Senate Bill Would Cement Nursing Home Staffing Rule Rebuffed By Trump
The Democratic measure would mandate around-the-clock registered nurse staffing and set a care threshold for patients, Axios reported. Republicans are unlikely to support the measure. Plus, Congress also discussed pharmacy benefit managers.
Senate Democrats on Thursday are reviving a Biden-era effort to set the first-ever national minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes, Axios has learned. (Goldman, 2/12)
More news from Capitol Hill 鈥
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Wednesday came down hard on various sectors of the U.S. prescription drug supply chain during a hearing to shed light on the reasons for rising costs. (DeGroot, 2/11)
Wednesday's House hearing on the pharmaceutical supply chain included the expected finger-pointing by various industries -- drugmakers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and healthcare distributors -- at one another. But it also contained a few surprises. One was an apology from David Marin, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), a trade group for PBMs. (Frieden, 2/11)
Years of gridlock on pharmacy benefit manager legislation gave way this month, and the sector now faces tougher regulation than ever. President Donald Trump signed legislation last week that 鈥渄elinks鈥 pharmacy benefit manager compensation from pharmaceutical list prices, imposes greater transparency requirements and mandates that drugmaker rebates are passed through to customers. Days before, the Labor Department proposed a regulation that would direct PBMs to disclose more information to group health plan sponsors. (Tong, 2/11)
Six Republicans joined Wednesday night with Democrats in the House in voting to end President Donald Trump鈥檚 stepped-up tariffs on Canada, rebuking the president in the first of what could be several congressional challenges to his trade policies. The measure is largely symbolic and is not likely to succeed in overturning tariffs on the major U.S. trading partner, because Trump could veto the resolution if it clears the Senate as well. It would require a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers to override his veto. (Beggin and Lynch, 2/11)
A military spouse has taken her family鈥檚 mold-induced health issues to the steps of Washington, imploring the Pentagon and Congress to adopt new legislation. The current major point of emphasis involves pushing Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate to take up the Military Occupancy Living Defense Act, also known as the MOLD Act, that Thompson and others say if adopted will further improve environmental health and safety protections for members of the Armed Forces and their families that reside in such housing. (Mordowanec, 2/10)
