|
Presented by PhRMA: Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy. | | | | |  | | By Krista Mahr and Daniel Payne | | | With David Lim, Carmen Paun and Megan R. Wilson
| | | | 
Advisers say Biden didn't warn he would announce the pandemic was over. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | BIDEN’S COVID TEAM GETS A SURPRISE — President Joe Biden’s Sunday declaration that the pandemic is over caught his own senior health officials off guard, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn and Krista report. The president didn’t plan to make major news on Covid-19 on “60 Minutes” nor did he discuss announcing an end to the pandemic soon with his health advisers, two senior officials told POLITICO. Health officials have sarcastically applauded themselves in private for a job well done: After 20 months of round-the-clock work, they joked, all it took to end a once-in-a-century crisis was for Biden to declare it finished. Others argued that the time had come for such a declaration: The virus is in a manageable state, and Biden was putting in blunt terms where things are headed. Still, there were concerns that the President’s off-the-cuff comments could undercut the White House’s effort to bring the Covid crisis to a real close — and turn into a political headache should the virus come roaring back. Biden’s pronouncement is likely to give Republicans more ammo to oppose the White House’s funding request to keep the federal Covid response afloat, and it could complicate the administration’s campaign urging people to seek updated vaccines ahead of a potential winter surge — an uphill battle that health officials say will be the true determinant for whether the U.S. can emerge from the pandemic. “Covid is probably not the biggest issue at this moment,” a senior Biden official told POLITICO. “It’s just that Covid is still a real challenge. And if things go bad, it could go from being a problem to being the biggest issue again.” Bonus: Sen. Richard Burr had some choice words on the subject this Monday in a letter to Biden. WELCOME TO TUESDAY PULSE — In 1985, Courtney Cox became the first woman to say “period” on TV, extolling the virtues of Tampax in a commercial. She’s recently revisited the moment in a parody ad extolling the virtues of … menopause. Send your news and tips to kmahr@politico.com and dpayne@politico.com.
| | | | 
More than half of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. occurred between one week and one year after delivery, a new report found. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 4 IN 5 PREGNANCY DEATHS AVOIDABLE — Data released by the CDC on Monday shows that more than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable, Krista reports. The data, collected between 2017 and 2019 in 36 states, found mental health, including suicide and substance use disorder, was the leading underlying cause of death in 23 percent of cases. The other most frequent causes of death were hemorrhaging, cardiac and coronary conditions and infection. More than half of pregnancy-related deaths occurred between one week and one year after delivery, compared with 22 percent of deaths during pregnancy and 25 percent on the day of delivery or within the following week. Chilling disparities: Both the causes of death and the frequency of preventable death varied between race and ethnic groups. American Indian and Alaska Native people suffered the most preventable deaths; a full 93 percent of the total deaths in the groups were considered avoidable. Cardiac and coronary conditions were the leading underlying cause of death among non-Hispanic Black people, who also suffer hugely disproportionate rates of deadly pregnancy complications. MOMS FLY IN — Today, 200 delegates from the Mom Congress Convention will come to Washington, D.C., where members will meet with more than 20 lawmakers to discuss the Moms’ Agenda. The agenda covers a series of bills that tackle preventing maternal mortality, improving maternal mental health, addressing racial disparities and supporting working moms. They include the Midwives for MOMS Act (H.R. 3352, S. 1697), the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 1065, S. 1486), the SHINE for Autumn Act (H.R. 5487, S. 3972), and Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being (H.R. 7666 (117)).
| | | | A message from PhRMA: According to new findings, insured Americans favor policy solutions that improve their ability to navigate and access their care while lowering their out-of-pocket costs – by tackling the barriers introduced by insurers and middlemen like PBMs. Read more. | | | | | | THE VENTILATORS GATHERING DUST IN NY — Thousands of ventilators acquired by New York at the pandemic’s peak are now stacked in warehouses across the state with no plans to put them to use, POLITICO’s Joseph Specter reports. The state acquired 8,555 ventilators at a cost of $166 million and 1,179 X-ray machines for $86.4 million, state officials told POLITICO this month. But Covid treatments have largely moved away from ventilators, and hospitals say they have plenty available to deal with their immediate needs. The stockpile, which the state is paying National Guard officers to manage, is the latest example of the equipment left behind after states and national governments went on pandemic-fueled spending sprees as Covid left a deadly wake across the globe. California scrambled to get 14,000 ventilators that were hardly used, while Canada ordered 40,000, more than half of which were never unwrapped.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   | | | | | | MEDICAL INDUSTRY CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC AFTER HURRICANE FIONA — Nearly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, at least one critical medical product company — Baxter — says it has weathered Hurricane Fiona with little to no damage to its facilities, David reports. Several pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers have a substantial presence on the island. In the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017, the supply chain for several critical medical products was heavily strained — especially intravenous saline products. Baxter, one of the largest IV bag manufacturers, said it has accounted for all its employees and expected to reopen its facilities last night using generator power. The company said it has “healthy inventory levels for the majority of products made in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic for U.S. customers.” But the storm’s true impact could take days to become evident, some caution — nearly the entire island lost power amid torrential rain from Hurricane Fiona. PhRMA spokesperson Nicole Longo noted that any time there’s a natural emergency, there’s the potential for manufacturing facilities to be affected.
