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Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy. | | | | |  | | By Daniel Payne | With Alice Miranda Ollstein, Carmen Paun and Megan R. Wilson
| | |  Former Sen. Richard Burr laments that the partisanship in Congress is holding up the reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, a bill he co-authored. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo | AP Photo | PAHPA REAUTHORIZATION NEEDS A KUMBAYA MOMENT — Concerns that partisan bickering could derail the reauthorizing of the nation’s foremost pandemic preparedness law are overblown, according to former North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the bill’s original co-author. “This is a tumultuous time,” Burr, now at a law and lobbying firm post-retirement, told Megan, noting that little is done on Capitol Hill without some partisan rancor. It’s part of why, he said, he couldn’t reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act last year when he was ranking member on the Senate HELP Committee, though he touted working with then-Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on a related bill called the PREVENT Pandemics Act. Still, he noted that the lead House Democratic negotiator and original co-author, Anna Eshoo of California, is “reasonable,” “knowledgeable” and “passionate,” and Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the lead Republican, has “done his homework,” so he expects they’ll find consensus. Eshoo and Hudson are at odds over items including provisions meant to avert drug shortages, which Republicans contend don’t belong in the bill. Democrats argue that the policies are relevant and the must-pass pandemic preparedness bill is the best vehicle. Burr disagrees with Democrats. While he understands members’ desire to attach priorities, he opposes turning the legislation into a Christmas tree bill filled with ornaments. He said lawmakers must “focus on the areas of agreement” and create a foundation from which other policies can be evaluated based on their relevance. “Historically, when we’ve done it that way, people on both sides of the aisle kick out the extraneous things because they have an opportunity to go back and say, but that wasn’t within the framework,” Burr said. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), now ranking member on the HELP Committee, said negotiations in the Senate are “being held up because of drug policy demands” from Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that are “completely outside the purview of PAHPA.” Sanders wants to include policies that would let the government retain intellectual property rights over treatments and vaccines developed by pharmaceutical companies that received government funds to do so, lobbyists tell Megan that. Sanders’ office declined to comment on the status of PAHPA reauthorization and Cassidy’s comments. “I just don’t think this is going to happen quickly, but the clock gets tight on them,” Burr said. “Both sides are gonna get there.” WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. Are you a retired — or current — lawmaker with a good perspective on the state of health policy? We want to hear from you. Say hello and send a scoop to dpayne@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly take stock of what the abortion landscape looks like one year after the landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade — and you might be surprised at some of the developments that defied predictions.
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Expect abortion to become a key theme of President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. | Mark Makela/Getty Images | BIDEN’S ABORTION OVERHAUL — President Joe Biden hasn’t traditionally made abortion the focus of his campaigning. But as the 2024 election comes into focus, Biden is poised to run among the most overt abortion rights platform of any general election candidate in political history, POLITICO’s Holly Otterbein and Myah Ward report. The first post-Roe election cycle is making abortion an increasingly galvanizing issue. And that will make the issue a key theme of the 2024 campaign, according to Ron Klain, Biden’s former White House chief of staff. At the first anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe, there’s an urgency to keep the issue on voters’ radar as a reminder of the ruling’s significance, particularly as more time passes from the high court’s decision. Biden’s aides and top surrogates plan to fan out nationwide to push their message. His team believes abortion rights will be a critical motivator for suburban women, older women and even young men. And they think a key battleground state Biden lost in 2020 — North Carolina — is in play this time largely because of abortion.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | | | BIDEN: BOOST CONTRACEPTION ACCESS — President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday directing an array of federal agencies to explore new rules to make more forms of birth control available to more people at lower cost, Alice reports. The issue of contraception access has taken on more urgency since Roe v. Wade was overturned one year ago, administration officials told reporters on a call earlier this week.
“While contraception cannot replace the need for abortion services or fill the gap left by the loss of a constitutional right to choose, it’s an important part of helping ensure that women can make decisions about their own health, lives and families,” said Jen Klein, director of the White House’s Gender Policy Council.
But the officials acknowledged the agencies have no set timeline to issue new rules and nothing in the order will have an immediate impact. What’s in the order: The new order asks cabinet secretaries of several departments, including Defense, Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services, to consider issuing guidance and binding rules to help people on Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance who use birth control. It also includes efforts to boost access for the uninsured, including support for the Title X family planning program and assistance obtaining over-the-counter contraception. The order also aims to address widespread reports of insurance companies violating the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that all forms of FDA-approved contraception be available to patients without cost-sharing, though how the administration will proceed is not yet clear. What’s next: Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will rally with abortion rights groups Friday afternoon to mark the anniversary of the Dobbs decision. But Klein said not to expect any more policy announcements beyond today’s executive order.
| | MACRA REFORM DOUBTS — House lawmakers have their sights set on changing the way Medicare pays doctors — but the feasibility of a fix before the end of the year is in doubt, POLITICO’s Robert King and your host report. On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigations subcommittee held the first hearing since 2019 on issues with the Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which overhauled doctor payments and quality programs. Despite bipartisan consensus at the hearing that the program has problems, it’s doubtful that any legislative fixes would come this year, some staffers told POLITICO. The health policy agenda is already filled with concerns about pharmacy benefit managers and health consolidation, they said. But lawmakers pushing for reform argued that Congress needs to address the issue with urgency, saying they need to “dig in.”
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (l.) met with President Joe Biden on Thursday. The U.S. and India will join forces to fight cancer. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | U.S. AND INDIA TO TEAM UP TO FIGHT CANCER — The United States and India will hold a cancer dialogue hosted by President Joe Biden’s cancer moonshot to bring together experts from both countries to work together to accelerate progress against cancer, the White House said Thursday. The announcement was made during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington this week. Carmen reports that American and Indian scientists will work to develop a digital pathology platform using artificial intelligence for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of therapeutic benefit and an AI-based radiotherapy treatment for cervical and head and neck cancers. Additionally, the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases will collaborate with the Indian Council of Medical Research to further basic, clinical and translational research on diabetes, according to the White House. The two governments will also work against illicit drugs like the synthetic opioid fentanyl, the top killer of young adults in the U.S.
| | | | LONG COVID AND MENTAL HEALTH — HHS has issued a new advisory linking long Covid and mental health issues. The release, from HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Wednesday, found that people with long Covid can experience depression, anxiety, brain fog, psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. But the source of the mental health issues isn’t well understood. They could stem from long Covid — or they could come from the circumstances surrounding the syndrome, like isolation, chronic illness, financial insecurity or grief. Among people who have long Covid, mental health issues are more likely for those who were hospitalized for Covid, had more severe or longer-lasting symptoms or had preexisting psychiatric disorders. Women and people in minority groups are also at higher risk, according to the advisory.
| | | | Elizabeth Gianini has been named senior vice president of public affairs at Commonwealth Care Alliance. John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, has accepted an offer to extend his employment for another decade.
| | The Wall Street Journal reports on the fungal infections confounding doctors. STAT reports on the threats from a looming penicillin shortage. CNN looks at a new report finding a spike in preventable deaths in the U.S.
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