Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House To Announce Federal Health Care Costs Task Force
The White House plans to announce a new federal task force focused on easing health care costs, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter. The move comes as President Joe Biden seeks new ways to show voters he’s cracking down on the so-called corporate greed that he has increasingly blamed for high prices — a message he is expected to highlight during his State of the Union address on Thursday. (Sisco, Cancryn and Wilson, 3/4)
All of the manufacturers whose drugs were chosen for the federal government’s Medicare price negotiation program have sent back counteroffers for what they consider to be a maximum fair price, the White House said Monday. President Biden confirmed in a statement Monday that all companies are continuing to engage in the negotiation process, despite the host of legal battles to block the program. (Choi, 3/4)
As part of its battle to blunt the growing cost of medicines, the White House on Monday held a so-called listening session in hopes of finding ways to rein in big pharmacy benefit managers, which occupy an opaque but crucial role in pharmaceutical pricing in the U.S. (Silverman, 3/4)
Mark Cuban urged President Joe Biden to go further to rein in prescription drug costs. The billionaire entrepreneur visited the White House on Monday in his role as co-founder of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. for a roundtable on drug prices. (Wingrove, 3/4)
Joe Biden took office with big challenges in health care, foremost among them ending the pandemic. They only grew after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. On Thursday, Biden could point to the Inflation Reduction Act, which for the first time gave Medicare the power to negotiate prices on drugs, or the American Rescue Plan, which made Obamacare plans more affordable. (3/5)
On the congressional spending plan —
Hospitals and pharmacy benefit managers who've repeatedly been targeted in congressional debates over health spending appear to have ducked major federal reforms that could have upended how they do business. The big congressional spending deal largely keeps the status quo for the two powerful industries. (Sullivan, 3/5)
The $460 billion legislation would fund a slew of government agencies and programs, including veterans affairs. It must pass in order to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the week. (Edmondson, 3/4)
