From the Capitol Hill front, Health Affairs Forefront offers articles from
- Prof. Katie Keith on the Affordable Care Act provisions in the budget reconciliation bill (H.R. 5376) that the House of Representatives will take up on Friday, and
- Prof. Rachel Sachs on the Democrats’ drug pricing proposal in that bill.
The FEHBlog found information in Prof. Sachs’ article about the proposed $35 cap on insulin copayments.
[T]he IRA was drafted to include a $35 out-of-pocket cap on insulin not only for Medicare beneficiaries, but also for privately insured patients. The parliamentarian ruled that the application of this out-of-pocket cap to privately insured patients did not comply with the reconciliation rules. Rather than unilaterally remove this provision (as the Democrats did with the inflationary rebate provision), Democrats chose to advance the bill with the provision included. Republican Senators then chose to challenge its inclusion, and 43 Republicans voted to strip the $35 out-of-pocket cap for privately insured patients from the bill, enough to result in its removal. (Although seven Republicans voted with all 50 Democrats to keep the cap, the provision needed 60 votes to remain in the bill.)
The Hill adds “Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday night that he is going to bring a $35 cap on [non-Medicare] patients’ insulin costs back up for a vote this fall after Republicans blocked it over the weekend.”
Roll Call discusses the cost shifting between Medicare and other insurance programs, including the FEHBP, once the law is enacted and takes effect. Medicare does not negotiate prices with providers; it sets them.
Govexec informs us
President Biden announced on Wednesday his intent to appoint a prominent surgeon and professor who has been at the vanguard of advances in cancer treatment to lead the federal government’s main agency for cancer research and training.
The president will appoint Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to be director of the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, which has about 4,300 employees and had a $6.35 billion budget in fiscal 2021. She is currently the Richard E. Wilson professor of surgery in the field of surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Disease Centers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a top cancer hospital. Bertagnolli will be the first woman to hold this position.
“Throughout her career, Dr. Bertagnolli has been at the forefront of the field of clinical oncology, advancing, in particular, current understanding of the gene that promotes gastrointestinal cancer development,” said an announcement from the White House. “As a physician-scientist, she led gastrointestinal science initiatives from 1994 to 2011 within the [National Cancer Institute]-funded Cancer Cooperative Groups.” She also served as the chief of the division of Surgical Oncology for the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center from 2007 to 2018.
Good luck, Dr. Bertagnolli.
From the omicron and siblings front, Forbes reports
Pfizer and BioNTech have completed clinical trials for vaccines that include specific protection against the original omicron variant. Now the two companies have begun testing for vaccines specific to the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, which are the fastest spreading variants of Covid-19 in the United States. Manufacturing for the new vaccines has already begun, and could be rolled out as early as October pending regulatory approvals. That’s good news as we approach the fall and winter, which have been the times of year where Covid spread is at its highest. Competitor Moderna has also begun testing an omicron-specific booster, but the FDA has not yet authorized any Omicron-specific vaccines.
Researchers have identified monkey antibodies that are effective against numerous Covid variants and other coronaviruses, a discovery that could help scientists develop better vaccines and prepare for future pandemics as pharma firms race to update their shots.
If the monkey antibodies research is successful, then the WHO definitely should change monkeypox’s name.
From the medical research front, STAT News tells us
With the tumultuous rollout of Aduhelm behind them, partners Biogen and Eisai have the rare opportunity for a do-over, with all-important data on their next Alzheimer’s disease therapy expected next month.
By the end of September, the world will learn whether lecanemab, another treatment aimed at toxic brain plaques called amyloid, can significantly slow the cognitive decline that characterizes Alzheimer’s.
The outcome is vitally important for millions of patients awaiting a medicine that can meaningfully impact the disease, and success could spell a massive financial windfall for Biogen and Eisai. Failure would damage — though not destroy — the idea that targeting amyloid might ever make for an efficacious treatment.
Fingers crossed for a successful outcome.
From the U.S. healthcare business front, Fierce Healthcare reports
Amazon Care, which currently offers virtual health visits, in-person primary care visits at patients’ homes or offices and prescription delivery, is adding behavioral health care to its slate of services.
Amazon’s health service business plans to team up with teletherapy startup Ginger as an optional add-on to Amazon Care. Through the partnership, Amazon Care users will be connected to Ginger’s on-demand mental health services including behavioral health coaches, licensed therapists and psychiatrists, according to a live website about the service. * * *
The new service hasn’t launched yet, according to people familiar with the matter, Business Insider reported.
As an aside, Smart Brief discusses telemedicine in pediatrics.
Fierce Health also tells us
A company with a long history of providing medical supplies for chronic conditions is expanding its business into monitoring and coaching services for diabetes patients.
CCS, which now includes CCS Medical and CCS Health, aims to provide a more integrated experience for chronic care management, Tony Vahedian, CEO of CCS, said in an interview. * * *
“We believe we’re in the appropriate position to really take that fragmented experience and make it an integrated, seamless experience because not only can we deliver the products at the time, but we also can coach them and provide that clinical care,” the CEO noted. CCS can combine its home-delivered medical supplies business with accredited clinicians supported by proprietary data and technology to simplify the patient experience, he added.
The company supports more than 200,000 patients living with chronic conditions in the U.S. and delivers more than 1.2 million shipments of medical supplies to patients in their own homes.
From the nudging front, Health Payer Intelligence shares another survey illustrating that participants in employer-sponsored health plans need more help with health plan literacy.