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Presented by PhRMA: Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy. | | | | | |  | | By Adam Cancryn | Presented by |  | | | Technical difficulties delayed the delivery of POLITICO Pulse this morning. We apologize for the inconvenience. With Susannah Luthi and Joanne Kenen 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.
| | | — House Democrats are wrapping a series of proposals to broaden Medicaid coverage into their broader Covid relief package. — Progressives are gearing up to defend parts of that package, like a minimum wage hike, against skeptical Democratic centrists. — The aviation industry is pushing back hard on any potential requirement that airlines test passengers on domestic U.S. flights for the coronavirus. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE — where for even the most intense PULSE power users, we regret to inform you that this is too many screens. Send tips and your WFH setups to acancryn@politico.com. | | | | A message from PhRMA: As we usher in a new administration and Congress, there are many things on which we can all agree, like building a more just, equitable society. We must address systemic racism, and the biopharmaceutical industry remains committed to this important issue on behalf of our communities, the patients we serve and our employees. | | | | | | STIMULUS BILL COULD USHER IN MEDICAID BOOST — A sweeping package laid out by House Energy and Commerce Democrats late Tuesday would fund a major expansion of Medicaid coverage and take aim at prices for the costliest drugs, POLITICO’s Susannah Luthi reports. The central proposal set out by Energy and Commerce would lift a federal cap on the rebates that drug companies pay Medicaid programs for medicines whose prices rise faster than the rate of inflation, starting in 2023. In doing so, it would effectively force some drugmakers to pay states to provide their medications — likely to the horror of the pharmaceutical industry. Among the other Medicaid-focused elements in the E&C package: — New incentives for conservative states to expand their Medicaid programs. The package would grant holdout states a 95 percent funding match for two years to cover their expansion population, up from the current 90 percent. — A five-year extension of a policy granting Medicaid coverage to women for 12 months after they give birth, as well as to prisoners starting 30 days before their release. — Full coverage of Covid-19 vaccines through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program for up to a year after the public health emergency ends. — A federal funding boost to Medicaid programs meant to support mobile crisis intervention care for people with mental illnesses or substance use disorders. The legislation would also build out other parts of the federal health system, sending billions of dollars to the nation’s testing and vaccine distribution efforts — including $1 billion dedicated for CDC initiatives combating vaccine hesitancy. Democrats also want to send more than $5 billion to HHS to support development of Covid treatments and vaccines.
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COVID BILL RAMPS UP INTRAPARTY PRESSURE — The progressive wing of the House Democratic caucus has secured several of its priorities in the nearly $2 trillion relief package, including broader eligibility for stimulus checks. But those early victories could prove fleeting as action shifts to the Senate side, POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris and Heather Caygle report.
Senior Democrats are already warning that the aid legislation could be pared back in the coming weeks. And there is lingering centrist resistance to some of the package’s most ambitious provisions — particularly a $15-an-hour minimum wage mandate that alone would carry a $54 billion price tag. — That could threaten the tenuous peace within the party. Progressives have so far refrained from causing the kind of ideological splits that Biden sought to avoid, and have in return been granted significant influence over the contents of the Covid bill. Yet Biden last week cast doubt on whether the wage increase would make it into the final package, and centrist senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia have already signaled their reservations. The state of play has liberals preparing to fight for their priorities both inside and outside of Congress, enlisting outside groups to pressure party leaders and huddling with Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to address potential procedural issues. AVIATION GROUPS TRY TO SQUASH POTENTIAL TESTING MANDATE — A broad coalition of aviation groups are condemning a possible new preflight domestic testing mandate, saying the policy wouldn’t be “scalable, feasible or effective,” POLITICO’s Sam Mintz and David Lim report. The idea, hinted at earlier this week by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, would require first boosting the nation’s daily testing capacity by 42 percent and would force the airlines to assume a new set of compliance costs, the group of airlines, unions and manufacturers said Tuesday. Health officials would also need to draw up new rules for which tests to use and how passengers should be screened before boarding domestic flights. — There is bipartisan opposition on the Hill as well. Lab capacity aside, lawmakers in both parties — including House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) — have raised concerns about the feasibility of testing every single passenger.
