Rachel Cohrs Zhang
@rachelcohrs
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Chief Washington Correspondent @statnews. Signal: rachelcohrszhang.87 Email: [email protected] Proton: [email protected]
Washington, DC
Joined September 2014
New: The American College of Physicians officially endorsed single-payer healthcare reform today for the first time.
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Scoop: Last summer, Operation Warp Speed was running out of money. Instead of asking Congress for more support, Trump administration officials quietly spent $10 billion out of a fund for hospitals and health care providers on Warp Speed contracts @statnews
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NEW: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki waved a thick binder of Covid-19 budget documents for the television cameras, and offered to make copies for journalists. I was the only reporter who asked to see the binder
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NEW: The White House's Covid-19 budget crunch is so serious that the White House has delayed buying more than 9 million courses of Pfizer's antiviral pill. This is about half of the total the White House has publicly promised to buy
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The NIH has had $1 billion and more than two years to study long Covid. They haven’t enrolled a single patient in a clinical trial, and treatment studies have been repeatedly delayed. @betsyladyzhets of @muckrock and I spent months investigating
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Big announcement from NIH today that they are launching the first clinical trials for long Covid treatments. And HHS is finally launching its long Covid research office, but it only has two full-time employees.
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NEW: Congress gave the NIH a massive infusion of cash to study long Covid 15 months ago. But patients and researchers are losing patience with the slow pace of progress. NIH has only enrolled 3% of its recruitment goal so far
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Some personal news: I'm thrilled to announce that next week I'm headed to @statnews to join their stellar D.C. team. 2021 is going to bring big things for STAT and important health policy debates in Washington. I can't wait to get started!.
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President Biden is on the verge of his own crowning health care achievement to call, in his words, a BFD. After two decades, Democrats are finally on track to break the firewall between the pharmaceutical industry and the Medicare program.
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The binder’s contents — which the White House would not allow to be photographed — offer a window into what information the White House shared with which GOP lawmakers during an explosive, drawn-out fight over Covid-19 relief funding that still isn’t over
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The news that the White House is delaying buying antivirals due to budget constraints comes amid a heated government funding fight on the Hill. Republicans are skeptical about giving the White House $22 billion more to fight Covid
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NEW: Moderate Democrat Rep. Scott Peters tried to torpedo Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing bill in May. The next day, CEOs of big drug companies and PhRMA lobbyists flooded his campaign with cash. Peters' effort didn't become public until a week later @statnews.
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There have been a lot of changes around here — a new byline after getting married last month, and now a new job title! I am very excited to take on more responsibility to support our incredible STAT D.C. team.
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39 conservative House Republicans, including Co-Chair of the Doctors Caucus, Freedom Caucus Chair, Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan sent Pelosi & McCarthy a letter Monday urging rejection of surprise billing fixes including "government-dictated price controls"
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A reminder as Congress just cut all new Covid-19 relief out of the omnibus: the White House is *out of money* for the pandemic response. The White House hasn't bought 9 million courses of Pfizer's antiviral worth $5 billion that it already promised to buy.
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As all of D.C. tries to figure out exactly what Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is thinking as President Biden's entire domestic legislative agenda hangs in the balance, her office is circulating a letter. opposing cuts to Medicare Advantage pay rates
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Personal news: Today is my last full day at Inside Health Policy. I'll be starting next week as the new D.C. Politics and Policy reporter @modrnhealthcr. I'll still be covering drug pricing, but will expand my beat to cover issues important to hospitals, providers and insurers.
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Haunting reporting by @levfacher from a Covid-19 ICU in Louisiana. This story captures health care workers' struggle to come to terms with people dying who could have lived, had they been vaccinated @statnews.
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The White House has refused to release text of the controversial most favored-nation executive order. But Trump held the order up for photographers, and I was able to discern text of two out of the order's three pages from the photo.
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NEW: Two House committees just released results from their 18-month investigation into the FDA's approval of Biogen's controversial Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm. The @statnews team has the breakdown of all the most important revelations.🧵
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Congressive Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal comes out in support of Democrats' new drug pricing deal. Decries pharma watering down the framework, but it's a strong endorsement
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NEW: House Democrats are demanding documents from Biogen related to its interactions with the FDA ahead of the approval of its controversial new Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm. Follows a @statnews investigation that revealed an off-the-books FDA/Biogen meeting
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dolly parton 🤝 the u.s. health care system.
Dolly Parton jokes that she's a "low-tech girl in a high-tech world" after revealing she would rather use a "fax machine" than text.
