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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 Brianna Ehley | Presented by |  | | | With help from Alice Miranda Ollstein, David Lim, Rachel Roubein and Susannah Luthi 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.
| | | — Rural conservatives' deep distrust of the Covid vaccine is posing a serious challenge for the nation's effort to control the virus's spread. — The Biden administration is launching the nation’s first formal Covid testing strategy, more than a year into the pandemic. — Biden health officials will meet with Republican Ways and Means Committee staff as early as this week to discuss how to improve ways to track nursing home fatalities during the pandemic. Good Monday morning and welcome to PULSE, where we highly recommend watching this Minnesota couple's Covid-themed musical numbers to get your day started with a smile. Send tips, ideas and fun TikToks to behley@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. | | | | | | BIDEN’S NEXT COVID CHALLENGE: TRUMP COUNTRY — The Biden administration and state and local health officials across the country are struggling to inoculate people in the American heartland, many of whom have adopted former President Donald Trump’s denial of a virus that has nevertheless ravaged their communities, POLITICO’s Joanne Kenen reports. National efforts have so far focused on addressing vaccine hesitancy among minority populations. But recent polls show some of the deepest opposition to vaccines is among rural whites and Republicans, including some who say the risk of Covid-19 has been exaggerated. Experts say that can be at least partly attributed to months of mixed messaging about the virus’s severity, whether from Trump or social media. Of course, not all vaccine fears are identical. People who are worried about side effects, for instance — a common theme — can be reassured, and there are already signs that such apprehension is dissipating as would-be abstainers watch friends and family get vaccinated without injury, Joanne writes. But people who just don’t believe that the virus is a threat, or who viscerally oppose all vaccines, are a lot tougher to convince. BIDEN PREPARES TO LAUNCH TESTING STRATEGY — The Biden administration will announce a $650 million expansion of testing in K-8 schools and in congregate settings like homeless shelters, POLITICO's David Lim reports — the kind of mass testing program health experts have been pleading for for months. The details: The plan will include four regional testing hubs and is expected to add up to 25 million tests per month to the nation’s testing totals. The administration aims to launch the first of the coordinating centers by April, with a goal of initially conducting 150,000 tests per week. The total number of tests recorded in the United States has fallen steeply in recent weeks, from nearly 2 million a day in mid-January to about 1.5 million a day now. Public health experts attribute the decline to severe winter storms and pandemic fatigue, as well as an increased reliance on point-of-care tests, whose results are often not reported to health authorities. The number of new cases is also declining. NEW NON-PRESCRIPTION AT-HOME COVID TEST AUTHORIZED — The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday it has authorized the country’s second over-the-counter Covid-19 test, David reports. The manufacturer, San Diego-based Cue Health, aims to make 100,000 of the tests per day by the summer, but CEO Ayub Khattak told David that the company is still determining the test's commercialization plan and price point. TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS APPROVE OF BIDEN’S COVID RESPONSE — Roughly 68 percent of Americans say they approve of President Joe Biden’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll. Biden's approval rate for his handling of the response has held steady since he took office in January, with 35 percent of Republicans approving of his approach, 67 percent of independents and 98 percent of Democrats, according to the poll.
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| | | SENATE ADDS LAST-MINUTE MEDICAID BOOST TO RELIEF PACKAGE — Early Saturday morning the Senate raised the House-passed federal funding boost for Medicaid home and community-based care to 10 percentage points, up from 7.35 percentage points, POLITICO's Susannah Luthi reports. The change squeaked in through the last big amendment, after the long-debated adjustment to unemployment insurance freed up some money. What didn’t squeak in: An extra $35 billion for hospitals and other providers, after the Senate added $8.5 billion for rural facilities. Instead, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was leading the push for rural hospitals, joined a group of 11 GOP senators to pitch a $650 billion relief package, which included the extra hospital cash, as an alternative to the Democrats’ plan. The proposal mirrored stimulus legislation released last month by Republicans, and predictably failed on the floor. Next steps...The package heads back to the House, where leadership plans to take it up as early as Tuesday. Once the House passes it again, it's on to Biden's desk. CUOMO’S NURSING HOME SCANDAL SPILLS OVER TO CAPITOL HILL — The meeting between health care officials and Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee could occur as soon as this week, POLITICO’s Erin Banco and Rachel Roubein scoop . It was scheduled after revelations that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, had not disclosed the deaths of thousands of nursing home patients with Covid who were transferred to hospitals. At issue is whether the governor's office intentionally used death data obtained by federal sources that did not include where the deceased lived, two officials said FIRST IN PULSE: HOUSE DEMOCRATS PUSH BIDEN TO RESCIND FAMILY PLANNING RULE — More than 100 Democratic members of Congress are pushing the Biden administration to act by the end of the month to rescind a Trump administration rule that banned clinics that receive federal family planning dollars through the Title X program from referring patients for abortions. The letter, first shared with POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein, asks acting HHS Secretary Norris Cochran to wrap up the review of the Trump rule’s impact, which Biden ordered during this first week in office, and officially scrap the rule by March 29. “Rebuilding the Title X program, which cannot begin until the rule is rescinded, is one of the most important ways that the Biden administration can support access to family planning and other essential health care services during this challenging time for our country,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.). The letter cites data from the Guttmacher Institute , which supports abortion rights, that indicated a major uptick in people who want to delay or prevent pregnancy during the pandemic due to economic hardship. The Democrats further argue in the letter that allowing Planned Parenthood and other providers back into the Title X program will improve access to contraceptive services. — The clock is ticking: The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the Trump rule, and Biden officially ordering its reversal could moot the case. | | | |   | | | | | | CMMI TAKES MORE ACTIONS ON TRUMP-ERA PAYMENT EXPERIMENTS — The CMS Innovation Center is delaying a model that would alter how Medicare pays for kidney care and is reviewing and postponing another focused on primary care for seriously ill patients, according to notices quietly posted on CMS’ website late last week, POLITICO’s Rachel Roubein reports. Both changes came in Liz Fowler’s first week as the head of the Innovation Center, and both models were designed during the Trump administration. Earlier last week, CMMI also began reviewing a Medicare payment model to test whether providers can improve care by managing it by geographic region. CMS and HHS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. | | | WHITE HOUSE HIV/AIDS COUNCIL TO DISCUSS PLAN TO END HIV —The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS today and Tuesday will hold its first meeting under Biden. The meeting, held via teleconference, will focus on actions needed to further implement the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative first started under Trump. PACHA will also discuss how domestic HIV/AIDS programs can better reach underserved communities and address systemic barriers to treatment and prevention. Trump first proposed the plan to end new cases of HIV domestically by 2030, though much of that strategy is still being implemented. On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to end the HIV epidemic by 2025, though he has not provided specific details. | | | | 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. | | | | | | Top health officials are warning of a potential spike in cases if states continue easing Covid restrictions, the New York Times reports. The Washington Post examines the Biden administration’s mixed messages around reopening schools. Federal scientists are pushing back on the concept of allowing single doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s two-shot Covid-19 vaccines, the Wall Street Journal reports. | | | | FIND OUT THE LATEST WHISPERS FROM THE WEST WING: Add Transition Playbook to your daily reads to find out what's really happening inside the West Wing, who really has the president's ear, and get the latest scoop from inside cabinet departments and agencies. Track the people, policies and emerging power centers of the Biden administration. Don’t miss out. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
