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...

Modern Healthcare: Short-Term Spending Deal To Fund Government Announced Congressional leaders reached a "deal in principle" on government spending Wednesday that extends government funding deeper into March and likely includes key health programs. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the other senior lawmakers who announced the agreement did not provide details on its contents. (McAuliff, 2/28)

Roll Call: Health Package Talks Break Down Amid Broader Spending Feud Lawmakers who hoped to address price transparency and lower drug costs are instead negotiating a smaller health care package after talks broke down again amid a broader stalemate over government funding. (Clason, 2/26)

Politico: How The IVF Fight Splits Republicans And Anti-Abortion Activists The Alabama Supreme Court ruling effectively cutting off access to in-vitro fertilization in the state created a firestorm for Republicans. Many of their friends in the anti-abortion movement were celebrating. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade marked a decades-long triumph for the right. But it’s also exposed tensions in the alliance between Republican politicians, who face voter backlash, and anti-abortion activists who seek even further restrictions. (Messerly, 2/29)

For a Deeper Dive...

Roll Call: Lawmakers Push Changes To CBO Scoring For Preventive Health Almost every lawmaker remembers their first “bad” score from the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan entity that estimates the budgetary and economic impacts of legislation. For Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., it was when she tried to get a bill passed that would mandate Medicare and Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation services, including counseling and drugs. At the time, the CBO told her that such a provision would raise the bill’s costs, despite her view that, as a preventive health measure, it would cost money upfront but save money in later years by reducing cancer and disease. (Hellmann, 2/29)

Modern Healthcare: PBM Reform Advocates Hold Out Hope Congress Can Still Act Advocates for tougher restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers are not giving up after Congress reportedly shelved several proposals this week, even if lawmakers see no immediate path forward. PBM legislation has broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Negotiations appear to have broken down, however, regarding which specific measures to include in the full-year government funding bills that must pass by March 1 and March 8. (McAuliff, 2/27)

USA Today: Where Do Trump And Haley Stand On Health Care? As Michigan voters participate in the 2024 Republican primary, the spotlight falls on the contrasting stances of the leading candidates, former President Donald Trump and former Governor Nikki Haley, on the critical issue of health care. Donald Trump, whose tenure as president saw fervent attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, has recently remained relatively reticent on the topic. ... In contrast, Nikki Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina, has steadfastly opposed the Affordable Care Act. (Yurow, 2/27)

Stat: PBM Reform Efforts Get Punted In Congress Congress has abandoned its attempt to reform how pharmacy middlemen operate in an upcoming package to fund the federal government, 11 lobbyists and sources following the talks told STAT. (Cohrs and Wilkerson, 2/26)

Stat: Site-Neutral Medicare Payments Axed From Congress' Negotiations Congress will not move forward with a controversial policy to equalize certain Medicare payments to hospitals and physicians’ offices in an upcoming government funding package, five lobbyists and sources following the talks told STAT. (Cohrs, 2/26)

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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