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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 David Lim and Daniel Payne | | | With Erin Schumaker and Carmen Paun
| | |  Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) sponsored a fentanyl-related bill that was passed in the House on Monday. | Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo | CONGRESS: WE AGREE, STUDY FENTANYL — The House passed the first of two bills targeting fentanyl that representatives plan to consider this week. The vote on the Preventing the Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act was 402-2, with two Republicans voting against the nearly unanimous bill. The bill, sponsored by Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), tasks the Government Accountability Office with studying drug trafficking, specifically, the financial methods used by international criminal organizations and U.S. efforts to combat them, Erin reports. “To end this crisis, we must tackle the financing,” De La Cruz said during the proceedings. “As the adage goes, follow the money.” According to recent provisional CDC data, nearly 80,000 people died last year of an opioid overdose. Of those, more than 72,000 deaths were linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The agency cautions the data is incomplete and is likely an undercount. Veto threat or blessing? Republicans plan to bring up the HALT Fentanyl Act on Thursday, which would permanently schedule fentanyl and related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act and boost research into the drugs. To some, President Joe Biden all but endorsed the bill Monday, issuing a statement of administration policy that states his administration has “long supported” those two efforts. But he also urged Congress to add language his administration pushed for in 2021 that includes policies to allow HHS to remove or reschedule substances that are found to not have a high potential for abuse and direct GAO to study the impact permanent scheduling has on “research, civil rights, and illicit manufacturing and trafficking” of fentanyl-related substances. Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) told the House Rules Committee on Monday the GOP bill is flawed as written, and some House Democrats have opposed the legislation because they fear it will lead to over-incarceration. IT'S TUESDAY. WELCOME BACK TO PULSE. Resident FDA reporter David Lim here, pinch-hitting Pulse today and tomorrow. Send tips and feedback to dlim@politico.com! TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Megan Messerly talks with Ben Leonard, who reports on the decision by private insurers working for Medicare to maintain coverage for remote monitoring devices that track patients’ vital signs at home — and explains why it’s a big win for the telehealth industry, which grew exponentially during the Covid public health emergency but now has to sell its services in a post-pandemic world.
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The effect of Covid-19 funding on veterans' health will be reviewed today by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. | Charles Dharapak/AP Photo | VA COVID SPENDING — The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs convenes this morning to review the impact approximately $36.7 billion of supplemental funding from three Covid-19 relief laws had on veterans’ health. Jon Rychalski, VA assistant secretary for management and chief financial officer, will testify the funding helped bolster staffing, reduce homelessness, distribute personal protective equipment, modernize IT infrastructure, support clinical studies and more, according to prepared testimony. But VA Inspector General Michael Missal is slated to testify that the watchdog found that outdated financial management systems posed “significant challenges” for accountability and transparency into how Covid funds were spent. “While this problem existed long before the pandemic, it ultimately led to a lack of assurance that funds allocated specifically for Covid-19-related purposes were being spent as intended,” Missal’s prepared testimony states.
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | TELEHEALTH FIGHT — CMS doesn’t believe a law requiring Medicare to cover telehealth through 2024 applies to services offered by hospital-based physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists, setting off a firestorm of protest from providers. CMS released an updated document Friday saying it would exercise discretion through the end of the year to continue paying for their care and nursing facilities and home health agencies could continue to offer telehealth. But it left unresolved what it would do after that and for how long skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies could bill for telehealth therapy services, POLITICO’s Ben Leonard reports. REMOTE MONITORING PAYMENTS — Private insurance companies working for Medicare have decided they’ll continue to pay for devices that monitor patients’ vital signs from their homes, according to an email obtained by Ben. The decision is a significant win for the telehealth industry, which argues that remote monitoring will yield cost savings by helping doctors catch health problems earlier. A number of key industry groups, including the American Medical Association, Teladoc Health, the Alliance for Connected Care, the Connected Health Initiative and Roche Diagnostics, had pushed for continued coverage. YELLEN: ‘HIGHLY LIKELY’ DEBT BRINK IS EARLY JUNE — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen amplified her warning to congressional leaders Monday that the U.S. risks running out of borrowing power in just 10 days, as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy look to salvage debt ceiling talks that nearly crumbled over the weekend. In a new letter, Yellen added that “it is highly likely” the Treasury Department won’t be able to pay the bills in early June, potentially as soon as June 1, POLITICO’s Caitlin Emma reports. Thanks to a disappointing tax season that yielded less revenue than expected, it’s unclear whether the department can make it to June 15 when quarterly tax receipts come in. HHS TO LEAD YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH PUSH — The Biden administration announced today that HHS, alongside the Department of Commerce, will lead a Kids Online Health and Safety interagency task force to examine risks and benefits of social media and online platforms. The government effort will be tasked with developing policy recommendations and voluntary guidance for companies by spring 2024.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   | | | | | FDA APPROVES SYNTHETIC OPIOID OVERDOSE REVERSAL DRUG — On Monday, the FDA approved a nasal spray that can reverse overdoses from powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl, POLITICO’s Katherine Ellen Foley reports. The drug, called Opvee, contains a version of the drug nalmefene that can be inhaled like allergy medication. Manufacturer Indivior has not yet commented on the prescription drug’s price. The spray works similarly to naloxone, which is effective against less potent, semi-synthetic opioids, like Oxycontin. Naloxone works on synthetic opioids, but Opvee’s effects are stronger and more durable, experts say. The GOP Doctors Caucus is slated to hold a press conference this afternoon to highlight rising U.S. fentanyl overdoses alongside House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | | | | | FIRST IN PULSE: ROCKEFELLER PUSHES GLOBAL SEQUENCING — The Rockefeller Foundation will donate $5 million to the World Health Organization’s Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence to scale up global capacity for genomic surveillance, Carmen reports. The money will also go toward creating a digital platform enabling real-time communication and collaboration among public health analysts and researchers globally to scale up epidemic tools and improve outbreak detection through data science, among others. “We thought that it would be worthwhile to support the institutions that are already in this space and providing this kind of 21st century data-based watchtower, so to speak, globally,” Naveen Rao, the Rockefeller Foundation’s senior vice president for global health, told Carmen. The WHO launched the hub in 2021, with $100 million support from Germany, which is hosting it in Berlin. The WHO Hub, led by former Nigeria CDC director general Chikwe Ihekweazu, aims to increase data availability, develop analytic tools and predictive models for risk analysis for disease outbreaks and link experts worldwide. IRISH HEALTH WARNINGS ON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES — Ireland will become the first country to require alcoholic beverages to display health warnings that they could potentially cause cancer, POLITICO’s Shawn Pogatchnik reports. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly signed into law on Monday the Public Health (Alcohol) (Labelling) Regulations 2023 and confirmed that the new rules would come into effect three years from now — May 22, 2026.
| | The Health Industry Distributors Association named Kathryn DiBitetto as vice president of congressional relations. Boston Scientific has added Sarah Macchiarola as director of international affairs and Whitney Craig as director of federal affairs. Macchiarola was previously VP of federal policy and government relations at the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. Craig was previously VP of federal affairs at AHIP. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) announced Monday he will not seek reelection next year and endorsed Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) to succeed him.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: PBMs control your health care. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) decide if medicines get covered and what you pay, regardless of what your doctor prescribes. They say they want lower prices, yet they often deny or limit coverage of lower-cost generics and biosimilars, instead covering medicines with higher prices so they make more money. This business model allows PBM profits to soar and can lead to higher costs for everyone. What else are they hiding? | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
