Insights^

Report Calls for FDA to Break Up

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be split up to address problems plaguing the agency’s food oversight arm, according to a new report by the Reagan-Udall Foundation.  The agency asked the Reagan-Udall Foundation to analyze its operations in the wake of the infant formula crisis earlier this year.  According to the report, flaws in the FDA’s leadership structure and poor communication among agency officials has resulted in the agency’s food safety operations being consistently underfunded, understaffed, and underprioritized.  The report also suggested a less drastic measure that would create a deputy commissioner position with authority for overseeing food.  Any move to split up the agency would require approval from Congress.

FDA Authorizes COVID-19 Boosters for Kids under 6

On December 8, the FDA approved bivalent COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna for children six months to six years of age.  The announcement comes as children’s hospitals across the country are at capacity for kids suffering from a range of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the flu.  However, the rules on who can get a shot when differ depending on whether the initial vaccine regimen came from Pfizer or Moderna.  Children under age six who have completed Moderna’s two-dose regimen can get their bivalent booster if it’s been at least two months since their last shot, while children under six who received the first two doses of Pfizer’s three-dose regimen can use the new bivalent booster for their third shot.  However, children who received all three initial vaccine doses from Pfizer aren’t yet eligible for a booster shot.

ICER: Biggest Drug Price Increases Not Substantiated

According to a report by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), price increases among seven of the ten drugs in 2021, which saw the largest increases from the year prior, were not supported by clinical evidence.  Out of the $805 million increase in drug spending from 2020-2021, Bausch Health’s Xifaxan, an antibiotic drug for traveler’s diarrhea, saw the biggest increase of nearly $175 million in spending, while Johnson & Johnson’s schizophrenia drug Invega Sustenna and Amgen’s osteoporosis drug Prolia were second and third with respective spending increases of $170 million and $124 million.  According to ICER, the report is intended to inform policymakers and lawmakers on policies they can pursue to address high drug prices.  However, the report acknowledged that the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare drug price negotiation on commercial payers remains uncertain.

ACA Marketplace Enrollment Reaches 5 Million

Nearly 5.5 million individuals from November 1 to December 3 selected a 2023 health plan through the federally facilitated and state-based marketplaces, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  Roughly 80% of enrollees renewed their health care coverage, while the rest were new enrollees.  33 states currently use the federal marketplace for the 2023 open enrollment period, which runs through January 15, 2023.  CMS also reported that state-based exchanges will automatically renew coverage for about 2.9 million residents nationwide.

Top Ways and Means Republicans Make Their Case for Chairmanship

With current Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) set to retire soon with the end of the 117^th Congress, three senior Republicans on the committee are making the case to succeed Brady and chair the committee in the next Congress.  As the Republican Steering Committee prepares to vote on who will get the chairman’s gavel in January, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) is touting his business background, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) is taking a populist approach while emphasizing his ties to working class voters, and Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) is presenting himself as a top policy expert.  Whoever is elected chairman will have the opportunity to shape health care policy, due to the committee’s jurisdiction on Medicare.

ICYMI: Representatives Vie for New House Offices

73 incoming House members were assigned their designated workspaces on Capitol Hill as a part of a biennial office lottery that took place late last week in the Cannon House Office Building.   While past lotteries followed the alphabetical order of members’ names, this year’s lottery was completely randomized.  The Rayburn House Office Building is usually seen as the most desirable office location, since the building is connected to the Capitol by the subway.

New Drug Shows Potential to Slow Alzheimer’s Disease

The experimental drug lecanemab has the potential to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to late-stage clinical trial data from drugmakers Biogen and Eisai.  While Phase 2 trial data released in the summer did not show a large difference between lecanemab and a placebo in Alzheimer’s disease patients over 12 months, newly released Phase 3 trial data found that the drug was associated with less cognitive decline after 18 months of use.  However, instances of patients experiencing brain swelling and brain bleeding have raised concerns over the drug’s safety.  The news follows controversy over the decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year to approve another Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen, in spite of clinical trial data that showed the drug’s efficacy to be limited.

Senate Panel Discusses Prior Authorization, Kids’ Mental Health

Senators from both parties touted legislation to expand mental health integration into pediatric care in a Wednesday hearing from the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families that focused on how the pandemic has exacerbated mental health challenges facing adolescents.  Other bipartisan legislation discussed in the hearing would streamline transitions from high school to college for students with disabilities and increase Medicaid reimbursement for children’s mental health services.  Prior authorization reform was also a topic of discussion during the hearing, as several witnesses pointed out that long wait times and high administrative costs are preventing many teens from accessing mental health care services in a timely manner.

HHS Proposes Changes to Privacy Records for Substance Use Disorder Patients

Currently, a substance use disorder patient must provide consent every single time a health care provider needs to share the patient’s records.  However, a newly proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would allow providers to share a patient’s records multiple times after receiving a patient’s consent only once.  According to a press release, the new privacy rules would ensure individuals are not denied “life-saving care” due to concerns about records disclosure.  The rule would also increase coordination among providers of treatment for substance use, expand HHS enforcement authority under 42 CFR part 2, and update breach notification requirements to HHS.  Stakeholders have until January 31, 2023, to comment on the proposed rule.

CDC: Deaths Linked to Substance Abuse Climb among Seniors

Deaths associated with drug and alcohol abuse are steadily rising, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  According to the data, death rates from drug overdoses among people 65 and over have more than tripled since 2000, while alcohol-related deaths among seniors have jumped more than 20% from 2019 to 2020.  The CDC also noted that alcohol-related death rates are higher overall among men over the age of 65, with older men seeing death four times higher than women when considering seniors 75 and older.   The report additional found growing use of fentanyl and synthetic opioids among seniors.

CDC to Start Wastewater Testing for Polio

The CDC announced on Wednesday plans to begin wastewater surveillance for polio in select communities with low vaccination rates.  The CDC will use data from the surveillance program to assist with vaccination programs if necessary.  Communities in Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania will be the first to adopt the wastewater testing programs, which will last for at least four months.  The CDC first hinted that it may begin wastewater testing program for polio in the summer when a single case of paralytic polio was found in Rockland County, New York.  The risk of polio to the public remains low because more than 92% of Americans were vaccinated during childhood.

ICYMI: White House Celebrates 100^th Lighting of National Christmas Tree 

President Joe Biden celebrated the 100^th lighting of the National Christmas Tree on Wednesday in a ceremony that included performances from Shania Twain and Gloria Estefan.  During the ceremony to light the 27-foot white fir, President Biden emphasized the importance of national unity and called on Americans to reflect on their blessings. The lighting of the National Christmas Tree began as a tradition a century ago under President Calvin Coolidge.