| Good morning, and welcome to Thursday's Health 202. News, tips, complaints and compliments to rachel.roubein@washpost.com. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. Today's edition: The House Rules Committee is allowing a floor vote on a contentious GOP-led amendment on abortion policy during the debate over the annual defense policy bill. The Senate Finance Committee sets its sights — and schedules a mark up date — on PBM legislation. But first … | A key House panel considers a reauthorization of expiring addiction treatment and recovery programs |  Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | | | It's reauthorization season for an array of critical health-care programs. And as both parties pledge to combat the nation's staggering rate of overdose deaths, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are staring down the looming expiration of an array of services aimed at helping people with an addiction. At issue is a massive bipartisan bill called the Support Act, which Congress passed in fall 2018 and former president Donald Trump signed into law. This morning, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will take a step toward continuing the legislation's addiction treatment and recovery programs set to expire Sept. 30. There are some negotiations still ongoing, but the bill released earlier this week was introduced by both a Republican and a Democrat — a feat in a highly polarized Congress. On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate hasn't released legislation, or a draft proposal, as addiction treatment advocates stress the urgency of the moment. | - "Reauthorizing the Support Act is important because there are programs in there that really have a very significant impact at the community level," said Andrew Kessler, the founder of the behavioral health consultancy Slingshot Solutions. "We like to talk about overdoses as a national problem, but the solutions are at the community level."
| | | | | | | | 24/7/365. Hospitals care for patients and keep communities healthy. But access to care is at risk. Support caregivers and tell Congress to reject proposals that would reduce patient access and services.
| | | | | | | | On Tuesday evening, the House Energy and Commerce panel released its legislation to reauthorize and expand key programs to curb the nation's drug crisis. The legislation — which heads to a subcommittee markup today, along with 16 other bills — comes from Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), both of whom hail from states that have been scourged by the opioid epidemic. A snapshot: The proposed plan consists of years-long extension of various programs. This includes a loan repayment effort for those working in the addiction treatment field; a program operating centers that provide treatment and recovery services; and another helping support residential treatment services for pregnant and postpartum women. What we're watching: The law passed in 2018 granted states another option for lifting a long-standing exclusion prohibiting federal Medicaid reimbursement for inpatient addiction treatment facilities with more than 16 beds. Negotiations are ongoing on this measure, known as the IMD exclusion, including on how to pay for it, according to a Democratic aide and a person off the Hill familiar with the matter. | - Only a few states have pursued changes to their Medicaid programs through this process set to expire Sept. 30. Others have done so through a different route — an 1115 waiver — that some experts say affords states more flexibility in how to design their programs.
| | Meanwhile, some advocates and Democrats are seeking new policies aimed at reentry from prison. At a hearing last month, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.), the panel's top Democrat, said he'd like to see the inclusion of this type of legislation, such as letting people with an addiction get Medicaid coverage 30 days before being released from jail. | | A markup before the full committee could come next week, according to the person off the Hill familiar with negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. That's also a time when other policies could be added. Meanwhile, in the Senate: The Medicaid provisions would move through the Senate Finance Committee. A committee aide confirmed those measures are being worked on. Many of the other provisions would come before the Senate HELP Committee, which hasn't released potential legislation. | | Addiction treatment advocates are pushing hard for the reauthorization, with some saying they're cautiously optimistic that Congress will meet its deadline. But, they argue, more needs to be done to combat the over 100,000 Americans dying per year of overdose deaths. | - "Do we think that this will help? Absolutely. Do we think it's enough? Absolutely not," said Jennifer Snow, a national director at the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "There is a lot more work that needs to be done."
