OVERNIGHT HEALTH: HHS keeps up defense of healthcare law

by Julian Pecquet and Sam Baker - 09/21/11 11:00 PM ET

Extenders fight: House members examining whether to renew special Medicare payment bumps for laboratories, patient therapy and rural hospitals heard Wednesday from the usual array of industry groups clamoring for their share of the pie. But one witness, a former member of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, said they’re bad policy and should expire. Read the Healthwatch story.

Thursday’s agenda

Wave of waivers: Remember the healthcare law waivers? After suffering the monthly humiliation of signing off on temporary waivers to the law’s floor on annual insurance benefits, the Department of Health and Human Services decided over the summer to grant one last batch of waivers through 2013. The deadline to apply: Sept. 22.

Read our story from way back in June to get back up to speed.

Republicans can be expected to have a final field day arguing that the administration is playing favorites or that the law doesn’t work (or both) once reporters get their hands on the latest waiver numbers (last count: 1,472). After that, the issue should slip off the radar screen until 2014, when all plans will have to comply with the provisions of the law and the waivers will be moot.

Home is where your health is: Home-care advocates will hold a day-long meeting on Capitol Hill to tout the “Independence at Home” demonstration in the healthcare reform law, which starts next year. The demo uses physicians and nurse practitioners to direct primary-care teams that provide certain services to Medicare beneficiaries in their own homes.

Antibiotic pipeline: The Pew Health Group is partnering with the pharmaceutical lobby for an all-day conference on the lack of antibiotic innovation, and efforts to revive it.

Anti-cancer advocacy: Anti-cancer advocates — including patients, caregivers and providers — will be on Capitol Hill to protest billions of dollars of cuts to cancer care.

Mickey Mouse candidates: The Republican presidential hopefuls debate in Orlando, Fla. We’ll be watching to see if Romneycare or HPV vaccines make an appearance.

State by state

A Milliman report prepared for the Ohio Department of Insurance finds that the healthcare reform law’s insurance exchange will cost between $19 million and $34 million per year, without counting IT costs, depending on how robust it is. Milliman also reports that the law will drive individual market rates up before federal subsidies are applied.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) has come under fire from Democrats and some Republicans ever since his administration rejected a $31.5 million federal “early innovator” grant for healthcare reform that it had earlier voiced support for, the Wichita Eagle reports.

Regulatory watch

The FDA issued revised guidance clarifying that unapproved new drugs introduced onto the market after Sept. 19 (Monday) are subject to immediate enforcement action at any time, without prior notice.

The CDC is seeking public comment on draft guidance on “Reducing Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) through Solid Organ Transplantation.”

Comments on 2012 Medicare rates for clinical lab tests are due Friday.

Bill tracker

Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) has a bill to penalize employees of the Veterans Health Administration who intentionally fail to follow infection-control practices (H.R. 2965).

Reps. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) introduced legislation to allow people who are eligible for immunosuppressive drugs under Medicare Part B to continue to receive their treatment past the 36-month cutoff. (H.R. 2969)

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has dropped a bill to increase quality control for prescription drugs. (S. 1584).

Fraud fight

The HHS Office of Inspector General is reviewing 17 states’ False Claims Acts to ensure they comply with the healthcare reform law, the Wall Street reform law and the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009.

Reading list

The Daily Caller finds this groundbreaking “revelation” in a new book about the Obama administration: Obama’s healthcare plan is very similar to Mitt Romney’s.

Meanwhile, Real Clear Politics asks whether Romney will be able to “dodge a bullet” on healthcare as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination.

The Veterans Administration is no longer covering Avastin for eye disease, Bloomberg reports.