Insight Entries

WHG - Weekly, January 27-31

As the Senate impeachment trial enters week two, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has signaled an appetite to negotiate a drug pricing deal with the President if he is acquitted. Yet, it remains unclear whether Democratic leaders are willing to abandon their push for drug price negotiation to make way for bipartisan legislation that could be included in the health... Read More

(Llamas, 1/27/20) #Budget, #Hospitals, #Women’s Health, #Prescription Drugs

WHG - Weekly, January 21-24

The Senate begins the impeachment trial of President Trump in earnest today, while the House is in recess this week. Republicans are hoping to put impeachment behind them before the President delivers his State of the Union address on February 4 – just one day after Iowa holds its first-in-the nation caucuses on February 3. If the Senate chooses to... Read More

(Llamas, 1/21/20) #Dual Eligibles, #Insurance Reform, #Pediatrics, #Women’s Health, #Prescription Drugs

WHG - Weekly, January 13-17

One week into the 2020 legislative session, and it’s clear that efforts to reach a compromise on surprise medical billing and drug pricing will not come to fruition until the spring, if at all. Just over a month has passed since House Ways and Means (W&M) Committee leaders announced their agreement on surprise medical billing, yet they continue to drag... Read More

(Llamas, 1/13/20) #Hospitals, #Insurance Reform, #Physicians, #Prescription Drugs, #Opioids

WHG - 2020 Legislative and Regulatory Outlook

Please find here WHG’s Legislative and Regulatory Outlook for 2020, based largely on changes reflected in the administration’s Fall 2019 regulatory agenda. As in previous releases of our annual outlook, we aim to provide a comprehensive line-up of key federal health care policy developments we expect to see throughout the course of the coming year and their approximate timing. Of... Read More

(WHG, 1/8/20) #Affordable Care Act, #Food and Drug Administration, #Insurance Reform, #Social Determinants of Health, #End-Stage Renal Disease, #Drug Pricing, #Delivery Reform

WHG - Weekly, January 6-10

As Congress left much undone on the health policy front last year, 2020 will be a busy year to say the least. The same issues that plagued lawmakers in 2019 – surprise medical billing and prescription drug pricing – remain top priorities while other items, such as “Cures 2.0,” move up their to-do list. Before we know it, May 22nd... Read More

(Llamas, 1/6/20) #Hospitals, #Insurance Reform, #Physicians, #Prescription Drugs, #Public Health

WHG - At December Debate, Democratic Candidates Continue Discussion on Comprehensive Health Reform; Discuss Impeachment As Well

On December 19, 2019, candidates convened again for the sixth 2020 Democratic Presidential primary debate. Seven candidates took the stage at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, each having met the threshold of securing at least 200,000 individual campaign donors, and receiving at least four percent in four DNC-approved polls. Co-hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico, the event was moderated... Read More

(LaRosa, 12/19/19) #Affordable Care Act, #Cost-Sharing, #Costs, #Public Option, #Medicare for All

WHG - Surprise Medical Billing Might Get a Hybrid Solution

Reaching a consensus on how to protect patients from surprise medical bills has eluded Congress for most of the year even though members in both parties and chambers are highly motivated to find a fix. With an agreement reached over the December 7–8, 2019, weekend, a solution seems closer than it has in a long time. Unlike typical health policy... Read More

(Wynne and Joyce, 12/18/19) #Hospitals, #Insurance Reform, #Physicians

WHG - Candidates Continue to Discuss Medicare For All and Women’s Reproductive Rights at Fifth Democratic Presidential Primary Debate

On Thursday, November 20, candidates convened again for the fifth 2020 Democratic Presidential primary debate. Ten candidates qualified for the debate criteria, needing to have 165,000 unique donors and to have met one of two polling requirements: (1) two polls at 5 percent or more in the four early nominating states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina); or (2)... Read More

(Wynne Health Group, 11/21/19) #Women’s Health, #Medicare for All

WHG - Chart: Democratic Presidential Candidates' Proposals on Mental and Behavioral Health

We provide a side-by-side analysis of Democratic presidential candidates’ proposals on mental and behavioral health reform that have been released thus far. For each of the three candidates below, the chart examines their key provisions regarding insurance reform, delivery reform, public health and workforce initiatives, research, and the opioid crisis. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN); and Mayor... Read More

(Llamas, 10/25/19) #Mental and Behavioral Health, #Insurance Reform, #Public Health, #Delivery Reform

WHG - Chart: Democratic Presidential Candidates' Proposals on Rural Health

We provide a side-by-side analysis of Democratic presidential candidates’ proposals on rural health reform that have been released thus far. For each of the two candidates below, the chart examines their key provisions regarding insurance reform, delivery reform, anticompetitive behavior, workforce and capacity, telehealth, opioid crisis, and social determinants of health. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA); and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (South... Read More

(Llamas, 10/25/19) #Mental and Behavioral Health, #Workforce, #Social Determinants of Health, #Delivery Reform

