| Sanders sees movement to 'Medicare for all' Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Monday that he thinks a new health-care plan from a Democratic think tank shows that the party is moving toward his position on health care. Asked if he thinks the plan from the Center for American Progress (CAP), which comes very close to Sanders's signature idea of "Medicare for all," shows the Democratic Party is moving his way, Sanders told The Hill, "Yes, I do." The plan released by CAP, a group with close ties to Sanders's former primary opponent Hillary Clinton, is not quite single-payer in that it still allows for employer-based insurance as an option. But it otherwise provides Medicare for all people, something very close to Sanders's vision and a leftward shift from previous major Democratic plans. Sanders alluded to the fact that the CAP plan does not go as far as his own, but called it a "step." He pressed his call for universal coverage. "I think that the most cost-effective way to do that is by expanding Medicare, eliminating the private insurance companies, and then saving tremendous amounts of money in administrative costs," he said. "I believe in a Medicare for all, single-payer, but to the degree that people are talking about guaranteeing health care to all people, it's a step." Read more here. UnitedHealthcare will pass drug rebates directly to consumers One of the nation's largest health insurers said Tuesday it will begin passing on the savings it gets from discounted prescription drugs straight to the consumers that buy them. UnitedHealthcare said it would pass on rebates it gets from drug companies directly to consumers beginning next year. The move comes as drug companies, insurers and other key players point fingers about who is responsible for high drug prices. Drugmakers often give rebates for prescription drugs to insurance companies through a negotiating process, but critics argue those savings aren't passed on to consumers. Insurers say they spread the savings from discounts to lower overall premiums. But beginning next year, some people covered by certain employer-sponsored insurance plans can collect the rebates when they fill prescriptions or at the point of sale. Read more here. Aetna donates $200K to gun protest march Aetna announced on Tuesday that it will donate $200,000 to the gun reform rally "March for Our Lives." The health insurer said it wants to support action to stop gun violence, but doesn't oppose responsible gun owners. "I want to emphasize that our actions are not an indictment of responsible, legal gun owners," Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said in a statement. "Instead, we are joining others who cannot sit by idly while mass shootings become a part of our everyday life." The rally was organized by survivors of the Florida high school shooting in February that left 17 people dead and many others wounded. It is scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C., and a number of other cities on March 24. Aetna joins a growing list of companies and celebrities that are donating money to the event. Read more here. CDC sees spike in opioid-related ER visits Emergency room visits for opioid overdoses increased sharply from 2016 to 2017, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC report finds that emergency room visits for opioid overdoses increased 30 percent in 45 states from July 2016 to September 2017. CDC acting Director Anne Schuchat said the data could be an early warning sign of a worsening crisis. "Long before we receive data from death certificates, emergency department data can point to alarming increases in opioid overdoses," she said in a statement. "This fast-moving epidemic affects both men and women, and people of every age. It does not respect state or county lines and is still increasing in every region in the United States." The report found that the rate of emergency room visits for opioid overdoses increased in every region of the country, including 70 percent in the Midwest, 40 percent in the West, 21 percent in the Northeast, 20 percent in the Southwest and 14 percent in the Southeast. Overdose rates also increased for men and women and all age groups, the data found. Read more here. McCaskill accuses generic drugmaker of 'stonewalling' A Democratic senator on Tuesday accused the world's largest generic drugmaker of "stonewalling" an investigation into the role opioid manufacturers and distributors play in the current drug crisis. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has only provided general information in response to repeated inquiries by her office. In letters released by McCaskill, the manufacturer outlined the systems it has developed and implemented for identifying potentially suspicious opioid orders from customers. However, McCaskill said the company has not provided her with correspondence between the company and its buyers detailing efforts to combat drug diversion. Read more here. | 
