Obama Administration Finalizes Medicaid Expansion Regulations.

The Hill (3/29, Goad) "Regwatch" blog reported HHS finalized new regulations Friday that said "the federal government will reimburse states for 100 percent of the costs for some newly eligible Medicaid patients" for three years, and "after that, the federal contribution would be gradually phased down to 90 percent in 2020, and would remain there permanently." The rule was released after HHS Secretary Sebelius said this week that the new law "could cause healthcare costs to increase for some Americans. It was the first time a top administration official publicly made such a statement."

        The Washington Times (3/29, Howell) "Inside Politics" blog reported, "The Department of Health and Human Services announced it has proposed a final rule that describes a 'simple and accurate method' for states to claim the matching rate for enrollees deemed 'newly eligible' under the Affordable Care Act, which expands the program in 2014 to those making up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level."

        Modern Healthcare (3/30, Block, Subscription Publication) added that "although HHS on Friday released a final rule regarding the expanded 100% federal funding of the cost of new Medicaid beneficiaries, the department is still accepting comments on the methodology states can use to determine whether a new beneficiary qualifies for the enhanced funding."

        HHS To Allow Private Medicaid Expansion Option With Waiver. The Gannett News Service (3/29, Barton) reported that the Obama Administration "said Friday it would allow states to experiment with alternative approaches to the Medicaid expansion called for by the 2010 healthcare reform law." CMS provided "guidelines under which alternative or 'demonstration programs' could be established as a way of 'providing flexibility in pursuit of our shared goals,'" CMS Deputy Administrator Cindy Mann said. Several states are looking for something "other than a expansion of traditional Medicaid, something seen as politically tricky for those in conservative states."

        The Hill (3/29, Baker) "Healthwatch" blog reported that HHS said Friday that "states that want to privatize the healthcare law's Medicaid expansion will need a waiver from the federal government." HHS also "released a questions-and-answers document Friday explaining more about its approach to private expansions." The Hill points out that the privatization option "has gained traction since Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) first proposed it last month."

        The Washington Post (3/29, Kliff) "Wonkblog" reported that states that wanted "the so-called Arkansas option" to buy private insurance with Medicaid expansion money "have a few more answers." CMS "on Friday issued a Q&A to address some of the questions posed by states. It's not comprehensive - it includes three questions that span two pages - but it has a few new details that might help states make up their minds." Among the answers are that "a partial expansion isn't on the table," while "a waiver might be in order, though." Moreover, CMS said "benefits need to be comparable."

        Bloomberg News (3/29, Wayne) reported that CMS made "a departure" from the ACA and said Friday that "an unspecified number of states" will be able to use Medicaid money to allow low-income residents "to buy health insurance from private plans such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. or Humana Inc." CMS said it would allow the practice "as long as it doesn't cost the government more than the traditional Medicaid program." Arkansas and Ohio both have asked for permission to try private plans.

        Modern Healthcare (4/1, Blesch, Subscription Publication) notes that HHS will only grant a "limited number" of waivers.

        The National Journal (3/29, Sanger-Katz, Subscription Publication) reported that the Obama Administration on Friday "dampened...enthusiasm" in states that want to use private health plans to cover the poor, "laying out strict rules for the program that will interest only a few states." While "the details will reassure many Medicaid advocates," the "rules also could discourage some on-the-fence states from pursuing a Medicaid expansion at all, leaving more Americans without health insurance after the health law's biggest provisions kick in next year." The National Journal said Friday's announcement of rules "sets a high bar for the states to clear."

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Obama Administration Weighs Options In Face Of Marijuana Legalization.

The New York Times (12/7, Savage, Subscription Publication) reports, "Even as marijuana legalization supporters are celebrating their victories in the two states, the Obama administration has been holding high-level meetings since the election to debate the response of federal law enforcement agencies to the decriminalization efforts." The question of which actions the federal government will take is a complex one, with marijuana legalization being popular with Obama's base. In addition, according to federal officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, issues raised include "enforcement priorities, litigation strategy and the impact of international antidrug treaties," because marijuana is still illegal at the Federal level. Current federal policy calls for using resources to go after "large-scale trafficking organizations. The result has been more federal raids on dispensaries than many liberals had expected."

        USA Today/Gallup: Feds Should Leave Legal Marijuana In States Alone. USA Today (12/7, Page) reports that, while Americans are almost evenly divided on the legalization of marijuana "those surveyed say by almost 2-1, 63%-34%, that the federal government shouldn't take steps to enforce federal marijuana laws in states that legalize pot." USA Today adds, "Still unclear is precisely how, and how aggressively, federal law enforcement officials plan to proceed."

        Colorado Groups Ask Attorney General To Enforce Federal Marijuana Law. CNN (12/5, Duke) reports on its website that in Colorado, where marijuana use will become legal in less than a month, 20 business groups have asked Attorney General Eric Holder "to enforce federal pot laws, because of questions about how to deal with workers who are high." According to Sandra Hagen Solin, of the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance, "There is uncertainty about our ability to terminate employees if they come to the job impaired. ... There are obligations that we have under the drug-free workplace. There are a lot of questions that have arisen."

