DCMedical News: Friday, May 11, 2018
DCMedical News
Washington, D.C.
Friday, May 11, 2018
DCMedical News is published every day either the House or the Senate is in session. Want to subscribe? See below. Add our new domain (dcmedicalnews.org) to your white list. Welcome to our new “courtesy trial” recipients.
THE BIG STORY TODAY IN HEALTH CARE
President’s drug proposals to be unveiled today: Widely varying speculation, see STAT-Plus report and Dem counter here. Among the issues:
A comprehensive “Drug price rule” to span 340B, Medicare Parts B and D and Medicaid, but no Medicare “negotiation.”
Reference prices (basing prices for drugs in the same class on the least expensive when none of them offer additional benefits): potential big gain for pharma, Europeans may pay more, but will Americans pay less? Complaints about European “freeloaders” have come from the President on several occasions, now from HHS Secretary Azar in a talk to the American Hospital Association Wednesday. The “international reference pricing” proposal was also part of a paper (here) in February (see DCMN 2-12-2018) from the White House Council of Economic Advisors on drug pricing challenges.
DOCTORS, NURSE AND OTHER HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS
Retail clinics: Dr. Christine Cassel writing in JAMA (here) weighs in on retail clinics, noting the challenges. She writes, “Research on the performance of retail clinics has shown mixed results. Measured quality and patient satisfaction are generally as good or better than traditional clinics or emergency departments. Cost savings have been elusive, however, as most evidence points to increased use rather than substitution for more expensive care.”
Health Sprocket reports from the Knowledge at Wharton blog on CVS: 9,800 retail locations, 1,100 clinics, 75% of the population lives within five miles of a CVS pharmacy, basic health screening at CVS costs $59 to $69, an annual physical $89. Read more here on CVS CMO Dr. Troyen Brennan’s plans.
These folks will wind up in the ER: so says a Thursday Sermo post. “Just received correspondence from primary care division of our hospital group’s practice that they will no longer be writing prescriptions for controlled substances including benzodiazepams. The plan is to refer to pain management or psychiatry obviously to avoid the current scrutiny and liability . . . Who is going to write for Xanax for a patient with agoraphobia who needs a CT? What if someone's 18 year old son dies in a car accident? I guess they can wait a month to see a mental health care professional. Is a sleeping aid such a malpractice liability issue? . . . the medical profession [is] being held responsible for the opioid epidemic.”
HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
Hospital consolidation and price increases: Cooper, Gaynor and colleagues update their work on the inflation of hospital prices following mergers, here.
CMS unveils a rural health strategy: telehealth, provider engagement, empowerment of patients, leverage of partnerships, but no financial help for rural hospitals, or doctors. Overview, here.
MEDICARE, MEDICAID, COMMERCIAL HEALTH INSURANCE
Nicholas Bagley and Eli Savit (in a NY Times op-ed piece, here), discuss an important aspect of waivers issued by HHS, namely that the waivers may open opportunities for judicial review of HHS actions otherwise unavailable: “[T]he Second, Third, and Ninth circuits have all held, consistent with the presumption favoring judicial review of agency action, that the decision to grant an 1115 waiver is reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act.”
PHARMA
Genome therapy in your future: A study in JAMA Oncology (here) reviews the relevance of genome-targeted and genome-informed therapy for cancer patients, and finds: “The percentage of patients with cancer estimated to benefit from genome-targeted therapy in 2006 was 0.70%, and in 2018, it had increased to 4.90%. For genome-informed treatment in 2006, the percentage estimated to benefit was 1.31%, and in 2018, it had increased to 6.62%.” [Confidence measures omitted for clarity, will be found in article].
EVENTS & MEETING
May 11
12:00 – 1:30 p.m., “State Opportunities to Address Prescription Drug Costs in Medicaid,” Alliance for Health Policy and Commonwealth Fund, 1 Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, DC, sign up at http://www.allhealthpolicy.org/may-11-briefing/.
May 14
12:30 – 2:45 p.m., “Reimagining Health Care in America,” National Institute for Health Care Management, Room G50, Dirksen Senate Office Building.
CMS HCPCS Public Meetings for Drugs, Biologicals, Imaging Agents, continuing May 15 and 16.
Agendas and meeting materials here and here.
3:00: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, State Coverage Initiatives Affecting Rural Communities, through May 17th, at 3:00 p.m. each day. Detailed agenda here.
May 15
9:00 a.m., Alliance for Health Policy (AHP) holds a media briefing on "Perspectives on the 2018 HHS Drug Pricing Guidance," at 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, register with anguyen@allhealthpolicy.org
10:00 a.m., Senate HELP Committee, Oversight of 340B Drug Pricing Program, 430 Dirksen Building.
May 16
11:00 a.m., National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (Federal Register here).
Through May 18, “2018 Medicare Advantage Summit,” Better Medicare Alliance, Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, three days’ agendas here.
May 22
9:30 a.m., Washington Post, “America’s Health Future,” Verma, Murthy, Eyles (AHIP), contact molly.gannon@washpost.com.
May 24
8:30 – Noon, Health Care Costs in America, Alliance for Health Policy, Kaiser/Jordan Conference Center, 1330 G Street NW, Washington, DC.
May 30
9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., HHS Pain Management Task Force (open to the public), inaugural meeting, Federal Register meeting notice and task force membership here.
June 19
AHIP Institute & Expo, San Diego, through June 22.
June 24
HFMA (Healthcare Financial Management Association) Annual Conference, Las Vegas, through June 28.
AcademyHealth, through June 26, Convention Center, Seattle, Washington.
July 25
7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC), volume requirements for aortic valve replacements and percutaneous coronary interventions. Maria Ellis, MEDCAC, (410) 786-0309, maria.ellis@cms.hhs.gov. Federal Register notice here.
Aug. 20
Meeting of Medicare Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Program (through August 21), APCs, OPPS, the works. Evaluation of Advanced Primary Care (APC) groups; packaging of Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) services and costs; group weights, structure, appropriate level of supervision.
Further information here (Federal Register 5-3-2018), 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD.
FOR REFERENCE
Members of the Senate (here) and Members of Senate Committees (here), Senate Calendar (here).
Members of the House with their House Committees (here), House Calendar (here).
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE FOR DCMEDICAL NEWS
DCMedical News is published every day that either the House of Representatives or the Senate is in session.
Past issues can be accessed by clicking on “View this email in your browser.” Subscription information is found at the bottom of these pages. Trial subscriptions may end without notice.
May publication dates: 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
June publication dates: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.
July publication dates: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31.
Notes to: Fred Hyde, MD, JD, MBA; fredhyde@aol.com