Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

AP: 'Obamacare' Hits Record Enrollment But An Uncertain Future Awaits Under Trump A record 24 million people have signed up for insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s landmark health legislation, as the program awaits an uncertain future under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress. Never have so many people enrolled in health care coverage through the government marketplace, a point of pride for many Democrats but a red flag to some Republicans. (Seitz, 1/8)

KFF Health News: Biden Administration Bars Medical Debt From Credit Scores The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday issued new regulations barring medical debts from American credit reports, enacting a major new consumer protection just days before President Joe Biden is set to leave office. The rules ban credit agencies from including medical debts on consumers’ credit reports and prohibit lenders from considering medical information in assessing borrowers. (Levey, 1/7)

The Hill: More Than 15,000 Doctors Urge Senate To Reject RFK Jr. As Health Secretary More than 15,000 doctors across the country signed an open letter urging senators to vote against President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  In the letter, physicians say they are “appalled” by Trump’s “reckless” appointment of Kennedy, arguing he would be “dangerous” if confirmed to the top public health post. “This appointment is an affront to the principles of public health, the tireless dedication of medical professionals, and the trust that millions of Americans place in the health care system,” the letter reads. The letter was published online Thursday by the Committee to Protect Health Care. (O'Connell-Domenech, 1/9)

For a Deeper Dive...

Modern Healthcare: Private Equity In Healthcare Worsens Outcomes, Senate Report Finds Private equity investment makes the healthcare system worse, according to the findings of a bipartisan Senate Budget Committee investigation published Tuesday. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued the report, which zeroes in on Apollo Global Management and Leonard Green & Partners and their healthcare holdings. (McAuliff, 1/7)

ABC News: Johnson Says No Cuts To Social Security And Medicare To Fund Trump's Agenda House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that cuts to Social Security and Medicare won't be part of the legislative package being worked out to fund President-elect Donald Trump's agenda. "No, the president has made clear that Social Security and Medicare have to be preserved," Johnson replied when asked if he was open to cutting the programs as part of the spending plans being worked out between House and Senate Republican leaders. "We have to look at all spending while maintaining… The Republican Party will not cut benefits." (Murray, Jones II, Peller and Pecorin, 1/7)

Harvard Kennedy School: Medicare/Medicaid And The Affordable Care Act Gave More Americans Health Insurance Protection Than Ever Before. So Why Do Racial Disparities In Health Care Still Exist? Since the adoption of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the drop in the uninsured rate has been important yet the disparities between Black and white Americans remain substantial, according to a new paper by Harvard Kennedy School Professor Marcella Alsan. Alsan, the first serving faculty member to be awarded the MacArthur Fellowship while at HKS, is the Angelopoulos Professor of Public Policy and an applied microeconomist studying health inequality. “My work focuses on two main questions—what are the origins of health inequalities and then what can be done to reduce them,” said Alsan in a recent interview. (Hughes, 1/6)

The Hill: U.S. Leads World In Overdose Deaths, Report Reveals The United States has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths out of 30 countries, according to a new report from the health nonprofit the Commonwealth Fund. Overdose deaths in the U.S. dipped slightly around 2018 after a years-long rise. But those deaths began to rise again in 2019 and shot up during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  (O'Connell-Domenech, 1/9)

The Hill: Key Senator Says Trump Pick RFK Jr. ‘Wrong’ On Vaccines Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.), the incoming chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said Sunday that President-elect Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary is ‘wrong’ when it comes to vaccinations. Discussing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination on Fox News, Cassidy, a physician, said, “Vaccinations, he’s wrong on, and so I just look forward to having a good dialogue with him on that.” (Choi, Weixel and O'Connell-Domenech, 1/6)

Axios: Drug Price Talks Provide An Early Test For Trump The Biden administration within days is expected to select the next batch of drugs that will be subject to Medicare price negotiations — a process that this time could include Novo Nordisk's blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy. Why it matters: The political appeal of bringing down the price of the wildly popular drugs and other medicines for seniors could outweigh deep misgivings in Republican circles about one of Democrats' most significant health policy achievements. (Goldman, 1/8)

The Hill: Surgeon General Offers 'Parting Prescription' For US Outgoing U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy offered a “parting prescription” to the U.S. in a document released Tuesday. “As I finish my tenure as Surgeon General, this is my parting prescription, my final wish for all of us: Choose community,” Murthy said in the document, which People magazine first reported on. Murthy has served as the surgeon general in the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, but he was fired by President-elect Trump in 2017. At the time, the firing of Murthy sparked an accusation from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) that then-President Trump was politicizing the surgeon general position. President-elect Trump has picked former Fox News contributor and medical doctor Janette Nesheiwat as his nominee for surgeon general in his next administration. (Suter, 1/7)

You Might Also Enjoy...

NEJM: Changing Medicare Payment to Strengthen Primary Care. DB Jacobs, CT LaBonte, and M Seshamani.

JAMA: Changes in Patient Care Experience After Private Equity Acquisition of US Hospitals. A Bhatla, VL Bartlett, M Liu, et al

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: Everything You Need to Know About the Debt Ceiling

For the Visual Among Us...

A few years ago I started a weekly e-mail for friends and colleagues who want to keep up on major federal health policy developments but did not have time to plod through all the minutiae--they were busy doing important things like running organizations and taking care of patients! Much to my surprise, it became pretty popular. I have now converted to a weekly newsletter format so you can manage your own subscription preferences and forward to others that might be interested.

These summaries represent my judgement on health policy issues that may not on the front pages, but are relevant to clinicians, administrators, and educators. I monitor many news sources and clipping services to identify content for this newsletter and I try hard to be as factual, balanced, and non-partisan as possible. While the articles are written by others (with credit attributed), the choice of what to include is entirely mine. If you are interested in receiving a daily summary of health policy news, you might consider signing up for the KHN Morning Briefing. If you enjoy podcasts, I suggest What the Health? and Tradeoffs.

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD