Health Care — Congress closes in on COVID relief, insulin price cap

View Online    Health Care Health Care   Congress closes in on COVID relief, insulin price cap © iStock Welcome to Thursday's Overnight Health Care, where we're following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. Subscribe here.   It makes sense if you're from North Carolina: Country music star Eric Church canceled a concert scheduled for this Saturday so he can attend the University of North Carolina's Final Four basketball game against Duke.   Senators are closing in on a deal to provide the Biden administration with $10 billion in COVID-19 relief funding, less than half of what the White House initially asked for.  We'll look at the latest details as lawmakers work to finalize a deal.   For The Hill, we're Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Send us tips and feedback at psullivan@thehill.com, nweixel@thehill.com and jchoi@thehill.com.   Let's get started.  Senate finalizing $10 billion deal on coronavirus aid  © Bonnie Cash Senators are finalizing an agreement to provide $10 billion in new coronavirus aid as they race to try to pass a bill before a two-week break set to start in days.     Those involved in the deal signaled that they were close to a finalized agreement but said they were still ironing out legislative text, waiting for an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and haggling over final details.   Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been in talks with a group of Republican senators, said that they were "getting close to a final agreement that would garner bipartisan support."     "We are working diligently to finalize language, scoring, and a final agreement on what should be funded in the final COVID package, both domestic and international," he added.   In a sign of how close senators are to a final agreement, Schumer canceled a procedural vote on a bill that senators are using as a vehicle for a coronavirus aid deal, with the move being aimed at showing Republicans that he isn't trying to jam them.   Republicans were more bullish about the state of the negotiations.     Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who is involved in the negotiations, said that the group had reached a "deal in principle."    "We haven't got the final draft done, and it hasn't been scored by the CBO, but we've reached an agreement in principle on all the spending and all of the offsets," Romney said.    Read more here. House votes on bill to cap insulin price  © Greg Nash The House on Thursday was poised to vote on legislation to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month, a move that would significantly lower the price of the life-saving drug for more than 7 million diabetes patients.   The measure was authored by three House Democrats facing competitive reelection races this fall: Reps. Angie Craig (Minn.), Dan Kildee (Mich.) and Lucy McBath (Ga.).    Under the bill, Medicare beneficiaries would pay no more than $35 for each 30-day insulin prescription. Cost sharing for beneficiaries in private plans would be limited to the lesser of either $35, or 25 percent of the health plan's negotiated price for a 30-day prescription.    Political victories: The insulin cap was originally part of the sweeping health reforms in Democrats' Build Back Better legislation.     But Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) opposition to the legislation put the larger bill on ice, and Democrats carved out the insulin provision as a standalone vote as a way to get a tangible victory on an issue of major importance to Americans — even if the underlying issue of high drug costs wasn't being solved.     What's next: Across the Capitol, a bill from Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) would also implement an out-of-pocket cap on insulin at $35 per month.    But in an effort to gain Republican support, it may be combined with bipartisan legislation from Sens. Jean Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) that seeks to lower the underlying cost of insulin through a yet-to-be-defined process.    🎧 TUNE-IN TO RISING, now available as a podcast. It's politics, without the screaming. WHY IS INSULIN SO EXPENSIVE? Lawmakers in the House and Senate are zeroing in on legislation that would lower the price of insulin, reigniting questions over how the cost of this essential medicine was able to skyrocket in the U.S. and remain so high.   While drug companies often argue patients don't pay the list price for a drug, some patients do have to pay out-of-pocket for drugs until they meet their deductible. Price increases also impact people without insurance.    According to the most recent data from the Department of Health and Human Services, released in 2020, the U.S. pays "dramatically" higher prices for insulin compared to other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).    At that time, the U.S. paid $98.70 per standard unit of insulin, while other countries like Canada, Australia and the U.K. all spent less than $15 per unit.    Read more here.  VARIANTS MAY GIVE RISE TO DIFFERENT LONG-TERM SYMPTOMS: STUDY  A new European study published last week found that different variants of COVID-19 may result in different long COVID-19 symptoms.    The study, which will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Lisbon in April, found that the alpha variant of the coronavirus led to muscle aches and pain, insomnia, brain fog, anxiety and depression when compared to the original strain of the virus.    The research conducted by Michele Spinicci and colleagues at the University of Florence and Careggi University Hospital in Italy, suggested that people with more severe infections who required immunosuppressant drugs, such as tocilizumab, were six times as likely to report long COVID-19 symptoms, according to the release.    Researchers said they identified substantial change in the pattern of neurological, cognitive and emotional symptoms recorded by patients between March and December 2020, when compared to patients infected between January and April 2021.    Read more here.  Ivermectin does not reduce COVID hospitalizations: study © Getty Ivermectin, the anti-parasitic drug promoted by right wing pundits as a cure for COVID-19, officially does not work, newly published research shows.   A study published on Wednesday found the use of ivermectin to combat COVID-19 did not lead to reduced hospitalization.     In Brazil, 3,515 people participated in a study where a group received ivermectin, a group received a placebo and another group received a different form of treatment for COVID-19.    The study, posted in The New England Journal of Medicine, says the results concluded ivermectin does not lower the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization.    "Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid-19," the study states.   The study found in the intention-to-treatment population, 14.7 percent in the ivermectin group had to go to the hospital compared to 16.3 percent in the placebo group.    "The probability that the percentage of patients with a primary-outcome event was lower in the ivermectin group than in the placebo group did not meet the prespecified threshold for superiority in any of these three trial populations," according to the study.    Read more here  WHAT WE'RE READING Many teens report emotional and physical abuse by parents during lockdown (The New York Times) Despite doctors' concerns, pharmacists get more leeway to offer treatment with testing (Kaiser Health News)  COVID pandemic's end may bring turbulence for US health care (AP)  STATE BY STATE Mayors from Colorado's 2 largest cities call for changes to proposed fentanyl bill (CBS4) Minnesota bans poultry sales, exhibitions for 31 days due to H5N1 outbreak (KSTP)  Tennessee offers to expand dental schools as Medicaid coverage stretches need (Kaiser Health News/ Nashville Public Radio)  OP-EDS IN THE HILL Politics undermined essential lessons and solutions during the pandemic  Don't end the mask mandate for US airlines  Red states rush to restrict abortion rights  That's it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill's health care page for the latest news and coverage. See you Friday. Sign up for Health Care Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe Sign Up for Other Newsletters 1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 © 1998 - 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

