Medicare eligibility is tripping up GOP presidential candidates.

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And then there were five people (well, six).

Five GOP presidential candidates clashed Wednesday night, addressing health issues ranging from hot election topics to uncertain budget math. My co-author Sarah Owermohle and I brought up three key ideas about Health care brought to you

• Medicare solvency: Applicants split over whether they will tighten eligibility requirements Former President Trump’s position was that the GOP should not disqualify.
• Abortion: After losing the election this week The candidates once again emphasized their diverse stances on abortion politics. And should decisions be made at the state or national level?
• Fentanyl: Most candidates, though, continue to frame the nation’s opioid crisis as a border security issue. But some candidates have had more compassionate rhetoric about treating addiction as a disease.

The Next Scope for Surprise Billing Reform

Congress protects patients from huge medical bills. When lawmakers passed surprising billing reforms in 2020, they kicked the can down the road in one big arena: ground ambulances.

The committee, which lawmakers created because they couldn’t agree on actual policy, agreed on some policy recommendations for future action. This includes limiting patient out-of-pocket costs to $100 for emergency ambulance rides.

My colleagues Bob Herman and Tara Bannow break down the proposal in collaboration with the excellent health policy podcast Tradeoffs. Let it be read and listened to..

Panels through precisely segmented PBM packages

The Senate Finance Committee operated like a well-oiled machine on Wednesday. When approving a Medicare and Medicaid expansion package paired with new patient cost-sharing rules for prescription drugs and measures to protect pharmacies,

Aside from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), every member of the panel voted to develop the package in less than two hours and found no additional amendments to the package. This was neatly compensated. This makes it easier to increase government funding measures in the future. A few modest behavioral health measures also made the cut.

Here’s a summary of the whole operation.

How do you solve a problem like paying for Ozempic?

With Novo Nordisks Wegovy and Ozempic making huge profits and the new FDA approval of Eli Lillys Zepbound for treating obesity yesterday. Everyone in Washington is wondering how the health care system will pay for all of its costs.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) denounced the idea of ​​negotiating drug prices at the Milk Future Health Summit. Instead, he suggested that the government should explore ways to finally get people off drugs, such as through the delivery of healthy meals, reports colleague Sarah Owermohle.

As the debate over the drug’s cost-effectiveness rages, There’s sure to be no shortage of creative ideas on how to pay for those drugs. If you are doing something We’d love to hear about it.

Help Wanted: White House Edition

The White House is launching a new initiative today. It calls on companies to hire, train and retain people recovering from drug addiction. In the midst of the opioid crisis, my colleague Lev Facher reports.

There’s not much the White House can do. Therefore, the program includes a toolkit for employers and proposes model state legislation to incentivize nursing home staffing. It is also certified as a Recovery Friendly Workplace.

What is currently being read?

• Pulse oximeter inaccuracy in people with dark skin requires urgent action, AGs tell FDA, STAT
• How Danish capitalism like Ozempic maker Novo Nordisks has driven its success and stumbles Wall Street Journal
• FDA’s Woodcock and other experts Highlights the ongoing problems plaguing pharmaceuticals. Biotechnology due to Covid-19 outbreak, STAT
• Big Insurance meets competition when it denies top lawyer’s request for cancer treatment ProPublica