What We're Reading: Senators Work on Surprise Medical Bills; FDA Warns Canadian Firm; Top Dems Tepid on Medicare Bill

Bipartisan Group of Senators Hopes to Introduce Bill Against Surprise Medical Billing This Month

FDA Tells Canadian Drug Distributor to Stop US Sales

House Democratic Leaders Try to Curb Enthusiasm for Medicare for All

Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, is working with Democratic colleagues Michael Bennet of Colorado and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire to introduce a bill this month to stop patients from getting surprise medical bills, The Hill reported. Lawmakers are pushing to prevent examples like that of a Texas teacher whose story went viral last year after he got a $108,951 bill from the hospital after his heart attack because the facility was not in his insurance network.The FDA warned a major Canadian drug distributor, CanaRx to selling unapproved and mislabeled medicines to Americans looking to save money on prescriptions, The New York Times reported. CanaRx sells prescription medicines at a lower cost to hundreds of public and private employer programs in the United States.Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives are trying to keep the chamber united behind narrower proposals aimed at strengthening the Affordable Care Act and lowering drug prices in the wake of the introduction of a Medicare for All bill, which has energized the party’s progressive base. Top Democrats are trying to avoid criticizing the bill publicly, even as they express little enthusiasm, Politico reported.