Congress

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) is returning to chair the Finance Committee after a hiatus as Judiciary chair, and the move gives advocates for lower drug prices an ally on the committee with jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid that they do not have in the current Finance Chair Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who is retiring.

Potential incoming Energy & Commerce health subcommittee chair Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) wants to hold hearings before developing her prescription drug policy priorities, she told Inside Health Policy on Tuesday (Nov. 13).

In the wake of leadership elections, newly re-elected Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters that his caucus plans to continue its focus on healthcare in the 116th Congress by using the Democratic majority in the House to press Senate Republicans to take up Democratic health legislation.

Health care watchers predict that if OTC monograph reform legislation does not make it to the president before the end of the year, renewed debates around the legislation’s industry incentives could stall the bill in 2019, especially if New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone, who was critical of the incentives included in the House-passed bill, becomes the new Energy & Commerce chair.

While stakeholders expect lawmakers to focus less on Medicare than other health policy in the new Congress, strengthening Medicare is still part of Rep. Frank Pallone's (D-NJ) agenda for the House Energy & Commerce Committee, advocates hope Democrats will look at coverage gaps in the program, and lobbyists say lawmakers could take another look at the site-neutral cuts included in CMS’ recent hospital pay rule.

Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Thursday (Nov. 8) asked the president to endorse their bill to ban settlements between brand and generic drug makers that delay generic competition.

In the immediate aftermath of the midterm elections, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) asked the Trump administration to “withdraw from a lawsuit” to eliminate parts of the Affordable Care Act, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told Inside Health Policy he would join Pelosi’s call for the GOP to scrap the suit.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), the dietary supplements lobby’s chief champion in the Senate, defended his seat Tuesday (Nov. 5), allowing him to continue his role as co-chair of the congressional dietary supplement caucus and as successor to the legacy of supplement-friendly lawmaking established by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who will retire from the Senate in January.

With Democrats taking control of the House, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) is highly expected to chair the powerful Energy & Commerce Committee, and, although he comes from a pharmaceutical-heavy district, he told Inside Health Policy prior to the election results that tackling high drug prices would be a top priority as would overseeing the administration's health care agenda.