drug prices
Briefing on Trump drug pricing plan
Congressional staffers were briefed by think-tank policy wonks in a closed-door meeting on the implications of President Trump’s plan to tie U.S. drug prices to those other rich countries, Daniel reports.
The meeting mostly included Republican staff, according to Richard Frank, a panelist at the event who works at the Brookings Institution.
The more conservative panelists were skeptical of strong government controls, Frank said, but there was a bit more openness to the policies than some conservatives have historically shown. Read more.
rfk jr.
This time, it’s personal
Former Trump Surgeon General Jerome Adams is fed up with Kennedy.
In a revealing interview with Katherine MacPhail, Adams explains why he broke his rule against attacking people, instead of focusing on policy.
One of his reasons is very personal. Read more for why Adams is so concerned and what Republicans are telling him in private.
vaccine policy
Contractor eyed for studying question of autism-vaccine link
The CDC announced on Thursday that it has solicited a private research university in Troy, New York, to research the debunked link between vaccines and autism, Daniel reports.
The contract, which has yet to be finalized, would support research to “investigate the association between vaccination and autism prevalence.”
The CDC intends to award that contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It’s a sole-source contract, meaning institutions did not formally compete for the funding.
Read more about the lead researcher, the work he’s done on the subject, and his past public statements.
hospitals
Rural hospital fund details emerge
HHS released criteria for state officials who want to apply for money from the rural hospital fund.
Trump’s tax law included a $50 billion fund to win over Republicans who were worried about the $1 trillion that it cut from Medicaid over a decade — there are 1,000 billions in a trillion. Washington and the territories are not eligible.
Federal health officials must announce the recipients by the end of the year, which is a tight timeline, and there’s been little information about what states need to do to apply.
Half of the money will go to all states with approved applications, and the other half will be distributed based on a variety of factors, including rural population, the proportion of rural health facilities in a state, and their situation.
Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said he believes the fund will be used to reward states that support the Trump administration's agenda.
"The Trump administration is using these taxpayer dollars to accelerate its backwards health care agenda and engage in self-dealing, like incentivizing states to offer junk insurance and wearable health technology," Wyden said.
