FDA attempts to end use of trans fats in foods and other news

Modern Healthcare

  • Public health advocates are praising the Food and Drug Administration's bid to end to the use of trans fats in foods, a move the agency said could significantly reduce deaths from heart disease. The FDA announced preliminary rules that would phase out the use of partially hydrogenated oils in food. FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg acknowledged food companies are using less of the ingredient, but said “current intake remains a significant public health concern” and reducing it further “could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.”

  • President Barack Obama's now-famous vow that Americans who like their health plans can keep them led to a public apology from the president. The president said in a TV interview that he is “deeply concerned” about this issue and that the administration is working to “close some of the holes and gaps in the law” because he wants to ensure the insurance people buy is effective. He declined to elaborate on steps the White House might take to address the disruption, saying only that the administration is considering a “range of options.” The president said, ultimately, people will be better off buying insurance through the exchanges, accessing tax credits and benefitting from choice and competition.

  • The CMS planned to partially disable HealthCare.gov Saturday night through Tuesday morning to allow technicians to work on an Internal Revenue Service component that's used to verify an enrollee's income. Users would still be able to shop and apply for coverage, but “they will not immediately receive eligibility determination,” CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille said. The website was launched Oct. 1 as the portal for millions of Americans in 36 states to sign up for coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Jeffrey Zients, the man President Barack Obama appointed to oversee the reconstruction of the dysfunctional site, said fixes made last week enabled the system to handle more volume and exposed new “roadblocks” in the form of “new storage capacity and software application issues” deeper into the site.
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