Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

Health policy impacts everyone, but it can be hard to know what is important. If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

Politico: White House Negotiators Signal Concessions On Work Requirements In Debt Talks
White House negotiators are willing to make some concessions to tighten work requirements for federal cash aid as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling. The negotiators are narrowing in on possible changes that would further restrict access for low-income Americans to the emergency aid program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to two people familiar with the talks, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Republicans are also pressing the White House team to agree to expanded work requirements for some adults without children receiving food assistance, which Biden didn’t rule out in comments he made to reporters on Wednesday. (Hill, 5/18)

Modern Healthcare: House Panel Advances Bill To Promote PBM Transparency
Pharmacy benefit managers would be subject to new transparency rules under legislation that cleared a key House subcommittee on Wednesday. The Transparent PRICE Act of 2023, which received a unanimous vote in the the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee, would require PBMs to annually provide employers with detailed data on prescription drug spending, including acquisition costs, out-of-pocket spending, formulary placement rationale and aggregate rebate information. The bill also would order the Government Accountability Office to report on group health plan pharmacy networks, including those owned by health insurance companies. (Nzanga, 5/17)

Stat: House Panel Takes First Steps Toward Reining In Hospitals With ‘Site-Neutral’ Changes
A key House panel on Wednesday advanced several health care bills on Wednesday, including its first step toward a controversial effort to equalize Medicare payments between hospitals and physician offices. The Energy and Commerce health subcommittee passed a provision that would ensure Medicare pays the same amount to doctors who administer drugs whether they’re given in a hospital or a physician’s practice. (Cohrs, 5/17)

For a Deeper Dive...

The Hill: Gorsuch Slams Pandemic Emergency Power As Intrusion On Civil Liberties
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch on Thursday slammed the use of emergency power during the pandemic as a mass intrusion on civil liberties. The high court on Thursday dismissed as moot a case seeking to preserve Title 42 after the pandemic emergency expired last week. The public health authority had allowed for the swift expulsion of migrants without allowing them to seek asylum. (Schonfeld, 5/18)

Stat: Depression Hits New High Among Americans, Per Survey
More than a quarter of American adults are depressed, a 10% surge from nearly a decade ago, according to the latest Gallup survey. The data come as the Biden administration tries to overhaul mental health care costs and boost the number of health care workers licensed to practice behavioral health care. Congress in this year’s budget also allotted hundreds of millions of dollars to mental health care grants and programs, many of them trained on children or substance misuse. (Owermohle, 5/17)

The New York Times: Appeals Court Pauses Ruling That Threatened Free Preventive Health Care
A federal appeals court on Monday temporarily blocked a lower court decision that overturned the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that all health plans fully cover certain preventive health services. The move by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans will put on hold a decision from March that had threatened insurance coverage for recommended services like depression screenings for teenagers and drugs that prevent transmission of H.I.V. The Justice Department had appealed the decision, and the appeals court’s stay will stand while the appeals process plays out. (Baumgaertner, 5/15)

Stat: Biden Nominates Monica Bertagnolli To Head NIH
President Biden on Monday officially announced that he would nominate National Cancer Institute Director Monica Bertagnolli to fill the long-vacant director slot at the National Institutes of Health. The cancer surgeon has led NCI — NIH’s largest institute — since last October and previously led Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s surgical oncology unit. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the second woman to lead the agency. (Owermohle, 5/15)

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