| | | | |  | | By Robert King and Daniel Payne | With Megan R. Wilson and Carmen Paun
| | |  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy arrives at his office on Capitol Hill on Monday. He's looking to holding a vote on the debt ceiling package on Wednesday. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo | DEBT DEAL CLAWS BACK COVID FUNDS — Tucked into the major deal struck to raise the debt ceiling is a provision to claw back approximately $30 billion in unspent Covid funding, POLITICO’s David Lim reports. The deal announced Saturday would retain $5 billion in funding for the government’s Project NextGen, which aims to speed up development of new Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. It would also keep funding for Covid vaccines and treatments for the uninsured, a White House source granted anonymity to discuss details of the agreement said. Funding would continue for veterans’ health care related to exposure to certain environmental hazards such as burn pits. Not included in the deal are changes to Medicaid despite a vocal push by House Republicans to apply controversial work requirements to the program. The White House did agree to expand work requirements for certain beneficiaries in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program. However, Democrats added exceptions for veterans and homeless people to the new requirements. The House had passed a debt ceiling bill in April that called for many Medicaid recipients to work, take training programs or perform community service to qualify for their benefits. Next steps: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy seeks a vote on the package in the House on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned senators of a potential weekend or Friday vote. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued an updated alert that the federal government will run out of money for its debt obligations by June 5. IT'S TUESDAY. WELCOME BACK TO PULSE. This is Robert King, POLITICO’s CMS reporter filling in for the first time as your Pulse host. Do you have your own thoughts on the final debt ceiling deal? What about the finale of “Succession”? Feel free to send those and any health care tips or ideas to rking@politico.com and our regular Pulse host, dpayne@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, your host Daniel speaks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about her report on an Alabama clinic’s struggle to serve patients in a state with a total abortion ban.
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A new ad campaign by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association pits PBMs against pharmaceutical companies. | AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File | FIRST IN PULSE: PBMs CONTINUE PHARMA PUSHBACK — The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the leading trade association for pharmacy benefit managers, is out with a seven-figure ad campaign today —- the latest salvo in a high-dollar advertising and lobbying battle between pharmaceutical companies and PBMs over drug pricing proposals in Congress, Megan reports. The campaign includes two 30-second spots, which will air around the Beltway and in targeted states, that accuse the pharmaceutical industry of attempting to chip away at PBMs — the pharmaceutical middlemen that manage prescription drugs for health insurers — to disguise its role in rising drug costs. It’s a step up from much of the group’s previous advertising primarily aimed at touting the benefits offered by PBMs. It comes as legislation to compel increased transparency from the industry has advanced on Capitol Hill. “Misguided proposals targeting pharmacy benefits come straight from their playbook and are designed to undermine the one check-and-balance on drug companies’ pricing power,” said JC Scott, the CEO of PCMA. “Congress must reject these efforts to divert attention away from drug companies’ pricing decisions.”
| | POLITICO’s Health Care Summit on Wednesday, June 7, will explore how tech and innovation are transforming health care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the U.S. Register now. | | | | | | BIDEN SLAMS UGANDAN ANTI-LGBTQ LAW — On Monday, President Joe Biden criticized Uganda’s new anti-LGBTQ law signed by President Yoweri Museveni, which includes the death penalty for what it calls “aggravated homosexuality” and a 20-year jail sentence for promoting homosexuality. “This shameful Act is the latest development in an alarming trend of human rights abuses and corruption in Uganda,” Biden said in a statement. The National Security Council will evaluate the law’s implications for the ability of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to safely deliver services in the country, he said. The program allocated nearly $400 million to fighting the disease in Uganda last year. PEPFAR coordinator John Nkengasong joined Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, in calling for the Ugandan government to reconsider the law, Carmen reports. “Uganda’s progress on its HIV response is now in grave jeopardy,” the three wrote in a statement. The three leaders are concerned that LGBTQ people won’t seek prevention or treatment for HIV/AIDS for fear of attack, punishment and further marginalization as a result of the law. The impact has already been felt, they say: “The stigma and discrimination associated with the passage of the Act has already led to reduced access to prevention as well as treatment services.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | ALABAMA HEALTH CLINIC STRUGGLES TO SURVIVE — Alabama’s lone abortion clinic is struggling to pivot to offering non-abortion services, according to a new dispatch from POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein. Before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the West Alabama Women’s Center was the only clinic in the state to offer abortion procedures. Now, the clinic is moving to other services such as prenatal care, miscarriage management and contraception. However, the clinic is struggling financially as it tries to get the word out that it offers other services. This means the clinic will have to entirely rebuild its patient base. The West Alabama Women’s Center must consider new legal issues, too. For instance, Alabama’s attorney general threatens to prosecute anyone who offers to “aid and abet” an abortion. Staffers, at times, see women who want to know how far along they are in their pregnancy so they can plan to get an abortion elsewhere.
| | | SENATORS AIM TO ADD FENTANYL PROVISION TO NDAA — A pair of bipartisan senators hope to get a provision added to the National Defense Authorization Act that names fentanyl trafficking a national security threat, Carmen reports. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) aim to propose the Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act as an amendment to the NDAA. The goal is to make fentanyl trafficking a major priority of the Pentagon. Kaine told POLITICO that the military has the resources to halt only one-fifth of the fentanyl coming out of Latin America. “That’s just malpractice,” he said. Another part of the amendment is to mandate the Pentagon create a counterdrug strategy and calls for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to cooperate more with the Mexican military.
| | | LOW-INCOME WORKERS MADE GAINS DURING PANDEMIC — Low-income workers saw their wages increase by historic rates during the pandemic, according to an analysis of U.S. Labor Department data from POLITICO’s Victoria Guida. The historic gains resulted from major changes in the labor market and government policies intended to aid the economy. For instance, people earning an average of $12.50 an hour had a pay bump of nearly 6 percent from 2020 through 2022 despite inflation. However, the major gains are in jeopardy as the government ends pandemic-era relief spending. The Federal Reserve is worried about wages rising too fast and has instituted several interest-rate hikes to slow down economic activity. AN AIM TO PRESERVE COVID HISTORY — The Library of Congress has launched a new project seeking to gather oral histories of health workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The multiyear project’s goal is to preserve and make available oral histories from frontline health workers and survivors of loved ones who died, among others, according to a release on the project. “Every American has a unique story about the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Nicole Saylor, director of the Library’s American Folklife Center, which will run the effort. “It is vital that we document these stories so future generations will understand the trials, tribulations, and resilience of the American public during this tumultuous time.”
| | | | POLITICO’s Kayla Guo reported on the Biden administration dragging its feet on addressing the gender gap in car crash testing. KFF Health News reports on how more and more Americans are getting their health insurance claims denied, and the reasons are pretty absurd. The Washington Post reports on people with long-haul Covid who worry they may be left behind now that the public health emergency has ended.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
