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Senate GOP Could Use Procedural Tactics To Delay Sotomayor Hearings
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday said that the GOP has not ruled out the use of procedural tactics, such as a Republican boycott, to attempt to delay Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing, Roll Call reports. Republicans have complained that the scheduled July 13 start date for the hearing does not give them enough time to review Sotomayor"s record. Kyl said that Republicans will try to negotiate with Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) for more time if they feel they cannot meet the July 13 deadline (Stanton, Roll Call, 6/11). Leahy said that Sotomayor is entitled to be confirmed on the same timetable as Chief Justice John Roberts, who appeared before the Judiciary Committee less than two months after his nomination (Kivlan, CongressDaily, 6/11).Republican Senate aides say Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is not likely to make a final decision for several weeks on whether the GOP will try to delay the nomination. According to Roll Call, Sessions has sought to approach the issue "in a careful, measured way," though he has been critical of some of Sotomayor"s public statements. Roll Call reports that Republicans are apt to display an impartial stance on Sotomayor until the hearing starts, meaning that they likely will delay a decision on whether to stall the nomination until the last minute (Roll Call, 6/11).Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that Republican senators are stalling to give conservative groups more time to organize a campaign against Sotomayor that they hope will taint her nomination. Feinstein said that there are "groups out there who need more time for attacks and sound bites." She added, "This is a woman who is qualified, who is brilliant, and who worked her way up" (CongressDaily, 6/11).

Emergent BioSolutions Meets With FDA To Review Regulatory Strategy For Recombinant Anthrax Vaccine
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced that it has met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review Emergent"s regulatory strategy for the development of its recombinant anthrax (rPA) vaccine. Emergent recently submitted to FDA, among other documents, its rPA Development Plan in response to the Department of Health and Human Services" (HHS) amendment to its request for proposal (RFP) to develop and deliver up to 25 million doses of an rPA vaccine for the Strategic National Stockpile. In amending the RFP, HHS required that all bidders deemed to be in the competitive range submit to FDA a comprehensive plan outlining the regulatory strategy for their rPA vaccine. Emergent completed that submission on May 12, 2009 ahead of the June 15, 2009 submission deadline.
News of the day
ZyGEM Releases Data Confirming Its PrepGEM(R) Bacteria Kit Is A Simple, Universal Method For Extracting DNA From Different Bacteria Species
ZyGEM Corp. Ltd., a provider of innovative enzyme-based products for DNA extraction and other life sciences applications, today announced the availability of a new application note documenting that its prepGEM(R) Bacteria DNA extraction kit is capable of producing high quality, ready-to-analyze DNA from a broad range of bacterial species, including mixed or unknown sample types. This addresses an important unmet need --current DNA extraction methods typically require the use of different enzymes for each type of bacteria tested. The prepGEM(R) Bacteria kit also uses a single closed-tube system that reduces extraction time and cost while protecting the sample from contamination and making the kit easily adaptable for automation.
Endocrinology

Proposals May Limit Insurance Choices And Squeeze Some Middle Earners

"President Obama and leading Democrats have stressed that people who like their employer-sponsored insurance would be able to keep it, under a health care overhaul. But they haven"t emphasized the flip side: That people who don"t like their coverage might have to keep it," Kaiser Health News reports. "Under the main health bills being debated in Congress, many people with job-based insurance could find it difficult to impossible to switch to health plans on a new insurance exchange, even if the plans there were cheaper or offered better coverage. The restrictions extend to any government-run plan, which would be offered on the exchange." But "there are a few exceptions: Workers would be allowed to buy insurance through the exchange if their job-based coverage gobbled up too much of their incomes or was too skimpy. Also, under the House proposal, people could get insurance through the exchange if they paid their entire premiums - a cost that would be prohibitive for many workers." Some critics say the rules "could be especially unfair to some lower-income workers who are enrolled in costly job-based insurance. Also, they argue, the restrictions would hurt the proposed public plan by limiting enrollment." But "lawmakers and some health care analysts say that legislation has to create barriers around the exchange to protect the stability of the employer-provided insurance market. Without the restrictions, called firewalls, younger and healthier workers, they say, might find cheaper options on the exchange, leaving older and sicker workers in their employers" plans - nd driving up their costs" (Carey and Appleby, 7/15). The Wall Street Journal reports that the proposals requiring individuals to carry insurance "could squeeze a small group of middle-income earners who make too much to get the government"s help buying insurance, but aren"t so wealthy they can easily absorb the high cost of coverage," The Wall Street Journal reports. Lawmakers have proposed to help low-income Americans by expanding Medicaid and providing subsidies to help them buy insurance. "Under a proposal unveiled this week in the House, the subsidies would be available to individuals with incomes as high as $43,000 a year and a family of four earning as much as $88,000 a year. Those who fail to comply would pay a penalty of 2.5% of their income, levied when they file their annual tax returns." But "people with incomes just above the subsidy line could consider the mandate a burden. "They"ll be put in this funny dilemma where they can"t afford health care, but they have to pay a fine," said Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager for liberal advocacy group Health Care for America Now." The Senate Health bill and the House bill both "contain a provision that could help those who rise just above the subsidy cutoff. It would grant those who can"t afford insurance a "hardship" waiver that would exempt them from the mandate. But the details might not be determined until after Congress passes legislation" (Adamy, 7/16). Meanwhile, "The New Jersey Health Care for America Now Campaign released a report Wednesday that details how minorities are adversely affected by what the organization sees as the nation"s broken health care system" and "emphasized the need for health care reform that corrects what HCAN believes is inequality and an injustice," NewJerseyNewsroom.com reports. Raymond Castro, senior policy advisor for New Jersey Policy Perspective, said "The much lower rates of health insurance and poorer health outcomes for African-Americans and Latinos compared to whites in the wealthiest state in the nation should be an embarrassment to all of us, and a call to action." Proposals currently being considered by Congress, activists say, would "offer one of the best opportunities since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 to erase persistent health disparities" (Hester, 7/15). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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