‘This Is Like Some Kind Of Sick Joke’: Senators Get Fired Up Over Pre-Existing Conditions Provision At Azar Hearing
Democratic lawmakers questioned HHS Secretary Alex Azar about why the Trump administration backed away from defending the health law's provision that protects people with pre-existing conditions. Azar said the decision was driven by constitutional considerations not policy ones. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says that "everybody" he knows in the Senate wants to keep pre-existing conditions protections in place.
The New York Times:
A ‘Sick Joke’: Democrats Attack Health Secretary On Pre-Existing Conditions
Democratic senators blistered President Trump’s health secretary on Tuesday, telling him that the Trump administration’s efforts to undo health insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions made a mockery of the president’s campaign to rein in prescription drug prices. The secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, told Congress that he would be glad to work with lawmakers on legislation — “alternatives to the Affordable Care Act, modifications of the Affordable Care Act” — to provide access to insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. (Pear, 6/12)
The Washington Post:
Azar Backs Protections For Preexisting Conditions, Skirting Administration’s Legal Stance
Calling it “a constitutional position . . . not a policy position,” Azar sidestepped grilling on whether he agreed with a legal brief filed last week by Justice Department attorneys stating they would not defend the Affordable Care Act in a federal lawsuit by Texas and 19 other Republican-led states. During a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that was mainly about the president’s blueprint to address drug prices, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) told Azar that Justice’s legal position is “like some kind of a sick joke.” The administration argues that the ACA’s individual mandate, requiring most people to carry health insurance, will become unconstitutional next year — and, with it, the law’s insurance protections for consumers. (Goldstein and McGinley, 6/12)
Politico:
McConnell: 'Everybody' In Senate Likes Pre-Existing Condition Safeguards
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said “everybody” in the Senate wants to preserve consumer protections for people with pre-existing conditions, an Obamacare provision that the Trump administration last week said is unconstitutional and should be struck down in court. “Everybody I know in the Senate — everybody — is in favor of maintaining coverage for pre-existing conditions,” McConnell told reporters in the Capitol. “There is no difference in opinion about that whatsoever.” (Haberkorn, 6/12)
The Hill:
GOP Senator: DOJ's ObamaCare Argument 'As Far-Fetched As Any I've Ever Heard'
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate's health committee, called the Trump administration's argument against ObamaCare in a court case "as far-fetched as any I've ever heard." The Justice Department wrote in a filing Friday that it would not defend ObamaCare's protections for people with pre-existing conditions, siding in large part with a challenge to the law brought by a coalition of Republican-led states. (Hellmann, 6/12)
The Hill:
Senior DOJ Official Resigns In Wake Of ObamaCare Decision
A senior career Department of Justice (DOJ) official has resigned, one week after the Trump administration made a controversial announcement that it would argue key parts of ObamaCare are unconstitutional. A DOJ official confirmed to The Hill that Joel McElvain resigned and his last day is July 6, but declined to comment on whether the resignation was due to last week’s announcement. (Roubein, 5/12)
The New York Times:
The New Obamacare Lawsuit Could Undo Far More Than Protections For Pre-Existing Conditions
A new Trump administration court challenge is explicitly aiming to remove a central promise of Obamacare — its protections for people with pre-existing health conditions. But it could also make it much harder for any individual to obtain health insurance on the open market. The administration’s brief, filed in Federal District Court in Texas on Thursday, focuses on the core Obamacare provisions that make insurance available to people with prior illnesses. Those protections — which President Trump once praised and Republicans in Congress vowed not to disrupt last year — don’t exist in a vacuum. (Sanger-Katz, 6/12)
Azar also spoke about the administration's proposals for cutting drug prices —
The Wall Street Journal:
HHS Secretary Says Several Drug Companies Looking At ‘Substantial’ Price Cuts
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday touted the administration’s plan to combat high drug prices, saying several drug companies are looking at “substantial and material” price cuts, while Democrats said the plan would accomplish little. He said in testimony before the Senate health committee that companies are working with industry middlemen, including pharmacy-benefit managers, to make sure “they’re not discriminated against” for cutting their prices. Middlemen currently have an incentive to provide more favorable coverage to drugs with higher list prices, he said. (Armour and Loftus, 6/12)
Politico:
Trump’s Health Chief Suggests ‘Massive’ Drug Price Cuts Not Imminent
Azar claimed pharmacy benefits managers and drug distributors have held up efforts to reduce prices, and he blamed the drug pricing system for incentivizing high list prices. Drug companies are worried that if they cut list prices, these drug supply chain middlemen will no longer prioritize their products, Azar said. That’s because these companies sometimes make more money when a drug’s list price is higher. (Karlin-Smith, 6/12)
Stat:
Azar Says HHS Could Change Medicare Drug Rebates Without Congress
The federal government has the authority to modify or eliminate the rebates pharmacy benefit managers get from drug makers on behalf of patients in Medicare prescription drug plans, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday, the clearest indication yet that the administration might exercise that power. “Rebates are allowed under an exception to the anti-kickback statute, and that’s an exception that we believe by regulation we could modify,” Azar told lawmakers. (Swetlitz and Mershon, 6/12)
The Hill:
Warren Presses Health Chief Over Trump's Promise Of Drug Price Cuts
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday about why no drug companies have announced price decreases despite President Trump saying they would soon. Warren focused on Trump’s statement at the end of May that "in two weeks" drug companies would "announce voluntary massive drops in prices." The two-week mark from that statement is this Wednesday. (Sullivan, 6/12)