Weekly Washington Healthcare Update - February 02, 2015

This Week: Upton Releases 21st Century Cures Initiative Legislative Draft... HHS Announces Transition to Alternative Medicare Payment Models... White House Unveils Details of Precision Medicine Initiative in Wake of 2016 Budget... CMS and Indiana Reach Medicaid Expansion Agreement.

  1. CONGRESS

    House

    Upton Releases 21st Century Cures Initiative Legislative Draft

    On Jan. 27, the Energy and Commerce Republicans released an initial discussion document outlining some specific legislative proposals that have been shared throughout the 21st Century Cures initiative. This document seeks to continue the important dialogue of the past year, encouraging more discussion from patients, innovators, researchers, caregivers and other experts on the common goal of accelerating the pace of cures in the United States. The 21st Century Cures Initiative is a multi-year, collaborative project established by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) along with committee member Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) designed to assist in accelerating the pace of cures and medical breakthroughs in the United States in the 21st Century. However, while the initiative maintained bipartisan support last Congress, the discussion draft "does not reflect true bipartisan collaboration," according to Ranking Member Pallone (D-NJ). "In its current form, I am concerned that the nearly 400-page draft could create more problems for our health care system than it solves. Further, the draft does not include any real dollars to fund additional basic research at the National Institutes of Health. Increased funding was a common theme during last year's public engagement, from both sides of the aisle, and is fundamental to truly advancing 21st century cures," Pallone said. For more information, please visit energycommerce.house.gov.

    Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Focus on Medically Complex Children

    On Jan. 28, Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) unveiled the Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act of 2015 (ACE Kids Act), H.R. 546. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate, led by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO). The bills will help coordinate care to ensure optimal outcomes for children with complex medical conditions on Medicaid, while helping to contain costs. Other original cosponsors in the House and Senate include Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Sen. Roy Blount (R-MO) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Specifically, the bill would allow for the creation of nationally designated children's hospital networks to serve children with complicated medical conditions who require a high level of health care, and often cross state lines to access care. These networks would include and coordinate the full range of home, primary, ambulatory, acute and post-acute care/providers. Based on the health needs and family preference, each eligible child will be matched with a network. For more information, please visit joebarton.house.gov.

    Energy and Commerce Hearing Examines Various Public Health Bills

    On Jan. 27, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a hearing entitled "Examining Public Health Legislation to Help Patients and Local Communities" to discuss the following pieces of public health legislation:

    Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act

    The Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act (to be introduced by Rep. Kinzinger) would establish a demonstration program for states with a shortage of Emergency Medical Technicians to streamline their procedures to assist military medics in meeting state requirements for civil licensing and certification. It is based on H.R. 235, which passed the House during the 113th Congress.

    National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act

    The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act (to be introduced by Rep. Whitfield) would establish a grant program for states to administer prescription drug monitoring programs to ensure that appropriate law enforcement, regulatory and state professional licensing authorities have access to prescription drug history information to investigate drug diversion and abuse.

    Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act

    The Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act (to be introduced by Rep. Burgess and Rep. Green) would reauthorize Trauma Care Systems Planning Grants, which support state and rural development of trauma systems. It also would reauthorize pilot projects to implement and assess regionalized emergency care models. The legislation is based on H.R. 4080, which passed the House during the 113th Congress.

    Access to Life-Saving Trauma Care for All Americans Act

    The Access to Life-Saving Trauma Care for All Americans Act (to be introduced by Rep. Burgess and Rep. Green) would reauthorize Trauma Center Care Grants. These grants aid hospitals in handling their substantial uncompensated care costs from traumatic injuries.

    Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act

    The Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act (to be introduced by Chairman Pitts and Rep. Pallone) would amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to require the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to act on a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add a drug or substance that has never been marketed in the United States to a schedule of controlled substances within a specified period. Currently, new drugs and substances that previously have not been marketed in the United States and that have abuse potential must be scheduled under the CSA by the DEA prior to being marketed. The CSA currently provides no deadline for the DEA to act after receiving a recommendation. The amount of time the DEA has taken before acting on FDA recommendations has increased significantly in recent years, delaying the availability of these drugs and substances to patients. The legislation is based on H.R. 4299, which passed the Committee during the 113th Congress.

    Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act

    H.R. 471, the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act introduced by Rep. Marino, Rep. Blackburn, Rep. Welch and Rep. Chu, would help prevent prescription drug abuse, establish clear and consistent enforcement standards and ensure patients have access to medications, by promoting collaboration among government agencies, patients and industry stakeholders. The bill is based on H.R. 4069, which passed the House in the 113th Congress.

    Witnesses:

    Ben D. Chlapek, Deputy Chief, Central Jackson County Fire, Blue Springs, Missouri; John L. Eadie, Director, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Center of Excellence, Brandeis University; Blaine L. Enderson, MD, Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee Medical Center; Nathan B. Fountain, MD, Professor of Neurology, Director of F.E. Dreifuss Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, on behalf of Epilepsy Foundation; and, D. Linden Barber, Partner and Director, DEA Compliance Operations, Quarles & Brady. For more information, or to view the hearing, please visit energycommerce.house.gov.

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