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Congress is meant to finish its annual appropriations payments earlier than the beginning of the fiscal 12 months on Oct. 1. However it not often does, and this 12 months is not any totally different, as lawmakers scramble to move a short-term funding invoice to allow them to postpone last selections till no less than December.
In the meantime, with a watch to the midterms, Home Republicans put out a “Dedication to America,” which incorporates solely the vaguest guarantees associated to well being care. It’s one more demonstration that the one factor in well being care that unifies Republicans is their opposition to Democrats’ well being insurance policies. It’s notable that this newest Republican plan does not recommend repealing the Reasonably priced Care Act.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Victoria Knight of Axios.
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- The short-term funding invoice to maintain the federal government open contains the five-year reauthorization of the FDA’s person charges, that are charged to drugmakers and assist pay the salaries of many FDA staff. Democrats had hoped so as to add provisions to that measure that might create laws on dietary dietary supplements, cosmetics, and lab assessments. The present authorization runs out Oct. 1, and Republicans insisted they might help solely a clear invoice that didn’t have new authorities directives.
- That authorities funding invoice additionally is not going to embody President Joe Biden’s request for $20 billion to assist pay for added covid-19 and monkeypox vaccines and testing. Democrats mentioned they needed to increase these packages, however Republicans balked and mentioned the administration nonetheless has not accounted for all of the earlier appropriations.
- Biden’s touch upon “60 Minutes” suggesting that the covid pandemic “is over” harm administration efforts to influence Congress to move the additional covid funding.
- Biden took a victory lap this week and touted successes on administration priorities for Medicare. Amongst them, he mentioned, was a discount in subsequent 12 months’s Half B premium, which typically covers beneficiaries’ outpatient bills. However that premium went down, primarily as a result of Medicare charged an excessive amount of in 2022.
- Medicare premiums this 12 months noticed a dramatic enhance as a result of officers anticipated that the federal well being program would see greater prices related to the usage of Aduhelm, an costly remedy for some Alzheimer’s sufferers that obtained tentative approval in 2021 by the FDA. Medicare officers later mentioned they might cowl the drug just for sufferers who additionally enrolled in a scientific trial, and the expectations to be used of the drug plummeted.
- Republican Home members’ proposed agenda pledged to reverse the Democrats’ resolution this 12 months to permit Medicare to barter some drug costs. Though Democrats mentioned the availability would assist drive down prices, Republicans mentioned they don’t like the federal government interfering within the non-public market and worry that the measure would hamper innovation.
Additionally this week, Rovner interviews filmmaker Cynthia Lowen, whose new documentary, “Battleground,” explores how anti-abortion forces performed the lengthy recreation to overturn Roe.
Plus, for additional credit score, the panelists suggest their favourite well being coverage tales of the week they assume it’s best to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: KHN’s “Britain’s Exhausting Classes From Handing Elder Care Over to Personal Fairness,” by Christine Spolar
Alice Miranda Ollstein: KHN’s “Embedded Bias: How Medical Data Sow Discrimination,” by Darius Tahir
Rachel Cohrs: The New York Instances’ “Arbitration Has Come to Senior Dwelling. You Don’t Must Signal Up,” by Paula Span
Victoria Knight: Forbes’ “Mark Cuban Contemplating Leaving Shark Tank as He Bets His Legacy on Low-Value Medicine,” by Jemima McEvoy
Additionally talked about on this week’s episode:
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