President Biden’s public schedule for 06/12/2023:
| 10:00 AM | In-Town Pool Call Time The White House In-Town Pool |
| 11:30 AM College Athlete Day Celebration | The President hosts College Athlete Day at the White House, celebrating women’s and men’s NCAA Champion teams from the 2022-2023 season; The Second Gentleman attends South Lawn Open Press |
| 1:00 PM Press Briefing | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre James S. Brady Press Briefing Room |
| 3:15 PM Meeting | The President holds a meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to discuss the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania Oval Office In-House Pool Spray |
| 6:00 PM Remarks | The President delivers remarks at the Chiefs of Mission Reception East Room Pre-Credentialed Media and Pooled for TV |
President Biden’s College Athlete Day Celebration remarks schedule for 11:30 a.m. D.C., time:
President Biden’s schedule has been updated…
Show more =’s Dental Operatory”.
| 11:30 AM | The Vice President hosts College Athlete Day at the White House, celebrating women’s and men’s NCAA Champion teams from the 2022-2023 season; The Second Gentleman attends South Lawn |
It’s a replay now, as it happened faster than I could finish the post…
Press Briefing schedule for 1:00 p.m. D.C., time:
Nash Community College Tweets
From Friday…
The YouTube is 24 minutes and 9 seconds long. President Biden and the First Lady’s remarks can be found here.
Big Pharma Tweets
From Friday…
On Tuesday Reuters reported that; Merck & Co (MRK.N) sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, seeking to halt the Medicare drug price negotiation program contained in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which it argues violates the Fifth and First Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Lawyers that spoke with Reuters, told them, that Merck’s case is weak, but one of the lawyers said that it will likely ended up in the Supreme Court.
HHS.gov; Biden Administration Announces Savings on 43 Prescription Drugs as Part of Cost-Saving Measures Under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (06/09/2023)
President Biden has made lowering prescription drug costs in America a key priority, and the Biden-Harris Administration continues to ensure Americans can feel the benefits of the health care cost-saving provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the list of 43 prescription drugs for which Medicare Part B beneficiaries’ coinsurances may be lower between July 1 – September 30, 2023. HHS also today released a new report analyzing trends that have driven growth in spending for Medicare Part B coverage prior to President Biden passing the Inflation Reduction Act. President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act aims to lower prices of prescription drugs which contribute to higher health care costs for millions of seniors and people with disabilities, among other efforts to lower health care costs for millions of American families.
“Thanks to President Biden’s new lower cost prescription drug law—the Inflation Reduction Act—manufacturers of qualifying drugs must pay rebates to Medicare if the price of those drugs increases at a rate faster than the rate of inflation. And, Medicare now has the authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for the first time,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The research announced today reinforces that President Biden’s new law is helping control drug spending while making sure seniors and people with disabilities can afford the medications they need.”The Inflation Reduction Act is already lowering out-of-pocket Part B drug costs. As part of the new law, manufacturers are required to pay a rebate to Medicare if a drug’s price increase exceeds the rate of inflation. CMS intends to send the first invoices in 2025 to manufacturers for the rebates owed to Medicare in 2023 and 2024. Some people with Medicare Part B may pay lower coinsurance on 43 drugs, whose prices rose faster than the rate of inflation in a benchmark quarter. People who take these drugs may save between $1 and $449 per average dose between July 1 – September 30, 2023, depending on their individual coverage.
The President’s new lower cost prescription drug law also authorizes Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices for select medications. Part B drugs may be eligible to be selected for negotiation starting in 2026 for prices effective in 2028. These provisions may lower costs for the Medicare program.
Today HHS also released new research on Medicare Part B, which has had the fastest rate of spending growth for drugs in the Medicare program in the decades prior to the Inflation Reduction Act going into effect. Medicare Part B generally covers drugs provided in doctors’ offices and hospital outpatient departments, while Medicare Part D drugs generally are purchased at the pharmacy counter or by mail order.
The research from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) identifies the major drivers of Medicare Part B drug spending between 2008-2021, such as its concentration among a small number of drugs; rapid spending growth on biologics; and spending on specialty drugs in oncology, ophthalmology, and rheumatology. The report also discusses the impact of incentives in the current payment system as well as provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that aim to lower prescription drug prices.
Key points of the report include:
HHS.gov. 06/09/2023.
- Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) Part B drug program spending in 2021 was $33 billion; that is about 27 percent of Medicare drug spending, 3.6 percent of total Medicare spending, and 6 percent of the nation’s drug spending.
- Over the 2008-2021 period, Medicare Part B drug spending per enrollee grew on average at 9.2 percent annually. This spending growth was more than triple the rate in Part D (2.6 percent) and nearly 4 times as high as the rate of per capita annual prescription drug spending across all payers reflected in the National Health Expenditures Account (2.4 percent).
