| | | |   | Good morning and happy Thursday, D.C. Diagnosis readers! We have some enormously important accountability journalism coming out of the STAT newsroom today, and I’m excited to finally share it with you. Send your thoughts on D.C. policy tidbits to rachel.cohrs@statnews.com, and any feedback on the new series on hepatitis C treatment in prisons to nicholas.florko@statnews.com. | | | A cure hasn’t stopped incarcerated people with hepatitis C from dying 
NATSUMI CHIKAYASU/STAT
My colleague and longtime D.C. Diagnosis author Nicholas Florko is out with an eight-part magnum opus examining why people in prison with hepatitis C are still dying, even though there’s a cure available. Policy on payment for these medicines has serious consequences. Several states have policies that discourage the treatments — Iowa treated less than 4% of its hepatitis C-positive prison population last year, South Dakota has a policy on the books that blocks treatment for anyone who doesn’t have serious liver damage, and Nebraska even forces people to sign forms acknowledging these drugs might not work — when they almost always do. And when people die in prison from hepatitis C, it’s almost impossible to get the data about why they died, even though states are supposed to record details of every death that happens in prison, according to federal law. Each part is worth your time today. | You’re a mean one… CBO Talks on end-of-year priorities are still pretty fluid, but the Congressional Budget Office has dampened the holiday passage prospects for two health care priorities, lobbyists and aides told STAT. Many health care industry players had been pushing Congress to extend pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities until the end of 2024, regardless of when the Covid-19 public health emergency might end. But the CBO estimated the cost would have been pretty pricey (possibly more than $2 billion), according to three lobbyists and a Senate aide, so a two-year extension is unlikely — a shorter one is still possible. Another issue that had been on the radar is a legislative fix for a Supreme Court decision that would allow private insurers to push patients who need dialysis to Medicare. However, a bill to return the status quo for dialysis patients (backed by the dialysis industry, unsurprisingly) in its current form would actually cost private insurers more than it saves Medicare, so CBO says it would cost the government money, a congressional aide said. That hurts its chances of passage for now, but future tweaks to get around that issue are possible. | More free Covid tests from Biden The Biden administration announced this morning that Americans can now start ordering new batches of Covid-19 tests for mail delivery, in a bid to control a projected winter case surge. HHS will also start distributing free tests through food banks and federally-assisted housing on top of distribution at schools and clinics.
The White House noted in a statement that the third round of free tests comes amid strapped funding because Congress hasn’t approved requests for additional money since lawmakers negotiated an agreement for $10 billion in April. A senior administration official declined to give reporters details on where the funds for the tests came from, except that “we've had to think very hard about how exactly to make these trade offs in terms of how we use these funds.”
As recently as September, the administration had roughly $10.6 billion left for testing, contract tracing, and mitigation, according to apportionment data obtained by STAT. | Ron Wyden’s health policy New Year’s resolution Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden plans to work next year on reforming the prescription drug rebate system, a spokesperson for the Oregon Democrat said, after Democrats undid a key Trump-era rule that would’ve eliminated drug rebates, my colleague John Wilkerson reports. “He’s just expressing preliminary interest in returning to look at PBMs in the next Congress,” said Wyden spokesperson Taylor Harvey, referring to pharmaceutical benefit managers that insurers hire to negotiate rebates with drug makers. The timeline and process for the initiative are yet to be determined. Wyden has criticized PBMs for contributing to the closure of pharmacies in his state. Drug makers blame rebates for high drug list prices. PBMs say they’re the only ones negotiating lower prices. Senators in both parties back rebate reforms, but they’re expensive because rebates lower premiums, which the government subsidizes, so higher premiums means more premium subsidies. | Why measuring value in cancer is key to achieving a more economically sustainable healthcare future The rising cost of cancer care is an undeniable challenge to a more economically sustainable healthcare future. One leading biotech company believes precise, widely accepted measures of value in cancer are urgently needed. They are actively involved in conversations — with payers, policymakers, and of course patient organizations — about how value should be defined and measured. Learn more. | Yet another AAM departure Another high-ranking executive is out at the Association for Accessible Medicines, the main industry group for the generic drug industry, my colleague John Wilkerson and I report. It comes just weeks after the generic lobbying group’s board of directors asked its president Dan Leonard to resign Dec. 2. Joanne Duncan, who was chief operating officer, is no longer listed on AAM’s website, and two sources said she is no longer with the organization. Duncan held a similar position at the Biotechnology Industry Organization before Leonard hired her at AAM. Duncan and Leonard previously worked together at AHIP, an insurance industry trade association. AAM did not immediately respond to questions about Duncan’s departure. | GOP political vet founds new anti-IRA patient group John Czwartacki’s resume is a laundry list of posts throughout pretty much every GOP political arena imaginable — he worked for former House Speaker John Boehner early in his career, as a spokesperson for former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, for FEMA in the Bush administration shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and for then-OMB Director Mick Mulvaney in the Trump White House — and now, he’s adding advocacy on drug pricing to his list. Czwartacki is now retired from full-time work due to his multiple sclerosis, but he credits having various treatments available with helping him maintain his quality of life. He is arguing that the Inflation Reduction Act threatens innovation, and is planning to advocate throughout the regulatory process and be a resource for lawmakers as a pro-innovation patient perspective, he said. “I read the whole thing, and I just got infuriated,” Czwartacki said of the new law. It’s early days for the group, called Survivors for Solutions, and Czwartacki said his group doesn’t have outside funding sources at this time. | What we're reading -
For new NCI director, work turns personal: She is diagnosed with cancer, Washington Post -
‘Right to repair’ movement gains momentum in the tightly controlled world of medical devices, STAT -
From heart disease to IUDs: How doctors dismiss women’s pain, Washington Post -
New Biden changes to Obamacare coverage for generics splits the industry, STAT
How Medicare Advantage plans dodged auditors and overcharged taxpayers by millions, Kaiser Health News | Thanks for reading! More next week,  | | | |
No comments