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With Ben Leonard and Megan R. Wilson
WHAT DEMS SECURING THE SENATE MEANS FOR HEALTH IN AMERICA — Over the weekend, Democrats cemented their control of the Senate, POLITICO’s Natalie Allison, Marianne Levine and Jessica Piper tell us.
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) narrowly prevailed over her Republican opponent. Georgia’s senate seats will be determined in an upcoming runoff election next month, but Cortez Masto’s win on Saturday means the upper chamber will have at least 50 votes — with a potential tiebreaker from Vice President Kamala Harris — for the next two years.
Democratic leadership has expressed interest in developing another major spending bill, which could be another chance for lawmakers to tackle Medicare expansion and improved childcare measures cut from previous legislation.
The House, meanwhile, remains undecided, though it’s leaning Republican. That outcome, combined with the hefty GOP presence in the Senate, would mean we can expect to see investigations into the federal response to the pandemic and the virus’ origins.
And the Senate remaining in Democratic control gives a key advantage to the Biden administration: a clear pathway for new agency appointees. Currently, the Biden administration has 79 appointed positions open with no nominations — including the role of director for the National Institutes of Health and the associate administrator for relief, response and resilience in the U.S. Agency for International Development — and it will be responsible for filling any new vacancies. Now that Democratic control of the Senate is assured until at least 2025, the administration can comfortably make appointments to those positions without fear of GOP delay tactics.
In addition, should Democrats hold their 51st seat in the Georgia runoff election, the path to nomination for any appointee won’t require the approval of every Democratic Senator — particularly those like Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) whose influence has previously sunk Biden administration appointments.
WELCOME TO MONDAY PULSE — I’m Katherine Ellen Foley, filling in for Daniel and Krista today. New data from the Harvard Business Review suggests that rudeness toward frontline workers, including those in health care, is on the rise — and it has tangible consequences on employees’ mental health. Send tips, constructive criticism and compliments to [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].
TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST: A pair of little-discussed Republican victories on Tuesday threatens to undermine abortion access in two states. Megan Messerly talks with me about why this highlights a bright spot for the GOP amid an otherwise challenging election night for anti-abortion groups.
HOUSE E&C GOP LEADERS REMAIN FRUSTRATED WITH PHE — The public health emergency will stay intact through mid-January, based on the lack of notice from the Department of Health and Human Services alerting states of the declaration’s end on Friday, adding to some GOP lawmakers’ frustration.
“Earlier this fall, President Biden stated plainly that the pandemic is over, yet he continues to exploit power reserved only for times of emergency to circumvent Congress and send mixed signals to the American people at a time when many have lost trust in our public health agencies,” Energy and Commerce Republican leader Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) and Health Subcommittee leader Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said in a statement to PULSE.
“Instead of constantly moving the goalposts, his administration needs to provide to the public what metrics it will use to evaluate the state of Covid-19 risk and what his plan is to unwind the public health emergency,” they added.
EXCLUSIVE: HEALTH GROUPS PRESSURE CONGRESS TO ACT ON INSULIN PRICES — More than 50 public health advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, Public Citizen and T1International, sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to address the issue of the high cost of insulin on Monday. The letter, sent on World Diabetes Day, specifically calls for lawmakers to stop insulin manufacturers from setting exorbitantly high prices and find a way to guarantee that those who are uninsured and have private insurance can access affordable insulin.
TOBACCO INDUSTRY SEEKS TO DELAY CALIFORNIA’S FLAVORED-TOBACCO BAN — R.J. Reynolds, the maker of Newport menthol cigarettes, and several other tobacco manufacturers have filed a complaint and requested a preliminary injunction against the state of California in the District Court of the Southern District of California, arguing its voter-approved ban on flavored tobacco products is unconstitutional, I report.
This is nothing new for the industry: It’s brought lawsuits in local jurisdictions in several states that have banned the sale of flavored tobacco, using a similar constitutional argument. In those cases, lower courts ruled in favor of the localities, and courts continued to rule against industry after it appealed those decisions. But in the case against California, companies also argue that the ban would violate interstate commerce clause provisions by prohibiting the sale of products made outside of California — which hasn’t been litigated before.
“It’s not that Reynolds thinks they can win on the dormant Commerce Clause, but what they need to do is get a court to put a hold on the law while that litigation happens,” he said. “It’s a delay tactic if nothing else. They [tobacco companies] have nothing to lose,” says Desmond Jenson, a lawyer at the Public Health Law Center at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
HOW EASY IS IT FOR AMERICANS TO FIND A TEST TO TREAT SITE? A new study published in JAMA Network Open found that many Americans don’t live near a Covid-19 Test to Treat site, making it harder for them to access antiviral drugs.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School and other institutions report that about 15 percent of the U.S. population lived more than a 60-minute drive from one of the country’s 2,227 Test to Treat sites. That number was much higher in rural areas, where about 60 percent of residents lived an hour or more away from a site.
According to the study results, 17 percent of adults 65 or over lived more than 60 minutes away from the nearest site, along with 30 percent of American Indian or Alaskan Native individuals, 17 percent of white individuals, 8 percent of Hispanic individuals and 8 percent of Black individuals.
Maggie Herman is now a health insurance specialist in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Office of Legislation. She was previously a senior legislative assistant for Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.).
Caitlin Carroll had her last day as communications director for Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and the Senate HELP Committee on Friday. She says she plans to announce her next move soon.
Victoria Blatter, Amgen’s senior vice president of global government affairs and policy, is retiring at the end of this year, the company announced. Greg Portner, who has been with Amgen for 17 years, will be promoted to the role.
The leading plaintiff in a Supreme Court case that revolutionized disabilities rights, Lois Curtis, has died at 55, The New York Times’ Sam Roberts writes.
For The Washington Post, William Wan documents how suicidal students at Yale are pressured to leave the university — and then forced to reapply.
Children living with long Covid have a hard time finding care from the limited number of pediatric facilities tackling the condition in the U.S., Jonathan Lambert writes for Grid.
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