congress
ACA subsidy negotiations are still dead
Negotiations over enhanced ACA premium tax credits are "effectively over," according to Sen. Bernie Moreno (Ohio), a lead Republican negotiator in talks to extend the extra subsidies.
It took months for the negotiations to fizzle out and involved the longest-ever government shutdown and a rare procedural move that resulted in the Republican-controlled House passing a bill to extend the subsidies for three years. But the Senate was thwarted by abortion policy and unrelated controversy over the killings of two protestors in Minneapolis by federal agents.
Millions of ACA marketplace enrollees now face significantly higher premium payments, which Democrats will likely use against Republicans in their midterm elections campaigns.
maha
Dining with Bobby
Healthy eating is a big part of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again policy agenda. That emphasis on diet has encouraged some top administration officials to watch what they eat too, according to Chelsea.
Or at least that's their intention. When Kennedy joined Heritage Foundation President Kevin D. Roberts for a discussion on his first year as secretary on Monday, Roberts joked about needing to make a "dietary confession" to Kennedy after what he ate during the Super Bowl. "We won't go into details but I'm back on plan today," he said.
Last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed a "deep dark secret" on CBS News: "I have Dr Pepper for breakfast," he said. "Don't tell Bobby Kennedy."
And Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked in a Cabinet meeting last year that he is "afraid to eat anything in front of him."
Kennedy is paying attention. Speaking recently on Katie Miller's podcast, he praised administration officials who have healthy eating and exercise habits.
Trump, a fan of Diet Coke and McD's, is the one person who is seemingly immune to Kennedy's influence.
"I don't know how he's alive, but he is," Kennedy told Miller.
compounding pharmacies
Putting compounders on notice
Telehealth companies and compounding pharmacies that make copycat versions of Novo Nordisk's popular obesity drug Wegovy "should be very, very much on notice," the company's chief counsel told Elaine and Ed Silverman.
The comments by Novo's John Kuckelman came shortly after the company filed a lawsuit against Hims & Hers. Novo alleges the telehealth company is infringing on its patent for semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and the sister diabetes drug Ozempic. That's a more aggressive tactic than previous lawsuits against these firms over claims like false advertising and deceptive trade practices.
Read more about how the fight between drugmakers and compounders has reached a "tipping point."
medicare advantage
Down with upcoding
Bob Herman wades into the tall weeds with an article on a little-noticed change to Medicare Advantage pay policy that could have a big impact.
Medicare is proposing to cut payments for two-thirds of codes for the typical MA enrollee. Those codes are supposed to compensate for the higher cost of caring for enrollees with chronic conditions such as diabetes, morbid obesity, and lung disease.
But Medicare actuaries found that patients who are coded for these conditions often don't get the follow-up care for which the higher pay rates are supposed to account. Read more.
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