Tomorrow (March 23) is the 14th anniversary of passage of the first part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare). [The law was amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act on March 30, 2010.]
Congress unveils $1.2 trillion plan to avert federal shutdown and bring budget fight to a close First read this overview from the AP. Then look at the Democratic summary and the Republican summary.
The former has good details about the healthcare and human services provisions while the latter focuses more on items like the defense budget.
In related news: House-passed bill instructs Congressional Budget Office to take longer view when grading preventive health laws “Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow lawmakers to request the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to generate budgetary savings estimates of prospective preventive healthcare legislation over a 30-year window as opposed to the current 10-year scoring window.”
About health insurance/insurers
Republican majorities block efforts to expand Medicaid in Georgia and Kansas “ Plans to expand Medicaid coverage to over half a million more people in Georgia and Kansas were defeated by Republican-led committees in the states’ legislatures Thursday.
There are currently only 10 states that don’t cover people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line, after North Carolina began offering Medicaid to uninsured adults last December.”
Providers 'wasted' $10.6B in 2022 overturning claims denials, survey finds “Providers spent nearly $20 billion in 2022 pursuing delays and denials across all payer types, yet those efforts are substantially more costly on average when dealing with private plans, Premier, a group purchasing organization, wrote in a recent blog post on the new data.
Just over half of the total comes from denied claims that are eventually paid out, meaning that about $10.6 billion is ‘wasted arguing over claims that should have been paid at the time of submission,’ Premier wrote.”
About pharma
GSK to cap out-of-pocket inhaler costs in US “British pharmaceutical giant GSK said on Wednesday it would cap out-of-pocket costs for all its inhaled asthma and chronic lung disease medicines at $35 per month for eligible patients in the United States, following similar moves by two of its rivals.
GSK said the decision will take effect by Jan. 1, 2025.
The cost cap would apply to all of its asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medicines, including Advair Diskus, Advair HFA, and Trelegy Ellipta, and would apply to patients whose monthly costs currently exceed $35.”
Arches Medical Partners buys 11 primary care clinics from VillageMD “Walgreens-owned VillageMD sold 11 primary care clinics in Rhode Island to Boston-based Arches Medical Partners.
The deal establishes the medical group management company's presence in the Providence metro area while continuing to provide access to high-quality care with experienced providers to approximately 75,000 patients, according to the company in a press release…
VillageMD continues to shed clinics across the country as part of Walgreens' aggressive $1 billion cost-saving strategy as it looks to boost profitability in its healthcare business. That effort also includes slashing capital expenditures by about $600 million.
The companies did not disclose the financial details.”
About the public’s health
Drug overdoses reach another record with almost 108,000 Americans in 2022, CDC says “Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to final federal figures released Thursday.
Over the last two decades, the number of U.S. overdose deaths has risen almost every year and continued to break annual records — making it the worst overdose epidemici n American history.
The official number for 2022 was 107,941, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, which is about 1% higher than the nearly 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021.”
House committee launches investigation into organ transplant network “The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has launched a bipartisan investigation into the U.S. organ transplant system – the latest scrutiny of the system following reports from the Senate and whistleblowers alleging its failures and mismanagement.
The move by the committee aims to "ensure successful implementation" of a bipartisan bill that was signed into law by President Joe Biden last September. The law was aimed at breaking up the monopoly system that allowed a private nonprofit --- the United Network for Organ Sharing -- to be the sole contractor managing the country's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) for over 40 years.”
About health technology
US surgeons transplant a gene-edited pig kidney into a patient for the first time “Doctors in Boston have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient, the latest experiment in the quest to use animal organs in humans.
Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday that it’s the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously, pig kidneys have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Also, two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died within months.”