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This Time Around, Debate Much Different
Insurance companies, "the industry that gets credit for helping to kill the Clinton administration"s health care overhaul 15 years ago," are now "striking a conciliatory tone as it faces the most serious attempt to overhaul the system since that effort collapsed," CQ Politics reports. With low favorability ratings and Democrats in control of the federal government, "insurers know they aren"t in a good bargaining position" this time around. They have already offered concessions, including providing "insurance in the individual markets to everyone, without regard to who is sick," and not "charging people who are ill higher rates and cut health care costs." But they"ve also been ""careful to structure their offers in such a way that appears significant but does not overpromise." An individual mandate for all Americans and an end to health screening for applicants could offer "a win-win outcome, one that will benefit not just patients but potentially the profits of the industry as well." But "perhaps the biggest motivation for insurers to deal now is that they fear what might happen if they don"t" - the "creation of a government-run plan that would be more attractive to the public and siphon off customers" (Adams, 6/1).
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House To Consider Amendment To HHS Bill To Limit Funding To Planned Parenthood Clinics
The House on Friday is expected to pass its fiscal year 2010 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill (HB 3293) after considering several Republican amendments addressing the bill"s price tag and certain policy priorities, CQ Today reports. The bill would appropriate $730.5 billion, making it the largest of the 12 annual appropriations bills. A vote is expected on a GOP amendment, offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), to prohibit family planning funding through the Title X program to Planned Parenthood clinics. Other expected amendments will seek to ban NIH from funding grants to research the HIV/AIDS risks associated with alcohol and substance abuse among sex workers in Asia and to strip language that would lift the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs (Wolfe, CQ Today, 7/23).In related news, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday said the Senate would not vote on a health care reform bill until after Congress returns from its August recess, the New York Times reports (Herszenhorn/Zeleny, New York Times, 7/24).
News of the day
30% Of Children At Risk Of Future Heart Disease
Almost 30% of 14-year-old Australian children fall within a group identified as being at future increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes or stroke, according to results referred to in the Medical Journal of Australia.
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White House: Shield Biotech Drugs From Generics For Only Seven Years

White House officials said Thursday that biotech drugs (also known as biologics) should only be protected from generics competition for seven years, Reuters reports. "The amount of protection for brand-name companies is a sticking point among lawmakers working to set up a legal pathway for approval of generic forms of biotech drugs. The brand-name versions can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year. Industry groups representing brand-name makers are lobbying for 12 to 14 years, saying it is crucial for encouraging companies to invest in development of new medicines." The White House, "in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said "seven years strikes the appropriate balance between innovation and competition by providing for seven years of exclusivity."" The biologic drugs are man-made versions of human proteins and treat conditions like anemia, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, Reuters reports. The drug industry is worried that such a move will make researching and developing new drugs less attractive to drug makers (Richwine, 6/25). Bloomberg: "Unlike conventional pills, biologics can"t be copied even after patents expire. Patient groups, payers and generic drugmakers have battled biotechnology companies for more than two years over how to allow competition. ò€¦ Amgen, of Thousand Oaks, California, and Genentech, a unit of Swiss drugmaker Roche, are the largest U.S. makers of biologics. They say their medicines can"t be replicated like conventional pills produced through chemical synthesis because of complex manufacturing and finished products that have slight variances ... Generic biologics may be sold at a 10 percent to 30 percent discount, allowing for "substantial consumer savings" without eroding market share for brand-name drug companies, the Federal Trade Commission said in a June 10 report" (Larkin, 6/25). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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