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| | | ICYMI: WHITE HOUSE WILL ROLL OUT VACCINES TO HEALTH CENTERS — The Biden administration will start shipping Covid shots to community health centers next week , in an effort to better reach some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations, POLITICO’s Rachel Roubein reports. The program will be limited to start, with just 1 million doses distributed among roughly 250 sites — primarily those that serve large populations of older Americans, migrant workers, public housing residents and people experiencing homelessness. CDC data released last week showed significant racial and ethnic disparities in who has gotten a vaccine so far, with white vaccine recipients accounting for over 60 percent of the inoculated population – compared to slightly more than 5 percent for Black recipients and 11.5 percent for Hispanic recipients. — Vaccine allocations are also slightly rising. White House officials told governors on Tuesday that it is increasing its vaccine allocations to states by 5 percent, to 11 million doses per week. FDA AUTHORIZES SECOND COVID ANTIBODY TREATMENT — The agency on Tuesday authorized for emergency use a two-antibody combination treatment from Eli Lilly, POLITICO’s Lauren Morello writes. The company said it has 100,000 doses of bamlanivimab and etesevimab ready for use, with another 150,000 doses expected available throughout the first quarter of the year. Eli Lilly had previously won authorization for the standalone use of bamlanivimab to treat Covid-19, but trial results found that the new combination treatment was still more effective. | | | | TRACK THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: President Biden's cabinet is getting confirmed, bringing change to agencies and departments across the Executive Branch. From the West Wing to Foggy Bottom, track the first 100 days of the Biden administration with Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter that chronicles the policies, people, and emerging power centers of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | LOWERING HEALTH COSTS, 1 PERCENT AT A TIME — Big ideas for overhauling the health system don’t always fly in Washington, so a group of top economists and policy experts are debuting smaller ideas aimed at collectively reducing health spending by as much as 9 percent, POLITICO’s Joanne Kenen reports. Dubbed the One Percent Steps for Health Care Reform Project, the project, led by Yale’s Zack Cooper and Fiona Scott Morton, includes an initial 16 briefs, with more on the way. Among them: proposals designed to increase kidney donations, regulate provider prices and reduce home health fraud. These issues can be tackled separately or together through a variety of ways, the group argues, but they must be solved in order to make the health care system more efficient. | | | CRAPO NAMES FINANCE COMMITTEE HEALTH STAFF — Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the new top Republican on the Finance Committee, has appointed longtime aide Kellie McConnell as his health policy director. Brett Baker and Erin Dempsey will be committee’s deputy health policy directors. Crapo, who is replacing Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa as the panel’s highest-ranking GOP lawmaker, said Tuesday he’s also keeping on Stuart Portman as a senior health policy advisor. Lexi Hall and Lincoln Foran are also joining the committee as policy advisers. | | | | A message from PhRMA: Despite our divisions, there are many things on which Americans agree. The biopharmaceutical industry is committed to working with Congress and the new administration to:
• End the pandemic. The industry remains committed to getting COVID-19 treatments and vaccines to patients, and we are working closely with governments, insurers and others to make sure they are accessible and affordable.
• Make health care better and more affordable. People want quality, affordable health coverage that works when they need it. We support solutions that will help patients better afford their medicines and protect access to innovation today and in the future.
• Build a more just, equitable society. We must address systemic racism, as has been made clear by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others and the outsized impact of the pandemic on Black and Brown communities. We remain committed to this important issue on behalf of our communities, the patients we serve and our employees. | | | | | | Frustrated by New York’s scattershot vaccine sign-up system, a software engineer built a far superior one in less than two weeks — and at a cost of less than $50, The New York Times’ Sharon Otterman reports. A CDC report on health disparities affecting lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans has heartened advocates who say Covid’s particular impact on LGBT people has gone largely ignored thus far, The 19th’s Kate Sosin reports. Eli Lilly’s chief financial officer resigned after the company was made aware of allegations he had an inappropriate personal relationship with an employee, The Wall Street Journal’s Dave Sebastian reports. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
