Deep-Pocketed Health Industry Lobbies Ready To Throw Weight Behind Dems Who Want To Block ‘Medicare For All’
There's a brewing rift in the Democratic party between progressives who campaigned on "Medicare for all" and those who want to stabilize and improve upon the health law. The hospital, insurance and pharmaceutical industry are getting ready for the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, state attorneys general, emboldened by election wins, look to shore up their defense of the health law in courts.
Politico:
Establishment Looks To Crush Liberals On Medicare For All
The united front that helped Democrats save Obamacare just a year ago is falling apart over single-payer health care. Deep-pocketed hospital, insurance and other lobbies are plotting to crush progressives’ hopes of expanding the government's role in health care once they take control of the House. The private-sector interests, backed in some cases by key Obama administration and Hillary Clinton campaign alumni, are now focused on beating back another prospective health care overhaul, including plans that would allow people under 65 to buy into Medicare. (Cancryn, 12/10)
The Hill:
Top Dems Press Trump Officials For Answers On Pre-Existing Conditions
Four incoming House Democratic chairmen on Friday pressed the Trump administration for answers about its decision to call for overturning ObamaCare’s pre-existing condition protections in court. “In declining to defend these provisions, the Trump Administration is seeking to invalidate these critical patient protections, and once again subject millions of Americans with preexisting conditions to the discrimination they faced before the ACA,” the Democrats wrote in a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma. (Sullivan, 12/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Attorneys General To Bolster Fight Against Trump’s Agenda
Democrats are building a new power base that will play an elevated role in a divided government in Washington: state attorneys general contesting President Trump’s agenda in the courts. Democrats defeated Republican incumbents in four states last month, giving the party a 27-23 edge among states’ top law-enforcement officials, a shift that will beef up its legal fights against the president. Democrats plan to build upon dozens of existing lawsuits fighting Mr. Trump’s attempt to undercut the Affordable Care Act, roll back environmental regulations and install hard-line immigration policies. (Thomas, 12/10)
In other national health care news —
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Halts Study That Would Use Fetal Tissue ‘To Discover A Cure For HIV’
The Trump administration has shut down at least one government-run study that uses fetal tissue implanted into mice even before federal health officials reach a decision on whether to continue such research, which is opposed by antiabortion groups. A senior scientist at a National Institutes of Health laboratory in Montana told colleagues that the Health and Human Services Department “has directed me to discontinue procuring fetal tissue” from a firm that is the only available source, according to an email he sent to a collaborator in late September. (Goldstein and Bernstein, 12/9)
Stat:
HIV Research Halted After NIH Freezes Acquisition Of Fetal Tissue
The NIH confirmed the suspension on Friday to Science, which reported it affected two NIH labs, including halting an HIV research project. Spokespeople for the Department of Health and Human Services and and the NIH institutes with affected labs did not respond to STAT’s request for comment on Sunday. Researchers use fetal tissue to create mice with human-like immune systems — which is useful for biologists like Dr. Warner Greene who do HIV research. (Sheridan, 12/9)
The Associated Press:
Caregivers For 3600 Migrant Teens Lack Complete Abuse Checks
Nearly every adult working with children in the U.S. — from nannies to teachers to coaches — has undergone state screenings to ensure they have no proven history of abusing or neglecting kids. One exception: thousands of workers at two federal detention facilities holding 3,600 migrant teens in the government’s care, The Associated Press has learned. The staff isn’t being screened for child abuse and neglect at a Miami-based emergency detention center because Florida law bans any outside employer from reviewing information in its child welfare system. Until recently at another facility holding migrant teens in Tornillo, Texas, staff hadn’t even undergone FBI fingerprint checks, let alone child welfare screenings, a government report found. (Mendoza and Burke, 12/7)