After Eleventh-Hour Negotiations, House Set To Vote On $6.3B Cures Bill
While Democrats are still unhappy with some aspects of the legislation, it's expected to make it through the House and move on to a Senate vote next week.
The Wall Street Journal:
Drug, Medical-Device Bill Headed For Floor Votes
A $6.3 billion bill heading for a vote in the final weeks before adjournment could provide an infusion of money for biomedical research and opioid-addiction therapy while taking steps favored by drug and medical-device companies to ease federal approvals of their products. The measure would wrap in provisions based on a bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Murphy (R., Pa.) and passed by the House in July aimed at improving patients’ access to mental-health treatment. (Burton, 11/29)
In other national health care news —
Stat:
Meeting With Trump Emboldens Anti-Vaccine Activists
The discredited researcher who launched the anti-vaccine movement met with Donald Trump this summer — and found him sympathetic to the cause. Now, with Trump preparing to move into the White House, leaders of the movement are newly energized, hopeful they can undermine decades of public policy promoting childhood vaccinations. At the most basic level, they’re hoping Trump will use his bully pulpit to advance his oft-stated concern — debunked by an extensive body of scientific evidence — that there’s a link between vaccines and autism. (Robbins, 11/30)
The Wall Street Journal:
Anthem Begins Defense Of Cigna Merger At Antitrust Trial
Anthem Inc. executives told a judge Tuesday that consumers would benefit from the company’s proposed acquisition of Cigna Corp., saying the new company would be highly innovative while not reducing the fierce competition in the health insurance marketplace. (Kendall, 11/29)
The Associated Press:
EPA Begins Process To Regulate Toxic, Widely Used Chemicals
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released a list of toxic chemicals that will be the first reviewed under a recently enacted law that gives regulators increased authority to ban substances shown to endanger human health. (11/29)
The Hill:
Abortion Foes Plot Wave Of Legislation In The States
Opponents of abortion rights are planning to push a raft of new rules and restrictions after their allies scored big wins in state legislative chambers and gubernatorial races.Legislators in some states have already filed measures to prohibit or limit abortions that occur after 20 weeks of pregnancy and to ban abortions conducted by dismembering a fetus. (Wilson, 11/29)