Azar Declines House Democrats’ Request To Testify On Trump Administration’s Child Separation Policy
Although HHS offered to have other officials testify, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said Secretary Alex Azar was the best person to testify. "We are going to get him here at some point one way or another," Pallone said.
The Hill:
HHS Chief Refuses To Testify On Child Separation Policy
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is refusing to have secretary Alex Azar testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the administration’s child separation policy, according to the panel’s chairman. “[Azar’s] denial to appear before the Committee in the coming weeks on the family separation policy is unacceptable, and we are going to get him here at some point one way or another,” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) said in a statement. (Weixel, 1/22)
In other national health care news —
Politico:
Dems To Push Bill Raising Minimum Age To Buy Assault-Style Weapons
Democrats are introducing a bill that would raise the minimum age to buy assault-style weapons, the latest in a multipronged effort to address a string of recent mass shootings and stifle the gun lobby’s sway since taking back the House majority. The bipartisan bill, expected to be introduced by Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) Wednesday, would prohibit anyone younger than 21 from buying semi-automatic rifles, with exceptions for active duty military personnel and some police officers. In most states, anyone 18 or older can buy what’s known as an assault-style weapon, even though the federal purchasing age for handguns is 21. (Caygle and Ferris, 1/23)
The New York Times:
V.A. Wait Times Now Shorter Than For Private Doctors
Wait times for an appointment at Veterans Affairs hospitals have decreased since 2014 and are now, on average, shorter than those in the private sector, a new study shows. Researchers used V.A. data to calculate wait times for about 17 million appointments. The public sector data came from a survey conducted by a physicians’ search firm in nearly 2,000 medical offices in 30 major and midsize metropolitan areas. (Bakalar, 1/22)
The Washington Post:
Anonymous ‘Ghost Ship’ Is Among Groups Flooding Drug Pricing Debate
The political war over prescription drug practices is spawning a frenzy of activity by outside lobbying groups, some with names that mask their ties to industry and one that has gone to great lengths to disguise its origins. The increase in advertising, advocacy and pressure tactics is aimed at thwarting some efforts to control drug costs proposed in the Democratic-controlled House, such as allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, as well as ideas pursued by the Trump administration to curb prices. (Rowland and Stein, 1/22)
Reuters:
Walgreens Pays $269.2 Million To Settle U.S. Civil Fraud Lawsuits
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc will pay $269.2 million to settle two whistleblower lawsuits accusing it of civil fraud for overbilling federal healthcare programs over a decade, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday. The pharmacy chain will pay $209.2 million to resolve claims it improperly billed Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs from 2006 to 2017 for hundreds of thousands of insulin pens it dispensed to patients it knew did not need them. (1/22)
The New York Times:
What Is Toxic Masculinity?
For decades, we used terms like “macho,” “red-blooded” or “machismo” to describe the kind of hulking masculinity that men were, on some level, expected to aspire to. Now we have “toxic masculinity” — an expression once relegated to women’s studies classrooms that suddenly seems to be everywhere. (Salam, 1/22)
The New York Times:
To Fight Fatty Liver, Avoid Sugary Foods And Drinks
Overweight children with fatty liver disease sharply reduced the amount of fat and inflammation in their livers by cutting soft drinks, fruit juices and foods with added sugars from their diets, a rigorous new study found. The new research, published in JAMA on Tuesday, suggests that limiting sugary foods and drinks may be a promising lifestyle strategy to help alleviate a devastating condition linked to the obesity crisis that is spreading rapidly in adults and children. An estimated 80 million to 100 million Americans have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which causes the liver to swell with dangerous levels of fat. Roughly seven million of those are adolescents and teenagers. (O'Connor, 1/22)