The Senate’s ‘Cures’ Bill Is Coming…Next Year

The Senate’s ‘Cures’ Bill Is Coming…Next Year-morningconsult: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Monday that the Senate would not take up House-passed legislation this year that aims to expedite the approval of new medical cures, adding that he expects the chamber will pass its own version in 2016, despite it being an election year.

The Senate Will Use Reconciliation to Repeal Obamacare AND… Something

The Senate Will Use Reconciliation to Repeal Obamacare AND… Something-nationaljournal: After weeks of hemming and hawing on how they're going to use reconciliation, Senate Republicans finally committed on Tuesday to using the budgetary tool to fully repeal Obamacare.

As Trade Deal Nears Potential Home Stretch, Worries Abound

As Trade Deal Nears Potential Home Stretch, Worries Abound-wsj: Hauling a skeptical Congress on board was hard enough. Now U.S. negotiators must resolve disputes ranging from drugs to dairy as they push this week to conclude a major trade agreement with 11 Pacific partners.

Obamacare repeal vote fails in Senate

Obamacare repeal vote fails in Senate-politico: The Senate on Sunday voted down a Republican effort to repeal Obamacare, the GOP’s first attempt to get rid of the president’s health law since the party took control of the chamber in January.

Good News, Bad News In Medicare Trustees Report

Good News, Bad News In Medicare Trustees Report-kaiserhealthnews: As Medicare approaches its 50th anniversary next week, the federal program got some welcome financial news Wednesday: Its giant hospital trust fund will be solvent until 2030, and its long-term outlook has improved, according to a report from the program’s trustees.

A Panel in Legacy-Building Mode

A Panel in Legacy-Building Mode-nationaljournal: With bipartisan ventures such as the 21st Century Cures bill, chemical safety legislation, and the "doc fix," Energy and Commerce is trying to show "the way committees really should work."

House GOP Appropriators Prepare for Sequester Showdown

House GOP Appropriators Prepare for Sequester Showdown-rollcall: House Republican leaders don’t want to be the first to flinch at Democrats’ calls to repeal sequester-level spending caps, but senior GOP appropriators emerged from a closed-door meeting Wednesday in agreement: Congress has to do something.

How Not to Fix the F.D.A.

How Not to Fix the F.D.A.-NYT: The New York Times Editorial Board offered harsh criticism of the medical cures initiative 21st Century Cures in a Monday op-ed, saying the legislation “would weaken the F.D.A.’s already flimsy regulation of medical devices . . . and would allow a drug to be tested on humans based on only limited evidence that it is safe and effective.”

Hillary: I'm 'examining' Obamacare's Cadillac tax

Hillary: I'm 'examining' Obamacare's Cadillac tax-politico: In her highly anticipated speech on the economy Monday, Hillary Clinton was heavy on rhetoric and short on specifics, promising to reveal her actual policy proposals in the weeks ahead. But this week, she also dropped a not-so-subtle hint about a big one. In a questionnaire for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which endorsed her this week, Clinton noted that the so-called “Cadillac tax” levied under Obamacare is one area she is “examining.”

California may let undocumented immigrants buy Obamacare

California may let undocumented immigrants buy Obamacare-politico: California lawmakers and activists are spearheading a first-in-the-nation plan to let undocumented immigrants buy Obamacare health insurance. Supporters say the California proposal, which would need federal approval and couldn’t start until 2017, is the next logical step in expanding health insurance to a population that was intentionally excluded from the president’s health-care law.

House lawmakers introduce federal 'right to try' bill

House lawmakers introduce federal 'right to try' bill-modernhealthcare: The "right to try” campaign that would allow terminally ill patients access to potentially lifesaving, yet unapproved drugs is going national. Three House Republicans have introduced a bill that would ban federal regulators from taking action against those seeking access to such therapies.

Head of Obama’s Health Care Rollout to Lobby for Insurers

Head of Obama’s Health Care Rollout to Lobby for Insurers-newyorktimes: Marilyn B. Tavenner, the former Obama administration official in charge of the rollout of HealthCare.gov, was chosen on Wednesday to be the top lobbyist for the nation’s health insurance industry.

