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Sen. Baucus Says Health Care Overhaul Will Cover About 95% Of Citizens, Will Not Cover Undocumented Immigrants
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Thursday said that Congress" health care overhaul plan would cover 94% to 96% of the population but not undocumented immigrants, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 5/21). In remarks at a briefing sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Families USA and the National Federation of Independent Business, Baucus said, "There are always going to be some people ... you just can"t find" to enroll, adding that "we"re going to try to get as close as we can (to 100% coverage) and we"re working hard to accomplish that." He added, "[W]e"re not going to cover undocumented workers. That"s too politically explosive" (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 5/21). According to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies and the U.S. Census Bureau, undocumented immigrants make up between 15% and 22% of the estimated 47 million U.S. residents without health coverage. Baucus said, "I don"t have a good answer yet to undocumented workers, illegal aliens," adding, "There will still be charity care " (Landers, Dallas Morning News, 5/22). Baucus said that the bill his committee is working on and that he expects to mark up in mid-June will include "incentives" and possibly requirements for employers to pay for employee health insurance. Baucus mentioned the possibility of including an individual mandate and establishing a health insurance exchange (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 5/21). Baucus also noted that the plan most likely will include a public health insurance option in some form (Tumulty, "Swampland," Time Magazine, 5/21). "Everything"s on the table," Baucus said, warning that "because this is so big, so complex, there are going to be a lot of trade-offs. ... This is just so large" (CQ HealthBeat, 5/21). He said that he is very optimistic about the prospects of bipartisan support for the legislation, placing the odds at between 75% and 80% ("Swampland," Time Magazine, 5/21).

Pain Medicine Experts Recommend Safe And Responsible Use Of Acetaminophen
In response to the advisory committee"s recommendations to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put new restrictions on acetaminophen this week, physician leaders from the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), have released the following statement:
News of the day
FDA Approves Generic Version Of Emergency Contraception Pills
FDA on Wednesday approved Watson Pharmaceuticals" generic version of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, the Wall Street Journal reports. The generic drug will be available without a prescription to women ages 18 and older on Aug. 24, when Duramed Pharmaceuticals" market exclusivity for Plan B expires (Kalish, Wall Street Journal, 6/25). The generic version will be available to women ages 17 and younger with a prescription, according to an FDA press release (FDA Web site, 6/24). Watson will market the generic version under the name Next Choice (AP/Washington Post, 6/24).A one-time use pack of the brand-name product, Plan B, currently costs $49.99 through the online retailer DrugStore.com. According to Bloomberg, generic drugs usually cost 30% to 80% less than brand-name versions (Larkin, Bloomberg, 6/24).
Sexual Health

Economic Recession, Emerging Diseases Should Not Replace Efforts To Fight HIV/AIDS, IAS President Says

Concerns regarding the H1N1 flu strain or the current global economic recession should not take attention away from the long-term fight against HIV/AIDS, Julio Mantaner, head of the International AIDS Society, said recently, VOA News reports. Mantaner said global health issues need to be "put ... into the proper perspective," adding, "No doubt that ... whatever new flu or any other epidemic that may show up the day after tomorrow ... is something that we need to respond to. But it cannot be at the expense of a proven, established killer" like HIV/AIDS. He said that although it is important to remain vigilant in detecting emerging epidemics and infectious diseases, "we"re (doing) ourselves a very serious disservice" when res are taken away from combating HIV/AIDS and given to "the next new potential epidemic."Mantaner said that although it is "clear that we failed to meet original targets" in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, there has been an increase in the number of HIV-positive people in developing countries receiving antiretroviral treatments from about 500,000 in 2003 to more than three million by the end of 2007. In addition, he said that antiretrovirals are "saving lives of people" and "preserving the social network, the family structure ... that is so severely compromised by HIV and AIDS." Despite this progress, Mantaner said that "[w]e need to recognize more [people] are being infected every day by a factor of nearly two than the number of people accessing antiretroviral therapy."Mantaner urged members of the World Health Assembly -- who recently met in Geneva -- to honor HIV/AIDS commitments, noting that the gains in fighting the pandemic cannot be reversed. He said that he is concerned the global recession, worries over the H1N1 flu and other "competing needs or hypothetical epidemics" could lead to donor nations "losing their interest" in fighting HIV/AIDS. Mantaner said that he is disappointed with President Obama"s recent $63 billion, six-year proposed global health initiative, adding that it falls short of his campaign promises. He said that IAS is asking leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations to "refocus their efforts" and "meet their commitments." He warned that if the commitments are not met, "[h]istory is going to judge us very harshly," adding, "We"ve been distracted by the epidemic of the day without recognizing that we have a killer within our midst that we can control" (DeCapua, VOA News, 5/21). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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