Daily News

CMS is laying plans to lift its controversial ban on Medicare contractor-based outreach and education efforts, CMS and congressional sources say. The ban, which CMS says was imposed due to budget uncertainties, was strongly opposed by certain House and Senate lawmakers and prompted a General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation into whether the move violated the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

A CMS source says Congress' passage of a fiscal year 2003 appropriations bill provides enough funding for the agency to put the outreach program back in place.

A health care worker union is urging the White House to suspend its pre-event smallpox vaccination program until compensation legislation is enacted that meets workers' needs. The union sent the letter to Bush March 26 following the first fatality of a vaccinated health care worker. Another health care worker died March 27.

A key consumer group says FDA's concept paper on good pharmacovigilance practices does not give drug safety experts the independent authority to require safety labeling changes or remove the product from the market. This authority is still within the drug review section, a Public Citizen source says.

Earlier this month FDA released concept papers outlining the agency's approach on risk management, good pharmacovigilance practices and premarket risk assessment.

President Bush's proposed supplemental budget request has sparked a debate among local officials about how increased funds for first responders should be distributed. While both state and local officials agree that more first-responder money is needed beyond the president's request to address heightened security concerns, some city officials favor the immediate need for an allocation system that would allow cash-strapped cities to apply directly to the federal government for increased funds.

In the wake of controversy over potential changes to Medicare's appeal process, House lawmakers have taken steps to ensure the independence of administrative law judges (ALJs) hearing Medicare coverage appeals.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee and Ways and Means health subcommittee have both approved language stipulating that ALJs are to be separate from CMS when their appeals function is transferred from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to HHS.

A recent Supreme Court decision affirming the right of victims suffering from asbestosis to collect damages for their fear of getting cancer has increased the urgency for Congress to enact legislation that would limit liability claims, according to industry and congressional sources. While the decision was a ringing defeat for industry efforts to limit asbestos litigation through judicial action, the ruling also recommends congressional action to limit the spread of liability claims that could threaten bankruptcy for some sectors of industry.

A U.S. Agriculture Department official has laid out conditions under which USDA would continue to provide assurances for foreign importers of U.S. wheat that genetically modified wheat is not under commercial production in the United States even after genetically modified wheat varieties are approved for planting in the United States. Such assurances could prevent future disruption in U.S. exports.

The long-running campaign for state fiscal relief has taken a symbolic step forward following a call by 80 senators to include at least $30 billion -- half of that for Medicaid -- in an economic growth package. The move sends a message of significant Senate support for state aid, which could help combat potential House GOP opposition during economic stimulus conference talks.