GOP Candidates Shy Away From Once-Favorite ‘Repeal And Replace’ Talking Point
After years of using the health law as a rallying cry with voters, Republican candidates are keeping quiet on the topic. “Yeah, we probably can’t talk credibly about repeal and replace anymore,” said Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.).
The Washington Post:
Republicans Lose Their Favorite Campaign Message: Repealing Obamacare
The campaign website of Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Mich.) doesn’t mention Obamacare, even though Web archives show it once prominently featured promises to vigorously fight the 2010 health-care law. Rep. Garland “Andy” Barr (R-Ky.) touted repealing the Affordable Care Act as one of three top priorities when first running for Congress in 2012. Now his website focuses on tax cuts and job creation instead. In her first House bid in 2014, Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) said her campaign was about growing the economy, creating jobs and “repealing and replacing Obamacare.” She’s not talking about that anymore. (Cunningham, 4/14)
Modern Healthcare:
50 Shades Of Healthcare: Bit By Bit, The Affordable Care Act Is Being Remade
As the Trump administration and some in Congress whittle away at the Affordable Care Act, blue states are filling in gaps in an attempt to bolster their markets. Others are picking up chainsaws. Federal moves to pull a form of financial assistance for low-income Americans and slash ACA outreach and advertising last year were followed by the GOP tax law's elimination of the individual mandate penalty, and a proposal to expand health coverage that disregards ACA rules and protections. A bipartisan bill to restore cost-sharing reduction payments and establish a federal reinsurance fund fizzled out. (LIvingston, 4/14)
In other national health care news —
Politico:
Abortion Foes Seize On Chance To Overturn Roe
The anti-abortion movement believes it's one Donald Trump-appointed Supreme Court justice away from a shot at overturning Roe v. Wade, and advocates are teeing up what they hope will be the winning challenge. From Iowa to South Carolina, lawmakers are proposing some of the most far-reaching abortion restrictions in a generation, hoping their legislation triggers the lawsuit that eventually makes it to the high court. (Haberkorn, 4/15)
The New York Times:
How Profiteers Lure Women Into Often-Unneeded Surgery
Jerri Plummer was at home in Arkansas, watching television with her three children, when a stranger called to warn that her life was in danger. The caller identified herself only as Yolanda. She told Ms. Plummer that the vaginal mesh implant supporting her bladder was defective and needed to be removed. If Ms. Plummer didn’t act quickly, the caller urged, she might die. (Goldstein and Silver-Greenberg, 4/14)
The New York Times:
Drug Company ‘Shenanigans’ To Block Generics Come Under Federal Scrutiny
Trump administration officials, seeking ways to lower drug costs, are targeting pharmaceutical companies that refuse to provide samples of their products to generic drug companies, making it impossible to create inexpensive generic copies of a brand-name medicine. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said recently that drug makers must “end the shenanigans” that prevent competing products from reaching the market. (Pear, 4/14)
Stat:
Former Mallinckrodt Employee Alleges The Ingredients In A Best-Selling Drug Are A Mystery
In a sensational lawsuit, a former Mallinckrodt (MNK) employee claims that she was fired for repeatedly warning the drug maker about a host of allegedly illegal activities designed to boost sales of a key drug. Those practices included running a “sham” patient assistance program and refusing to provide payers with clinical data that would be used for making coverage decisions. Moreover, executives were allegedly unaware of the ingredients in the best-selling Achtar drug, which is used to treat infantile spasms and often prescribed for more than a dozen other maladies. (Silverman, 4/13)
The New York Times:
A Drug To End Addiction? Scientists Are Working On It.
Scrambling for ways to contain America’s out-of-control opioid crisis, some experts in the field are convinced that one bit of good advice is to just say no to the enduring “just say no” antidrug message. Addiction, they say, is not a question of free will or a correctable character flaw, as a lot of people would like to believe. Rather, it is an affliction of the brain that needs to be treated as one would any chronic illness. One possible approach, an experimental vaccine, draws attention in this offering from Retro Report, a series of short video documentaries exploring major news stories of the past and their lasting impact. (Haberman, 4/15)
