump needs a counter-narrative to Democrats. The House passed its bill with unanimous support from Democrats, even picking up two Republicans, and lawmakers plan to make the issue central to their campaigns. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office was quick to respond to the importation announcement on Wednesday, saying Trump should instead urge the Senate to pass the House bill.
“Once again, the Trump White House is tip-toeing around Big Pharma with a spectacularly pinched and convoluted proposal that excludes insulin and has no actual implementation date,” said Henry Connelly, a Pelosi spokesperson.
Meanwhile, over in the Senate the future of the bipartisan bill advanced out of the Finance Committee and backed by the White House remains murky.
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.
TEENAGE MARIJUANA VAPING DOUBLED IN JUST TWO YEARS: That’s the biggest takeaway from the government’s “Monitoring the Future” survey. It finds that teen marijuana use has remained pretty steady, but that inhaling the drug through vaping has become more common. The finding comes as public health officials are trying to get ahead of a deadly lung illness tied to vaping THC, the high-inducing chemical in marijuana, and as teens are using fewer substances overall, from alcohol to prescription painkillers and regular cigarettes. Officials are concerned about the pattern because they say vaping the drug means it contains a higher concentration of THC, which increases teens’ chances of getting hooked.
BIDEN RECEIVING TREATMENT FOR A HEART CONDITION BUT HIS DOCTOR SAID HE’S ‘HEALTHY, VIGOROUS’: Joe Biden’s doctor released a report about the presidential candidate’s health, showing Biden is currently being treated for an irregular heart rate that affects blood flow, called AFib. Nevertheless, “Vice President Biden is a healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State, and Commander in Chief,” said his doctor, Kevin O’Connor.
FDA GIVES TOBACCO COMPANY THE GREEN LIGHT TO MARKET REDUCED-NICOTINE CIGARETTES: The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday it will allow tobacco company 22nd Century Group Inc. to market two cigarettes with reduced nicotine content. While the FDA approved the company’s application to legally market the products in the U.S., the agency does not say the cigarettes are safe alternatives to regular cigarettes. The company demonstrated to the FDA that the cigarettes provide a public health benefit in that people using them may be less likely to develop an addiction to nicotine.
BILL TO WATCH: NEW YORK CONSIDERS COPYING CALIFORNIA WITH ABORTION PILL PROPOSAL: The New York state legislature is considering a bill to mandate that all state universities provide abortion drugs for students at campus health centers, funded by taxpayer money and private sources. The California legislature passed a similar bill in October, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, but it raised only private funds to pay for setting up the program.
GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE ADVOCATES AIR TRUMP ATTACK AD BEFORE HIS RALLY: The Committee to Protect Medicare, a group of advocates for government healthcare aired a digital ad Tuesday, the day before Trump’s Michigan rally Wednesday, attacking his “attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act” and “move to cut Medicare.”
“This isn’t about politics anymore. It’s about saving lives,” doctors say in the ad. Healthcare providers will host a press conference before the Michigan rally Wednesday to talk more about Trump’s “harmful healthcare policy agenda.”
MANAFORT RECOVERING FROM A HEART ATTACK: Trump 2016 campaign manager and convicted fraudster Paul Manafort had a heart attack last week and has been recovering in a Pennsylvania hospital since last Thursday under the watch of correctional officers, according to ABC News.
The Rundown
The Boston Globe As labor crunch tightens, employers offer more flexibility to those serving as family caregivers
Politico Democrats say HHS stonewalling probe into Verma’s PR contracts
The Associated Press Most US opioid overdose deaths accidental, 4% are suicide
Los Angeles Times California leads the country in meth and fentanyl border seizures by CBP
Kaiser Health News Listen: The cost Of PrEP, the HIV prevention pill
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | Dec. 18
Congress in session.
Deadline for healthcare.gov open enrollment.
THURSDAY | Dec. 19
8 p.m. Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Sixth Democratic debate, hosted with PBS NewsHour and Politico.
FRIDAY | Dec. 20
Deadline for spending bill.
