During the health care debate, this website focused on the biologics provisions in the law. Because of the influence of biotechnology companies, lawmakers pushed for an exemption of 12 years for the expensive drugs, during which time no generics could enter the market. In the final negotiations that got lowered to 10 years. In some [...]

This is a new one. Chief of Staff Bill Daley is giving up day-to-day operations at the White House, with Pete Rouse taking over. I’m not sure there’s anything else to the job other than day-to-day operations; that’s kind of what a Chief of Staff does. On Monday, Mr. Daley turned over day-to-day management of [...]

In the latest in a flurry of executive actions, the Obama Administration has directed the FDA and the Justice Department to reduce shortages in prescription drugs, a growing problem over the last decade. The order is being sold as part of the Administration’s “We Can’t Wait” campaign to push economic actions in the midst of [...]

“Obama and the left back in sync,” Politico blares. “Plan Calms Democrats’ Concerns On and Off Hill,” Sam Stein writes. The latter is more correct. “Relief” would be a good word in reaction to a plan that easily could have included an increase in the Medicare eligibility age and a switch to chained CPI, a [...]

Following a predictable pattern for this Republican Presidential primary, Rick Perry is taking a lot of heat from his colleagues for having the right policy on Gardasil, the vaccine for the human papilloma virus. Perry mandated the vaccinations for young girls to prevent cervical cancer. Eventually the state legislature overrode him. Social conservatives like Michele [...]

Jon Huntsman’s economic plan should dispel any rumors of his moderation. It eliminates the Earned Income Tax and the child tax credit to pay for a reduction of the top marginal tax rate to 23%. I don’t think I need to go any further. It’s a reverse-Robin Hood special. And he’s barely scraping past 1% [...]

This isn’t so much legislation as it is a wish list in op-ed form from a retiring, disliked Senator. But Joe Lieberman’s attack on Medicare is noteworthy, given the trajectory of his history with Medicare. I’m so old I can remember when Lieberman wanted to expand Medicare. It was in 2009. He endorsed at that [...]

Time to mix in a good news story. A few weeks back, the Food and Drug Administration gave exclusive rights for a pregancy drug named Makena that prevented premature births to KV Pharmaceuticals. They promptly raised the price for Makena, which needs to be injected weekly between 16 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, from $10 [...]

A lot of people bash the retiring Kent Conrad, and I happily join them. But I will say this – the guy occasionally acts like a true believer. Sure, he’ll vote for budget-busting tax cuts and then call for reduction to the deficit. You can look under any rock on Capitol Hill and find a [...]

Hands up if you believe that Republicans will really punish Wal-Mart and pharmaceutical companies after the election. I don’t think this tension is anything that a little donation can’t fix: Take the case of Wal-Mart, the behemoth big-box retailer that liberals have long loved to hate. Several years ago, it began to break ranks with [...]

I mentioned this in The Roundup yesterday, but this move from the insurance industry is predictable, but nonetheless takes some gumption. Some of the country’s most prominent health insurance companies have decided to stop offering new child-only plans, rather than comply with rules in the new health-care law that will require such plans to start [...]