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Pfizer isn't sharing its vaccine for studies of next-generation Covid-19 vaccines that some researchers hope could offer better protection against transmission and infection. It's not in Pfizer's financial interests to allow studies of competing products
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Ascension, the nation's largest Catholic health system, has built a $1 billion private equity operation. I spent months reporting this story about how far a wealthy, religious, tax-exempt health system can migrate toward behaving like a Wall Street firm
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The $1.2 billion in NIH funding for long Covid research also has a complex backstory. HHS last year moved the money to house unaccompanied minors at the US-Mexico border. NIH argues it was backfilled from a Covid testing fund, and didn't slow down research
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Here's the link to the full policy paper:
Today, ACP released a bold new plan to achieve a better health care system for all. To achieve universal .coverage, we recommended either a single payer plan or a public choice plan that would be made.available to everyone. #ACPVision4HealthCare.
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HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is addressing House Democrats this morning to ask for more funds to fight Covid-19. He told reporters today that the last relief came roughly a year ago. "We can't let this go over a cliff, not when we're on the verge of turning the page," he said.
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Some exciting professional news to start off 2022: I'm honored to be joining this year's class of Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellows! I'm looking forward to all the learning ahead.
1/3: Congrats to the 20 journalists selected for our 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship! Throughout the year, they'll network and discuss politics and policy with regulators, lawmakers, experts and the best reporters in the business.
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New: Sen. Tammy Baldwin cited my investigation into Ascension's for-profit investment practices in a new letter to the Catholic health system today. She requested more information about the system's vast investment apparatus
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I just asked Sen. Bernie Sanders how he feels about the prescription drug pricing deal Democrats announced today and he offered a one-word answer: “Complicated.”.
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Major drug pricing provisions in BBB per new CBO score:.-$297 billion savings total, including.-$79B from negotiation.-$49B from penalties for price hikes faster than inflation.-$1.6B from Part D out-of-pocket cap for seniors.-$143B from rebate rule repeal.
Estimated Budgetary Effects of Title XIII, Committee on Ways and Means, H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act.
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BREAKING: CMS decides to restrict access to the new Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm to certain patients in clinical trials @statnews.
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NEWS: Trump's HHS pick RFK Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 29, according to a hearing announcement obtained by STAT
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Crowds for a @BetoORourke fundraiser in D.C. snaked around the block outside the venue, and all 1,400 tickets sold out days in advance.
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The American Hospital Association — which spends more on lobbying than Facebook/Instagram parent company Meta — is formally asking congressional leaders to oppose bipartisan, incremental site-neutral payment proposals
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Following years of debate, Congress is closing in on a deal to rein in PBM practices. The package also includes measure to boost doc pay, two-year telehealth extension, and much more
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Today is the day! My shiny new inbox is up and running so please add me to your lists and send tips to rachel.cohrs@statnews.com.
Beginning today, @statnews expanding D.C. coverage with @rachelcohrs.
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NEW: Now, you can read the White House’s binder full of Covid-19 budget documents for yourself. It has fresh details about the Biden administration’s booster planning for adults and kids, and names the account that will get tapped to pay for therapeutics
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PhRMA, once thought to be invincible in Washington, lost its edge and suffered its biggest loss in decades this year. I reported out how the lobbying titan failed to stave off defeat, and what we know about its strategy for what's next.
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Rod Hochman, American Hospital Association board chair and Providence St. Joseph Health CEO, denies research showing hospital consolidation raises prices raised during a Senate hearing: "We just don't buy the data.".
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The White House is abandoning its push to lower drug prices in its domestic spending package. Biden spent "countless hours" talking about the policy with lawmakers, but couldn't get the votes, a senior administration official said @statnews.
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ACP also endorsed a public option approach back in April 2019— think of it as an NYT-style endorsement of both approaches to universal coverage
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"It didn't happen quick enough to our liking" - Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks at #STATSummit on Twitter's delay in taking down an account that impersonated the company and claimed insulin would be free.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders says Merck's CEO declined to testify at a Senate hearing because he's an attorney and not a drug pricing expert
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After months of complaints from patients and experts, the Biden administration today announced they are ramping up long Covid research efforts by 1) creating a new, interagency research plan and 2) accelerating sluggish enrollment in a major NIH study.
NEW: Congress gave the NIH a massive infusion of cash to study long Covid 15 months ago. But patients and researchers are losing patience with the slow pace of progress. NIH has only enrolled 3% of its recruitment goal so far
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NEW: The Senate Finance Committee is considering expanding plans to penalize drug makers that hike prices faster than inflation, per an internal document. Beyond just Medicare, the penalties may also apply to drugs sold to patients with job-based insurance
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1/ Texas Republicans Ted Cruz, Pete Sessions, and Chip Roy have accused their Democratic opponents of being socialists. Spoiler alert: they’re not, but here’s why things are a little confusing.
