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Commercial Manufacturing Of H1N1 'Swine Flu' Vaccine Underway
Protein Sciences Corporation (PSC) announced that it commenced manufacturing of a vaccine to protect humans against the H1N1 "swine flu" virus. The Company estimates that it can produce 100,000 doses this week and at least 100,000 doses per week thereafter. The vaccine, called PanBlok(R), is made using PSC"s proprietary baculovirus and insect cell manufacturing technology. PSC believes that PanBlok is the first and only vaccine that could be used to protect against the escalating worldwide pandemic, at least for the next few months.

Sen. Kennedy Circulates Draft Of Health Reform Legislation
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is circulating an outline of health care overhaul legislation that includes a requirement that all individuals obtain coverage and requires contributions from employers, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, the legislation "closely resembles" the Massachusetts health insurance law enacted in 2006, the Post reports. According to the draft summary, the bill calls for a public, government-sponsored health insurance option that would compete with private insurers. The measure also would expand Medicaid eligibility, according to the Post. Kennedy spokesperson Anthony Coley said that the outline is not yet finalized. He said, "We are still actively negotiating with members" of the Senate HELP Committee. According to a top White House official, Kennedy is expected to introduce his measure on Monday. A timetable released by Kennedy"s office calls for Senate HELP Committee Democrats to meet June 2 (Connolly, Washington Post, 5/29). A bipartisan walk-through of Kennedy"s bill is scheduled for June 5 and June 9. Hearings on the bill would then take place on June 10 or June 11. The mark up of the bill is scheduled from June 16 through June 25 (Bogardus, The Hill, 5/28). If Kennedy holds to the schedule, he will be ahead of other congressional Democrats, including Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.), on proposing overhaul legislation (Washington Post, 5/29). Coley said, "These are target dates that are not set in stone." Although Senate Democrats are hoping to pass health care reform legislation before the August recess, several senators have questioned whether that timeline is feasible (The Hill, 5/28). Reform Supporters Call For Removal of Ad
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Wal-Mart Backs Employer Mandate On Insurance
"In a major break with most other large companies, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Tuesday told the White House that it supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama"s effort to provide near-universal coverage to Americans," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Wal-Mart -- which provides insurance to employees and wants to level the playing field with companies that don"t -- on Tuesday delivered a letter to President Obama taking a different stance." The letter was signed by Wal-Mart Chief Executive Mike Duke, as well as Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, and John Podesta, "who led President Obama"s transition team and is chief executive of the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning think tank." Wal-Mart"s new stance is "a shift from its previous stance on health-care overhaul and follows years of tussles with organized labor." The Journal adds a caveat: Wal-Mart "isn"t changing its policies. The company says it supports the employer mandate because all businesses should share the burden of fixing the health-care system. ... Wal-Mart"s support for a broad mandate also appears to be aimed at beating back an alternative that may be less favorable to the company. The Senate Finance Committee is considering a measure expected to result in a more burdensome health-insurance requirement for companies that have lower-wage workers" (Adamy and Zimmerman, 7/10).
Health Insurance

Health, Business Groups Continue Staking Out Reform Positions

Reuters reports that the National Retail Federation has come out against mandated employer coverage for health care for their employees, a stance that Wal-Mart, the world"s largest retailer, supports. "The National Retail Federation "cannot support an employer mandate of any type," said NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations Steve Pfister in a statement. He said the retail industry is a labor-heavy one that operates on a thin profit margin. ò€¦ Last week, Wal-Mart, which is not a member of the NRF, said it supports the push to require large employers to offer health insurance to workers" (Maestri, 7/9). Meanwhile, other groups also continue efforts to stake out their positions in the reform debate. For instance, interests represented by the drug and hospital lobbies are hoping that by offering cost savings now to the White House, that they will have a chance to influence final reform legislation, The Associated Press reports. "The trade groups are hoping that Obama will remember later that they gave him a welcome assist during a rough stretch, when divisions in Congress were slowing health care legislation. They want the chance to help shape a final deal bigger than anything Washington has attempted in years (Alonso-Zaldivar and Fram, 7/9). 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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