WHERE WE GO FROM HERE — In the wake of the most intense public health response in U.S. history, public health experts fear Washington doesn’t have a strategy expansive enough to implement the lessons learned, your host reports. Dr. Georges Benjamin, president of the American Public Health Association, an advocacy group, told Pulse there’s “no real long-term vision” on the Hill for America’s public health systems. “How do we establish the value that we’ve clearly just demonstrated?” Benjamin said. “There doesn’t seem to be a rational way to have a conversation to have an optimal solution.” Benjamin recalled the creation of the national highway system, pointing to the need for a solid framework to lead improvements nationwide. “And we still can’t send EKGs across the street,” he said. Political problems: The politicization of Covid-19 — and many programs associated with the pandemic — has made mentions of public health unappealing for some lawmakers. “I don’t go in to speak to the folks on the Hill as much as I used to,” Benjamin said. “You don’t get the feeling you’re going to be heard.” Budget cuts pose a threat to building on progress made during the pandemic, he said. But Republicans have argued the need for balance among policy priorities, emphasizing the effects of inflation to push for less government spending. Toward ’24: That’s made the prospect of the 2024 elections even more important for some public health leaders. “We’re working really hard to try to lay the groundwork for strategic investments in public health,” Benjamin said. WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE. Do you know about big plans for the public health infrastructure working their way through Congress? We want to know, too. Drop me a line at dpayne@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein, who reports on new data showing that access to maternal health care is disappearing in many parts of the nation as a result of OB-GYNs moving or shuttering their practices and more birthing hospitals closing — and what's behind the closures.
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