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| By Daniel Payne and Krista Mahr |
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With help from Ben Leonard, David Lim, Carmen Paun and Megan R. Wilson
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PhRMA and the National Associations of Community Health Centers have banded together to form the Alliance to Save America’s 340B Program. | Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images |
NEW PLAYERS ON 340B — Drug giants are teaming up with community health centers, providers and consumer advocates to push for increased transparency and accountability within the 340B program, Megan reports. In a new coalition, the groups will focus on 340B, a discount drug program meant for hospitals and health centers that serve low-income populations, Megan reports. That sometimes-controversial program, known as 340B, has been the subject of state-level lawsuits and scrutiny from Congress. It’s already an issue Congress is interested in, with some Senate HELP Committee members saying last week they were open to program reforms. That’s where the coalition, Alliance to Save America’s 340B Program, comes in, say its founding partners: the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the National Association of Community Health Centers. Drugmakers and providers covered by the program have often been at odds with each other — pharmaceutical manufacturers have criticized the lack of transparency in the program and accused some well-heeled hospitals of exploiting discounts. Hospitals and clinics often counter that the drug industry just wants to cut the program to bolster its bottom line. PhRMA president Steve Ubl called the coalition “historic,” and Rachel Gonzales-Hanson, the interim head of the NACHC, said the “unlikely alliance reinforces the urgency for action.” Community health center executives and providers are in Washington, D.C., this week for the association’s annual policy conference, flooding Capitol Hill with meetings. One main topic on the docket: changes to the 340B program. The alliance will circulate 10 policy proposals around congressional offices. One person who represents the pharmaceutical industry told Megan that getting policymakers up to speed on the issue will be the first big task.
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WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE. The rats are going to love this news: Alternatives to animal testing in drug development are gaining momentum, with the FDA offering new options to prove efficacy.
Are you excited about upcoming health news? Let us know at dpayne@politico.com and kmahr@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Ruth Reader talks with Adam Cancryn about the most notable health care priorities in President Joe Biden’s forthcoming budget proposal, which isn’t expected to include significant new Covid funding, the latest sign that the White House is preparing to wind down its emergency response operation later this year.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders is introducing the Insulin for All Act of 2023 that would cap insulin prices. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images |
FIRST IN PULSE: SANDERS UNVEILS INSULIN PRICE CAP BILL — Fresh off of Eli Lilly’s pledge last week to lower list prices for certain insulin products, Senate HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is pressing forward with new legislation that would limit the manufacturers’ prices for insulin contained in vials, pens, cartridges or other forms of delivery to “$20 per 1000 units” of the drug, David reports. The bill, the Insulin for All Act of 2023, has companion legislation being introduced in the House by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.). THE ‘RED LINE’ — Democrats are putting their foot down on proposed Medicaid cuts — which are being considered by Republicans, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. As outside conservative groups make a case for cuts in closed-door briefings and calls, members point to pledges from party leaders on both sides not to touch Social Security or Medicare as a key reason the health insurance program for low-income Americans is on the chopping block. Lawmakers, however, remain divided on how to bring down the cost of the $700 billion program, with proposals to add work requirements, cap spending and repeal Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion all under consideration.
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| A message from PhRMA: Insurers and PBMs don’t pay full price for your medicines. So why do you? Insurers and PBMs get discounts on medicines. Surprised? These savings can reduce the cost of some brand medicines by 50% or more, but insurers and PBMs aren’t required to share these savings with you. What else don’t they want you to know? |
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COVID CASH — Don’t expect to see significant new pandemic funding in the president’s budget this week, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn reports. The absence of a major request from Congress is the latest sign of the wind-down of the emergency response expected later this year. Though the budget details have yet to be finalized and could change, the White House’s request is expected to drop a call Biden made last year for tens of billions of dollars to fuel the ongoing crisis response. The move comes as President Joe Biden insists the public health crisis is under control and the administration shifts more broadly toward new priorities aimed at bolstering the post-pandemic economy and lowering consumer costs.
