On The Hill

The largest legislative response to the opioid crisis is one step closer to becoming law. This week, the Senate passed the comprehensive package, sending it to President Trump’s desk for signature. Last week, the House voted 393-8 to pass the legislation, which represents the culmination of several months of bipartisan work in the House and Senate. The Senate vote was equally overwhelming—only one senator voted against the proposal.[i] As reported last week, a section-by section discussion of the legislation can be viewed here, and the full text of the legislation can be read here.

In other opioid-related news, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use has issued a new blog about fentanyl test strips. Asst. Sec. Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz issued a plea for Americans to “proceed with caution” when it comes to using drugs that may be laced with fentanyl. Because many overdose deaths have been linked to undetected synthetic opioids in other drugs, there has been a push by some states and localities to encourage the use of fentanyl test strips. These test strips would allow an individual to test drugs for the presence of fentanyl prior to using said drug. Dr. McCance-Katz argues that, while such an approach to slow the rate of overdose deaths may be reasonable, safe drug use is not a goal to strive for. “Is it our goal to simply stop people from dying so they can continue a life of “safe” heroin use?” she writes. Citing the recent success reported in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which showed that heroin use was down considerably in 2017 compared to 2016, Dr. McCance-Katz says that “our goal should not solely be to end deaths; it should also be to facilitate the opportunity to recover to safe, healthy, and productive lives.”[ii] Read her full blog post here.

Revised North American Trade Agreement

The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was announced on Sunday. While the thrust of the agreement hinges on auto trading, labor and environmental standards, and digital trade provision, there are some health provisions within the agreement. Biologic drugs earned stronger protections, with the new agreement guaranteeing “at least ten years” of protection from generic competition. Currently, biologics are shielded for eight years in Canada and five years in Mexico. In the U.S., biologics are protected for 12 years—the USMCA does not change U.S. law with regard to those protections. President Trump predicted in a speech this week that the agreement would “make North America a haven for medical innovation and development.”[iii]

eMedicare Rollout

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced a new online tool for beneficiaries to access Medicare online. An announcement this week from Medicare.gov outlines the start of eMedicare, an online tool that “gives access to accurate and valuable information, presented in ways that make sense.”[iv] According to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, eMedicare is “a multi-year initiative designed to improve the channels Medicare uses for customer services.” This will include updating the website, call centers, and creating mobile apps to access the services that CMS provides.

Premium Increases for Employer-based Coverage

The 2018 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey was published by the Kaiser Family Foundation this week. The survey, which included over 2,000 interviews of non-federal firms, revealed that annual premiums of employer-based family coverage rose to $19,616 in 2018, up 5% from last year. Workers paid on average $5,547 for the cost of their coverage, and the average annual deductible among covered workers was $1,573.[v]

[i] Colby Itkowitz. “Senate easily passes sweeping opioids legislation, sending to President Trump.” Washington Post, 3 Oct 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/03/senate-is-poised-send-sweeping-opioids-legislation-president-trump/?utm_term=.990f86eae781

[ii] Elinore F. McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D. “For Beating the Opioid Crisis, America has Better Weapons than Fentanyl Test Strips.” SAMHSA, 3 Oct 2018. https://blog.samhsa.gov/2018/10/03/for-beating-the-opioid-crisis-america-has-better-weapons-than-fentanyl-test-strips/#.W7dVHGhKiHv

[iii] Jeanne Whalen, “Trump’s USMCA delivers big wins to drugmakers, oil companies and tech firms.” Washington Post, 2 Oct 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trumps-usmca-delivers-big-wins-to-drugmakers-oil-companies-and-tech-firms/2018/10/02/2d68ad10-c66f-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.46f92da0174d

[iv] “eMedicare—Another step to strengthening Medicare!” Medicare.gov, 1 Oct, 2018. https://www.medicare.gov/blog/emedicare-another-step-to-strengthening-medicare

[v] “2018 Employer Health Benefits Survey.” Kaiser Family Foundation, 3 Oct 2018. https://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/2018-employer-health-benefits-survey/