Overnight Health Care: House GOP blocks Trump-backed drug pricing provision | Maryland sues to protect ObamaCare | Insurers offer help to hurricane-impacted areas

View in Browser     Welcome to Thursday's edition of Overnight Health Care. Lawmakers have a deal to extend government funding to December and avert a shutdown. CLICK HERE to subscribe to our newsletter.   House and Senate negotiators finished work on the Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bills, which represent a lion's share of annual appropriations. The HHS share includes $90.5 billion in HHS appropriations, a $2.3 billion boost from last year. A continuing resolution would cover agencies not included in the "minibus" spending bills. The health spending bill includes $3.8 billion specifically set for battling the opioid epidemic, as well as provisions addressing the care of immigrant children in federal custody. What's notable is a provision that did not make it in.   House GOP blocks Trump-supported drug pricing provision from spending bill Congress has long struggled to do anything to tackle drug prices, and there was more of that on Thursday, when a bipartisan amendment that was also supported by President Trump was left out of the health-funding bill. The provision, which passed the Senate on a bipartisan basis last month, would require drug prices to be disclosed in television advertisements for drugs in an effort to increase transparency and bring down prices. Lawmakers and aides said that House Republicans objected to including the provision in the final version of the funding bill, which was finished by House and Senate negotiators on Thursday. Who's to blame? "Big Pharma," supporters say: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), one of the sponsors of the provision, blamed pharmaceutical companies for exercising their influence to block the measure. "When are we going to stand up to Big Pharma?" Durbin asked. Not a lot of clarity from Republicans on the reason: Asked about the objections, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the top health appropriator in the House, said he did not want to get into the details, but said that some House Republicans opposed the provision. "Our friends in the House felt differently on this topic," said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the top Senate health appropriator. Read more here.   Maryland files suit to try and protect ObamaCare Maryland is seeking something of an insurance policy against Texas and other GOP-led states' efforts to overturn ObamaCare in court. The state's attorney general filed a separate lawsuit in Maryland seeking an order to keep the Affordable Care Act going. This could create some confusion: Here's University of Michigan law professor Nick Bagley explaining the dueling orders this could create: "Depending on how quickly the Maryland case moves, it's possible we could see dueling injunctions--one ordering the Trump administration to stop enforcing the law, the other ordering it to keep enforcing," he writes. "That's an unholy mess just waiting to happen. Now, it may not come to that. My best guess is that the Texas lawsuit will fizzle: any injunction will likely be stayed pending appeal, either by the Fifth Circuit or the Supreme Court, and the case is going nowhere on the merits. The Maryland lawsuit will likely prove unnecessary." Read his analysis here.     Kavanaugh explains 'abortion-inducing drugs' remark amid backlash Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has a response for a line of attack that took off among Democrats after his hearing. Kavanaugh told senators that he was summarizing the plaintiffs' views in an ObamaCare case when he referred to birth control as "abortion-inducing drugs." Kavanaugh's use of the phrase during his confirmation hearing sparked days of backlash from Democrats and progressive groups, who argued the Supreme Court pick was trying to signal his own views. But Kavanaugh, in written responses provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, told senators that the phrase, "abortion-inducing drugs," summarized the plaintiffs' position, stating "I was accurately describing the plaintiffs' position." "At the hearing, I was not expressing an opinion on whether particular drugs induce abortion; I used that phrase only when recount the plaintiffs' own assertions," Kavanaugh wrote in a response to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) about his use of the phrase. Read more here.   Insurers offering help to hurricane-impacted areas As the southeast coast prepares for Hurricane Florence, insurers in the region are offering additional help to people who live in affected states. Aetna will allow for the immediate refill of prescriptions for anyone living in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia and Washington, D.C. Blue Shield is allowing refills for anyone in mandatory evacuation zones. Both companies are also providing hotlines for people to call in need of counseling services, or assistance with finding available shelters, accessing government resources and seeking medical referrals.   What we're reading Much touted for cancer, 'precision medicine' often misses the target (Kaiser Health News) Insurer to Purdue Pharma: We won't pay for OxyContin anymore (Nashville Public Radio)   State by state State's uninsured rate up by a fraction, report says (Georgia Health News) Josh Hawley under fire in Missouri on pre-existing conditions as pressure from Dems mounts (Kansas City Star)         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Healthcare Newsletters     Forward Healthcare Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Live coverage: Cuomo, Nixon face off in high-stakes New York primary

View in your browser     Live coverage: Cuomo, Nixon face off in high-stakes New York primary Voters in New York are heading to the polls for the final primary of the 2018 midterm elections. The most notable race is the nationally watched Democratic gubernatorial primary between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and “Sex and the City” actress Cynthia Nixon, though a three-way Democratic attorney general race has become a nailbiter. Polls close at 9 p.m. EST. See live coverage here           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for News Alerts     Forward News Alerts     You Might Like       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

On The Money: Lawmakers get deal to avoid shutdown | House panel approves 'tax cuts 2.0' bill | Jobless claims hold steady near 49-year low

