In the debate over surprise medical bills, the White House said today it's "concerned that a push to overuse arbitration will raise healthcare costs" — indicating that it's not on board with the approach doctors and hospitals prefer.
The big picture: Congress is gridlocked between two approaches, pitting insurers against providers. White House spokesman Judd Deere also said the administration believes surprise bills from air ambulances should be addressed in the same legislation.
The first chartered plane carrying 195 people from Wuhan, China to a military base in California is expected to release all passengers from quarantine on Tuesday after no visible symptoms of the novel coronavirus were detected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The big picture: The State Department chartered five flights from Wuhan carrying about 800 people in total to be quarantined for 14 days. The 195 individuals were housed at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., as an "aggressive" but "preventative and precautionary step" to minimize the potential spread of the virus, CDC officials have said.
Many experts have questioned the FDA's drug approval standards over the past few years, as several controversial drugs have gotten the green light despite less rigorous testing.
What they're saying: Peter Stein, the head of the FDA's office that analyzes new drugs, sat down with Zachary Brennan of Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society and said the only thing that's changed with the FDA's approval process is a shift in the types of drugs the agency is reviewing.
A new study found that experimental drugs made by Eli Lilly and Roche didn't help people with a rare, inherited form of Alzheimer's, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: Alzheimer's is a devastating disease, and drug after drug keeps failing to do more than temporarily alleviate its symptoms.
President Trump's 2021 budget proposes massive reductions in Medicare and Medicaid spending, which would be felt most acutely by hospitals and Medicaid beneficiaries.
Why it matters: Budget proposals are more about messaging than policies that have any chance of becoming law, but it's still a good indication of the direction the administration would like to head in if Trump wins re-election.
Transporting kidneys on commercial flights for transportation can put the organs in jeopardy, thanks to delays and logistical problems, Kaiser Health News and Reveal reports.
Why it matters: Organs can only be outside of the body for a certain number of hours before doctors will refuse to put them inside patients.
Details: Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told San Diego Public Health "four patients being evaluated for 2019-nCoV at UC San Diego Health had tested negative for the virus," according to the statement. They were discharged and returned to federal quarantine at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar "at the CDC's direction," it said.
Mylan is itching to make a generic version of Biogen's popular multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera, but that won't be happening for a while now that federal patent reviewers turned down Mylan's patent challenge.
The big picture: The victory for Biogen not only secures several more years of monopoly pricing for the company — Biogen has a history of raising Tecfidera's list price by at least 5% per year — but also likely will create a higher baseline price for when Tecfidera generics finally come out.
Insurers are increasingly requiring patients to receive preapprovals for drugs or medical care, but even if the care is approved, that doesn't mean the insurer will necessarily pay, Kaiser Health News reports.
Why it matters: If an insurer decides not to pay for the care after the fact, that leaves patients on the hook for what can be huge medical bills.
Congress says it's trying again to pass legislation protecting patients from surprise medical bills, but it doesn't appear to have resolved any of the fights that derailed the effort late last year.
The big picture: Surprise billing is the unique issue that splits lawmakers not by party, but by which industry group — insurers or providers — they sympathize with more. And both industries are fighting hard for their favored solution.
