| | | | |  | | By Daniel Payne | With Robert King, Ben Leonard and Megan Wilson
| | |  President Biden is expected to select Mandy Cohen, the former North Carolina health secretary, as the CDC's next director. | Bryan Anderson/AP Photo | WHAT COHEN COULD MEAN FOR THE CDC — President Joe Biden plans to appoint former North Carolina health secretary Mandy Cohen as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn reports. The White House declined to comment, and the three people, granted anonymity to discuss personnel moves, cautioned that the decision is not finalized. Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Her appointment could signal a renewed focus on connecting often-siloed parts of health systems, health policy experts connected to the administration told Pulse. “In the CDC, people are very focused on disease specifics — we have very deep vertical pockets,” Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist and scientific adviser to the CDC, said. “And the pandemic showed us that we really needed operations: someone who is more horizontal, that can work with multidisciplinary teams.” Cohen’s experience spans those borders: from public to private organizations, federal to state agencies, public health to medical systems — and across partisan divides on some health policies. “Having somebody who can travel between those worlds … that's the name of the game going forward,” Thomas Tsai, a Harvard professor and former Covid testing and treatment coordinator at the White House, told Pulse. Cohen, who would replace outgoing CDC chief Rochelle Walensky, is an Obama-era CMS official who has experience leading North Carolina’s health department and a private-sector company. She’s worked as a public health professional and has training in the medical system as an internal medicine doctor. The White House has pushed for more integration between those groups post-pandemic. She’s well known in Democratic policy circles but also has persuaded Republicans in North Carolina and the Trump administration to buy into her approach to Medicaid for the state. Keeping bipartisan trust will be key to getting more done in the policy realm and rebuilding public confidence in the agency. “That’s the only way you’re gonna get movement in public health right now, given the really tough landscape,” Jetelina said. But the tasks for the next CDC director will be anything but easy, as the agency looks to pivot from the pandemic while staring down plans for systemic changes. And the politics of health have only intensified since Cohen’s time in the Obama administration. “It isn’t lost that she is being given a huge task moving forward, and it’s going to take time no matter who you put in that role,” Jetelina said. WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. Are you working in the CDC and have thoughts about the potential nomination? Are you Mandy Cohen? Reach out to me at dpayne@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Daniel Payne about his report on how hospitals, clinics, patient advocates and state workers are striving to prevent individuals from losing their Medicaid coverage as the program unwinds.
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The Senate passed the debt ceiling bill Thursday night. Next stop is President Joe Biden's desk. | Senate Television via AP | DEBT CEILING RAISED — The Senate passed a bill that would raise the debt ceiling 63-36, a move that has been closely watched by Washington — including nearly all parts of the health system. The deal assuages health providers who worried a government default could mean unreliable Medicare and Medicaid payments. The package’s passage also means that the government will claw back about $30 billion in unspent Covid funds, as POLITICO’s David Lim has reported. But funding would continue for veterans’ health care related to exposure to certain environmental hazards such as burn pits. BIG WEEK FOR TELEHEALTH COMING — The Ways and Means and the Education and the Workforce committees are set to tackle virtual care legislation next week, according to three lobbyists familiar with the committees’ plans. POLITICO’s Ben Leonard reports. On Tuesday, the Education and the Workforce Committee is set to mark up legislation that would allow employers to offer telehealth services as a tax-free benefit separate from other health plans, the lobbyists said. That legislation, from Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), would revive and permanently extend a pandemic provision that expired along with the public health emergency last month. People using the telehealth benefits tax-free, separate from other health plans, may continue until the end of their plan years. On Wednesday, the Ways and Means Committee is slated to mark up legislation from Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) that would permanently extend another pandemic-era policy, allowing high-deductible health plans to pay for telehealth before patients hit their deductibles, according to the lobbyists. Congress extended that provision from the public health emergency through the end of 2024 in the most recent appropriations package.
