Bezos, Buffet and Dimon narrow options for health venture CEO

With help from Arthur Allen (@arthurallen202) and Darius Tahir (@dariustahir)

BEZOS, BUFFET AND DIMON NARROW OPTIONS FOR HEALTH VENTURE CEO: There’s little information about what Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase have cooking for their new health venture. But Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett dangled one tantalizing tidbit on CNBC Thursday: he, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon had selected a CEO.

It won’t be David Feinberg, the CEO of Geisinger Health System, who was reportedly the top choice to oversee the project. Amid reports late Thursday night that he was the frontrunner, Feinberg confirmed to CNBC that he would decline the position if offered and remain at Geisinger. CNBC sources say executives wouldn’t announce his name Thursday because Feinberg had not accepted the offer.

Bezos, Buffett, and Dimon in January announced that they were partnering on a venture to simplify the nation’s health care system.

READING ATHENAHEALTH’S TEA LEAVES: Jonathan Bush’s parting words to former employees were full of inspirational imagery and a reminder that “working for something larger than yourself is the greatest thing a human can do,” but it’s not clear who’ll take the helm or whether the company will even continue as an independent entity.

Bush stepped down this week amid allegations that he created a “sexually hostile” work environment and after apologizing for physically abusing his ex-wife a decade ago. One analyst — Morningstar’s Anna Baran — thinks his exit creates an opportunity for tech companies itching to enter the heath care market. Athenahealth’s board has remained silent on a weeks-long takeover offer from hedge fund Elliott Management.

Baran tells Morning eHealth that Bush’s departure is a strong signal the health IT company’s board could accept an outside offer, but perhaps not Elliott’s. Several names have been bandied about, Axios reports — including Apple, Cerner, Microsoft, and Salesforce.

....Some customers aren’t thrilled about the shakeup. Peter Masucci, a pediatrician whose 12-person, Massachusetts-based practice has relied on athena for years, tells Morning eHealth that Bush’s enthusiasm for transformation was a major selling point. Masucci said he went to headquarters several times and met Bush and the rest of the executive team, who were always receptive to suggestions and complaints. Compared to other vendors he’s dealt with, athenahealth was the only one “I can actually say and feel that I’ve had a true partnership with,” Masucci said. “It becomes a little more than just a business transaction.”

But acquisition by a large tech company could be a good thing, especially if it removes financial pressures and lets athena maintain its product, unique pricing model and attention to user feedback, he said.

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES VA SPENDING BILL: Veterans and Pentagon infrastructure programs will be funded for the 2019 fiscal year, thanks to legislation approved Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The approved measure includes $97.1 billion in discretionary funding, $5.1 billion above the current 2018 fiscal year, POLITICO’s Gregory Hellman reports. The legislation would also appropriate $86.4 billion in discretionary funding for the VA, an increase of $5 billion above this year. A summary of the bill ishere. Pros can read the rest of the story here.

eHealth Tweets of the day: Deven McGraw @HealthPrivacy #PMWC18 @ciitizencorp calling for a patient centered universe where patients get - and bring - their own data. Up to date. Standardized. Complete.

[Continuing thread] Deven McGraw @HealthPrivacy #PMWC18. Portability of data - patient mediated sharing - solves interoperability.

[Responding to @HealthPrivacy] David Harlow @healthblawg If & only if providers accept data fr#patient. Obviously taking hx fr pt in exam rm is accepting data fr pts but as you know thus far folks are reluctant to bring bits & bytes from a patient into the record. Do you see walls coming down?#PMWC18#interoperability#s4pm#hcldr

It’s FRIDAY at Morning eHealth. Your author will be whisked away in a few weeks to attend a wedding in Toledo, Ohio — has anyone been? What’s there to do? Suggestions and news tips to [email protected]. Reach the rest of the team at @arthurallen202, @dariustahir,@ravindranize, @POLITICOPro, @Morning_eHealth.

CONGRESSIONAL ATTENTION TO OPIOIDS CONTINUES: Lawmakers are still refining legislation designed to combat the opioid abuse crisis. Here’s what’s happening in and around the Hill:

...Senate Finance to mark up opioid package next week: The Senate Finance Committee plans to consider opioid legislation aimed at preventing drug abuse and expanding access to treatment in response to the opioid crisis on Tuesday of next week, our colleague Brianna Ehley reports.

The panel is the latest Senate committee to take up legislation on the matter. The Senate HELP and Judiciary committees marked up opioid-related bills earlier this year, and the full chamber is expected to vote on a broader package later this summer. The House is expected to take a floor vote on its own opioid legislation next week.

The measure under consideration, called the Helping to End Addiction and Lessen (HEAL) Substance Use Disorders Act of 2018, would increase access to telemedicine when treating substance abuse disorders, among other provisions. The text of the legislation has not yet been posted, but it is expected to wrap in a handful of bills previously introduced by Finance Committee members, includingS.2898, which removes lifetime limits imposed by state Medicaid programs for medication assisted treatment. Pros can read the rest of Brianna’s story here.

--Opioid-related health IT bills get low CBO scores: The Congressional Budget Office has scored 59 bills aiming to address the opioid abuse crisis, including one that would clarify when telemedicine could be used for remote diagnosis and treatment, and another requiring Medicaid participants to query prescription drug monitoring programs before prescribing controlled substances. The takeaway? Neither would cost the federal government very much.

H.R. 5483 (115), the Special Registration for Telemedicine Clarification Act of 2018, would cost less than $500,000 between 2019 and 2023. For H.R. 5801 (115), the Medicaid Providers Are Required To Note Experiences in Record Systems to Help In-Need Patients or PARTNERSHIP Act, CBO estimated that the net budgetary effect “would be insignificant.”

--NGA throws support behind telemedicine reimbursement: The National Governors Association has sent a letter to Reps. Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi supporting a measure that would give physicians access to more information about a patient’s substance abuse history. Among other bills they supported was H.R. 5603, Access to Telehealth Services for Opioid Use Disorder, which would waive certain restrictions for Medicare reimbursement for virtual treatment. Read the full letter here.

STUDY FINDS MOST PATIENTS ARE WILLING TO SHARE DATA: A survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that 93 percent of patients were very or somewhat likely to share their data with university researchers, and 82 percent were very or somewhat likely to share it with for-profit companies. Just about eight percent said negative consequences of sharing their data outweighed the benefits. Researchers canvassed 771 recent and current clinical trial participants.

WHAT WE’RE CLICKING ON:

—STATnews reports on the Gates Foundation’s new biotech initiative

—The Economist’s take on AI’s role in medicine

—AP Fact Check on Trump’s claim that vet care bill is a quick fix