|
Presented by PhRMA: Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy. | | | | | |  | | By Rachel Roubein and Adam Cancryn | Presented by |  | | | With Alice Miranda Ollstein Editor’s Note: POLITICO Pulse is a free version of POLITICO Pro Health Care's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers 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.
| | | — President Joe Biden’s team is wrestling with a basic question: How many coronavirus shots does the country really have? — Anthony Fauci, the nation’s most prominent infectious disease expert, is back in the spotlight — and in the briefing room. — Senate Republicans are openly rejecting Biden’s big stimulus plans. THANK GOODNESS IT’S FRIDAY PULSE — where this Maryland resident chooses to remain anonymous when it comes to her $731.1 million Powerball winnings, thank you very much. ...Kidding. Make your regular host feel like he won the lottery: Send tips 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 ending the pandemic. America’s biopharmaceutical companies will continue to develop treatments and vaccines to combat COVID-19, and we are working closely with governments, insurers and others to make sure vaccines and treatments are accessible and affordable. | | | | | | THE LONG ROAD AHEAD — The Biden administration spent its first day grappling with conflicting accounts of the nation’s total supply of coronavirus vaccines. Shortages and confusion have complicated the administration’s sweeping pandemic response plan while casting fresh doubts on just how quickly it can get the virus under control, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn and Tyler Pager report. Just about half of the nearly 38 million Covid-19 shots distributed by the federal government have been administered to date, according to CDC data. That would indicate there’s a glut of unused doses. Yet states are warning they’re running out of shots — and they don’t know when they’ll start to see supplies ramp up. Multiple states told PULSE that the number of doses they’ll get next week is holding steady, and that allocations have remained similar week after week. On Thursday, Biden’s administration rolled out a national strategy to help states distribute vaccines and curtail the coronavirus, part of an effort to make a clean break from the Trump administration. | 
President Joe Biden holds a booklet as he speaks about the coronavirus at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington. | AP Photo/Alex Brandon | BUT EVEN THE MOST CAREFULLY CRAFTED PLANS, with the backing of the nation’s premier public health experts, can’t mask what Biden called “the brutal truth”: It’ll be months before the majority of Americans are vaccinated. And to further temper expectations, White House officials have been trying to paint a grim portrait of the Trump administration’s vaccine distribution system, contending they’ve inherited a mess. The reality: The Trump administration successfully shipped nearly 36 million shots to states. But it left much of the logistics of getting shots into arms to beleaguered state agencies, which have for months pushed for more money and more help. MEANWHILE, AMERICA IS STILL IN CRISIS. Biden predicted the coronavirus death toll will top half a million next month. That sobering assessment stands in sharp contrast to former President Donald Trump’s virus rhetoric; he referred to the pandemic in past tense in his farewell speech Wednesday. | | | |   | | | | | | AN EMBOLDENED FAUCI — The unlikely celebrity of the Covid-19 response became the first health expert to take the Biden White House briefing room’s podium. In an interview with POLITICO’s Sarah Owermohle, he didn’t hide his relief that he’s serving in a new administration, describing his first 24 hours under Biden as a “refreshing experience.” “Nobody is telling you what to say, at all. They are just saying go out there and let the data guide you on what you are saying,” said Fauci, whose career spans nearly four decades and who is no stranger to working under new presidents. As the longtime scientist warned of a worsening pandemic under the last administration, his advice was shunted, and he instead became a frequent target of public criticism from Trump. "There were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that really was an uncomfortable thing because they were not based on scientific fact," Fauci said Thursday of the Trump administration. "I can tell you, I take no pleasure at all being in a situation with contradicting the president."
| | | | A NEW YEAR, A NEW WASHINGTON, A NEW PLAYBOOK TEAM: Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade take the reins of Playbook this week to set the agenda for the political day and days ahead; break news and make sense of it; and provide a steady dose of insider nuggets and intrigue for and about the power players in Washington. Delivered to your inbox twice a day, POLITICO Playbook keeps you up to speed with everything happening in the world of politics as a new administration enters the White House. Subscribe today to the unofficial guide for official Washington. | | | | |
| | | SENATE POWER STRUGGLE DELAYS HHS SECRETARY CONFIRMATION HEARING — An ongoing feud between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is delaying efforts to schedule a confirmation hearing for Xavier Becerra, Biden’s pick to run the federal health department. At issue is how the parties will control committees and floor votes amid a 50-50 Senate split. As the political wrangling drags on, Republicans are still chairing committees, and new members aren’t getting added. And while some panels have held hearings and votes on other Biden cabinet members, the Senate health committee has no temporary GOP chair following the retirement of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The dynamic has left the committee unable to finalize a date for Becerra’s hearing, Democratic aides tell Alice. And Becerra will also need a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, which is the panel that ultimately sends the nomination to the floor. Yet Becerra’s confirmation may not move quickly even after a power-sharing agreement is in place. Democrats have called for swift hearings, citing the urgency of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, several Republicans, such as Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mike Braun of Indiana, have raised concerns over Becerra’s support for abortion rights and “Medicare for All.” They could drag out the process even if they ultimately lack the votes to block his confirmation. BIDEN’S BIG STIMULUS PLAN GETS A REALITY CHECK — Republicans are warning Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal can’t get 60 votes , essentially daring the new administration to either compromise with the GOP or use partisan procedural tactics to evade a filibuster, POLITICO’s Burgess Everett writes. Senate Republicans argue that it’s too much, too soon — that the price is too high and that it comes just a month after the previous $900 billion stimulus package. — GOP senators’ early opposition is yet another harbinger of the grueling battles to come. The last round of Covid relief took more than six months to pass, and the next could be just as painful. That means Biden may face a hard choice: lower his ambitions in order to shepherd a bipartisan bill to his desk or embrace a partisan package with relief money he says the country desperately needs. | | | | KEEP UP WITH CONGRESS IN 2021: Tensions remain high on Capitol Hill as we inaugurate a new president this week. How are lawmakers planning to move forward after a tumultuous few weeks? How will a new Senate majority impact the legislative agenda? With so much at stake, our new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings you the most important news and critical insight from Capitol Hill with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the essential guide to understanding Congress. | | | | | | | | BIDEN ORDER COULD FORCE COVERAGE OF COVID SCREENING — Insurance companies may soon have to cover coronavirus tests as part of back-to-work and back-to-school screening programs, POLITICO’s David Lim reports. Biden signed a flurry of executive orders Thursday, one of which directed the leaders of three departments to clarify what obligations health insurers have to provide coverage for Covid-19 testing. Biden is weighing a massive Covid testing plan to reopen schools across the nation , but it would hinge on at least weekly testing. It could be helped by closing a Trump-era loophole that lets insurers avoid paying for coronavirus tests for some people without symptoms or a suspected exposure. | | | The nation’s schoolchildren are struggling with their mental health, a crisis partly hidden by virtual learning, The Washington Post’s Donna St. George and Valerie Strauss report. The country’s first long-acting drug combination for HIV received FDA approval Thursday, The Associated Press’s Marilynn Marchione writes. Some state governments are failing to track how many vaccine doses have gone to waste, write ProPublica’s Ryan Gabrielson, Caroline Chen and Mollie Simon. | | | | 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. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
