Overnight Health Care: Democrats attack after Trump revives talk of ObamaCare replacement | Cruz, Ocasio-Cortez efforts on birth control face major obstacles | CVS investing $10M to fight teen e-cig use

Welcome to Monday’s Overnight Health Care.

President Trump gave Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a gift with his recent comments on finding a new ObamaCare replacement. Also, despite talk of bipartisan action, Democrats and Republicans are still miles apart on birth control policy and CVS is investing millions to combat youth vaping addiction.

We’ll start with some ObamaCare politics…

 

Trump promises new ObamaCare replacement… Dems hit back

President Trump said Sunday on ABC that he will release an ObamaCare replacement plan “in about two months, maybe less.”

Democrats were quick to respond.

“The American people already know exactly what the President’s health care plans mean in their lives: higher costs, worse coverage and the end of lifesaving protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement.{mosads}

The politics: As you can see from Pelosi’s statement, Democrats are eager to highlight Trump’s attacks on ObamaCare, given that protecting the health care law and its guarantees for people with pre-existing conditions was a central theme of Democrats’ successful campaign last year to win back the House.

Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, have been pressing Trump to abandon talk of repealing ObamaCare and instead focus on less incendiary issues such as reducing prescription drug prices.

Keep in mind: Trump has promised to have a plan for “great” health care for years, without his White House ever producing one itself.

Read more here.

 

Biden campaign clarifies health care remark

Former Vice President Joe Biden set off health wonk questions on Monday when he said at an event that “what I would do is make sure that every single person, as I proposed, every single person in the United States has access to Medicaid right off the bat.”

Did he really mean Medicaid not Medicare?

Turns out, no, Biden meant he will allow anyone to buy into a MediCARE-like option, but if they live in a state that refused to expand MediCAID and would otherwise be eligible, they won’t have to pay premiums in the plan.

From the Biden campaign: “The Biden health care plan will include access to a Medicare-like public option for anyone who wants it.  It will also include premium-free access to this public option for people who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid but have been denied access to it by governors and state legislatures who have refused the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.”

Thought bubble: A “Medicaid buy-in” is an idea that has the support of many presidential candidates, including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N,Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

 

Cruz, Ocasio-Cortez efforts on birth control access face major obstacles

Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) offer to work with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on making birth control available without a prescription has raised hopes that conservatives and progressives may find common ground on an issue that has long divided Republicans and Democrats.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it’s probably not going to happen.

Here’s why: The parties are miles apart when it comes to the cost of birth control and who pays for it, major sticking points that will likely complicate efforts to craft a bipartisan compromise between the staunch conservative and liberal firebrand.

Cruz’s office did not respond to questions about what a “clean” bill would look like, or if he planned to introduce legislation.

Democrats are also critical of GOP efforts that would allow women to buy over-the-counter birth control with health savings accounts, but not address insurance coverage.

Democrats want insurance companies to cover over-the-counter birth control (the law currently only requires insurance coverage of birth control when it is prescribed.)

Meanwhile, Republicans have had a long, complicated history with insurance coverage of contraception, and are unlikely to support the Democrats’ bill.

Read more here.

 

CVS investing $10m to fight youth e-cigarette addiction

CVS is investing $10 million to try to reverse the rising trend of teen vaping. The money, which mostly comes from CVS and its charitable foundations, will go to classroom-based programs, to assist clinicians with resources to address e-cigarette use and to support clinician training in local communities.

The move is part of the $50 million Be The First initiative, which is now in the fourth year of a five-year commitment to “help deliver the nation’s first tobacco-free generation.”

CVS stopped selling tobacco products in 2014, the first time a major pharmacy decided to remove tobacco from its shelves.

“The spread of e-cigarette use among youth jeopardizes the progress made in reducing smoking over the last two decades,” said Troyen Brennan, CVS Health’s Chief Medical Officer said in a statement. “By collaborating with experts and aggressively investing in innovative strategies, we believe that we can help reverse this disturbing trend.”

According to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, there are 3.6 million middle and high school students who are current e-cigarette users. This represents a 78 percent increase among high school students, and a 48 percent increase among middle school students. Federal health officials have called youth vaping a “public health crisis.”

 

The Hill events

On Tuesday, June 25th, The Hill will host Cost, Quality and Care: The Medicare Equation at the Newseum in Washington, DC. The Hill’s Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons and Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack will sit down with Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and an expert panel for a discussion on how leaders in Washington and the health industry can bring down drug costs for Medicare patients while continuing to ensure quality of care for those who depend on the program. RSVP here.

On Wednesday, June 26, The Hill will host the Future of Healthcare Summit at Long View Gallery in Washington, D.C. We will discuss some of tomorrow’s biggest questions in healthcare with policymakers, health officials and industry leaders. Speakers include Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), FDA’s Dr. Amy Abernethy, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Nano Vision CEO Steve Papermaster and many more. RSVP and learn more about the summit here.

 

What we’re reading

Trump is expanding ObamaCare … in a good way (National Review)

As price of insulin soars, Americans caravan to Canada for lifesaving medicine  (The Washington Post)

Trump wants to neutralize Democrats on health care. Republicans say let it go. (The New York Times)

Groundwork is laid for opioids settlement that would touch every corner of U.S. (The New York Times)

 

State by state

Kentucky to expand Medicaid drug treatment program in July (WFPL)

Top D.C. health official urges principals to help boost measles vaccination rate (The Washington Post)

Federal grants ‘a lifesaver’ in opioid fight, but states still struggle to curb meth (Kaiser Health News) 

 

From The Hill’s opinion page

Children at southern border are facing a public health crisis