|
 |
 |
|
OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Budget wars flare up
Two House committees are trying to meet their obligations under the Republican budget by adopting spending cuts Democrats really, really don't like.
The Ways and Means panel started things off by adopting along party lines three provisions that cut the deficit by $53 billion over 10 years. Democrats had a field day with the main proposal — requiring people who get too much in insurance subsidies under President Obama's healthcare reform law to pay back overpayments in full — after a tax staffer said it would cause 350,000 fewer people a year to gain insurance under the healthcare law.
Healthwatch's Julian Pecquet has more here.
The Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, was well on its way Wednesday evening to adopting medical malpractice legislation capping non-economic damages at $250,000 in order to save $41 billion. The committee recessed before taking a final vote, however.
Not that any of that really matters.
The Obama administration declared Wednesday that the president would veto any Republican appropriations bills unless they abandon the spending levels in the Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.)'s budget. The Hill has more on that here.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad's (D-N.D.) so-called budget markup quickly turned into a flop after he declined to hold a vote. The decision is just another blow to any chance of getting a grand bargain on the debt this year, The Hill's Erik Wasson reports.
IRS stretched thin: The IRS doesn't have enough money or employees to implement its share of the new healthcare law, a Republican witness testified Wednesday. Leonard Steinberg, who testified on behalf of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, said the law will strain the IRS's already-strained resources.
You may remember that the Health and Human Services Department is transferring roughly $500 million to the IRS to help the tax agency implement the healthcare law.
Friendly fire: President Obama’s healthcare law is taking some heat this week from his fellow Democrats. Retiring Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said Wednesday that the process “cost Obama a lot of credibility as a leader” — a deep indictment that came just days after Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is also retiring, said healthcare reform was a political mistake. Healthwatch has more on Webb’s comments.
Even friendlier fire: Webb has cast himself as a centrist in the Senate, but part of the healthcare law is also catching flak from the left. Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren said in an op-ed that Congress should repeal the law’s tax on medical devices, arguing that it will slow innovation.
Warren is hardly the first Democrat — or even liberal Democrat — to take issue with the device tax. But many of its other Democratic critics, including Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), have stopped short of embracing repeal. Healthwatch has the story.
Next up, HSAs: The next “ObamaCare” provision under Republicans’ microscope will be new limits on the use of tax-preferred health savings accounts (HSAs). The Ways and Means Committee’s Oversight panel announced Wednesday that it’s holding a hearing next week on the healthcare law’s restrictions on HSAs.
The law says HSAs can no longer be used to purchase over-the-counter products without a doctor’s prescription. Republicans want to expand the use of HSAs, which they see as a more consumer-driven model for healthcare.
User fees: Lawmakers and lobbyists took a harder look Wednesday at the one healthcare bill that’s sure to move this year — reauthorizing the Food and Drug Administration’s user fees.
The FDA collects fees from the companies that make prescription drugs and medical devices. The revenue stream must be reauthorized every five years, and lawmakers are hoping for a quick process this year that won’t keep them in Washington right up to the September deadline.
This year’s package is expected to include a new fee paid by the companies that make generic drugs, as well as fees to implement part of the healthcare reform law that created a new class of complex drugs. The House Energy and Commerce Committee heard testimony Wednesday from the FDA as well as the drug and device industries, which have been negotiating among themselves before the legislative process begins.
Several lawmakers touted pet projects that made it into the early drafts of the FDA bill. Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) highlighted several pieces he said were based on his stand-alone bills, including provisions on drug safety and measures to prevent drug shortages. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has also been active on drug shortages.
Thursday's agenda
The Senate Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the FDA hears testimony from Commissioner Margaret Hamburg regarding her agency’s $4.5 billion request for FY 2013, a $650 million increase over this year's budget.
In the afternoon, the Senate HELP Committee holds a hearing on the impact on worker safety of delays in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s process for setting standards.
Off Capitol Hill, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) meet to discuss Medicaid's research agenda, Medicare-Medicaid coordination, access to care for non-elderly adults, data for measuring access and Medicaid and CHIP statistics. Here's the agenda.
And The Atlantic holds its fourth annual Health Care Forum, with presentations by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari, and others.
Bill tracker
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) introduced legislation to "preserve consumer and employer access to licensed independent insurance producers" (S. 2288).
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has a bill to "amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to pediatric provisions" (S. 2289). The bipartisan bill — Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) are co-sponsors — would reauthorize and strengthen two laws regarding drug labeling for children and a law to incentivize the development of pediatric medical devices.
Here's the American Academy of Pediatrics' press release in support of the bill.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) introduced a bill to "promote accountability, transparency, innovation, efficiency, and timeliness at the Food and Drug Administration for America's patients" (S. 2292).
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and six co-sponsors introduced the "Patient Safety and Generic Labeling Improvement Act" (S. 2295). The bill, championed by the trial lawyers' lobby, would amend FDA regulations so manufacturers of generic drugs could initiate labeling updates to reflect current health and safety information under the same circumstances that apply to manufacturers of branded drugs.
Lobbying registrations
Fabiani & Company / Patheon Pharmaceuticals Services (generic user fee legislation)
Fabiani & Company / Heat Biologics (securing federal funding for vaccine development)
Fabiani & Company / Anthera Pharmaceuticals (secure funding for sickle-cell anemia therapeutic)
Cornerstone Government Affairs / Healthy Housing Solutions (funding for CDC and HUD Lead Control Programs)
Patton Boggs / Kool Smiles (Medicaid multi-state dental practices)
Venable / Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (Primatene Mist sunset date)
Reading list
The device industry is facing new questions about its commitment to safety, The New York Times reports.
The Los Angeles Times looks at the coalitions of industry groups lobbying on healthcare policy in the state.
At the Health Affairs blog, Avalere Health’s Dan Mendelson looks at the key questions surrounding Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Medicare plan.
Comments / complaints / suggestions? Please let us know:
Julian Pecquet:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
/ 202-628-8527
Sam Baker:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
/ 202-628-8351
Follow us on Twitter @hillhealthwatch
