Overton awaits vote to lead FDA, how midterms will affect health care

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The need-to-know this week

• Wednesday is the deadline for states to decide whether to participate in GENEROUS, a pilot program offering drugs in Medicaid at prices available abroad.

• The Senate health committee will vote Wednesday on three HHS nominees. Heidi Overton, the nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, is not among them. (More on that below.)

• CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz will be in Texas to talk up CHOICE arrangements, in which employers can give workers money tax-free to buy ACA Marketplace insurance.

• The annual U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance conference is taking place in Arlington. It’s the main group advocating for stronger alcohol regulation.

Why no Overton?

It would take just one Republican to sink Overton’s nomination in committee, and last week’s hearing didn’t shed much light on how hard-to-get Republicans might vote. Now we will not know until after the elections. This is the last week the Senate is in session until Nov. 9., and the Senate’s health committee doesn’t have a vote scheduled on the nominee to run the FDA.