|
Presented by Humana: Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy. | | | | | |  | | By Adam Cancryn and Sarah Owermohle | Presented by Humana | With Rachel Roubein Editor’s Note: POLITICO Pulse is a free version of POLITICO Pro Health Care's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our s each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. | | | — The Biden administration is rolling out a series of new initiatives in an attempt to jumpstart vaccinations and curb Covid-19 cases. — The CDC quietly altered its testing guidance for vaccinated people exposed to Covid-19. — Lawmakers are increasingly frustrated with infrastructure talks, with some top senators saying they’re in the dark. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE — 100 years ago this month, Canadian scientists isolated the hormone insulin, forever changing diabetes treatment — for those who can afford it. Send tips to acancryn@politico.com and sowermohle@politico.com. | | A message from Humana: Medicare Advantage: Saving seniors money. At Humana, we’re committed to affordable, quality care. Did you know: with Medicare Advantage, seniors save an average of $1,640 in annual out-of-pocket spending compared to fee-for-service Medicare. Learn More. | | | | | | THE RACE TO CONTAIN COVID’s COMEBACK — Just about three weeks after President Joe Biden asserted the U.S. was “closer than ever to declaring our independence” from Covid-19, his administration is working frantically to keep it that way. The CDC is reviving indoor masking recommendations for many Americans. The VA is mandating vaccinations for its health workers. And now Biden is weighing new measures for all federal employees and contractors in yet another effort to boost vaccination rates. It’s a flurry of drastic actions that reflect the sudden surge in Delta-driven Covid-19 cases among the unvaccinated — and fears within the administration that it could still lose its grip on the pandemic. After months of shying away from government mandates or from admonishing resistant Americans, this week has marked a pivot point. “It’s under consideration right now,” Biden said of federal vaccination requirements. “But if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought you were.” Biden officials have resisted using the term “mandate” — and for good reason. Several Republican governors in states with low vaccination rates have vowed to fight any efforts to compel the shots, and the administration is already viewed with deep skepticism in GOP-dominated areas with large swaths of unvaccinated people. The CDC got a dose of that backlash on Tuesday when it called on people to wear masks again indoors in areas with heavy Covid-19 transmission. The reversal — prompted by new data showing vaccinated people could potentially pass along the virus — generated criticism from corners of the GOP, with some warning it would undermine vaccine confidence and sow confusion. “If you’re worried about the virus, you’re free to get vaccinated, wear a mask, or stay at home,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, whose state has seen Covid-19 cases rise over 200 percent in the last week, tweeted . But federal officials are low on ideas for getting more people vaccinated. And the virus is surging again, threatening to swamp Biden’s broader agenda, puncture the public’s broad approval of his Covid response and — most threateningly — give potentially more dangerous variants time to develop. | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | CDC REVERSES ON COVID TESTING GUIDANCE — The agency is again recommending that fully vaccinated people exposed to Covid-19 get tested in a quiet policy reversal made Tuesday, POLITICO’s David Lim reports. The revised guidance instructs fully vaccinated people to get a test after three to five days of being around someone with Covid-19, even if they don’t have symptoms. They should also wear a mask indoors while awaiting a negative result — but don’t have to quarantine unless it turns out they’ve contracted the virus. The change altered long-standing CDC guidance dismissing the need for most vaccinated people to take any additional precautions as long as they didn’t show symptoms. Testing rates in the U.S. have rebounded in recent days amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, with more than 1.5 million tests logged on July 26. INFRASTRUCTURE TALKS SLOG ON — Bipartisan infrastructure talks are far from over. Both Republican and Democratic Senate lunches turned into venting sessions Tuesday, as rank-and-file senators used the parties' private gatherings to complain about the negotiations, multiple sources familiar with the meetings told Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett. They’re losing patience. While negotiators maintain they’re closing in on an agreement, growing anxiety over the talks highlight frustration among top committee members over their level of input. Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) vented before the lunch that he hasn’t been involved in discussions about health provisions. “I’m the chairman of the Finance Committee with jurisdiction; we’re in the dark,” he told Rachel Roubein. “We don’t know, for example, very much about the whole question of unused provider funds,” he said, adding that those funds were still essential for providers and nursing homes, especially with the Delta variant’s spread. About that: Senators are eyeing billions of dollars in provider relief funds as a way to pay for the infrastructure package. According to the GAO, $43 billion remained in the fund this May. However, an HRSA spokesperson said nearly half of that money has already been spoken for, leaving just $24 billion left. | | | |   | | | | | | DHS SECRETARY SELF-QUARANTINES AMID COVID FEARS — Alejandro Mayorkas is working remotely and canceling an in-person event this week because he was in contact with a department official who later tested positive for Covid-19, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman and Betsy Woodruff Swan. DHS spokesperson Marsha Espinosa said in a statement the secretary is fully vaccinated, has no symptoms and has tested negative twice and contact tracing is underway. Mayorkas’ virtual work is likely to complicate his job this week, as it often involves significant travel and in-person meetings. He postponed a State of Homeland Security speech he was supposed to give Thursday, according to an administration official. | | | FIRST IN PULSE: CBC PRESSES BECERRA FOR SICKLE CELL FOCUS — The HHS secretary needs to start working now on access to new sickle cell disease therapies that are fast approaching — and could carry heavy price tags — the Congressional Black Caucus wrote in a letter to Xavier Becerra sent Monday. “Though long overlooked, there is now more awareness of, and attention being paid to SCD,” members led by Reps. Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) wrote. Several new treatments have come to market in the last few years — after a drought in progress — but potential curative therapies are also on the horizon. And so are their steep costs. CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex, for instance, have a gene therapy in human trials that could cure the hereditary disease that primarily affects Black people. While their treatment is at least a year from launching, other approved gene therapies foretell its potential price tag — the cancer treatments known as CAR T-cell therapies retail for more than $375,000, and a blindness therapy costs $1 million. “...We are troubled that access to these medicines is anything but guaranteed for the patients who would benefit most from them,” the lawmakers wrote. “The gaps are most glaring within the Medicaid system, but exist for Medicare beneficiaries and patients enrolled in private coverage as well.” | | | | Be a Policy Pro. POLITICO Pro has a free policy resource center filled with our best practices on building relationships with state and federal representatives, demonstrating ROI, and influencing policy through digital storytelling. Read our free guides today . | | | | | | | | WHO: GLOBAL TOBACCO USE STILL FALLING — While tobacco use continues to decline in most countries, population growth means the total number of people smoking has remained stubbornly high, the World Health Organization said in its latest tobacco report. It’s also a disparities issue. Of roughly 1 billion smokers globally, 80 percent live in low- and middle-income countries. An annual 8 million deaths are still attributed to tobacco, 1 million of them from secondhand smoke. Some marginal progress has happened. More than half of all countries now require graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging (though famously the U.S. doesn’t yet have such a requirement after court battles stalled a move). But the WHO is also pressing more countries to institute higher taxes, calling it the most effective way to reduce smoking. Just 13 percent of the global population is covered by effective taxation, it said. | | | In STAT, Nick Florko, Damian Garde and Adam Feuerstein profile FDA regulator Billy Dunn, who played an outsized role in the agency’s decision to approve Biogen’s Aduhelm. Biogen withdrew a paper on its controversial Alzheimer’s drug from JAMA because the medical journal threatened to reject it unless edits were made, Axios’ Bob Herman reports. After the Tajik president's sister died from Covid-19 in a hospital, her three sons attacked and beat up the country's health minister and a senior doctor, The Washington Post’s Robyn Dixon reports. | | A message from Humana: Medicare Advantage: Saving seniors money. At Humana, we’re committed to affordable, quality care. Did you know: with Medicare Advantage, seniors save an average of $1,640 in annual out-of-pocket spending compared to fee-for-service Medicare. Learn More. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
