Congress

Major hospital groups came out swinging against Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Michael Bennett’s (D-CO) Medicare-X proposal and released a report showing that such a public option could result in a nearly $800 billion cut for hospital payments over a 10-year period with no additional revenue boosts.

Lawmakers, insurers, hospital groups and advocates have asked the Trump administration not to finalize a proposal requiring insurers that offer Affordable Care Act plans that cover abortion to also offer at least one other identical plan that does not cover abortion.

The House Judiciary Committee heard competing views from stakeholders on the effects of rural hospital mergers: Economics and health policy experts testified to sympathetic lawmakers that the mergers hurt competition and thus hike prices and lower quality, but the American Hospital Association argued in a statement that rural hospital mergers improve value-based care.

Congressional Medicare advisers Thursday (March 7) debated the merits of two of Washington’s hottest drug-pricing policy topics: reference pricing and binding arbitration.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) Wednesday (March 6) introduced a bill to increase transparency around the web of patents that biologics manufacturers create to insulate drugs from biosimilar competition.

House Energy & Commerce health subcommittee Republicans debated the usefulness of Democratic legislation to prop up the Affordable Care Act markets via reinsurance and increased funding for exchange programs, arguing the Democrats’ reinsurance proposal would not give states enough flexibility and a boost in navigator funding would not be worth it because navigators don’t sign up enough people.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley said most senators in both parties think capping seniors’ out-of-pocket costs in Part D is a good idea, though he hasn’t begun negotiating that legislation, which he said would likely be wrapped into a bigger health care bill.

Provider groups and insurance plans applauded a CMS proposal to increase access to the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone included in the agency’s 2020 draft Medicare Advantage and Part D call letter, but some groups called for CMS to reconsider a proposal on co-prescribing the drug with opioid prescriptions, saying that decision should be left between a provider and patient.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar will testify about drug prices Tuesday (March 12) at a House Energy & Commerce health subcommittee hearing on the president’s 2020 budget, which the administration will unveil Monday, according to an E&C release.