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Rep. Scott Peters again votes down Democrats' massive spending package. He told me Thursday that he will vote no on the entire bill on the House floor if drug pricing reforms aren't pared back. Peters got a flood of campaign cash from pharma this spring
BUDGET committee approves the reconciliation package. 20 to 17. Democrat @ScottPetersCA52 voted no.
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Tomorrow is my first day as the D.C. Bureau intern for @dallasnews. The city has been great so far and I'm looking forward to getting started!.
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Democrats will likely have to axe two provisions from their drug pricing plan to fit in with Senate rules, both of which would have brought down drug prices for people who get health insurance through their jobs
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Big day for drug pricing reform: Medicare announces the first 10 drugs selected for its new drug price negotiation program, including major blood thinners and diabetes drugs
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NEW: In the latest wild turn of events, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office is working to gather support for a last-ditch, limited Medicare negotiation policy, per four sources briefed @statnews.
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The Senate has passed substantive drug pricing reform allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, capping out-of-pocket caps for seniors, and instituting new penalties for price hikes. Next stop: the House.
PASSED: H.R.5376, the Inflation Reduction Act, as amended. By a vote of 51-50. @VP Harris voted YEA.
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Personal news: Starting on Tuesday, I'll be starting as a health care policy reporter with @InHealthPolicy. I'm excited to learn and grow on a new beat. Have something you'd like to share? Let me know at rcohrs@iwpnews.com.
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And just like that, Medicare's first round of negotiated drug prices are live. Though HHS achieved a 22% reduction in costs overall, some drugs fared better than others
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NEW: The Biden administration used $7 billion in Covid-19 funds for hospitals and clinics to buy vaccines and therapeutics, according to a document obtained by STAT. And now, the provider funds have run dry.
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New timeline update on drug pricing from Sen. Ron Wyden today:.-2023: Penalties on drug price hikes faster than inflation go into effect, as do insulin co-pay caps.-2024: $2,000 annual out of pocket cap in Part D for seniors.-2025: First negotiated prices for 10 drugs take effect.
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To clarify — the insulin out-of-pocket caps at $35/month for Medicare patients are allowed, no parliamentarian issues with that policy.
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New: Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to call the CEOs of insulin makers to testify before his committee next month
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It appears Democrats are planning to force the issue of insulin out-of-pocket caps in the commercial market on the Senate floor, per three Senate aides (h/t @LisaDNews). Here’s what that means: 🧵.
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This new visual representation of 1 million Covid deaths by @jaspar is a somber way to reflect on the sheer scale of loss the U.S. has seen so far, and the remarkable importance of the tools we have to stop needless deaths.
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NEW: Both President Biden and former President Trump are eager to claim credit for $35 insulin. The idea actually came from a giant pharmaceutical company
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New: PhRMA's top federal lobbying executive is out ten months after the Inflation Reduction Act passed
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NEW: President Trump signed four drug-pricing orders last week, but the White House has refused to release the most controversial order on international reference pricing. Here's a peek at partial text of that order.
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By the beginning of 2025, the pharmaceutical industry will likely have lost six allies with a combined 160 years of service on Capitol Hill. I analyzed who's replacing them, and what the exits mean for the outlook on drug pricing
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Ahead of a consequential week in the House, @NicholasFlorko and I worked the Capitol Hill hallways and dug deep to compile the latest intel on where 10 moderates stand on drug pricing reform, a key pillar of Democrats' agenda @statnews.
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NEW: Senate vote to keep $35 montly cap for insulin for patients in the private insurance market fails. The provision will be dropped from Democrats' health care-tax-climate bill. The vote was 57-43.
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Drug pricing enthusiasts, mark your calendars. A federal judge over the weekend gave the Biden administration until April 1 to decide whether to defend the Trump team's controversial rebate rule
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What we're seeing today is the pricing decision of one drug company, regarding one expensive medication, causing unprecedented upheaval in how Medicare sets monthly payments for more than 60 million seniors
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Big news this morning from @adamfeuerstein on the FDA restricting Biogen's Aduhelm to patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. This has major implications for the drug's potential cost to the Medicare program @statnews.
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Local officials promised Austin taxpayers that if they voted for a multimillion-dollar property tax increase to build a new medical school, they would also be funding health care services for poor patients. Eleven years later, the reality has fallen short
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NEW: Insurers don't have to cover COVID-19 testing that employers may require for employees to return to work, per Trump administration guidance released today.