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FDA GIVES FULL APPROVAL TO COVID TEST — On Wednesday, Quidel’s Sofia 2 test became the first point-of-care Covid-19 test to receive the FDA’s so-called De Novo marketing authorization — traditional approval instead of an emergency use authorization, David reports. The diagnostic is a rapid antigen test that requires a prescription. “We look forward to working with developers of all test types who are interested in moving their products through our traditional review pathways and encourage those who are ready to do so as soon as possible,” Jeff Shuren, the director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.
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| A message from PhRMA:   |
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GOING AFTER CARTELS FOR FENTANYL DEATHS — Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) plan to introduce legislation in the coming days to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations because of their contribution to the fentanyl crisis in the U.S., Carmen reports. The measure would allow U.S. authorities to also prosecute Chinese companies selling chemicals used by drug cartels to manufacture fentanyl, which kills some 70,000 Americans a year, Graham told reporters Wednesday. Graham said he hoped the legislation would be bipartisan. He and Kennedy will also introduce a bill authorizing the use of military force to destroy fentanyl labs in Mexico. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) is working on a similar bill on the use of military force in the House. A Mexican official not authorized to speak on the record labeled the plan to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations “reckless and damaging.” “Drug cartels are criminal organizations focused solely on maximizing their profits. They are not terrorists, trying to remove or replace the government,” the official told Carmen. “The U.S. and Mexico have a shared interest in combating drug trafficking and organized crime, but this should be done in a way that respects Mexico's sovereignty,” the official added. CHANGING THE SUBJECT? Trump administration CDC Director Robert Redfield told a congressional committee Wednesday that his former colleague, Anthony Fauci, and former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins shut down discussions on Covid’s origins, Carmen reports. But Fauci, who wasn’t at the hearing, told POLITICO the accusations were “completely untrue.” The accusation came during a politically charged hearing Wednesday of the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and stoked Republican claims that Fauci in early 2020 promoted the view that an infected animal spread the virus to humans to divert attention from research the U.S. sponsored at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.
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CALIFORNIA’S REVENGE — California won’t renew a $54 million contract with Walgreens in response to the company’s decision not to dispense an abortion drug in states where Republican officials have threatened legal action against them, Alice and our Jeremy B. White report. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the decision Wednesday. The governor and lawmakers have taken broad measures in recent months to ensure abortion access in the state. “This is an attempt to call the question 'Which side are you on? Whose side are you on?” Newsom said in an interview with POLITICO. “Are you going to just cower in the face of bullies? Are you going to just roll over?”
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| STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. |
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CONGRESS DATA BREACH — Hundreds of House lawmakers and congressional staff might have had their data compromised after health insurance marketplace DC Health Link suffered a breach, the House Chief Administrative Officer wrote in a letter to people potentially impacted, Punchbowl News reported. Lawmakers didn’t seem to be specifically targeted, Ben writes. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have asked for more information, according to the letter. “We can confirm reports that data for some DC Health Link customers has been exposed on a public forum,” a spokesperson for DC Health Link said in an email to POLITICO. “We have initiated a comprehensive investigation and are working with forensic investigators and law enforcement.” And a spokesperson for the House Chief Administrative Officer wrote in an email to POLITICO that the CAO was “deeply concerned” about the impact on members and staff.
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now global ambassador for heat, health and gender at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center. Katie Tomarchio is now lead director for state government affairs for CVS Health. She previously was senior manager for public policy at ChargePoint.
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Bloomberg reports that the fight over the lab leak theory is obscuring the rise of high-security biolabs around the world. KHN looks back at Jimmy Carter’s war on the Guinea worm.
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| A message from PhRMA: Insurers and their PBMs don’t want you to see that you could be paying more than they are for your medicines. Rebates and discounts can significantly lower what insurers and PBMs pay for medicines. These savings can reduce the cost of some brand medicines by 50% or more. But insurers and PBMs aren’t required to share those savings with you at the pharmacy counter.
They don’t want you to see that they use deductibles, coinsurance and other tactics to shift more costs on to you. Or that the three largest PBMs control 80% of the prescription drug market. Or that last year they blocked access to more than 1,150 medicines, including medicines that could have lowered costs for you at the pharmacy.
PBMs and insurance practices are shrouded in secrecy, they need to be held accountable. |
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