Welcome to the Friday edition of Overnight Health Care. While Congress may be out of town today, we're still here to bring you the latest health news. Lobbying disclosures are due by midnight, which we means we get to find out how much health companies spent courting members of Congress and the administration. Many companies are late filers, so we may have to update you Monday. But we'll tell you what we do know so far. Hint: PhRMA spent a lot. But first: Republicans are backing off ObamaCare as a campaign issue ObamaCare repeal dominated the agenda last year, but now Republicans are backing off as they campaign in 2018. That's certainly a shift from 2010 and 2014, when repeal was a rallying cry for Republicans in the midterms. "I am focused on improving healthcare in any way we can; I'm not looking to tilt at windmills," said Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), who played a key role in last year's repeal push. "I don't think it's seen as a winning issue," said GOP strategist Ford O'Connell. "It's also an issue that tends to fire up the Democratic base more so than the Republican base." What's changed? Some Republicans blamed the Senate for its failure to pass repeal, saying that had taken away the issue. The House GOP did its job, and now some GOP supporters of repeal say the House is paying for the Senate's sins. Democrats, though, point to the health law's rising popularity in polls. Read more here. Trendy in the states: Drug pricing. Congress has railed against pharmaceutical executives for jacking up the prices of some medicines. But lawmakers haven't passed sweeping legislation to address the issue. That's led many states to tackle the industry on their own. Legislatures across the country have considered a slew of bills aimed at decreasing the cost of drugs, increasing price transparency and cracking down on controversial industry practices. On the federal front: Trump is expected to give a speech on prescription drug prices Thursday, but the White House has indicated the speech will mostly be a call for new ideas to address drug prices. Read more here. PhRMA spends record amount on lobbying amid drug pricing fights. The largest drug lobby group in America beat its own record for the most spent on lobbying in a single quarter. PhRMA spent $10 million in the first quarter of this year as it looked to stop a bipartisan drug pricing measure from becoming law. That's a $2 million increase compared to the same time last year, and a $4 million increase over the fourth quarter, which was the end of last year. A win: The group's effort to fight the CREATES Act, intended to increase competition among generic and branded drug manufacturers, paid off. The measure did not make it into Congress's February spending bill. A loss: PhRMA was unable to stop a provision that raised the share of costs that drug companies have to pick up as part of closing the "donut hole," a gap in drug coverage for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. The bottom line: PhRMA is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington, and they can, and do, use their clout to block bills that could hurt their bottom lines. Read more here. Also from the lobbying reports: - The American Hospital Association spent $5 million on lobbying, an increase of about half a million compared to last quarter.
- The American Medical Association spent $6.6 million, down by a couple hundred thousand compared to this time last year.
- AARP kept its spending relatively level compared to Q1 of 2017, spending $2.1 million.
- America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the largest trade group of insurance companies, spent $2.3 million, an increase of about $600,000 over last year's first quarter.
|
沒有留言:
張貼留言