McConnell: No timeline for ObamaCare repeal

McConnell: No timeline for ObamaCare repeal-thehill: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he does not have a timeline for using reconciliation to repeal ObamaCare, but indicated that Republicans would look to roll back as much of the law as they can.

Medical-Device-Tax Repeal Has Bipartisan Support, And It’s Going Nowhere

Medical-Device-Tax Repeal Has Bipartisan Support, And It’s Going Nowhere-nationaljournal: When it comes to Obamacare, one of the only things Democrats and Republicans can come anywhere close to agreeing on is that the law's medical-device tax should at least be examined. But this is far from a kumbaya moment for the Affordable Care Act in the Senate. While there may be enough Democratic votes to pass, repeal of the medical-device tax still has a very important Democratic opponent: the president, who has threatened to veto the bill.

As Cures Clears the House, Silence in the Senate on FDA Reform

As Cures Clears the House, Silence in the Senate on FDA Reform-morningconsult: With a major Food and Drug Administration reform effort having passed the House on a strong bipartisan vote, all eyes are now on the Senate, where a separate, distinct reform effort is underway – albeit slowly.

Storm Clouds Ahead for 21st-Century Cures Bill

Storm Clouds Ahead for 21st-Century Cures Bill-nationaljournal: By almost all standards, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton knocked his medical-innovation bill out of the park, mustering an overwhelmingly favorable 344-77 vote for it in the House on Friday. The only catch: 70 of the votes against the bill were from his own party, including from Budget Chairman Tom Price. Price's objection to the bill was $8.75 billion it would give to the National Institutes of Health, as this was categorized as mandatory spending and therefore not subject to budget caps.

Steve Israel: Hard for Democrats to Win House Majority in 2016

Hard for Democrats to Win House Majority in 2016-rollcall: Rep. Steve Israel, the New York Democrat who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2012 and 2014 cycles, said winning the House majority will be tough for Democrats, but predicted his party will pick up between eight to 10 seats in 2016.

Public Citizen Criticizes Obama, Lawmakers For Not Railing Against Cures Bill's Industry 'Perks'

Public Citizen Criticizes Obama, Lawmakers For Not Railing Against Cures Bill's Industry 'Perks'-insidehealthpolicy: Shortly after the House overwhelmingly voted Friday to pass 21st Century Cures legislation, Public Citizen criticized the White House for not making the bill veto-bait and lawmakers for accepting device and pharmaceutical industry “perks” in order to secure a funding hike for the National Institutes of Health. The consumer watchdog group urged the Senate to cast the bill aside and work on an alternative.

Hardliners Balk at Mandatory Spending for Cures – but Used Same Mechanism for Vets

Hardliners Balk at Mandatory Spending for Cures – but Used Same Mechanism for Vets-morningconsult: Some hardline House Republicans are opposing a $9.3 billion program for the National Institutes of Health because it creates a mandatory spending program for an agency that is traditionally funded with discretionary spending.

White House offers initial support for medical cures bill

White House offers initial support for medical cures bill-thehill: The Obama administration gave an early endorsement Wednesday for a bipartisan medical cures bill headed to the House this week, while also calling for changes to several GOP-backed proposals. A statement from the White House said it largely supports the multi-billion dollar legislation, which is designed to speed up drug development.

Before Opposition, Price Sought Medicare Spending In Cures

Before Opposition, Price Sought Medicare Spending In Cures-morningconsult: Before House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price opposed a bill that would increase funding for medical research, he proposed including some potentially costly changes to Medicare in the legislation, according to multiple sources. Those items aren’t in the final package, and now Price (R-Ga.) is leading the effort to kill the bill over spending concerns.