WHG - Chart: Democratic Presidential Candidates' Proposals on Maternal Health

We provide a side-by-side analysis of Democratic presidential candidates’ proposals on maternal health reform that have been released thus far. For each of the two candidates below, the chart examines their key provisions regarding Medicaid and CHIP and delivery reform. Sen. Kamala Harris (CA); and Sen. Cory Booker (NJ)... Read More

(Llamas, 10/25/19) #Pediatrics, #Women’s Health, #Ambulatory Surgical Centers, #Delivery Reform

WHG - Chart: Democratic Presidential Candidates' Proposals on Comprehensive Health Reform

We provide a side-by-side analysis of Democratic presidential candidates’ proposals on comprehensive health reform that have been released thus far. For each of the six candidates below, the chart examines their key provisions regarding plan implementation, enrollee eligibility, benefit design, cost sharing, balance billing, prescription drugs, implications for providers and private plans, and finance mechanisms. Vice President Joe Biden; Sen... Read More

(Llamas, 10/25/19) #Costs, #Hospitals, #Insurance Reform, #Physicians

WHG - Chart: One Year Implementation Update on SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act

Thursday, October 24, 2019, marked the one year anniversary of the passage into law of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act – the major federal legislative package addressing the opioid epidemic. In observance of the anniversary, the Wynne Health Group produced the attached chart capturing a section-by-section update on the... Read More

(Wynne Health, 10/24/19) #Food and Drug Administration, #Pharmacies, #Prescription Drugs, #Public Health, #Opioids

WHG - At Fourth Democratic Presidential Primary Debate, Candidates Discuss Medicare For All, Gun Violence, Opioids, and Women's Health

On October 15, 2019, candidates convened yet again for the fourth 2020 Democratic Presidential primary debate. Twelve candidates met in Westerville, Ohio and discussed a range of issues, including the current impeachment inquiry, the potential addition of a wealth tax, foreign policy, and how to handle the emergence of monopolies in big tech. On health care specifically, candidates again discussed... Read More

(LaRosa, 10/16/19) #Public Option, #Women’s Health, #Opioids, #Medicare for All

WHG - Implementation Tracker for the President's Executive Order on Price, Quality, and Transparency

WHG has developed a chart that delineates the status of key regulatory implementation deadlines established in the President’s Executive Order (EO) on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare. The EO, issued on June 24, 2019 (WHG summary here), directs the Department of Health and Human Services, among other agencies, to pursue rulemaking and additional administrative actions aimed at... Read More

(Pahner & LaRosa, 10/14/19) #Cost-Sharing, #Costs, #Hospitals, #Transparency

WHG - Chart: Key Proposals on Drug Pricing; Negotiation, Inflation Rebates, Medicare Part D Redesign Discussed

We provide a side-by-side analysis of the Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3), introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democrats, and key provisions of relevant proposals: the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019, advanced by the Senate Finance Committee (19-9) in July; and the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Medicare Program; International Pricing Index Model... Read More

(Llamas, 9/30/19) #Insurance Reform, #Medicare Part D, #Prescription Drugs

WHG - Memo: Hospital Price Transparency Proposals in the CY 2020 Hospital OPPS Proposed Rule

The attached memorandum provides a detailed overview of the proposed price transparency requirements included in the Calendar Year (CY) 2020 hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) proposed rule. Pursuant to a recent Executive Order, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) used the rule as a vehicle to advance regulatory changes designed to drive down hospital costs by making... Read More

(Wynne Health Group, 8/16/19) #Costs, #Hospitals, #Transparency

WHG - The Drug Pricing Debate Part II: The Many Acts of Congress

In a blog post featured on the Commonwealth Fund's To the Point, the Wynne Health Group sketches the current landscape of congressional drug pricing proposals and begins outlining what a final legislative package my look like. Specifically, the authors examine which measures have moved forward in the Senate, and cross-reference those with related measures advanced on the House side... Read More

(WHG, 7/30/19) #Costs, #Generic Drugs, #Medicare Part D, #Transparency, #Drug Pricing

WHG - Issue Brief: Addressing the Social Determinants of Health in Federal Health Coverage Programs

In recent years, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has advanced toward a greater recognition of the social determinants of health in federal health coverage programs, via expanded non-clinical benefit offerings, meaningful quality measures and the like. As HHS continues along a trajectory of advancing value-based payment, opportunities persist to expand the focus on addressing non-health care needs... Read More

(Wynne Health, 7/19/19) #Waivers, #Social Determinants of Health, #Delivery Reform

WHG - Updated Chart: Key Legislation on Surprise Medical Billing

We provide an updated side-by-side analysis of the major Congressional (Senate and House) legislation intended to protect patients from surprise medical billing that have been introduced thus far in the 116th Congress. We added the No Surprises Act recently advanced by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. For each of the four proposals outlined below, the chart examines... Read More

(Llamas, 7/18/19)