- Medicare Part B drug spending is concentrated among a small number of drugs: the top 20 drugs account for 53 percent of spending, while the top 10 account for 40 percent of Part B drug spending in 2021.
- Medicare spending on biologics has grown much more rapidly than spending on non-biologics over the past 13 years. From 2008-2021, spending growth on biologics accounted for nearly all (89 percent) of Medicare Part B drug spending growth. Biologics account for about 79 percent of Medicare FFS Part B prescription drug spending in 2021.
- Part B drug spending is shifting from physician offices to hospital outpatient departments: the share of Part B spending in this setting nearly doubled from 23 percent in 2008 to 41 percent in 2021, while the share of spending in physicians’ offices declined from 63 percent to 53 percent.
- Medicare Part B drug spending is largely driven by three medical specialties: ophthalmology, oncology and rheumatology. Drugs to treat cancer continued to account for the largest share of Part B drug program spending and accounted for over half of such spending in 2021.
- Among specific therapies, Part B spending on intravenous immuno-globulin (IVIG), and treatment for osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer grew the most rapidly with an annual growth rate higher than 10 percent from 2008-2021.
To read the full ASPE report Medicare Part B Drugs: Trends in Spending and Utilization, 2008-2021, visit: https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/medicare-part-b-drugs-spending-utilization
Information about the 43 Part B drugs and biological products with lower coinsurance in the quarterly Average Sales Price (ASP) public files is available at https://www.cms.gov/medicare/medicare-part-b-drug-average-sales-price/2023-asp-drug-pricing-files
A fact sheet is available at https://www.cms.gov/files/document/fact-sheet-part-b-rebatable-drug-coinsurance-reduction.pdf – PDF.
HHS.gov. 06/09/2023.
Executive Order to Support Military-Connected Spouses
From Friday…
The YouTube is 16 minutes and 25 seconds long. Their full remarks can be found here.
I posted the full fact-sheet on the Executive Order in Friday’s Biden Bits. The Executive Order can be found here.
Economy Tweets
From Friday…
From Saturday…
From Sunday…
Remarks by President Biden in State of the Union Address (02/07/2023).
The video snip is 59 seconds long.
President Biden:
My administration is also taking on junk fees, those hidden surcharges too many companies use to make you pay more.
For example, we’re making airlines show you the full ticket price upfront, refund your money if your flight is cancelled or delayed. We’ve reduced exorbitant bank overdrafts by saving consumers more than $1 billion a year. (Applause.)
We’re cutting credit card late fees by 75 percent, from $30 to $8. (Applause.)
Look, junk fees may not matter to the very wealthy, but they matter to most other folks in homes like the one I grew up in, like many of you did. They add up to hundreds of dollars a month. They make it harder for you to pay your bills or afford that family trip.
[snip]
Americans are tired of being — we’re tired of being played for suckers. So pass — pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act so companies stop ripping us off.
White House.gov. 02/07/2023.
H.R.2463–Junk Fee Prevention Act was introduced in the House on 04/03/2023. No further actions have been taken.
American Rescue Plan.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
Inflation Reduction Act.
CHIPS and Science Act.
Pride Celebration at the White House tweets
From Saturday…
From Sunday…
The YouTube of the Pride Celebration is 52 minutes and 48 seconds long. There full remarks can be found here. I posted the full Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Protect LGBTQI+ Communities fact-sheet in Thursday’s Biden Bits.
The Pride Celebration was scheduled for Thursday, but postponed according to AP News because of “poor air quality from hazardous air flowing in from the Canadian Wildfires.”
Remembering the Pulse Night Club Shooting Seven Years Later Tweet
From Monday…
Show more =’s families of the victims and every survivor who still carries the trauma. It’s time for Congress to make commonsense reforms to keep our communities safe. Americans deserve nothing less.
Random Tweets
From Sunday…
Remarks by President Biden Honoring the Super Bowl LVII Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs (06/05/2023).
The video clip is 1 minute and 3 seconds long.
President Biden:
Well, welcome to the White House — (applause) — the 2023 Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs! (Applause.)
[snip]
The Chiefs not only hold the title again, they’re building a dynasty. (Applause.) Super Bowl champs in 2020 and 2023, dominating the league with 64 wins in the last five years, the best record in the NFL. (Applause.)
Yet somehow, last summer, people still counted you guys out. But you kept the faith, you overcame injuries, dominating the regular season 14 and 3.
In the playoffs, you beat the Jaguars then the Bengals, averaging la- — averaging last year’s — excuse me, avenging last year’s AFC Championship game.
And then with 200 million people watching, yet another thrilling game, you beat the Eagles, becoming the Super Bowl champs again.
[snip]
Folks, congratulations to the Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs. And good luck next season.
This is an Open Thread.
