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Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy. | | | | |  | | By Krista Mahr and Daniel Payne | With Katherine Ellen Foley, Ben Leonard, Daniel Lippman and Megan R. Wilson
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Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that he will push the state’s legislature to make permanent several Covid-19 policies he helped put in place. | Lynne Sladky/AP Photo | DESANTIS GOES ALL IN — Ron DeSantis, weeks into his second term as Florida’s governor, said Tuesday that he will push the state’s legislature to make permanent several of the Covid-19 policies he helped put in place, POLITICO’s Matt Dixon reports. The possible GOP presidential contender, who became a star of the party as he pushed back against Covid-19 mitigation measures embraced by other governors, wants to keep in place the state’s bans on mask mandates, Covid vaccine mandates in schools and Covid passports and to continue prohibiting employers from hiring and firing based on vaccine status. He also wants lawmakers to pass legislation that “protects medical professionals’ freedom of speech” — a direct reply to legislation recently signed into law in California that makes spreading misleading medical information about Covid vaccines a type of “unprofessional conduct” and subject to punishment by the state’s medical board. Behind the scenes: DeSantis announced his plan at an event Tuesday in Panama City, which also featured remarks from dermatologist Jon Ward, who has used his Twitter account to spread conspiracy theories about the Covid vaccine. His comments come as Covid deaths are climbing nationally and Florida’s own Covid case count has jumped 90 percent in the last two weeks. The CDC estimates less than 11 percent of eligible Floridians have received an updated bivalent booster shot, compared to the 16 percent national average. In the state’s nursing homes, as state House minority leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) pointed out after the event, only about one-third of residents are up to date on their vaccinations, according to AARP. Why it matters: As speculation grows that DeSantis is gearing up for a presidential run, the Florida governor is doubling down on a health agenda that would put him on a collision course with the nation’s public health officials as the pandemic rolls on. The same day he made the comments, the Biden administration argued in court that a Florida judge’s order to vacate the CDC’s mask travel mandate should be overturned. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE — They’re baaaack. Superspreader events are back in the news. This time the culprit is the Golden Globes, where at least four Hollywood celebrities got sick. Are superspreader events still even news? Tell us what you think: kmahr@politico.com and dpayne@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, Krista talks with Megan Messerly about the Biden administration's plans to expand the testing of bathroom wastewater from international flights to detect Covid variants and other pathogens — a practice that administration officials and public health experts see as part of a revolution in biosafety infrastructure and a critical plank of national security in the post-pandemic era.
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CMS says it will hold poorly performing nursing homes to account. | David Goldman/AP Photo | CMS PLEDGES ACTION ON NURSING HOME SAFETY — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is continuing its crackdown on underperforming nursing homes. The agency announced two new measures today aimed at reducing inappropriate drug use and allowing families to more easily find out what facilities have been cited for a deficiency. Starting in January, CMS will begin targeted audits to determine whether nursing homes are misdiagnosing patients with schizophrenia, the medication for which can be dangerous for nursing home residents. Nursing homes found to be routinely misdiagnosing residents will impact their rating in CMS’ nursing home rating system. The agency will also start to make nursing home citations under dispute available to the public; previously, they were only made available once the dispute was resolved. The announcement comes months after CMS said in October it would toughen up on the nation’s poorest-performing nursing homes.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | INTERIM DATA SHOWS HIGH EFFICACY FOR MODERNA’S RSV SHOT IN OLDER ADULTS — Moderna said Tuesday that an early analysis of a late-stage clinical trial for its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine in older adults met its primary endpoint, Katherine reports. An interim analysis of data from the company’s Phase III trial showed that the vaccine had an efficacy of more than 80 percent for lower respiratory infections with at least two symptoms from RSV in adults over 60, and it didn’t raise any safety concerns. The 37,000-person trial is still ongoing, and the company plans to publish complete Phase III trial data in a peer-reviewed journal. It will also ask the FDA to approve the vaccine in the first half of this year. MEDICARE, PATIENT GROUPS AT ODDS OVER COVERAGE OF NEW ALZHEIMER’S DRUG — The excitement of a second new Alzheimer’s drug in two years has been quickly stifled by debates over its coverage, Katherine reports. Leqembi, the new drug from Eisai and Biogen, targets the amyloid proteins thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease and costs $26,500 annually. Millions of patients living with the disease’s early stages could potentially be eligible for the drug — but prior coverage decisions from CMS mean Leqembi will only be covered for those in a clinical trial. Eisai and Biogen have no further plans to study the drug, nor does Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of a similar therapy, which the FDA is expected to decide whether to approve next month. The Alzheimer’s Association, the powerful advocacy group, is in the process of a full-court press to meet with every lawmaker in the House and Senate, urging them to pressure CMS to change its coverage determination. Other advocacy groups, including UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, and the drug maker Eisai, are meeting with CMS to pressure the agency directly.
| | | FIRST IN PULSE: STATE CARE NETWORK LAUNCHES — Action For Health, a D.C.-based health advocacy group, will expand its operation to state governments through a new initiative, the State Care Network. Citing a likely gridlock from a divided Congress, the group said in a statement shared with Pulse that it would look to state capitals as the “policy-making center of gravity” shifts away from Washington, D.C. The official announcement is expected later today. The group has criticized hospital consolidation and insurance companies’ large profit margins — and has previously pushed for legislation to resolve provider-insurer bill disputes through a private mediator.
| | | WARNER TO INTRODUCE CYBERSECURITY BILL — Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) plans to introduce in the first quarter of 2023 health care cybersecurity legislation that could set minimum standards for health care organizations to protect patient data, Ben reports. The Senate Cybersecurity Caucus co-founder issued a report on the state of health care cybersecurity in November, arguing that poor cybersecurity in the sector imperils patients’ lives. Warner told POLITICO that the federal government needs stronger leadership on the issue. Currently, authority is spread across a number of officials, and Warner’s report called for HHS to appoint a “senior leader” to “speak with one voice” on cybersecurity. PUSH ON TELEHEALTH CODING — Lobbying group the Alliance for Connected Care wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calling on the agency to roll out an interim final rule to preserve telehealth access, Ben reports. Despite Congress acting to extend many eased telehealth rules through the end of 2024, some reimbursement codes should be updated to align with the extension, the group said. If the public health emergency expires in April, which POLITICO has reported it could, it would create “a gap in coverage and what we believe would be an unintended barrier to accessing vital health care services,” the group’s executive director Krista Drobac said in the letter.
| | | Aventiv Technologies announced that Margita Thompson has been named as the company's first chief communications and community engagement officer. Hannah Anderson is now health policy adviser for the Senate HELP Republicans. She previously was energy and commerce policy director for Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). Phil Gomez, chief executive officer of SIGA Technologies, the pharmaceutical company focused on the health security market, has announced he will retire as CEO this year. He’s expected to remain in position as CEO until a successor is appointed. Laura Stagno is now a policy analyst with the House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee. She previously was legislative director for Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.). Venn Strategies has added Jon Pyatt as EVP in its health practice and Andy Sigmon as a VP in its critical infrastructure practice. Pyatt previously was chief of staff to former Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and had been deputy chief of staff and counsel to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). Sigmon previously was a legislative and intergovernmental affairs specialist with the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration.
| | | The New York Times profiles the 96-year-old French doctor who invented the abortion pill. The Intercept reports on the pharmaceutical industry’s social media pressure campaign to end the call for generic Covid-19 vaccines. And in case you missed this gem last week, pianist Glenn Gould plays the Covid-19 variations, courtesy of — who else — the New Yorker.
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