Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Lawmakers' Approaches Differ On Over-The-Counter Birth Control
There is growing agreement among senators that women should have over-the-counter access to birth control pills, but that is where the consensus stops and familiar political battle lines over women's health care emerge. A group of Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., unveiled a bill Tuesday that would allow birth control pills approved by the Food and Drug Administration to be sold without a prescription. (Davis, 6/9)
A revamped version of broad mental health legislation that stalled in the last Congress hasn鈥檛 won the support of some Democrats who backed a competing measure last year, with the holdouts poised to introduce targeted legislation on specific issues beginning Tuesday. California Democrat Doris Matsui plans to drop a House bill designed to clarify what information health care providers can share with family members and caregivers of patients with mental illness, according to her office. The bill would require the Health and Human Services Department to issue regulations consistent with guidance released last year and launch education programs for providers, administrators and patients and families. (Attias, 6/9)
Meanwhile, a showdown looms over funding of a VA hospital project in suburban Denver -
In a few days, the Department of Veterans Affairs will run out of money to keep workers on the job at the over-budget hospital under construction in suburban Denver. And once again, Congress and the agency could be heading toward a showdown over how to fix a boondoggle whose cost is now estimated at three times its original budget. A resolution needs to come very soon, but with little trust left between political leaders and VA officials, it looks like the project is in line to get another Band-Aid rather than an infusion of cash the agency wants to finally finish the hospital. (Rein, 6/10)
