Overnight Healthcare: Zika funding stalemate drags on | Tighter rules for ObamaCare sign-ups | New EpiPen probe

A divided Senate has again rejected a funding bill to fight the Zika virus, as Congress’s months-old stalemate went unresolved over its lengthy summer recess.

All 44 Democrats, along with both independent senators, voted to block the $1.1 billion funding bill, which was approved by House Republicans in June but has now failed three times in the Senate because of controversial language targeting Planned Parenthood.

Lawmakers from both parties hope Tuesday’s vote will be the final showdown before a deal is unveiled later this month as part of a bipartisan government spending package.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have both vowed to get money out the door to fight Zika by the end of September. Senate GOP leaders acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that the Zika funding will likely be wrapped into the stopgap spending bill, known as the continuing resolution.

“You know I assume that it would be wrapped in the year-end fiscal negotiations that would lead to some sort of continuing resolution. That’s my assumption,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Senate majority whip, told reporters just before Tuesday’s failed vote.

Some Republicans, including those in Florida facing the most intense pressure on Zika funding, have already hinted that the GOP will have to drop its Planned Parenthood language to get a bill passed in the upper chamber.

“For this to get done, that language just may have to go away,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a leading negotiator on Zika who faces reelection this fall, told McClatchy.

ObamaCare sign-ups to get verification check 

The Obama administration said Tuesday that it is planning to test out further steps to tighten the rules for ObamaCare sign-up periods that have drawn insurer complaints.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said that it will launch a pilot program in 2017 to test ways to put in place a “pre-enrollment verification system,” meaning a way to check documentation to make sure enrollees are actually eligible to sign up for ObamaCare through an extra sign-up period.

Increasing the checks on documentation to ensure eligibility before people can sign up would be a move toward further addressing insurer concerns around the health law.

Some consumer groups, though, have warned that the administration should not make it overly burdensome for people to enroll.

“I’m pleased that this is going to be just a pilot, but anything really that could depress enrollment is concerning to us,” said Liz Hagan, senior policy analyst at Families USA, a liberal healthcare advocacy group. Read more here. http://bit.ly/2cejHDC  

Drug group launches ads amid pricing fight

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), a top lobbying group for drug companies, is launching a “mid-seven figure” ad buy across the country to argue that drugs can save the health system money in the long run by curing diseases.

The pharmaceutical industry is ramping up its public relations efforts as it braces for ever-increasing scrutiny.

The industry is emphasizing a common argument among its defenders: that cures save money in the long run.

The ad, called “Innovation Saves,” highlights the positive effect of medicines on people shown on screen. Read more here. http://bit.ly/2cqx3IQ

ON TAP TOMORROW

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will lead a press conference calling for funding to fight the Zika virus at 11 a.m. in the Rayburn Room.

WHAT WE’RE READING

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) is pushing back on a new Obama administration rule to protect Planned Parenthood from being cut out of family planning funding. (Washington Examiner)

The overall pool of people on the ObamaCare marketplace was sicker in 2015 than 2014, according to a study by the Society of Actuaries. (Vox)

The World Health Organization is now advising both men and women who have traveled to Zika-affected areas to practice safe sex for at least six months. (NBC News)

IN THE STATES

New York on Tuesday became the first state to launch an official investigation into the company behind the EpiPen price hikes. (The Hill)

Miami Beach wary of spraying Zika chemical that can “essentially kill anything.” (CBS News)

Drug linked to Ohio overdoses can kill in doses smaller than a snowflake. (NY Times)

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