THE ARPA HEARING GETS … INTERESTING — A congressional panel convenes this morning to discuss funding one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities: A new, multibillion-dollar health agency focused on preventing, diagnosing and developing new treatments for conditions like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. But the president’s top witness became a liability — and resigned late Monday , pulling out of defending one of the president’s biggest initiatives. Eric Lander was slated to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health panel today. He’s not. The longtime geneticist resigned amid “credible evidence” of “bullying” and demeaning conduct, POLITICO’s Alex Thompson scooped. The Monday POLITICO report revealed employee complaints against Lander, including evidence that multiple women had complained about interactions with the longtime geneticist, who joined the administration early on as an advocate for science research, including Biden’s so-called cancer moonshot. Biden warned on his first day in office that employees would be fired “on the spot” for disrespectful behavior. But White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday backed Lander, saying senior officials had met with him to discuss his actions. What’s next: Lander has been the administration’s top advocate for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, especially after his ally, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, stepped down last year. The proposal is broadly popular in Congress but hasn’t found a vehicle for authorization or funding, especially with other legislative priorities crowding it out. Left on the agenda for ARPA’s hearing tomorrow are a handful of experienced scientists and doctors, including former President Donald Trump’s assistant secretary for health Brett Giroir. But without Lander there, a champion’s missing in the fight for a key presidential objective. ADMIN REJIGS COVID HOSPITAL RATES — The Biden administration is working on recalculating the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S., two senior officials familiar with the matter tell POLITICO’s Erin Banco. What’s happening: A task force comprised of scientists and data specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with hospitals nationwide to improve Covid-19 reporting. The group is asking hospitals to report separately the number of patients who go to the facility to be treated for Covid-19 and the number who go for other reasons and test positive after being admitted, the two officials said. But why: The administration’s goal is to get a more accurate sense of Covid-19’s impact across the country and whether the virus is causing severe disease. Senior Biden health officials have increasingly relied on hospitalization numbers instead of case counts to determine how to respond to the virus as well as the vaccines’ effectiveness. Lower hospitalization rates could inform the administration’s thinking on public health measures such as masking. More accurate Covid-19 numbers could also provide a better picture of the strain on hospitals and the resources they might need during surges. The big picture: As Omicron cases have decreased, state and local officials nationwide are advocating for the country to begin returning to normal and easing public health measures. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Delaware Gov. John Carney, both Democrats, announced Monday they planned to lift mask mandates for schools in March. FIRST IN PULSE : 90+ GROUPS PUSH SENATE DEMS TO REVIVE BBB’S DRUG PRICE REFORMS — A coalition of some of the country’s biggest unions, corporations, physicians’ and disease advocacy groups wrote to every Senate Democrat today to demand the revival of Democrats’ stalled social spending bill and, particularly, the inclusion of provisions to lower drug prices. The letter from the AFL-CIO, AARP, SEIU and dozens of other influential organizations — first shared with our Alice Miranda Ollstein — asks lawmakers to make good on years of promises to crack down on the pharmaceutical industry, warning that after the 2022 midterms, Democrats are likely to lose the slim majority they currently enjoy. “You have a time-limited opportunity to deliver relief to millions of Americans by permitting Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, capping copays and out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries, and limiting annual price increases on life-saving and life-sustaining drugs to the rate of inflation for all Americans,” the groups wrote. STATE OF PLAY: Democrats are no closer to reviving their reconciliation bill than they were when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) pulled his support in December. While Manchin continues to declare the effort “dead” and call instead for a bipartisan approach, Democratic leaders insist negotiations are ongoing and a revamped and slimmed down package still has a chance. Meanwhile, all legislative efforts are currently in a holding pattern while Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) recovers from a stroke.
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