 Health Care |
Health Care |
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State of the Union to call for more action on health care costs |
President Biden will focus on health costs during Thursday night's State of the Union address, as he plans to call on Congress to double down on Medicare's new power to negotiate drug prices and dramatically expand the number of drugs that will be eligible, the White House said. |
Medicare will eventually be able to negotiate the prices of 20 drugs under the current law, but White House officials told reporters Wednesday that Biden will propose expanding that number to 50 and bringing more drugs into the program sooner. Biden will also propose extending Medicare's $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket drug costs to people with commercial insurance, officials said, as well as the law's penalty on drugmakers who raise prices faster than the rate of inflation. The policies that the president is set to pitch to Congress represent the Biden campaign's effort to remind voters of the administration's actions to lower health costs, even though many of the biggest wins won't take effect this year, while also trying to showcase a path forward for the next four years. The administration is focusing on pocketbook issues aimed at helping families keep expenses in check by tying health policies to Biden's economic successes and drawing a contrast to former President Trump. The proposals would also represent a major expansion of the Inflation Reduction Act. While the law was sweeping, many of its biggest health provisions only apply to Medicare rather than the commercial market because Democrats had to scale it back in order to pass it through the Senate. Still, the policies represent a wish list and are not likely to be enacted with Republicans in control of the House. In addition, the proposal to expand Medicare negotiations would likely see fierce pushback from the drug industry. The administration has already entered negotiations with manufacturers for the first 10 drugs in the program, though the final prices won't take effect until 2026. There are multiple industry lawsuits challenging the policy, and a Republican president could potentially derail the changes before they take effect. |
Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. |
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How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: |
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Two House lawmakers on Wednesday expressed uncertainty on when pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms would pass, despite widespread bipartisan support for some sort of action on the health care middlemen. Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) and James Comer (R-Ky.) spoke with The Hill’s Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack on Wednesday as part of the “Prescribing PBM Reform” event hosted by Transparency-Rx. Congressional … |
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| Community Catalyst, an issue advocacy group, will be pressing President Biden and like-minded lawmakers to take more action on medical debt in a new ad campaign set to start Thursday. The group will run TV ads right before and after the president's State of the Union address on Thursday, which will be airing on MSNBC, according to plans first shared with The Hill. One of the ads features a Georgia resident, Sherrell … |
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A German man intentionally received more than 200 COVID-19 vaccinations, but researchers found that he was fine, and showed no side effects. The Lancet, a scientific journal, published a report earlier this week that looked into the 62-year-old man from Magdeburg — a town roughly 2 hours from Berlin — who deliberately received 217 of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine over a period of 29 months. Researchers noted that he received the vaccines … |
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Branch out with a different read: |
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Alabama legislation to protect IVF providers moves toward final approval |
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers racing to restart in vitro fertilization services in the state began final debate Wednesday on legislation shielding providers from the fallout of a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. The measure would protect providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution for the "damage or … | |
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Local and state headlines on health care: |
- South Carolina still cannot defund Planned Parenthood, US court rules (Reuters)
- Louisiana health department threatens to kick Mandeville hospital out of Medicare program (NOLA.com)
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Health news we've flagged from other outlets: |
- The Covid-19 pandemic killed off one strain of the flu, and that will change the next vaccines (CNN)
- Chemical linked to cancer found in acne creams including Proactiv, Clearasil (Bloomberg)
- Doctors found tiny nanoplastics in people's arteries. Their presence was tied to a higher risk of heart disease. (NBC News)
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Most read stories on The Hill right now: |
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A Republican-led Georgia state Senate panel gave the floor Wednesday to a defense attorney who surfaced allegations of a romance between Fulton County … Read more |
| The House on Wednesday approved a package of six spending bills, sending the legislation to the Senate days ahead of Friday's partial government shutdown … Read more |
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Opinion related to health submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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