lobbying
A bit of the first-quarter spending frenzy
Elevance (formerly known as Anthem) seriously beefed up its lobbying in the first quarter of 2023, right ahead of Medicare policy changes that could have seen payment cuts for MA plans that make up a big portion of the insurer's business, and amid the agency's plans to audit overpayments in the program.
The company spent north of $3.6 million on lobbying in the first three months of 2023, more than half of its entire lobbying spend last year, according to disclosures filed last week. HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra railed against the insurance industry's lobbying and advertising blitz during an appropriations hearing on the hill, accusing MA insurers of intentionally scaring consumers into thinking their Medicare benefits are getting slashed. Ultimately, though, Medicare backed away from aggressive cuts in a recent draft rule for inpatient payments.
Elsewhere: STAT's Nick Florko, always on the lookout for the unexpected, flagged that Americans for Homeopathy Choice Action has arrived on the scene with a $30,000 lobbying disclosure in the first quarter. The organization has railed against "overly broad and ambiguous" FDA policies regulating products like essential oils. The organizations aim? Slotting language into FDA appropriations that would "better focus" the agency's enforcement.
abortion
Mail-order mifepristone's future is hazy
While reproductive rights advocates applauded the Supreme Court's Friday stay on limits to the abortion pill, their relief is temporary. The good news for advocates is that a total ban looks increasingly unlikely; the bad news is that mail-order deliveries — a tentpole of abortion services for people in restrictive states and rural areas — are more in jeopardy than ever.
In his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito gave ammo to anti-abortion advocates arguing that the FDA acted politically — if not in the approval itself, in letting doctors prescribe it virtually and send pills through the mail.
The ongoing legal uncertainty is also likely to cool pharmacists' desire to dole out the drug — if they had any in the first place. Two of the biggest chains, CVS and Walgreens, did mention mifepristone policy in their latest lobbying disclosures, but many others — especially small, independent shops — are navigating their states' abortion laws on their own. Even Walgreens has said it wouldn't register to distribute the pill in restrictive states, earning the ire of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In the meantime, Biden officials are still campaigning to preserve mifepristone access ahead of the appeals court's decision in three weeks. Vice President Kamala Harris heads to Howard University tonight to rally for reproductive rights along with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
COngress
House GOP investigates NIH's billion-dollar PR contract
House Energy & Commerce Committee Republicans are launching an investigation into the NIH's choice to hire public relations firms that cost the agency up to $1 billion in 2021 alone. For context, the agency has devoted $1.15 billion to the entirety of its effort to research long Covid — over a four-year term, STAT's Rachel Cohrs reports.
The contract is structured as a partnership with 10 firms that provide "a full range of comprehensive communication, evaluation, and social marketing goods and services." It's up for renewal at the end of the year.
The committee sent letters (here's a sample one) questioning whether the contracts went toward communicating accurate information to the public, or whether they "devolve into a kind of de facto public relations service for the personal aggrandizement of senior leadership." The letters request documents from the contractors about services provided, and also note that testimony may be necessary.
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