Welcome to today's All-Star edition of Overnight Health Care. If you're reading this while waiting in line to get into Nats Park, we hope you managed to stay dry through the deluge. In today's news, Idaho will vote on Medicaid expansion and hospitals lost a key court case in a fight with the pharmaceutical industry over a drug discount program. But first: The Trump administration scores a win against Planned Parenthood. A federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration -- and against Planned Parenthood -- in a lawsuit over changes to a government-funded family planning program. Planned Parenthood sought to have the changes thrown out, arguing they are unlawful because the administration did not go through a formal rulemaking process, which requires a public notice and comment period, when it altered the program. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated by President Trump last year, ruled Monday evening that courts cannot require an agency to go through a formal rulemaking process for a change in procedure. Why it matters: This means the administration's changes to the Title X family planning program will move forward. Planned Parenthood argues the new requirements emphasize abstinence and natural family planning, while de-emphasizing the FDA's approved methods of contraception. What's next: The deadline for the new grants has already passed. Planned Parenthood says the new requirements put it at a disadvantage to receive funding, so we'll see if that's true when the administration announces grant awards. Read more here. Idaho residents will vote on Medicaid expansion in November. Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) on Tuesday officially certified that an activist group collected the required 56,192 signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot. Supporters of the measure say it would provide coverage for up to 62,000 Idahoans who now fall into a coverage gap, making too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to qualify for subsidized health insurance through the state insurance exchange. What next? Even if Idaho voters approve the ballot measure in November, state lawmakers and the governor will have to implement expansion. Most Idaho politicians have opposed expansion. Voters in Maine overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure last year expanding their state's program, but implementation has been continually blocked by that state's Republican governor, Paul LePage. LePage is currently being sued over his refusal. Read more on the effort here. Deadline passes for comments on President Trump's drug pricing plan Monday night was the deadline for comments on Trump's plan to lower drug prices, and comments rolled in from all corners of the health sphere. From PhRMA: The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the main trade group for drug companies, put forward its own proposal. That proposal put the blame instead on negotiators known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PhRMA said PBMs should no longer take a percentage cut of the list price of a drug, which drug companies say artificially drives up the sticker price, and instead get paid a flat fee. PhRMA objected to some elements in Trump's proposal, like shifting drugs from Medicare Part B into Part D, where there is more negotiation and prices could be lower. From insurers: America's Health Insurance Plans called for lower drug prices and said it supports increased competition from generic drugs and more transparency around how drug prices are set. From doctors: "Physicians see every day that costs have become a major barrier to our patients getting the right medication at the right time," said the American Medical Association, calling out drug companies for their prices. Democrats are trying to keep the Supreme Court vacancy at the top of everyone's minds. The news cycle over the past week has been saturated with all things Russia, but there is still a Supreme Court vacancy and Democrats don't want it filled by Brett Kavanaugh. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and members of the Pro-Choice Caucus held a press conference Tuesday highlighting what they say are dangers to reproductive health is Kavanaugh is confirmed. From Pelosi: "Judge Kavanaugh was hand-picked from a list of radical nominees with strong support for dismantling a woman's right to choose. The President has said so himself: it's a done deed, Roe v. Wade will be repealed, will be overturned. "A vote for Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to destroy Roe v. Wade. It's not just about that, as important as that is, it's about women's health: it's about the health of all Americans. It's a vote to roll back a generation of progress for women and their families." For some reason, 'almond juice' doesn't sound as appealing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency might crack down on the labeling of almond and rice drinks as "milk." "An almond doesn't lactate," Gottlieb said Tuesday at the Politico Pro Summit in Washington, D.C. The FDA defines milk as a "lacteal secretion" from an animal. Standards of identity are set by the FDA to keep companies from misleading consumers about what they are eating. Gottlieb suggested the FDA probably isn't enforcing its standard of identity for products that claim to be milk, but are made from almonds, rice or soy. "The question is, 'Have we been enforcing our own standard of identity?' The answer is: probably not." "There are going to be people who make a counter-argument that almond milk should be able to call itself 'milk,' but we do have a standard of identity and I do intend to enforce that," he said. What we're reading The baby's coming. But the hospital is 100 miles away. (The New York Times) Verma: Court ruling won't close door on other Medicaid work requests (Politico) U.S. Health official reveals fentanyl almost killed his son (Associated Press) States attacking ACA would suffer most if preexisting conditions shield gets axed (Kaiser Health News) State by state Uncertainty for ObamaCare plans, as Washington and New Jersey take different paths (NorthJersey.com) With federal sanction looming, St. Luke's in Houston pushed to help heart transplant patients transfer (Houston Chronicle) South Carolina Gov. McMaster to Medicaid: Cover medical care, not abortion clinics (Associated Press) From The Hill's opinion page: Overcoming health-care challenges by moving from volume to value |
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