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I'm so thrilled Bob is joining @statnews to bring our coverage of hospitals, insurers and more to the next level!!
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NEW: Senate Finance Committee Democrats have worked for months to craft a new Medicare drug price negotiation policy. @NicholasFlorko and I have a bunch of new policy intel, including exclusive internal documents detailing the deliberations @statnews.
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Something unusual is happening in Indiana — the Republican state legislature is considering taking on profitable hospitals. It's in part due to the upstart advocacy of a former Bush White House official who's made lowering hospital prices his mission
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New: People close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are exploring a proposal that could upend medical billing and doctor payment
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The White House announced today that Medicare will fine pharmaceutical companies that hiked prices faster than the pace of inflation for 27 medicines. Pfizer was the most frequent offender, with five drugs on the list
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Genentech’s CEO said in an interview that the company is considering slow walking a treatment for ovarian cancer patients in order to make it more profitable under Democrats’ drug pricing law
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Mark your calendars for late August, drug pricing wonks. President Biden has ordered HHS to come up with a "comprehensive plan" to combat high drug prices @statnews.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer confirms that Democrats are trying to cap insulin costs at $35 in both Medicare and the private sector. These are distinct — the Medicare policy is likely to survive the Byrd Bath, commercial market policy may not.
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NEW: I've got some juicy details about exactly what the Senate Finance Committee is considering in their PBM reform package, including draft bill text and a timeline for when they plan to finish their work
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Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed working with states to cancel medical debt. But nonprofit hospitals could use the program as a way to offload care for low-income patients onto taxpayers
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Senate Finance Committee leaders Mike Crapo and Ron Wyden rallied with pharmacists on a lovely spring morning at the Capitol this morning to push for PBM reform by March 22.
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Remember the video of a doctor saying Covid-19 vaccines magnetize people? I wrote about the Ohio lawmaker who challenged her. After that hearing, state Rep. Beth Liston decided to return checks from Pfizer and J&J to keep her pro-vaccine advocacy airtight
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The omnibus had a special set-aside of $5 billion for buying therapeutics, which just happens to be the amount the White House needs to pay for the rest of its public commitment to buy 20 million total courses of Pfizer's Covid-19 antiviral, Paxlovid
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New from CBO on the Shaheen-Collins insulin bill being a voluntary process for drugmakers, estimating net prices would increase: "CBO expects that manufacturers would certify an insulin product if it was financially advantageous for them to do so."
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BREAKING: A federal court sided with pharma companies and tossed out the Trump administration's rule requiring drug makers to disclose list prices in ads.
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NEW: CBO says Senate Finance drug-pricing bill would save taxpayers $85B in Medicare and $15B in Medicaid; beneficiaries $27B in out-of-pocket costs and $5B in premiums; and some savings for commercial market.
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I'll be moderating an incredible event today on drug pricing, ft. a fireside chat with Senate Finance Chair @RonWyden, and a discussion with policy experts @contirena1, @DusetzinaS, and Richard Frank. It's virtual, and it's free from 1-2pm. Sign up now!
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Five vulnerable Senate Democrats filed a vote-a-rama amendment in support of Medicare drug price negotiation, an early signal they want to run on the policy in the 2022 midterms @statnews.
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Amid tense decision time on Medicare drug price negotiations on Capitol Hill, just spotted PhRMA CEO Steve Ubl off the House floor waiting to visit Ways & Means Chair Richard Neal’s office.
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Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal goes on the record pushing Biden to include drug pricing and Medicare expansion policy in the American Families Plan next week
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Sen. J.D. Vance is a fairly prolific health care investor in biotech companies, but at the same time, a populist politician willing to buck his party line. We've got a rundown where Trump's new VP pick stands on the health care issues. w/ @owermohle
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New: Congress has abandoned efforts to reform PBMs in the upcoming government funding package, though the issue could come up again later this year
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What happens when the federal government stops buying Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics and giving them away for free? Potential price hikes, regulatory headaches, and equity issues abound
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Just got a respectful, well thought out response to one of my articles from a high school student for a class assignment. Such a great idea, and reminds students that journalists are humans too. Gets a 💯 from me!.
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President Biden called for Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices during his speech, but he didn't back his words up by including it in the new legislative proposal he unveiled @statnews.
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New: Medicare is building out a bureaucracy to manage its new drug negotiation process and penalize pharmaceutical companies that hike prices faster than inflation. Org chart in my story this morning
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A must-read deep dive by @TaraBannow into the implications for kids with autism when private equity firms buy therapy providers. Cookie-cutter treatment plans, pressure for clinicians to boost billable hours, 40-hour weeks for five-year-olds, and more
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