June 20, 2017 

Volume 4, Number 10

In This Issue

Pharma Proposals

Health Bill

Untreated Sleep Apnea

Warm Temperatures and Lyme Disease

Secret Health Bill Raises Alarms

Centene Expands Presence

VA Accountability Bill

TJG On Facebook

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Kaiser Health News: Exclusive: White House Task Force Echoes Pharma Proposals President Donald Trump repeatedly talks tough about reining in the pharmaceutical industry, but his administration’s efforts to lower drug prices are shrouded in secrecy. Senior administrative officials met Friday to discuss an executive order on the cost of pharmaceuticals, a roundtable informed by Trump’s “Drug Pricing and Innovation Working Group.” Kaiser Health News examined documents that shed light on the workings of this working group. The documents reveal behind-the-scenes discussions influenced by the pharmaceutical industry. (Kopp, 6/16)

Source: Kaiser Health News

Kaiser Health News: Ear To The Door: 5 Things Being Weighed In Secret Health Bill Also Weigh It Down Anyone following the debate over the “repeal and replace” of the Affordable Care Act knows the 13 Republican senators writing the bill are meeting behind closed doors. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continues to push for a vote before the July 4 Senate recess, Washington’s favorite parlor game has become guessing what is, or will be, in the Senate bill. Spoiler: No one knows what the final Senate bill will look like — not even those writing it. (Rovner, 6/16)

Source: Kaiser Health News

Reuters: Untreated Sleep Apnea May Worsen Markers Of Heart Health And Diabetes Properly treating a common sleep-related breathing disorder may have benefits for the heart and for blood sugar, a new study suggests. If people with obstructive sleep apnea don’t use machines at night to help keep the airway open, measures of their heart health and blood sugar worsen, researchers found. (6/17)

Source: Reuters

The Washington Post: Why You Need To Know About Mice, Ticks, Warm Temperatures And Lyme Disease Twice in the same week, Lois Wood woke to find ticks crawling over her bare leg in her New Hampshire home. A few nights later, she spotted a mouse running across her bed. A mother of seven, Wood tries to shrug off her tiny bedfellows. “It’s a common rural problem,” she says, although she admits that she has “never experienced anything like this in my own bed.” The recent appearance of vermin and pests in Wood’s bedroom coincides with the warming temperatures related to climate change. The past three years have been the planet’s hottest on record, and it is in this changing climate that many pests thrive, negatively affecting human health. (Banigan, 6/18)

Source: The Washington Post

The New York Times: Secrecy Surrounding Senate Health Bill Raises Alarms In Both Parties As they draft legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Senate Republican leaders are aiming to transform large sections of the American health care system without a single hearing on their bill and without a formal, open drafting session. That has created an air of distrust and concern — on and off Capitol Hill, with Democrats but also with Republicans. (Kaplan and Pear, 6/15)

Source: The New York Times

The Associated Press: Key Insurer Centene Plans To Expand Health Exchange Presence This growth spurt could fill some big holes that have developed in the exchanges, the only place where people can buy individual coverage with help from an income-based tax credit. Currently, 25 counties in Missouri, 20 in Ohio and another two in Washington have no insurers lined up to sell coverage on the exchange in 2018. (6/13)

Source: The Associated Press

The Associated Press: Congress Passes Long-Sought VA Accountability Bill Congress approved long-sought legislation Tuesday to make firing employees easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs, part of an effort urged by President Donald Trump to fix a struggling agency serving millions of veterans. The House cleared the bill, 368-55, replacing an earlier version that Democrats had criticized as overly unfair to workers. The Senate passed the bipartisan legislation by voice vote last week. It will go to Trump later this week for his signature. (Yen, 6/13)

Source: The Associated Press

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