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Health Care
Health Care
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The Big Story
Biden pushes health care fixes ahead of speech
The White House is going on offense against House Republicans’ potential changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security ahead of President Biden‘s State of the Union address Tuesday.
© AP
The administration’s latest salvo came Monday evening, blasting two GOP bills that would create panels to study the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. In a nod to the ObamaCare fights, the White House said the bills would create “death panels.”
“They’re opening the week unveiling their latest in a long line of ultimatums about how they’ll act to kill jobs, businesses, and retirement accounts if they can’t cut Medicare and Social Security benefits. Meanwhile, they’re voting to worsen the deficit with tax welfare for the rich and big corporations,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.
The dispute comes in the context of the ongoing debt ceiling debate. Republicans have publicly said they want to make spending cuts, but there’s a major divide on what they actually want to cut. Medicare and Social Security are off the table, according to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), but members say the programs will need reforms to be sustainable in the long term. So proposals like raising the eligibility age or means testing applicants could have some value, depending on which members you ask.
The White House is eager to throw all this back at Republicans, and contrast it with Biden’s legislative accomplishments.
In his speech on Tuesday, we expect the president to emphasize how he will push to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and ObamaCare. According to a White House fact sheet, he will also call on Congress to extend a price cap on insulin to all Americans, rather than just those with Medicare.
The Inflation Reduction Act included a $35-per-month limit on insulin that took effect in January. Democrats initially wanted that policy to extend to private insurance too, but the effort was scaled back when Republicans successfully challenged its inclusion in the bill.
Biden is also going to tout Medicare’s new ability to negotiate prices of certain drugs, as well as bipartisan legislation making hearing aids available over the counter.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, complete with a fresh new look. We’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
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Essential Reads
How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:
Just a quarter of hospitals fully compliant with price transparency rule: report
A new report found that just about 25 percent of hospitals are fully compliant with a federal price transparency rule that requires all hospitals to post their prices online in an accessible and searchable format. The report, published by the Patient Rights Advocate on Monday, said that it surveyed the websites of 2,000 large hospitals across the United States to determine whether they were compliant with the federal Hospital …
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Hundreds of food products recalled due to Listeria concerns
Hundreds of ready-to-eat food products have been recalled due to potential listeria contamination, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Friday. The Fresh Ideation Group, which is based in Baltimore, Md., is recalling food products sold from Jan. 24 through Jan. 30, according to an announcement released by the FDA. The announcement said that all of the recalled products will have a Fresh Creative Cuisine label or …
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Ohio officials declare measles outbreak over
A measles outbreak in Ohio that infected at least 85 children since October is now over, state health officials declared on Sunday. Most of the children who were infected with measles were unvaccinated, and as of Friday, 36 of the total infected needed to be hospitalized, according to Columbus Public Health. Most of the cases were in Columbus and other parts of central Ohio, and 80 of the cases were in children under the age …
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On Our Radar
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
The House will vote this week on a bill to end the current COVID-19 vaccine requirement for international travelers arriving in the U.S.
Biden health officials will get their first grilling from the House GOP majority on Wednesday in the Energy and Commerce Committee.
In Other News
Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
Motorcyclist falls off cliff, smartwatch saves him
A motorcyclist fell 40-50 feet off a cliff and was found by authorities after his smartwatch sent a crash alert, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
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Around the Nation
Local and state headlines on health care:
Massachusetts abortion rights activist Kate Dineen to attend State of the Union (MassLive)
In blue New Mexico, antiabortion activists use small towns to push national ban (Washington Post)
What We’re Reading
Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
Drug companies face COVID cliff in 2023 as sales set to plummet (Reuters)
‘They were his best shot. And they failed to help’: Why did EMS workers neglect Tyre Nichols? (Stat)
A technicality could keep RSV shots from kids in need (Kaiser Health News)
What Others are Reading
Most read stories on The Hill right now:
Rough seas complicate US efforts to recover suspected China spy balloon
Navy vessels were off the coast of South Carolina on Monday to recover pieces of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down this past … Read more
What we know about Chinese balloon sightings during Trump presidency
The U.S. military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on Saturday off the coast of South Carolina after it floated for days through … Read more
What People Think
Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:
Denialism is seeping into legislation and undermining public health
We can’t ignore the toll the pandemic has taken on the health of our kids
Tobacco control is not a zero-sum game
You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
