Author: Gregg Trueman

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New Year, New Beginnings and a New Administration

Hot Topics | January 15th, 2021

As we look ahead to Inauguration Day, we are hopeful for new beginnings and an affirmation of all that makes our nation’s democracy good. With the shift in power around the corner, policymakers and media alike have been busy at work. Here are this week’s top headlines:

Biden watch 2021

• Biden’s team has tapped Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, to serve as acting FDA Commissioner while they determine who will be nominated to succeed Dr. Stephen Hahn. (Endpoints News)
  • Read More: While Policy News was on vacation, several more Biden appointees were announced in various healthcare roles:
    • Marcella Nunez-Smith will serve as a top adviser and the chair of a new task force focused on addressing health disparities related to COVID-19. (STAT)
    • Bechara Choucair (a Kaiser Permanente executive), Carole Johnson (commissioner of New Jersey’s human services department) and Tim Manning (former deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency) will join Biden’s COVID-19 response team. (POLITICO)

Operation speed-it-up

• Following a slower-than-expected rollout of COVID-19 vaccines under Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday it would release all available doses of COVID-19 vaccines and recommend states begin vaccinating all adults over age 65. (The Hill, Roll Call) Meanwhile, President Elect Biden is reported to be frustrated with his team in charge of planning his administration’s response to COVID-19. Some of Biden’s advisors are worried the administration may not be able to fulfill its promise to administer 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in 100 days. (POLITICO, STAT)
  • Read More: Axios’s Caitlin Owens explains how Biden’s administration could pick up the pace.

It’s a big one

• On Thursday, President Elect Biden presented his $1.9 trillion emergency relief package to the American public. Titled the “American Rescue Plan,” the package includes:
  • $400 billion to fight COVID-19 (e.g. increasing vaccines, testing, safely reopening schools)
  • $1 trillion in direct relief to families (e.g. stimulus payments, unemployment benefits)
  • $440 billion in aid to communities and business

Biden defended the size of the package saying, “I know what I just described will not come cheaply…But failure to do so will cost us dearly.” (The Washington Post)

While we were out – a roundup of the stories you may have missed while you were taking that vacation

• On December 28, 2020, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Trump administration’s “Most Favored Nation” policy for drug reimbursement from taking effect. This policy would have tied the price of drugs offered under Medicare Part B to lower prices in other developed countries.
• On January 1, 2021, a new rule from the Trump administration took effect requiring hospitals to publicly post prices for every service, drug and supply they offer. Hospitals are required to post not only the list prices found on chargemasters, but also the discounted prices they have negotiated with insurers. (Kaiser Health News, via Roll Call)
• Axios’ Caitlin Owens outlined why Operation Warp Speed’s vaccine rollout is behind schedule (Axios) and how poor planning could increase racial and ethnic disparities in America (Axios).
• On January 4, ex-POLITICO reporters Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan launched their new media venture Punchbowl. The outlet plans to “focus on the several dozen people who have power in Washington, and exercise it, how they exercise it and why.”

If you enjoyed this excerpt from this week’s Policy News from Goodfuse, we invite you to email us at [email protected] to sign up the full weekly “insider only” newsletter featuring fun-to-read round-ups of Hot Topics, breaking news and some quirky facts to make your Fridays Goodfused.

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The Making of a D.C. Institution

Hot Topics | December 18th, 2020

The Smithsonian Institution is nothing short of, well, a Washington D.C. institution. A visit to the city is hardly complete without a visit to one of the cultural and scientific trust’s 19 museums or the National Zoo.

Although the Smithsonian is synonymous with America’s capital, it owes its existence to British scientist James Smithson who bequeathed his estate to the United States to create “an establishment for the increase and diffuse of knowledge.” In an ironic twist, no one knows why Smithson decided to leave his estate to a country he never visited in his lifetime. That being said, Smithson is interred at the Smithsonian Castle in Washington D.C., which happens to be open to the public if crypts are your type of tourist attraction. 

If crypts aren’t your thing, we have some good headlines this week:

Five days of vaccine news in five bullets

• Did the deluge of COVID-19 vaccine news this week leave your head spinning? We summarize the highlights below:
  • Pfizer and BioNTech: This week the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech were administered to healthcare workers around the U.S. following the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization last week. (The Washington Post, The Hill)
    • The U.S. government is also in the process of negotiating the procurement of 100 million additional doses of the vaccines. (POLITICO, The Hill)
    • Healthcare workers made a curious discovery this week: Six or sometimes seven full does of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine could be drawn from the vials, which are labeled to hold five doses. On Wednesday, the FDA authorized hospitals and pharmacists to administer these sixth or seventh doses, if the full doses could be drawn from a vial. The additional doses, which are the result from a routine industry packaging practice, could increase the U.S. vaccine supply up to 40%. (POLITICO)
  • Moderna: Following an endorsement from an FDA advisory committee on Thursday, Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate is expected to receive an Emergency Use Authorization. If authorized, Moderna’s vaccine candidate would be the second to become available to the American public. (The Washington Post, The Hill)
  • Vaccine Brand Names: Wondering when we can stop referring to the COVID-19 vaccines as COVID-19 vaccines? Companies are not expected to announce brand names for COVID-19 vaccines until the FDA fully approves the shots, expected in 2021. (STAT)

Sackler’s take the hot seat

• Yesterday members of the Sackler family testified in front of the House Oversight Committee on the role of Purdue Pharma in the opioid epidemic. During the hearing, members of Congress peppered Dr. Kathe Sackler and David Sackler of knowing more than they let on and for evading responsibility for their role in the crisis. Tensions ran high, with Rep. James Cooper (D-Tenn.) telling David Sackler, “Watching you testify makes my blood boil…I’m not sure that I’m aware of any family in America that’s more evil.” (The Hill, STAT)

Drug card program gets yellow card

• On September 24, President Trump announced a plan to send 33 million Medicare beneficiaries a card that could be used to pay up to $200 in prescription drug costs. This week, his administration’s plan encountered an unexpected roadblock: An obscure industry group that sets standards for health benefit cards has blocked the cards from being created. The consortium rebuffed the cards on the grounds that they would not be consistent with the other cards it regulates, which can be used to purchase more than drugs. (POLITICO) 

Don’t expect this campaign to take home a Clio

• The Department of Health and Human Services had earmarked more than $300 million for a star-studded ad campaign to boost public confidence in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the country. The only problem is that few of the celebs on HHS’ wish list expressed interest in the campaign for a variety of reasons. According to POLITICO, the project has faced a litany of issues with personnel and vendors.

If you enjoyed this excerpt from this week’s Policy News from Goodfuse, we invite you to email us at [email protected] to sign up the full weekly “insider only” newsletter featuring fun-to-read round-ups of Hot Topics, breaking news and some quirky facts to make your Fridays Goodfused.