VA Nominee Working Hard Behind Scenes To Quell Senators’ Skepticism Before Hearing
While Dr. Ronny Jackson is well liked by many, there are lawmakers who question his lack of managerial experience. "He's got a great bedside manner you feel comfortable with," says Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). "But it doesn't mean he will be a good leader of the VA."
The Associated Press:
It's Time For Trump's Doctor To Be Examined, For VA Chief
Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson was tending to grievously injured military personnel in Iraq when he was summoned to Washington to interview for a job he barely knew existed. He didn't see a way to get there. "I thought this was it — this is where the road stops," he told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal this month. Instead, Jackson managed to catch a ride on a transport plane that steered the Levelland, Texas, native toward some of the loftiest corridors of power. (4/23)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Trump Plan Would Cut Back Health Care Protections For Transgender People
The Trump administration says it plans to roll back a rule issued by President Barack Obama that prevents doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies from discriminating against transgender people. Advocates said the change could jeopardize the significant gains that transgender people have seen in access to medical care, including gender reassignment procedures — treatments for which many insurers denied coverage in the past. (Pear, 4/21)
The Hill:
Trump Admin Announces Abstinence-Focused Overhaul Of Teen Pregnancy Program
The Trump administration will shift federal funding aimed at reducing teen pregnancy rates to programs that teach abstinence. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday the availability of grants through the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, (TPPP) a grant program created under former President Obama that funds organizations and programs working to reduce teen pregnancy rates. (Hellmann, 4/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Hospital Firms, Hungry To Expand, Look To China
ProMedica , a nonprofit operating more than a dozen hospitals across Rust Belt communities in Ohio and Michigan, is looking to a new market to bolster its anemic growth: China. Executives and staff from the Toledo-based nonprofit have been touring hospitals in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu, exploring possible deals in the world’s second-largest economy that they hope will help offset weak revenue growth at home. “We have to look outside our traditional world if we’re going to survive,” said Randy Oostra, president and chief executive of the hospital group. “The economic model is tough” in ProMedica’s domestic markets, where populations are stagnant or declining and where cost pressures and competition are shifting medical care outside of hospitals, he said. (Evans, 4/22)
Stat:
How Vaccine Experts Weigh Benefits For Many Against Risks For A Few
Vaccines protect huge numbers of people, generally children, from serious diseases, but in rare cases, certain vaccines can tragically cause harm. How do those scientists figure out which to value more? This dilemma was at the center of last week’s decision by an expert committee advising the World Health Organization to sharply scale back use of a controversial vaccine called Dengvaxia, the first to protect against dengue infection. (Branswell, 4/23)
Stat:
Drug Industry Trade Group Breaks Its Quarterly Record On Lobbying Spending
PhRMA, the drug industry’s big trade group, spent nearly $10 million lobbying the federal government in the first three months of this year — its most on record for a single quarter. The trade group’s spending has risen annually since 2014 — a sign of just how powerful a player the drug industry has become in Washington. In 1999 and 2000, it spent less each year on lobbying than it did over the past quarter. (Robbins and Mershon, 4/20)