Health committees finalized in new Congress Presented by

With help from Sarah Karlin-Smith and Victoria Colliver

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— Health committee leadership was finalized in the new Congress, with Rep. Lloyd Doggett named as Ways & Means health subcommittee chief and a key figure in the drug pricing debate.

— Native Americans say the government shutdown continues to hit them hard, with more stories emerging about the risk for their health care safety net.

— The HHS inspector general will release a report today examining the agency's program for unaccompanied children, the latest look inside the Trump administration's controversial policy of separating migrant families at the border.

THIS IS THURSDAY PULSE — Where your author is pondering: If there's no State of the Union, what happens to the mad dash to finish policies so President Donald Trump will announce them on live TV? Do agency staffers get let off the hook?

At least one State of the Union is coming to TV in 2019. Let PULSE know what you're watching in the meantime: Tips to [email protected] or find him on Twitter at @ddiamond.

A message from PhRMA: Today, there are several promising vaccine candidates in stage three clinical trials. These trials have tens of thousands of participants, from every walk of life. From development to robust clinical trials, and throughout manufacturing, these vaccine candidates follow the same rigorous process of other vaccines that have saved millions of lives. More.

HEALTH COMMITTEES FINALIZED IN NEW CONGRESS — Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) was announced Wednesday to lead the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, the last unfilled seat among the Hill’s health leadership positions.

Doggett’s been aggressive on introducing drug pricing legislation — setting up a possible collision with other House Democrats like new Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee chair Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), who represents a pharma-heavy district and is seen as more moderate on the issue. POLITICO's Sarah Karlin-Smith detailed that dynamic for Pros in December

— Education and Labor gains new health care voices. The House committee historically hasn't been a prime mover on health care, but just added a slew of members who have been outspoken on the issue.

Among the additions: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), leader of the House's Medicare for All caucus; Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), a registered nurse; Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), a pediatrician; Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), a gun control advocate; and Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), the former HHS secretary.

SHUTDOWN, DAY 27: NATIVE AMERICANS CONTINUE TO WORRY ABOUT HEALTH IMPACT — The Indian Health Service has been hit hard by lack of funding, and that's trickled down around the country. One clinic in Bakersfield, Calif. that serves 3,500 tribal members says it's relying heavily on donations, like prescription medicine provided by Adventist Health.

A House hearing on Tuesday focused on the shutdown's impact on Indian country.

ANNA ESHOO walks back vow on Medicare-for-all hearing. The Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee chair told reporters Wednesday afternoon she’d hold a hearing on Democrats’ Medicare for All proposals — a seeming break with Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) that would mark a significant victory for the party’s progressive wing.

But by Wednesday evening, the California Democrat was having second thoughts, telling POLITICO's Adam Cancryn that her subcommittee needed to prioritize shoring up Obamacare and crafting sweeping drug price reforms.

Only after the committee gets done with those issues, Eshoo said, will she see if there’s any “spare time” to tackle Medicare for All — an outcome that she suggested was unlikely.

CHUCK GRASSLEY trying to unify GOP Finance members on drug pricing. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Wednesday organized a meeting between Senate Finance Committee Republicans and HHS Secretary Alex Azar, seeking to get everyone on the same page about drug pricing reforms.

But the committee's GOP members remain split on the Trump administration’s proposal to tie Medicare Part B drug payments to the price of drugs in other countries, Grassley told reporters. There is “some Republican interest for and some against it,” Grassley said, adding he couldn’t quantify how many members are on either side.

Other drug pricing topics that came up in the meeting included increasing negotiation in Part D and addressing the rebate system and its impact on list prices, a spokesperson for Azar said.

BILL CASSIDY makes good on California threat. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and colleagues unveiled S. 131, legislation designed to bar federal Medicaid funding for the "administrative costs of providing health benefits to individuals who are undocumented immigrants." The bill also would call for a federal review on whether states are using "gimmicks" like provider taxes to fund the coverage, among other inquiries.

