Regulatory and Washington

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association on Friday named Marc Schloss senior director and head of federal government affairs where he will be responsible for developing and implementing federal lobbying strategies on behalf of CHPA and member companies.

ARLINGTON, Va. —  In the past week Congressional leaders passed the final National Defense Authorization Act that includes the industry-supported “Pilot Program for Prescription Drug Acquisition Cost Parity in the TRICARE Pharmacy Benefits Program.”

NEW YORK -- Nanowear, an early stage developer of cloth-based diagnostic monitoring nanosensor technology, on Thursday announced that it has received FDA Class II 510(k) clearance for its first product, SimplECG, a remote cardiac monitoring undergarment.

SimplECG collects continuous multi-channel ECG, heart rate and respiratory rate data from the garment and transfers it to a web-based portal for review by a physician, by way of a mobile application. The initial version of the product is iPhone-based.

WASHINGTON - The nation's military covered under TRICARE were given new marching orders effective Dec. 1 as Walgreens joined TRICARE's retail pharmacy network, displacing CVS Health as a preferred pharmacy in the Express Scripts-managed network.

That move could displace as many as 16 million of CVS Health's most profitable prescriptions, many of which Walgreens will be endeavoring to capture.

WASHINGTON — Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, has been named to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Association Committee of 100 (C100). For more than 50 years, leading association executives have gathered under the banner of the U.S. Chamber’s C100 to network, build partnerships, discuss current issues and represent the association community before the U.S. Chamber’s Board of Directors.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. -- As many as 82% of voters say they are somewhat or highly satisfied with the care they receive from health care providers, and nearly three quarters of respondents report that they are satisfied with their health care coverage, CVS Health reported Wednesday, citing a public opinion poll conducted by the pharmacy leader in November 2016 with more than 1,800 registered voters.