Overnight Healthcare: Pre-debate prep | House to vote on ObamaCare co-op bill

The big night is here: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face off in a debate at 9 p.m. EDT.

It’s unclear how much we’ll hear about healthcare, and if we do, will it be drug prices or ObamaCare? Medicare or the cancer moonshot?

With rising premiums and insurer exits, Trump could join the many other GOP candidates this year who have seized on ObamaCare’s bad summer. Clinton has defended the healthcare law, but has also said she would support fixes to make it last long-term, such as the creation of a “public option.”

{mosads}Tonight’s debate would be the most high-profile opportunity to date for each candidate to clarify their positions on healthcare – an issue that represents one of the biggest divides between their platforms.

The soaring costs of prescription drugs could also come up, in wake of the public scorn this summer over the EpiPen price hikes. As we’ve seen on Capitol Hill this month, both parties are happy to accuse drugmakers of “profiteering” for political gain.

Follow us on Twitter and at TheHill.Com for live updates. In the meantime, here are some healthcare reads to help you prep:

The next president could take office right as ObamaCare is facing its judgment day, we reported in August. Inauguration Day takes place right after this year’s ObamaCare sign-up period, which is expected to deliver a potentially crucial verdict about the fate of the healthcare marketplaces. 

The Washington Post fact checker gave four Pinocchios to Trump’s claim that the administration is trying to delay premium increases until after the election.

Trump’s healthcare stances have sparked scrutiny. Our story from June looks at Trump’s inconsistencies on healthcare. His website’s plan often doesn’t match his public statements.

The Commonwealth Fund looks at both candidates’ health plans and finds Trump’s could lead to 25 million people losing health coverage.

House to vote on ObamaCare mandate exemption Tuesday

The House will vote Tuesday on a bill to exempt enrollees in failed nonprofit health insurers from ObamaCare’s individual mandate, according to the office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

The measure is aimed at helping enrollees of three nonprofit health insurers set up under ObamaCare, known as co-ops, that have failed in the middle of this year, forcing people to find a new plan.

Republicans argue that people facing this disruption should not have to pay ObamaCare’s financial penalty for lacking coverage if they do not enroll in a new plan.

At a committee session to consider the bill earlier this month, Democrats opposed the measure, but not with the same intensity that they usually hold for Republican-backed ObamaCare bills. Read more here. http://bit.ly/2dxmBmR

No path for Flint funding in House water bill:

The GOP’s fight to stave off a shutdown just weeks before the election is now hinged on a long-standing funding fight over Flint, Mich., that lawmakers and aides from both parties say could take weeks to resolve.

Leading Senate Democrats have threatened to vote down the GOP’s latest budget proposal on Tuesday because it ignores the lead contamination crisis in Flint but provides relief for flood victims in Louisiana.

As Democrats draw a line in the sand on Flint, GOP leaders are increasingly vocal that the funding should come from a separate water resources bill that’s currently under debate in the House.

But Republicans made clear Monday that any funding for Flint would have to come from a joint conference later in the year because the House committee in charge of the water bill doesn’t have jurisdiction over Flint.

“I think the solution – the dollars – need to be driven by the state of Michigan,” Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said during Monday’s markup of the bill.

And because the final bill isn’t likely to be completed until after the election, Democrats say they’re having a hard time swallowing the GOP’s promise that money for Flint will come later.

“When this vote fails, we’re nowhere, and we’re 3 days away from the shutdown,” one Democratic appropriations aide said Monday.

ON TAP TOMORROW:

The House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a subcommittee hearing on the handling of potentially deadly pathogens in federal labs at 9 a.m.   

The Senate will vote at 2:15 on whether to advance the continuing resolution.

WHAT WE’RE READING:

Mylan’s EpiPen profits are 60 percent more than it told Congress. (Washington Post)

Pfizer will not split into two companies. (Associated Press)

Funding to fight opioid overdoses is becoming an argument in the government funding debate. (Roll Call)

First responders say they’re seeing a backlash by some people who don’t support resource-intensive efforts to help drug abusers with anti-heroin drugs, who often require the same services over and over. (Fox News)

IN THE STATES:

States are looking at value-based pricing for prescription drugs as a way to tamp down Medicaid spending. (Stateline)

Flint water crisis investigator resigns after DWI arrest. (CBS Local Detroit)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee is pulling out of some ObamaCare markets in the state next year. (Tennessean)

Local Florida Zika cases pass 100. (Washington Examiner)

More than 30 states join national lawsuit against drug companies, accusing them of illegally profiting from the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic. (The Morning Call)

ICYMI FROM THE HILL DOT COM:

Conservative group presses GOP to vote against spending bill http://bit.ly/2deURmt

Flint congressman pleads for funds in spending bill http://bit.ly/2cQGYHv

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