SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-healthcare/

Verma: Cheaper plans won’t wreck Obamacare exchanges. The head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Tuesday that the expansion of cheaper, short-term plans wouldn’t lead to higher premiums on Obamacare exchanges. CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the agency is assessing the impact that the expansion could have on Obamacare premiums. But she disagreed with warnings from numerous experts that the cheaper plans would cause prices on Obamacare’s insurance exchanges to surge. “Actuarial studies show that impact will not be that high,” Verma said at a Washington Post event. The administration is evaluating a proposed regulation to expand short-term plans from 90 days to nearly 12 months. A short-term plan does not have to abide by Obamacare’s quality requirements, which include covering essential health benefits and preventing insurers from charging sick people higher premiums. Since the plans don’t have to meet Obamacare’s rules, they are often cheaper. Experts say the plans would lead to higher premiums on Obamacare’s exchanges because younger and healthier people will flee Obamacare and sign up for the short-term plans.

FDA to call out drug companies gaming the system. The Food and Drug Administration will publish on a new website the names of companies that block generic competition, a move that officials say are keeping some drug prices high. The agency’s move is part of a larger effort to clamp down on brand name drug companies from denying generic makers samples that are needed to make a cheaper copy. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb detailed the website at a briefing Tuesday sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform.

Welcome to Philip Klein’s Daily on Healthcare, compiled by Washington Examiner Managing Editor Philip Klein (@philipaklein), Senior Healthcare Writer Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and Healthcare Reporter Robert King (@rking_19).  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.

Alexander says 340B drug program needs better oversight. The 340B Drug Discount Program for hospitals needs better oversight, Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee said in a hearing this morning. The program requires drugmakers to provide discounts to eligible hospitals, including teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals, facilities that provide charity care, and those that serve rural areas. “There is a lack of agreement on how much of the savings hospitals and clinics receive from discounted drug prices are used to reduce the price of drugs and treatments for patients – and how much is spent on other activities,” Alexander said. “It very well may be that hospitals and clinics are using the savings to benefit low-income patients as intended. But it is hard to know that until we have more information.”

Trump to keynote prominent anti-abortion gala. President Trump will keynote the Susan B. Anthony List’s annual “Campaign for Life,” according to the White House. The event is scheduled for May 22 at the National Building Museum in Washington. Last year, Vice President Mike Pence and senior counselor Kellyanne Conway both spoke at the event. Raj Shah, White House principal deputy press secretary, said Trump would “discuss the many actions he has taken to protect the lives of the unborn and defend religious liberty.” Conway is set to receive a distinguished leader award, and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., is also scheduled to give remarks. “President Donald Trump is governing as the most pro-life president in our nation’s history,” SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said.

Democrats call for maternal mortality hearing. Top Democrats are requesting a House hearing on the growing number of U.S. women dying during pregnancy or following childbirth. In a letter sent to Republican leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee on Monday, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the committee, and Rep. Gene Green of Texas, the top Democrat on the health subcommittee, asked for a public hearing that would focus on rising death rates and discuss possible solutions. “As the committee with broad jurisdiction over public health and women’s health issues, we have a responsibility to understand why more women die from pregnancy-related complications in the United States than in any other developed country and what we should be doing to combat this crisis,” Pallone and Green wrote. A House GOP aide said the health subcommittee will hold a hearing on the issue after the committee finishes its work on legislation to combat the opioid crisis.

Democrats warn Trump administration against abortion ‘gag rule.’ More than 200 Democrats in Congress are urging the Trump administration against implementing rules that would prohibit certain medical providers from talking to patients about abortion. Democrats are responding to several news reports indicating that the Trump administration is considering blocking doctors and nurses from talking to patients about abortion if they work at facilities receiving federal funding under Title X, a grant program for family planning. Democrats object to the “gag rule,” they told Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in letters sent from the House and Senate. The “gag rule,” Democrats said, was intended to block federal funding from going to Planned Parenthood, helping to fulfill a campaign promise by President Trump.

Experimental Ebola vaccine heads to Congo as death toll reaches 19. The death toll from Ebola rose to 19 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as officials plan to test an experimental vaccine there that they hope will stave off more infections. The World Health Organization has recorded 39 suspected cases of Ebola during the past five weeks, and healthcare workers are screening 400 more people who they believe may have been in contact with people who are infected. The Ebola virus spreads when people have direct contact with someone exhibiting signs of the virus, including diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding. Three healthcare workers were counted among the dead. The experimental vaccine, manufactured by Merck, is set to be administered sometime between the end of this week or early next week, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general. “The vaccine is safe and efficacious and has already been tested,” he said.

Market, not government, is changing the drinks we make, says Susan Neely. Soda companies have some of the most recognizable brands in the world, and are often under fire by public health groups who point to drinking too much of the beverage as a contributing factor to the obesity and diabetes epidemics in the U.S. The companies that make sodas, with tea and juice, say they have already made major changes that they hope will help customers make better choices, including providing more information to help them determine which drinks have less sugar and fewer calories. They have pushed back on efforts to tax soda and instead are advocating for healthier drinks in schools. They took that message to the Obama administration, and say they hope similar opportunities will exist with the Trump administration. Overseeing many of these efforts is Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association. The trade group has helped set a 10-year agreement among competitors Coke, Dr. Pepper and Pepsi to reduce guide consumers to lower-calorie options, selling drinks in smaller sizes, and putting more no- or low-calorie drinks on the market. See the interview.

Trump visits Melania in hospital after kidney surgery. President Trump visited first lady Melania Trump at the hospital on Monday following her surgery for a kidney condition and said Tuesday that she would be leaving the hospital in a few days. “Heading over to Walter Reed Medical Center to see our great First Lady, Melania. Successful procedure, she is in good spirits. Thank you to all of the well-wishers,” Trump tweeted. The first lady’s surgery Monday morning was for a “benign kidney condition.” The White House said the procedure was successful and did not result in any complications.

RUNDOWN

NBC News More evidence companies pay some doctors to prescribe opioids

Reuters U.S. joins whistleblower case against drug maker Insys over kickbacks

Politico Democrats run on GOP healthcare ‘sabotage’

The Hill Defending the ‘middlemen’ in the battle on high drug prices

Marketplace In the midst of a massive opioid crisis, hospitals are experience an opioid shortage

Axios Americans are paying more but getting less from healthcare

Kaiser Health News Lack of insurance exposes blind spots in vision care