From Capitol Hill, the Wall Street Journal reports
Rep. Kevin McCarthy stepped up negotiations with Republican detractors, offering fresh concessions to win support after a third day of House speaker votes yielded no movement toward a winner in the GOP-controlled chamber.
Mr. McCarthy and some of his detractors appeared to be coalescing around a deal, stepping up the pace of discussions as the House marked its 11th round of votes with no winner, the most since just before the Civil War. While most Republicans backed Mr. McCarthy over three days of tallies, 20 continued to oppose him, and it wasn’t known if enough detractors would potentially change their votes to give Mr. McCarthy the gavel. All Democrats supported their pick, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Shortly after 8 p.m., lawmakers voted 219-213 to adjourn until Friday at noon, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.
Voting is expected to continue into the weekend.
From the Affordable Care Act front, the FEHBlog discovered today that on December 12, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the maximum 2024 out-of-pocket limits for in-network care offered by FEHB and other group health plans.
[T]he 2024 maximum annual limitation on cost sharing is $9,450 for self-only coverage and $18,900 for other than self-only coverage. This represents an approximately 3.8 percent increase above the 2023 parameters of $9,100 for self-only coverage and $18,200 for other than self-only coverage.
The announcement also covers other ACA topics: the premium adjustment percentage, reduced maximum annual limitation on cost sharing, and required contribution percentage, which apply to marketplace plans.
From the New Year front —
- Mercer offers strategic planning guidance for health plan and human resources executives.
- STAT News identifies three drug pricing issues to watch this year — 1. Inflation Reduction Act implementation; 2. Medicare’s lecanemab coverage decision, and 3. Insulin cost protections.
- Tammy Flanagan writes in Govexec about Federal “Employee Benefit Changes for 2023; How new pay rates, Social Security earnings limits and other factors could affect your retirement planning.”
- Bloomberg Prognosis offers a January guide to weight loss.
- Healio adds, “More physical activity was associated with a lower risk for type 2 diabetes regardless of age, sex, BMI or sedentary time, according to an analysis published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.”
From the telehealth front —
Healthcare Dive tells us
Teladoc Health announced on Thursday it’s launching a new app allowing users to access its full range of services in one place and under one account.
The app, which includes primary care, mental health and chronic condition management, is meant to integrate all of Teladoc’s assets in one personalized platform, making care navigation and selection easier for consumers,
Teladoc Chief Medical Officer Vidya Raman-Tangella told Healthcare Dive. The app is available to a select number of Teladoc’s existing clients this month. Teladoc plans to make the app available to the full market later this year.
Fierce Healthcare adds “Teladoc’s full suite of services will be available in the Spanish language on the mobile app and the website, marking a critical shift with more than 40 million people in the United States reporting they speak Spanish at home.”
CMS announced adding “a new telehealth indicator on clinician profile pages on Medicare Care Compare and in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC). The new indicator helps beneficiaries and caregivers more easily find clinicians who provide telehealth services.”
From the post-Dobbs front, the Hill reports
Two of the biggest pharmacy chains in the country are planning to seek the certification needed to dispense abortion pills in the states where it is legal, according to spokespeople for the companies.
The decisions by Walgreens and CVS are likely to provide a boost to a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy announced Tuesday that will allow retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone from a certified prescriber if they meet certain criteria.
Until 2021, mifepristone could only be dispensed in person by a physician. The FDA temporarily lifted that requirement because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Biden administration made the change permanent in December 2021, paving the way for doctors to prescribe the drug digitally and then mail the pills to patients.