Gregg's Top Four Health Policy Articles

A lot going on so could not narrow down to three this week—if you can only read three four things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

Politico: HHS Braces For A Reorganization The Trump administration is readying to slash the Department of Health and Human Services workforce again, according to seven people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the changes. The announcement could come soon, three of the people said. (Reader, Cirruzzo and Cancryn, 3/13)

ABC News: Schumer Announces He'll Vote To Keep Government Open, Likely Avoiding Shutdown Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday night that he plans to vote to keep the government open, signaling that there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance a House GOP funding bill before a shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday. In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer conceded a government shutdown is the worse outcome. "I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power in a government shutdown is a far worse option," he said. (Parkinson, Peller, Pecorin and Scott, 3/13)

KFF Health News: Can House Republicans Cut $880 Billion Without Slashing Medicaid? It’s Likely Impossible The prospect of deep Medicaid cuts has become a flashpoint in Congress, with leaders of both parties accusing their counterparts of lying. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Feb. 27 that a Republican budget measure would “set in motion the largest cut to Medicaid in American history,” and that Republicans are hiding the consequences. (Czopek and Sherman, 3/13)

Politico: Weldon’s History Of Vaccine Skepticism Helped Tank His CDC Nomination A key Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee shared concerns about CDC director nominee Dave Weldon’s vaccine views with the White House before his nomination was pulled Thursday morning. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Capitol Hill that she was so troubled about Weldon’s vaccines stance that she shared her concerns with the White House, and she was not surprised that his nomination had been pulled. (Gardner, Gardner and Cirruzzo, 3/13)

For a Deeper Dive...

Becker's Hospital Review: House Passes Bill With Short-Term Wins For Hospitals House Republicans on March 11 passed legislation to keep the government running through Sept. 30 and extend several critical healthcare provisions that were due to expire March 31. The continuing resolution, which passed the House in a 217-213 vote, would: Eliminate the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts through Sept. 30; Extend certain telehealth waivers and the hospital-at-home program through Sept. 30; Expand the enhanced low-volume adjustment program through Sept. 30 and the Medicare-dependent hospital program through Oct. 1; Extend add-on payments for rural ambulance services through Oct. 1. (Condon, 3/11)

Stat: Trump Picks To Lead FDA, NIH Move Closer To Senate Confirmation The Senate health committee voted on Thursday to endorse Marty Makary as Food and Drug Administration commissioner and Jay Bhattacharya as director of the National Institutes of Health. (Owermohle and Lawrence, 3/13)

Roll Call: Oz's Ties To Insurers May Loom Over His CMS Confirmation Hearing President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will likely face questions during his confirmation hearing Friday about his past support of expanding the Medicare Advantage program as well as his financial ties to the industry he will be tasked with overseeing. (Heller, 3/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Johns Hopkins To Slash Nearly 2,000 Jobs After Losing $800 Million In Federal Grants More than 2,000 positions related to global health are being cut from the Johns Hopkins University after the Baltimore institution saw $800 million in federal grants disappear, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday. Hopkins’ medical school; the Bloomberg School of Public Health, including its Center for Communication Programs; and JHPIEGO, the university’s health initiative that focuses on global public health, will be affected by the cuts. USAID was the main funder for both JHPIEGO and CCP. (3/13)

The Hill: Donald Trump Proposes Cutting ACA Enrollment Period, Ending 'Dreamer' Coverage The Trump administration is proposing to shorten ObamaCare’s annual open enrollment period by a month, a move the administration said is aimed at helping consumers pick the right plan. According to a proposed rule released Monday, open enrollment would run from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, instead of through Jan. 15. (Weixel, 3/10)

KFF Health News: Thought Inflation Was Bad? Health Insurance Premiums Are Rising Even Faster Kirk Vartan pays more than $2,000 a month for a high-deductible health insurance plan from Blue Shield on Covered California, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. He could have selected a cheaper plan from a different provider, but he wanted one that includes his wife’s doctor. “It’s for the two of us, and we’re not sick,” said Vartan, general manager at A Slice of New York pizza shops in the Bay Area cities of San Jose and Sunnyvale. “It’s ridiculous.” (Reese, 3/11)

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