Hillicon Valley — Amazon's Alabama union results too close to call

View Online    Hillicon Valley Hillicon Valley   Amazon's Alabama union results too close to call © Getty Today is Thursday. Welcome to Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Subscribe here.   The results of the union election at Amazon's Bessemer, Ala., facility were too close to call after an hours-long vote counting session — and may not be known for several weeks.   Meanwhile, a new report from Google found Russian-backed hackers tried to get inside the networks of NATO, U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations and the militaries of several eastern European countries.   Send tips and feedback to The Hill's tech team, Rebecca Klar (rklar@thehill.com) and Chris Mills Rodrigo (cmillsrodrigo@thehill.com), and cyber reporter Ines Kagubare (ikagubare@thehill.com).   Let's get to it. Too close to call  © Getty The results of the union election at Amazon's Bessemer, Ala., facility may not be known for several weeks after the final vote tally was too close to call Thursday.    After a four-hour vote counting session, 993 workers had voted against being represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) while 875 had voted "yes."   However, more than 400 votes out of the total 2,384 received by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were not counted Thursday because they are contested by either the union or Amazon. Another 59 ballots were voided.    Read more here.   Russian hackers target NATO, American NGOs  © Getty A new Google report found that Russian-backed hackers have tried to get inside the networks of NATO, U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations and the militaries of several Eastern European countries.   The hackers, referred to as Calisto or Coldriver, launched phishing campaigns also targeting U.S. think tanks, the military of a Balkans country and a Ukraine-based defense contractor, per Google.     "These campaigns were sent using newly created Gmail accounts to non-Google accounts, so the success rate of these campaigns is unknown," the report said. "We have not observed any Gmail accounts successfully compromised during these campaigns."    The report comes amid heightened security and warnings from U.S., European Union and NATO officials against possible Russian cyberattacks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.    Read more here.  LOOMING LABOR COMPLAINTS Gerald Bryson was fired by Amazon in April 2020 after taking part in several protests of the company's response to the COVID-19 pandemic at its Staten Island, N.Y., facilities.    Nearly two years later, and despite the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that he was illegally discharged, Bryson is still fighting to get his job back.    While the lengthy legal process to restore Bryson's role and grant him much needed backpay has played out, his colleagues at the JFK8 facility have formed a union that is in the midst of a contentious election.    Read more here.  RUSSIAN INVASION SPOTLIGHTS CRYPTO  Russia's invasion of Ukraine is thrusting cryptocurrency into the spotlight as policymakers ramp up their scrutiny of digital currencies.   Supporters of Ukraine are donating digital currencies to help fund the nation's defense and aid humanitarian efforts in a movement that has bolstered crypto's reputation. But Western officials have warned that Russian actors could use crypto to circumvent severe sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies.     Biden administration officials have stressed that they will hold crypto firms accountable if they help Russian actors evade sanctions. Earlier this month, Group of   Seven leaders announced measures to "ensure that the Russian state and elites, proxies and oligarchs cannot leverage digital assets as a means of evading or offsetting the impact of international sanctions."    Read more here.   BITS & PIECES An op-ed to chew on: Removing time from Putin's side    Lighter click: Thanks, Apple    Notable links from around the web:    Adults or Sexually Abused Minors? Getting It Right Vexes Facebook (The New York Times / Michael H. Keller)    Blue Origin successfully completes fourth space tourism mission (CNN / Jackie Wattles)  One more thing: 1 in 5 invested in crypto © AP One in 5 adults has invested in, traded or used cryptocurrency, according to a new NBC News poll.    The poll, which surveyed 1,000 Americans, found that half of men between the ages of 18 and 49 said they have dealt with cryptocurrency, the highest amount of any demographic group.    Black Americans also reported using crypto at a significant level at 40 percent, compared to 42 percent of all people between the ages of 18 and 34 who said the same.    Read more here.  That's it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill's technology and cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We'll see you Friday. Sign up for Hillicon Valley Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe Sign Up for Other Newsletters 1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 © 1998 - 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.