Capitol Perspectives

On the last full day of President Trump’s tumultuous presidency, CMS released a proposal to dramatically restrict access to Part D drugs for patients with serious medical conditions.

In late December, the courts halted President Trump’s international reference-pricing scheme, the Most Favored Nation model, saying the administration had improperly attempted to implement a radical change in Medicare reimbursement policy.

Buried on page 184 of President Trump’s interim final rule (IFR) implementing his “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) drug proposal is Table 11, which projects 19% lower utilization of Medicare Part B medications due to “no access.” 

As the election concludes, we still face new changes to healthcare policy, pharma price-controls, taxes, and a staggering debt.

As the election nears and a potential change in power of both the White House and Congress approaches, it is important to understand that significant healthcare policy can still be accomplished this year.

With the conventions and a contentious summer behind them, both political parties are laying out their agendas for the next four years. What are the Democratic and Republican health priorities?

As Trump’s one-month deadline for a deal with PhRMA ticks away, nervous pharmaceutical executives are equally dismissive and anxious about the next actions of an often-impulsive president.

During this COVID-19 crisis, government should be collaborating closely with industry to promote innovation that will save lives, improve health and bring back prosperity that can come with safely reopening the economy. Yet, it is astonishing that House Democrats have chosen the opposite path.

When will COVID-based decisions by politicians be guided by mounting data that suggests targeted approaches to containing the pandemic would be beneficial for both the vulnerable and the rest of the population, which must get on living their lives and providing for their families.

Controversies over COBRA and abortion coupled with a decline in elective medical procedures plague the healthcare system during this COVID-19 crisis. 

Just weeks ago, America had the lowest unemployment rate in history, the stock market was setting record highs, and the political system had become so poisoned that the speaker of the House and the president, fresh off the Senate acquittal of impeachment articles, were not speaking to each other. That seems like a  dream that was eons ago.

The same politics that fuel patient ire at the drug industry for rising out-of-pocket costs manifest in the other major focus of health legislation this year: “surprise medical bills,” which occur when a patient receives care from an out-of-network healthcare provider.

As the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump dragged into the latter half of the second week, the wheels of healthcare policy development have ground to a halt.

Hours after the House of Representatives impeached President Donald J. Trump, it passed a gargantuan omnibus appropriation package costing $1.4 trillion in 2020 that continues the bipartisan unravelling of the Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) by repealing three taxes critical to its financing: the “Cadillac tax” on high-cost insurance plans, the medical device excise tax, and the health insurance tax. Together, their repeal costs the federal government $373.3 billion in lost revenue over the next 10 years according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.