Healthcare Wednesday

Venture capitalists launch new lobby group formed to free medical innovation from "our current regulatory environment": The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) on Wednesday announced the creation of a new coalition designed to promote domestic investment in medical innovation. 

The new group — the Medical Innovation and Competitiveness (MedIC) Coalition — has three specific goals: (1) to lobby for medical innovation on Capitol Hill as healthcare reform is implemented; (2) to promote financial incentives that will encourage investors to launch medical ventures at home rather than abroad; and (3) to reform the Food and Drug Administration so new medical technologies will hit the market more quickly. 

“The U.S. healthcare system runs on innovation," Mark Heesen, NVCA president, said in a statement. "If capital and incentives dry up, the whole system will suffer. 

"This scenario could become a reality in the next decade as our current regulatory environment threatens to place our country at a disadvantage to foreign nations that are seeking to create more favorable conditions for innovators and investors,” Heesen added. 

"The game is ours to lose and we have no intention of losing it."

Beth Seidenberg, who will chair MedIC, said the new group is hoping to help stabilize what she calls "increasing uncertainty in the regulatory and reimbursement processes, healthcare reform implementation and the capital markets."

"Innovation has been largely absent from the public discussion on healthcare reform," said Seidenberg, a partner with the international investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. "If we don’t act now, our increasingly formidable global competitors will."

CMS to brief reporters on health reform's impact on projected spending — but don't hold your breath for news: Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will meet Wednesday morning with reporters at Washington's Press Club to discuss how the new healthcare reform law is projected to affect health spending trends over the next decade. 

But don't fret if you don't see any immediate headlines on the topic. The remarks are embargoed until 3 a.m. Thursday, to coincide with publication of a new report in the journal Health Affairs.

Wednesday's event, being moderated by Health Affairs Executive Don Metz, will feature officials from CMS' National Health Expenditure Accounts Team.

Continued push for Congress to pass 9/11 compensation bill: Political and labor leaders will gather Wednesday near Ground Zero in New York City to urge Congress to take up legislation compensating first responders and survivors who suffered health troubles as a direct result of the attacks.  

The bill would provide funds to monitor and treat those who were exposed to toxins after the attacks, as well as offering litigation protections to the City of New York.

Scheduled to attend are New York Reps. Charlie Rangel (D), Carolyn Maloney (D), Peter King (R) and Jerrold Nadler (D).

Joining the lawmakers will be representatives of the New York State AFL-CIO; the New York City Central Labor Council; the Uniformed Firefighters Association; the Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and survivors of the attacks. 

XMRV workshop takes off: An international workshop to examine the little understood XMRV virus kicks of Wednesday in Washington. The virus — full name: Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus — has been linked to conditions as diverse as prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome. 

NIH Director Francis Collins will launch the event with an address Wednesday afternoon. 

BP helps fund NIH study of oil spill's aftermath: BP on Tuesday pledged $10 million toward a National Institutes of Health study into the potential health effects of the summer's Gulf oil tragedy. 

"There is much still to be learned from this incident, and BP is providing this funding to NIH because it is well positioned to assure the quality and the integrity of the independent research process," Bob Dudley, head of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization said in a statement. http://bit.ly/bozoVV

In Minnesota, a conservative governor asks for Medicaid help he recently opposed: Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) on Tuesday asked the Obama administration for about $263 million in emergency Medicaid and foster care funding approved by Congress last month as part of a $26 billion state aid package. 

"Those programs reflect current and longstanding Minnesota policy objectives and initiatives," Pawlenty explained in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, adding that his motivation is also "to protect Minnesota taxpayers."

That's a much different message than Pawlenty delivered last month after Congress passed the bill. 

“The federal government should not deficit spend to bail out states and special interest groups," the 2012 presidential hopeful said at the time. "Minnesota balanced its budget without raising taxes and without relying on more federal money. The federal government’s reckless spending spree must come to an end." http://bit.ly/cwqP8m