Week in Washington is brought to you by Michael Cohen, PhD. Tune in each week to read the latest on healthcare policy and get a glimpse of what’s on the horizon
Week in Washington
6/9/22
Midterm Elections
As crazy as it sounds midterm elections will increase in salience as November nears. A few notes worth monitoring
- Congressional Republican Platform
- The Republican party is beginning to outline potential policies they would push should they regain one or both houses of Congress. Currently their proposals are being generated via the Healthy Future Task Force, which is aiming for more incremental changes (i.e., not ACA repeal) such as capping Medicare drug costs or increasing telehealth. More details on these policies are expected to be released in the coming months.
- South Dakota – South Dakota voters rejected a measure that would increase the threshold for approving ballot measures. This matters as South Dakota is expected to vote on Medicaid expansion this fall.
Prescription Drug Research
- New research in JAMA found that nearly half of all drugs launched in the last two years. Overall launch prices for new drugs increased 20% annually from 2008 to 2021.
Covid
- Pediatric Vaccine- The White House announced that it was there expectation that a Covid vaccine for kids would be and available as early as June 21st.
- Novavax – The Novavax Covid vaccine gained approval from an FDA advisory panel, which should clear the way for overall approval.
- Omicron B4/B5 – The latest Covid Omicron subvariants (B4 and B5) are increasing in prevalence. The variants have the potential for increasing the current Covid case wave.
Previous editions:
06/02/2022: Week in Washington
05/26/2022: Week in Washington
05/19/2022: Week in Washington
05/12/2022: Week in Washington
05/05/2022: Week in Washington
04/28/2022: Week in Washington
04/21/2022: Week in Washington
04/07/2022: Week in Washington