Official Tells Hill Panel Medicare May Revise Controversial Drug Payment Proposal
The Senate Finance Committee grilled Dr. Patrick H. Conway, a deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, over an administration plan to change how Medicare pays for drugs administered in doctors' offices.
The New York Times:
Latest Plan To Cut Medicare Drug Payments Leaves Senators Skeptical
Under fire from senators in both parties, a senior federal health official told Congress on Tuesday that the Obama administration would adjust its plan to reduce Medicare payments for many prescription drugs, but those assurances did not fully allay deep concerns. The official, Dr. Patrick H. Conway, a deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, indicated to the Senate Finance Committee that the administration would probably go ahead with its proposal in some form, and he promised that officials would try to prevent any harm to patients. (Pear, 6/28)
In other national health care news —
The Wall Street Journal:
Gilead Gets FDA Approval For Combo Hepatitis C Drug
Gilead Sciences Inc. received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its Epclusa hepatitis C combination drug and priced the treatment below its older drugs for the disease. ... The new drug, a combination of the biopharmaceutical company’s Sovaldi with its new velpatasvir therapy, is the first drug that treats all six major strains of the disease. Gilead priced Epclusa lower than its older hepatitis C drugs, at $74,760 for a course of treatment before discounts, according to a company spokeswoman. (Stynes and Rockoff, 6/28)
Stat:
Biden To Unveil Effort To Speed Researchers’ Access To Cancer Drugs
The Obama administration on Wednesday is rolling out a series of initiatives to build momentum for cancer research, announcing that it will try to expedite scientists’ access to experimental drugs for research purposes and partner with foundations and the private sector to fund more “precompetitive” studies. (Nather, 6/29)
The Wall Street Journal:
Public-Private Partnerships Aim To Bolster ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Initiative
Vice President Joe Biden announced a series of partnerships involving government, industry and academia that are aimed at bolstering the White House’s proposed $1 billion “cancer moonshot” to speed up the national fight against the disease. The alliances were disclosed Wednesday at the outset of more than 270 events around the country to kick off the cancer effort, including a meeting at Howard University in Washington, D.C., billed as the Cancer Moonshot Summit. Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, were scheduled to speak, as was Greg Simon, executive director of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force. (Burton, 6/29)
The New York Times:
In Pat Summitt, A Toughness Greater Than Invincibility
[Pat] Summitt died Tuesday at 64 after years of struggling with Alzheimer’s-type dementia. In her 38 years as a head college coach, she won 1,098 games, more than any other Division I coach, man or woman, and led Tennessee to eight national championships. You can talk about her toughness: She once dislocated her shoulder while chasing an aggressive raccoon off her porch, in an attempt to protect her Labrador retriever, and spent two hours trying to pop her shoulder back into place before calling for medical help. ... ut it’s also important to remember how Summitt dealt with dementia, and what a perfect reflection it was of her personality. (Macur, 6/28)
The Washington Post:
The Days Of The Dreaded Annual Pelvic Exam For Women May Be Numbered
There's great news for women who dread that annual pelvic exam (i.e. basically everyone). On Tuesday, a panel made up of medical experts that advise the government said that there's not enough evidence to support doing them for women who are healthy and not pregnant. The conclusion, issued as a draft recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, is a strong endorsement of the recent evidence that has been building against the practice that is performed 63 million times annually and is estimated to cost $2.6 billion. This is the first time the task force has made a statement related to pelvic exams for gynecologic conditions and is likely to impact what millions of women decide to do about the test and what insurers will cover. (Cha, 6/28)