Struggles, False Starts Leach Momentum From GOP’s Whirlwind Repeal And Replace Efforts
As efforts to unify behind one plan founder, some Republicans are starting to embrace the idea of "repair" instead of "replace."
The New York Times:
G.O.P. Campaign To Repeal Obamacare Stalls On The Details
Congress’s rush to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, once seemingly unstoppable, is flagging badly as Republicans struggle to come up with a replacement and a key senator has declared that the effort is more a repair job than a demolition. “It is more accurate to say ‘repair Obamacare,’” Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate health committee, said this week. “We can repair the individual market, and that is a good place to start.” (Pear and Abelson, 2/2)
In other national health care news —
USA Today:
HHS Nominee Tom Price Bought Stock, Then Authored Bill Benefiting Company
President Trump's nominee to be the nation's top health official introduced legislation last May that benefited a health company he had recently invested in. The $15,000 purchase of shares in McKesson is but the latest financial action raising questions about possible conflicts of interest during the confirmation battle over Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. The orthopedic surgeon was approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and his nomination will soon be voted on by the full Senate. (O'Donnell, 2/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
House Lawmaker Pushes Bill To Rein In Drug Prices
A powerful House lawmaker said he would push for legislation to stymie drug price-gouging by encouraging development of generic copies, after attending a meeting at the White House Tuesday with drug-company executives. Rep. Greg Walden (R., Ore.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced at a hearing Thursday his support for a bill that was introduced last year largely with Democrat support but then languished. (Rockoff, 2/2)
USA Today:
House Votes To Strike Rule Banning Guns For Some Deemed Mentally Impaired
The House of Representatives approved its first effort of the new Congress to roll back gun regulations, voting to overturn a rule that would bar gun ownership by some who have been deemed mentally impaired by the Social Security Administration. The House voted 235-180 largely along party lines Thursday to repeal an Obama-era rule requiring the Social Security Administration to send records of some beneficiaries to the federal firearms background check system after they’ve been deemed mentally incapable of managing their financial affairs. (Gaudiano, 2/2)
The New York Times:
Trump Takes The Hair-Growth Drug Propecia. How Does It Work?
The revelation by his longtime doctor that President Trump takes a medication to prevent hair loss has piqued curiosity about the drug. In an interview with The New York Times, the physician, Dr. Harold N. Bornstein, said that Mr. Trump takes finasteride, also marketed as Propecia. The drug, a one-a-day pill, is a popular treatment for so-called male-pattern hair loss, in which the hairline recedes and hair thins at the temples and crown, sometimes to the point of leaving just a horseshoe-shaped fringe around the sides and the back of the head. (Grady, 2/2)
The Washington Post:
Trump’s Vaccine Views Are At Odds With Those Of Most Americans, Study Says
The criticism of vaccines voiced by President Trump and some other public figures is at odds with the attitudes of most Americans, who overwhelmingly support requiring public school children to be vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday. Overall, 82 percent of Americans support requiring students in public schools to be vaccinated for those three diseases. In addition, the survey found, their perceptions of the benefits of that combination vaccine are strongly positive, with about 88 percent saying the benefits outweigh any risks. About 73 percent of Americans see high preventive health benefits, and 66 percent say there is a low risk of side effects. (Sun, 2/2)