— How we got here: California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced plans to use state money to expand Medicaid to young, undocumented residents, sparking a war of words with the Louisiana Republican.

— Reality check: It's unlikely Cassidy's bill would clear the Democratically controlled House.

— Meanwhile: Does this jibe with Cassidy's support for states' rights? The Louisiana Republican has repeatedly said that states should be empowered to redesign their health systems — "We are giving the power over health care to the states, not DC," Cassidy vowed when introducing his Obamacare repeal package in September 2017 — so PULSE asked if he supported any part of California's effort.

"Cassidy can support flexibility for states to make health care more affordable and sustainable while personally opposing unsustainable policies that reward illegal immigrants that break the law," a spokesperson for the senator told PULSE.

Meanwhile: Khanna teams with Newsom to underpin California single-payer. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) this week told POLITICO he's working on a bill that would establish a federal waiver allowing California and other states to retain critical federal health care dollars while developing their own systems of coverage and care, including single-payer models. More for Pros from Victoria Colliver and Angela Hart.

COMING TODAY: The inspector general's look at the unaccompanied children program. OIG's report is expected to provide a window into how HHS took custody of children separated through the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" border policy.

SEEMA VERMA wants Twitter users to police hospitals for price transparency. The CMS administrator has deputized the internet to find out whether hospitals are complying with her agency's price transparency rules. "[W]e’re asking the Twitterverse to helps us make sure patients have access to the basic hospital pricing information (called the chargemaster) that is now required to be posted online," she tweeted Wednesday night. More for Pros.

Patient groups launch campaign against proposed Medicare Part D changes. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is leading nearly 60 groups — including the American Medical Association, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Lung Association — in opposition to a Trump administration proposal to change Medicare Part D’s "protected classes" drug coverage.

— How we got here: The Trump administration wants to give Medicare plans the option to limit coverage of drugs in six categories — like cancer and HIV medicines — in a bid to save the government nearly $2 billion. Public comments are due Jan. 25.

— What the groups say: That limiting coverage of those drugs will put patients at risk. Their ads will run in print, digital, national and Capitol Hill publications through early February.

ADVENTIST HEALTH POLICY ASSOCIATION opens office in Washington. The association — which represents AdventHealth, Adventist Health, Adventist HealthCare, Kettering Health Network, and Loma Linda University Health — says its D.C. shingle is essential to advancing the priorities of Seventh-day Adventist health care systems. (The association in recent years has prioritized issues like community benefit and palliative care.)

EIGHTY-FOUR PERCENT of Fortune 50 companies are now involved in health care. That's according to a PwC Health Research Institute report, which suggests that's a sign of the industry "being disrupted" as tech and financial services companies enter the field.

Georgetown's Sabrina Corlette — who spotted the stat — thinks differently. "No wonder efforts at cost containment are so darn hard," she tweeted.

Texas: BRETT GIROIR warns about opioid crisis, praises Dell Med. The HHS assistant secretary for health visited Austin this week to discuss efforts to move from a national "crisis framework" on opioids to an integrated response. Giroir serves as HHS Secretary Alex Azar's top opioid adviser and has been a prominent voice.

… Giroir also praised University of Texas Dell Medical School — which welcomed its inaugural class in 2016 — as a "leading, pioneering, edgy medical school" that is rethinking medical education. Giroir's predecessor, Karen DeSalvo, is a professor at the school.

… Giroir was also renominated by President Donald Trump on Wednesday night to represent the United States on the executive board of the World Health Organization.

By Paul Demko

Rural America's volunteer ambulance services are collapsing as communities become grayer and less populated, reports Nathan Kohrman in the New Yorker. More.

Bold health initiatives proposed by officials in California, Washington and other states could create blueprints to follow, argues KHN editor Elisabeth Rosenthal. More.

The worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could become a permanent threat to the war-torn country, reports Laurie Garrett in Foreign Policy. More.

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