Companies Absorbing Heat from Medical-Device Tax

Companies Absorbing Heat from Medical-Device Tax-wsj: With Congressional Republicans currently focusing on the repeal of a tax on medical devices as their best opportunity to chip away at the Affordable Care Act, CFO Journal sought to get a sense of what’s at stake for corporate America. The law imposes a 2.3% excise tax on the sale in the United States of certain medical devices by a manufacturer, producer or importer of such devices. Several companies said they absorbed the tax into regular operating expenses. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said the tax increased its operating expenses in its latest full-year filing. but did not break out the tax in reporting its 2014 expenses which rose by $124.6 million, according to a February filing. It paid $15.8 million in excise tax in 2013.

NIH sees reversal of fortune with proposed funding boosts

NIH sees reversal of fortune with proposed funding boosts-politico: After a dozen years of flat funding, the National Institutes of Health has become a top target on Capitol Hill — not for less money but more, potentially billions more by 2020.

The Great Threat of Rising Health Care Costs

The Great Threat of Rising Health Care Costs-morningconsult: The Supreme Court has resolved King v. Burwell, but the Court can’t resolve the most important issue facing health care: how we as a nation can make sure the best health care is accessible to all Americans without bankrupting individuals and the country. For those of us in the health care system, that task must be our all-consuming priority.

Fight Over Affordable Care Act Turns to Medical-Device Tax

Fight Over Affordable Care Act Turns to Medical-Device Tax-wsj: Congressional Republicans see a repeal of a tax on medical devices as their best opportunity to chip away at the Affordable Care Act after the Supreme Court’s recent decision turning away a challenge to a key component of the law.

Industry Payments To Nurses Go Unreported In Federal Database : NPR

Industry Payments To Nurses Go Unreported In Federal Database : NPR: "[W]hen the federal government released data Tuesday on payments by drug and device companies to doctors and teaching hospitals, the payments to nurse practitioner[s] . . . were nowhere to be found.

That's because the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act doesn't require companies to publicly report payments to nurse practitioners or physician assistants, even though they are allowed to write prescriptions in most states.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are playing an ever-larger role in the health care system. While registered and licensed practice nurses are not authorized to write prescriptions, those with additional training and advanced degrees often can."

FDA Reform Bill Delayed on Offset Concerns

FDA Reform Bill Delayed on Offset Concerns-morningconsult:The bipartisan initiative intended to reform the Food and Drug Administration and accelerate approval of new drugs, known as 21st Century Cures, is stalled over concerns about cost offsets, according to several House aides.

House bill reduces spending boost for NIH

House bill reduces spending boost for NIH-thehill: House leaders on Thursday released an updated version of a medical cures bill that slightly reduces a funding increase for the National Institutes of Health. The latest changes to the bill were posted on the House Rules Committee website just before the long weekend, as well as floor consideration of the bill next week.

Filibuster divides GOP 2016 contenders

Filibuster divides GOP 2016 contenders-politico: The Senate’s arcane rules are creating new fissures in the 2016 presidential primary: Candidates from outside Washington are vowing to gut the filibuster in order to repeal the Affordable Care Act, while GOP senators pursuing the White House want to keep the time-honored 60-vote threshold.

Leaked: What's in Obama's trade deal

What's in Obama's trade deal-politico: A recent draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal would give U.S. pharmaceutical firms unprecedented protections against competition from cheaper generic drugs, possibly transcending the patent protections in U.S. law.

U.S. doctors, hospitals reap $6.5 billion from drug and device makers: report

U.S. doctors, hospitals reap $6.5 billion from drug and device makers-reuters: U.S. doctors and research hospitals collected nearly $6.5 billion in payments for services rendered to pharmaceutical and medical device companies in 2014, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments report released on Tuesday.

Drug and Medical-Device Makers Paid $6.49 Billion to Doctors, Hospitals in 2014

Drug and Medical-Device Makers Paid $6.49 Billion to Doctors, Hospitals in 2014-wsj: Drug and medical-device makers paid $6.49 billion to U.S. doctors and teaching hospitals during 2014, according to the federal government’s first full-year accounting of the breadth of industry financial ties with medical providers.