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...

KHN: A Health-Heavy State Of The Union Health care was a recurring theme throughout President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address on Capitol Hill this week. He took a victory lap on recent accomplishments like capping prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare. He urged Congress to do more, including making permanent the boosted insurance premium subsidies added to the Affordable Care Act during the pandemic. And he sparred with Republicans in the audience — who jeered and called him a liar — over GOP proposals that would cut Medicare and Social Security. (2/9)

Stat: In State Of The Union, Biden Pitches Addiction, Mental Health Care Policies As Opportunities For Bipartisanship President Biden strived with Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to find a plank of bipartisan support in a split Congress, with health care priorities holding up the frame. The president, halfway through his term, pointed to a slew of populist policies he still hopes Congress could achieve, from battling the addiction crisis to improving mental health care access and bolstering support for at-home caregivers. (Owermohle and Wilkerson, 2/7)

USA Today: Medicaid, Free COVID Tests Will Change After Public Health Emergency The Biden administration on Thursday formally notified states the COVID-19 public health emergency that provided generous federal payments to subsidize care and insurance coverage for millions will end May 11. About 15 million Americans who gained Medicaid health insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic are at risk of losing coverage later this year as generous federal subsidies end. (Alltucker, 2/9)

For a Deeper Dive...

KHN and PolitiFact: Health Policies Were A Prominent Theme In Biden’s State Of The Union Speech President Joe Biden on Tuesday delivered his State of the Union address to a politically divided Congress for the first time, calling for permanent fixes on policy priorities like unaffordable health costs. In one marked difference from his earlier speeches, attendance in the House chamber was at capacity with no covid-19 limitations in effect. And the lawmakers in the audience, both supporters and opponents, seemed to be in a raucous mood. Our partners at PolitiFact fact-checked a variety of Biden’s statements — ranging from Medicare, Social Security, and the health of the economy to infrastructure and a possible assault weapons ban — during the 73-minute speech. (2/8)

The Washington Post: Social Security, Medicare Brawl Awaits Washington, Even If Not This Year The ad-libbed exchange on Tuesday night encapsulated a newfound reality in Washington: Leaders of both parties have become unwilling to discuss potential changes to Social Security and Medicare — even as time dwindles before they reach financial insolvency and benefit reductions for tens of millions of American seniors will automatically go into effect. What used to be a routine point of at least nominal agreement on “hard choices” about the budget is, for now at least, off-limits as Washington grapples with GOP demands to cut federal spending in exchange for raising the nation’s debt limit. (Stein, 2/8)

KHN: ‘We Ain’t Gonna Get It’: Why Bernie Sanders Says His ‘Medicare For All’ Dream Must Wait After railing at the injustices of U.S. health care for decades, Sen. Bernie Sanders in January became the new chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. The job gives the health care industry’s biggest Washington nemesis an unprecedented opportunity to shape health care reform in Congress. But the sort of radical changes he seeks could prove elusive. Even Sanders concedes there are limits to the powers of his position. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night showed how much of Sanders’ platform has moved into the mainstream of the Democratic Party, with Biden at times sounding like his former Democratic primary foe, lashing out at Big Pharma and its “record profits.” Biden bragged about measures taken to lower drug prices and halt surprise bills during his term thus far, and he urged Congress to pass a federal expansion of Medicaid. (Allen, 2/8)

Stat: Medicare Details Forthcoming Penalties For Drug Price Hikes The Biden administration on Thursday offered the first glimpse into how it’s planning to enact a new law that will penalize drugmakers for hiking their prices faster than inflation. The initial guidance documents for both physician-administered and pharmacy drugs offer details about the formulas that officials plan to use to calculate the penalties, and the process for fines if drugmakers don’t comply. The guidance is open for public comment until March 11, the administration said. (Cohrs, 2/9)

Modern Healthcare: Headwinds Didn't Quell Healthcare Private Equity Deals In 2022 Private equity firms had one of their strongest years yet for healthcare services deal activity in 2022, according to an analysis PitchBook published Monday. An estimated 863 healthcare services private equity deals were announced or closed last year. That's a nearly 15% decrease from 2021, but a more than 18% increase from 2020, the market research firm reported. PitchBook extrapolated the annual estimate using recorded deals through the third quarter and historical data to approximate fourth quarter transactions. (Hudson, 2/6)

Reuters: CVS Health To Buy Oak Street Health For $9.5 Bln CVS Health Corp said on Wednesday it would buy primary care provider Oak Street Health Inc for about $9.5 billion in cash as the pharmacy giant looks to foray into the urgent care business. (2/8)

KHN: Montana Considers Allowing Physician Assistants To Practice Independently Megan Zawacki started working at St. Peter’s Health in Helena, Montana, in 2020 as a physician assistant trained in treating addiction. She had gone through specialized training that allowed her to prescribe Suboxone, a medication to fight opioid addiction, but she couldn’t do so for six months. That’s because Zawacki was hired to work with a doctor who specialized in addiction medicine, but that doctor did not join St. Peter’s until three months after Zawacki was hired, and it was another three months before he became her supervisor. Under Montana law, physician assistants must be supervised by a licensed physician, with a supervision agreement filed with the state Board of Medical Examiners. (Larson, 2/10)

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NEJM: Evidence over Politics — The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. BH Lerner, G Curtiss-Rowlands

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?

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD