Tuesday Tidbits

The House of Representatives began debate this afternoon of the Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill (HR 3351) which funds OPM, its Inspector General and the FEHBP, among other line items.  Federal New Network reports on Democrat and federal employee union efforts to block the Administration's efforts to transfer certain OPM functions, including FEHBP administration to the General Services Administration. HR 3351 would block funding for this initiative.

The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee will consider the bipartisan leadership bill to lower healthcare costs (S 1895) tomorrow morning. The FEHBlog skimmed through this lengthy bill yesterday. It substance a wide variety of hot button issues, like price and quality transparency and data exchange, surprise billing, and drug pricing. Needless to say while bipartisan, it remains controversial so tomorrow's meeting will be interesting.

The Wall Street Journal reported this morning on a noticeable surge in hospital lawsuits against patients for collection of unpaid bills

The Affordable Care Act, the signature achievement of former President Barack Obama, set new requirements for nonprofit hospitals that were largely expected to curb aggressive collection efforts. These hospitals must post and provide information on their financial-assistance policies and send notices that they are planning to sue. They also must limit the amount charged to the uninsured and wait four months before using stepped-up collection efforts such as filing a lawsuit. And yet, concerns persist.

Affordable Care Act indeed!

On the prescription drug front --

• The Wall Street Journal reports that "AbbVie Inc. agreed to buy Allergan AGN 25.36% PLC for about $63 billion in a bet by the two drugmakers that a combination will deliver new sources of growth that they have struggled to find on their own." The article adds that "Buying Dublin-based Allergan would deliver a dominant position in the $8 billion-plus market for Botox and other beauty drugs, as well as a number of popular eye treatments, as AbbVie braces for the end of patent protection for the world’s top-selling drug, Humira."

• Drug Channels explains how a CVS Health lawsuit recently revealed three aspects of Amazon's PillPack strategy. 

Finally, Health Data Management discusses the efforts of cooperative Blockchain Health Utility Network to identify and implement blockchain technology in the healthcare sector. "Blockchain offers the potential to find easier solutions in healthcare for problems that stem from lack of standards or doubts about how to facilitate the secure exchange of healthcare information, said Dan Sanders, director of technology and innovation for Anthem."