        First New Jersey Marijuana Dispensary Opens. The New York Times (12/7, Hartocollis, Subscription Publication) reports that after being "delayed by political battles over whether it would lead to the de facto legalization of marijuana," New Jersey's first medical marijuana dispensary has opened. "Provided a doctor's prescription for a list of specified medical conditions was presented," to the owners of the store, purchasing the marijuana would be legal under state law. The Greenleaf Compassion Center is described as "like an upscale doctor's office," by one of the business partners, Julio Valentin, Jr.

        The Philadelphia Inquirer (12/6, Hefler) notes, "Five other dispensaries, including one in Egg Harbor, Atlantic County, have been preliminarily approved by the state." The New York Daily News (12/7, Brown), and NJ.com (12/7) are among the media outlets also reporting on the New Jersey dispensary.

DIA Daily is a digest of the most important news selected from thousands of sources by the editors of BulletinHealthcare. The presence of content or advertising does not endorse, nor imply endorsement of, any products or services by the Drug Information Association. Neither BulletinHealthcare nor the Drug Information Association is liable for the use of or reliance on any information contained in this briefing.

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Copyright © 2012 by BulletinHealthcare| 11190 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 130 | Reston, VA 20191

What HHS Might Look Like Under President Romney - The Health Care Blog

By Dan Diamond

The world may not be ready for a Romney presidency.
Or more specifically: world leaders may not have done enough homework.

An interesting Washington Post story this week suggested that because the foreign polls have been so bullish on President Obama — 82% of Germans in one survey expected Obama to be re-elected — lawmakers around the world may be scrambling to adjust to a new team of U.S. diplomats and set of policies.

Is the health sector better prepared?

Given the close race — as of press time on Wednesday, most polls had the presidential race neck and neck — there’s been growing scrutiny of Republican health proposals. For example, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban Institute on Tuesday released another report on the GOP House Budget Committee’s Medicaid plan.

But there’s been much less examination of the people who would steer Romney’s Department of Health and Human Services and the policies they’d carry out.

for more: What HHS Might Look Like Under President Romney

FDA battling White House over politicization of regulation Read more: FDA battling White House over politicization of regulation - FiercePharma http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/fda-battling-white-house-over-politicization-regulation/2012-04-03?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz1r1U9Olkt Subscribe: http://www.fiercepharma.com/signup?sourceform=Viral-Tynt-FiercePharma-FiercePharma

After operating on a very short leash during the Bush administration, many FDA staffers thought that a new era of independence from political forces at the White House was upon them when President Barack Obama took office.
They were flat wrong, and they're ticked off.
Politics has peppered Obama loyalists' spats with FDA officials over counting calories in movie theater popcorn and how to regulate birth control pills, an article in The New York Times suggests. For the pharmaceutical industry, the strained relationship between the FDA and the Obama camp has led to some curveballs, and thought leaders are raising concerns about wounding industry profits.

Read more: FDA battling White House over politicization of regulation - FiercePharma http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/fda-battling-white-house-over-politicization-regulation/2012-04-03?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz1r1U1wiGT
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NIH grabs share of Obama's $200M big data bet,

http://www.fiercebiotechit.com/story/nih-grabs-share-obamas-new-200m-bet-big-data/2012-04-02?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

By Ryan McBride

Big data has won a $200 million endorsement from the White House, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stands to gain a sizable share of funding. The NIH revealed March 29 that it is one of 6 federal agencies in line to reap benefits from the initiative to find solutions for taming huge datasets.
The NIH and National Science Foundation have teamed up to award up to $25 million from the initiative for 15 to 20 projects in science and engineering fields. In the biomedical arena, for instance, the NIH wants to fund projects that could enable the crunching of massive amounts of data to aid scientific investigations. Also, the agency announced that digital data from the international 1000 Genomes Project will be hosted in the cloud by Amazon Web Services and be available for free.
President Obama's big data bet follows criticism from the scientific community that, despite the billions of dollars invested in genomic research and molecular biology studies, a relative pittance has gone into supporting the gigantic datasets that have resulted from those efforts. For example, cheap and fast DNA sequencing has motivated federally funded labs to explore sequencing, yet few of them have the internal computing power to manage and analyze the massive genomic datasets.

How massive? The 1000 Genomes Project eats up 200 terabytes of storage, equal to some 16 million filing cabinets stuffed with text or 30,000 DVDs, according to the NIH.

"Improving access to data from this important project will accelerate the ability of researchers to understand human genetic variation and its contribution to health and disease," stated Dr. Eric Green, director of the NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute, which is one of the backers of the 1000 Genomes Project.

- here's the NIH's release
- check out InformationWeek's article