| | |  | On the Hill | | Amendment to roll back Pentagon abortion policy heads to a floor vote |  Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla., arrives during a House Rules Committee hearing to prepare the debt limit bill, in May. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | | | Republicans on the House Rules Committee will allow a vote on the floor on a proposed amendment to its annual defense policy bill that would block the secretary of defense from paying for or reimbursing expenses related to most abortion services. The proposal from Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) takes aim at the Pentagon's recent efforts to shore up abortion access for military personnel — which has emerged as a major political flash point since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. The policy has also been at the center of a protest by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) that for months has stalled scores of senior military nominations. Other abortion amendments from Republicans and those from Democrats aren't slated to get debate on the chamber's floor. This comes as the panel cleared floor votes for another 80 amendments last night, which were mostly from far-right members of the House. | | Senate Finance Committee leaders Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) announced yesterday that the panel will meet later this month to mark up bipartisan proposals targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). | | The proposals will build on a legislative framework Wyden and Crapo released in April, which outlined four key challenges facing federal prescription drug programs and potential policy solutions to address them. The text is expected to be released at least 48 hours ahead of the markup, which is scheduled for July 26. On our radar: Last month, a bipartisan group of senators, including Wyden and Crapo, introduced legislation aimed at delinking certain payments that pharmacy middlemen receive from the price of a drug. The bill's sponsors told The Health 202 at the time that they were working to include it in an upcoming package from the Finance panel, so we'll be watching to see if it makes the cut. Zooming out: PBMs have been in the hot seat this Congress, with both Democrats and Republicans arguing that they drive up the cost of medicine — a characterization the industry's main lobby refutes. | On the other side of the Capitol … | | The House Education and the Workforce Committee advanced a bipartisan package of four bills aimed at increasing health-care price transparency for patients and employers, which also includes several policies targeting the business practices of pharmacy middlemen. | | The panel's chair, Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.): |  | | | | | |  | In the courts | | Abortion providers file lawsuit to block Iowa's impending ban |  Protestors fill the Iowa Capitol rotunda as legislators consider a roughly six-week abortion ban on Tuesday. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/Des Moines Register/AP) | | | Iowa's newly passed abortion ban is unconstitutional and should be blocked from taking effect later this week, abortion rights advocates argue in a lawsuit filed yesterday in district court less than 12 hours after the bill passed. A hearing in the case is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, just before Gov. Kim Reynolds's (R) is slated to sign the bill, which would take effect immediately without court intervention, Hannah Fingerhut reports for the Associated Press. Under the legislation, abortions would be banned in the state after fetal cardiac activity is detected after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. The bill passed the GOP-controlled legislature Tuesday after a rare, one-day special session that Reynolds initiated for the "sole purpose" of restricting abortion. What they're arguing: Planned Parenthood North Central States, a local abortion clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa claim in their suit that the soon-to-be law violates Iowans' rights to due process and equal protection under the state constitution. | | The ACLU of Iowa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit: |  | | | | | |  | Agency alert | | | Stat's Rachel Cohrs nailed down some details on how Medicare plans to cover scans related to the Alzheimer's drug Leqembi, which won full approval from the Food and Drug Administration last week. Here are three things you need to know: | - Medicare will cover most patients eligible for Leqembi, as well as brain scans and genetic testing to help screen for and monitor potential side effects.
- The federal insurance program covers only one amyloid PET scan per lifetime, which is used to diagnose the memory-robbing disease. An agency spokesperson said that Medicare is reconsidering the policy and plans to issue a new proposal "soon."
- Behind the curtain: Medicare was supposed to roll out a new coverage policy for PET scans in December, but delayed the announcement until agency officials had reviewed "newly published evidence" that was relevant to the coverage decision, Rachel writes.
| | |  | In other health news | | - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a motion yesterday seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the implementation of a signature provision of the Inflation Reduction Act allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs for the first time.
- House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) announced yesterday that she plans to release a drug shortage discussion draft following the completion of a bicameral request for information. Democrats have been pushing for drug shortage legislation to be included in the reauthorization of a sweeping emergency preparedness bill.
- On the move: Elizabeth Carpenter will join the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America to serve as its new executive vice president for policy and research. Carpenter, who is currently the president of Avalere Health, will start Sept. 5, the lobbying group announced yesterday.
- A federal judge slapped the federal government with a $2.2 million legal tab this week. In his order, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor approved most of the compensation that the nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sought for its work leading a 2016 lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services related to abortion and gender-affirming care, per Reuters' Mike Scarcella.
| | |  | Health reads | | | |  | Sugar rush | | | Thanks for reading! See y'all tomorrow. | |
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