| | | | JOIN THURSDAY FOR A GLOBAL INSIDER INTERVIEW : From climate change to public health emergencies and a gloomy global economic outlook, the world continues to deal with overlapping crises. How do we best confront all of these issues? Join POLITICO Live on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 10:30 a.m. EDT for a virtual conversation with Global Insider author Ryan Heath, featuring World Bank President David Malpass, to explore what it will take to restore global stability and avoid a prolonged recession. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | COURT BLOCKS DOJ ANTITRUST CASE — A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., ruled against the Justice Department in its antitrust trial seeking to block health insurer UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Change Healthcare, a tech company that analyzes payment and operational data, POLITICO’s Ruth Reader reports. In their testimony, the Justice Department lawyers argued that the deal would violate antitrust rules because it would give UnitedHealth insight into how competing insurers that use Change Healthcare's service are reimbursing health care providers and gaining efficiencies. UnitedHealth offered to divest its payment software, ClaimsXten, to TPG Capital to alleviate those concerns, and the judge’s order says that should proceed.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: According to new data, insured Americans are struggling to navigate their health care coverage, particularly the insurer- and PBM-imposed barriers and cost sharing practices that stand between them and their medicines:
· 39% of insured Americans say they don’t understand what’s covered by their insurance.
· Even with insurance, 15% report they would be unable to afford health care if they were to become seriously ill because of high out-of-pocket costs.
Americans want policy reforms that improve their insurance by providing more predictability and transparency in what is covered and lowering what they pay out of pocket. Read more in PhRMA’s latest Patient Experience Survey. | | | | | | $125 BILLION A YEAR FOR GLOBAL HEALTH? Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are touting new legislation as a “21st-century global health solidarity strategy” — a resolution that calls on the U.S. to spend more than $100 billion a year to help strengthen health systems and save lives worldwide, POLITICO’s Erin Banco reports. The resolution, expected to be introduced this week, pushes for the federal government to spend $125 billion a year to help low-income countries access the technology, supplies, infrastructure and workforce needed to develop their health systems, according to a draft obtained by POLITICO. The target is the equivalent of 0.7 percent of U.S. gross national income — a United Nations benchmark for development assistance that only six other countries have met. The legislation will be introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
| | | Anuradha Gupta, the deputy CEO of Gavi, the vaccine alliance that’s led the global Covid-19 vaccine facility (COVAX), has left the organization after eight years. Gupta pioneered the concept of “zero dose children,” describing kids who have never had a single vaccine shot and are now the target of the organization’s work, Gavi said. A Gavi spokesperson said Gupta will take a break. “No further career plans as far as we’re aware,” the spokesperson said. Gavi CEO Seth Berkley is also set to leave the organization next summer after leading it for a dozen years. He became a global figure as the face of COVAX during the pandemic. The call for candidates for his job closed earlier this month. Drug pricing group Patients For Affordable Drugs has named Merith Basey as its new executive director following a monthslong search. She was executive director at Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, an international group that aims to improve access to and affordability of the medicines developed at universities. Basey will lead both Patients For Affordable Drugs, classified under the tax code as an educational organization, and Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, a political nonprofit that has more freedom to lobby directly on issues.
| | | The Washington Post reports that a deadly bus crash carrying quarantine passengers in China has sparked outrage over Beijing’s Covid-19 policies. KHN reports how a recent SCOTUS ruling makes it harder for the federal government to hold irresponsible prescribers criminally liable for fueling the opioid crisis. The New York Times dives into the burnout of a doctor in rural West Virginia.
| | | | STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Our Future Pulse newsletter will continue to bring you the biggest stories at the intersection of technology and healthcare, but now five times a week. Want to know what’s next in health care? Sign up for our Future Pulse newsletter. If you aren’t already subscribed, follow this link to start receiving Future Pulse. | | | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