| | 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. | | | | | | CMS TO EXPAND ALZHEIMER’S DRUG COVERAGE — CMS announced a plan to expand Medicare coverage of a new class of pricey Alzheimer’s disease drugs when they get traditional Food and Drug Administration approval, Robert reports. Medicare covers two drugs in that class, Biogen’s Aduhelm and Eisai’s Leqembi, but only if the patient is in a qualifying clinical trial. The FDA cleared both drugs via its accelerated approval pathway, but traditional approval could be coming within weeks. Once the FDA gives the full nod, Medicare will cover the drugs, but only if the doctor participates in a clinical registry. The goal of the registry is to gather more evidence about the drug’s outcomes and identify possible side effects. CMS’ decision doesn’t affect current coverage restrictions, which have drawn a swift rebuke from patient groups and members of Congress. Critics have complained the decision to restrict coverage to only people in a clinical trial will stifle access. CMS’ announcement Thursday drew a new round of criticism from patient groups. “The news release is silent on some of the same issues that the original coverage with evidence development raised: Will rural communities and areas without large, urban hospital systems be included,” said George Vradenburg, chairman of the group UsAgainstAlzhekmer’s, in a statement. FIRST IN PULSE: CHILD SUPPORT OFFICE GETS NEW MONIKER — The Administration for Children and Families is making a slight name change to its Office of Child Support Enforcement to better reflect its family-centered approach, Robert reports. The new office will now go by the Office of Child Support Services. The office will still offer services ranging from enforcement remedies to partnerships with child-support agencies. It also provides employment and training programs. The reason behind the change is partly to help ease parents’ concerns, the ACF said in a statement. “Noncustodial parents often fear child support enforcement, potential incarceration and the stigma and shame associated with enforcement remedies,” ACF said in today’s announcement. “This change demonstrates the program is adopting a more inclusive, family-centered and service-oriented model.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | BLOCKBUSTER AT A BARGAIN — Coherus BioSciences plans to launch its biosimilar version of Humira, AbbVie’s blockbuster treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune disorders, at a much lower price than its brand-name competitor in July, Megan reports. The injectable medicine, called Yusimry, will have a list price of $995 per carton of two vials, the company said Thursday, an 85 percent discount from brand-name Humira. Coherus, based in Redwood City, California, is also partnering with the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company, co-founded by the eponymous billionaire, to offer the drug directly to patients for about $577. Humira, one of the highest-selling drugs in the U.S., has been on the market for 20 years without any lower-cost biosimilar competitors. That ended this year when Amgen launched its biosimilar, called Amjevita, in January. Several others are expected to come onto the market in 2023.
| | | | NY INFANT MORTALITY DROPS, FOR SOME — The number of infant deaths across New York fell by 12 percent between 2016 and 2019, POLITICO’s Maya Kaufman reports. But that trend wasn’t shared among Black babies, who saw an increasing mortality rate in the same period. Infant mortality rates, defined as the death of a baby before age 1, increased slightly from 8.37 to 8.46 deaths per 1,000 live births among non-Hispanic Black babies during the three-year period. At the same time, the state’s overall infant mortality rate declined from 4.36 deaths per 1,000 live births to 3.85, according to the data. The data comes at a time when, nationally, concern persists about the inequity in infant and maternal mortality.
| | | | Kaitlynn Ward is now director of government affairs for America’s Poison Centers. She previously was director of federal affairs for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Sondra Imperati has been named the vice president of brand strategy at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Before that, she worked as director of brand strategy and integrated marketing at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Oladimeji Fashola has been named chief technology officer at Quantoom Biosciences S.A. He has 15 years in biopharma, with experience in cell and gene therapy, RNA and recombinant protein manufacturing.
| | The Times also has a fascinating interactive showing the long-term damage Covid-19 can cause to the lungs. KFF Health News and CBS report on the link between medical recoding and cancer patients’ treatment options.
| | | | 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 | | | | |