View in your browser     Happy Thursday and welcome back to On The Money. I'm Sylvan Lane, and here's your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N. Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis.   THE BIG DEAL -- Negotiators to avoid shutdown: The House and Senate on Thursday reached a deal to prevent a shutdown by passing a large package of spending bills this month along with a continuing resolution that would fun the rest of the government through December 7. The package would keep the government funded past Oct. 1, the deadline for Congress to act. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) on Thursday said that the two bodies had completed work on the Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bills, which represent a lion's share of annual appropriations. The combined $786 billion in the two bills represents 65 percent of the annual appropriations allocated for 2019.   The game-changer: Including the continuing resolution (CR) in the package would make it difficult for President Trump to make good on threats to shut down the government over border wall funding. The wall's funding is part of the Department of Homeland Security bill, which is included in the CR, meaning Trump would also have to veto the defense bill if he wanted to make good on his threat. The White House did not say if Trump was still considering a veto for the bill.   Also today, Congress sends first spending package to Trump in push to avert shutdown: Over in the House, lawmakers passed a $147 billion "minibus" spending package Thursday and sent it to President Trump for a signature, taking initial steps to avert another possible government shutdown. The legislation, which makes up approximately 12 percent of overall 2019 spending, was passed by a bipartisan vote of 377-20. The Senate overwhelmingly passed an identical bill Wednesday evening, and the White House has indicated that Trump will sign the measure The package passed Thursday includes bills for military construction and veterans' affairs, the legislative branch and energy and water. The Hill's Niv Elis updates us here.   Highlights: The three-bill package that passed the House on Thursday included $98 billion for military construction and veterans affairs -- a $5.3 billion increase from the previous year.  The bill also funds a backlog of maintenance costs for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and clinics, as well as mental health care and suicide prevention, but did not specifically fund the VA Choice medical program, which will move from the automatic part of the budget to the discretionary side starting in May. The $44.6 billion energy and water bill, a $1.4 billion increase over last year, includes funding for modernizing nuclear weapons complexes, revitalizing waterways and researching renewable energy. The measure did not fund a project to store nuclear waste in Nevada's Yucca Mountains, a controversial rider that had been included in the House version of the bill.   LEADING THE DAY 'Tax cuts 2.0' bill passes House committee: The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday advanced legislation to cement the individual tax changes in President Trump's tax law as House Republicans seek to shine a light on their biggest recent legislative accomplishment ahead of the midterm elections. The bill, part of a package Republicans are calling "Tax Reform 2.0," passed the committee on a party-line vote of 21-15 after hours of debate between Democrats and Republicans over the value of the measure and the 2017 tax law. The bill is expected to get a vote on the House floor later this month but isn't expected to be taken up by the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to pass. The Hill's Naomi Jagoda tells us more here.   But at what price? A second round of GOP tax cuts would add $3.8 trillion to the federal deficit over the next two decades, according to a report released Thursday by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Wednesday. The proposed bill would reduce federal revenue by $631 billion from FY 2019-28 and an additional $3.15 trillion between FY 2029-38, according to the report. The Joint Committee on Taxation also estimates $631 billion in revenue would be lost under the bill in the next decade, but has not made predictions past then. And the Penn Wharton Budget Model projects that the cuts would force the government to lose $614 billion in revenue over the next 10 years, lose $3.83 billion in revenue by 2040, and slightly contract the economy by between 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent by 2040.   Jobless claims holding steady near 49-year low: First-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped last week, staying at a 49-year low for the second straight week. The number of U.S. workers filing claims was 204,000 for the week ending Sept. 8, a drop of 1,000 from the previous week's level, the lowest level for initial claims since Dec. 6, 1969, when it was 202,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The four-week moving average, which provides a better sense of the direction of the labor market, decreased 2,000 to 208,000, also the lowest level since Dec. 6, 1969. Jobless claims have held below 300,000, a sign of a healthy labor market, for more than three years.   GOOD TO KNOW Trump administration officials invited Beijing to hold new trade talks ahead of a decision by the president on whether to raise duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports, according to the AP. The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission is eyeing tougher enforcement actions, according to Reuters. Former President Obama is stumping for former CFPB Director Richard Cordray as he runs for governor of Ohio, according to Politico. U.S. public companies scored an early victory in a longstanding fight to curb the impact of consultants who influence shareholder votes on hot-button topics such as executive pay, The Wall Street Journal reports.  Lawmakers pressed Trump administration officials on Thursday to step up enforcement of sanctions against Russia during a heated hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Time Magazine explores the crisis facing teachers around the country who struggle immensely to pay their bills.   ODDS AND ENDS Semper why? President Trump told donors that he hopes to rebrand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the U.S., Mexico and Canada as the "USMC" pact, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Federal data released Wednesday show that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. The Treasury Department on Thursday imposed financial penalties on two information technology companies and one Chinese national with ties to North Korea for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions.           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Finance Newsletters     Forward Finance Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.