| | | | |  | | By Daniel Payne and Krista Mahr | | | | | 
Sen. Bernie Sanders has begun to staff his HELP Committee. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo | BERNIE'S HELP HELPERS — Staffers with a history of working for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are set to help him roll out his health care agenda as he chairs the Senate HELP Committee, POLITICO's Megan R. Wilson reports. — Warren Gunnels, longtime aide, is set to serve as staff director. — Bill Dauster, Senate procedure guru who has spent more than 23 years with Sanders, looks to become deputy staff director. — Sophie Kasimow, who left Capitol Hill in 2020 to work as a senior health policy adviser at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (and who previously worked under Sanders on the budget panel), is returning to lead health policy for the committee. — Marissa Barrera, who also worked under Sanders on the budget panel, will serve as deputy health policy director. — Chris Neubert, another Budget Committee alum who handled agriculture and environment policy, is moving over to serve as a policy adviser. — Michaela Brown, who has spent more than nine years with Sanders, most recently helping with his work chairing the HELP Primary Health and Retirement Security Subcommittee, is set to be a health policy adviser. Sticking around: Meanwhile, a handful of health staffers from the HELP Committee under outgoing Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are staying on, according to four people familiar with the staffing decisions. This includes senior health policy adviser Jane Bigham and health policy adviser Sabah Ghulamali, former CDC officials who've worked on public health and preparedness issues on the committee. Also remaining on the majority staff are Yelena Tsilker and Lauren Battle, also health policy advisers, according to one of the people familiar. Also coming along: Zain Rizvi from progressive advocacy group Public Citizen to work on pharmaceutical issues for the panel. Rizvi, who will be HELP's senior health counsel, has been focused on affordable access to medicines at the group. WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE. Do you know who else will be staffers for the HELP Committee? Let us know at dpayne@politico.com and kmahr@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, Lauren Gardner talks with Ben Leonard about his recent conversation with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who plans to introduce cybersecurity legislation early this year that would set minimum standards for health care organizations to ensure their patient data is protected from hacking threats.
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House Republicans are questioning HHS-funded gain-of-function research. | Jane Barlow/Getty Images | GOP JUMPS ON GAO REPORT — House Republicans said they'll push for further investigations into HHS' funding of research into pathogens that could cause a pandemic after the Government Accountability Office criticized the agency's lack of transparency in a new report, POLITICO's Ben Leonard reports. The GAO, which helps Congress oversee the executive branch, voiced concerns in the report about HHS oversight of so-called gain-of-function research, in which scientists sometimes try to make viruses more dangerous to learn how to control them. The new report adds fuel to the debate over HHS' funding of such research — the kind of research some scientists say could have caused the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that started the Covid-19 pandemic, though others hypothesize zoonotic spillover as the likelier source. "Under Republican leadership, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will conduct robust oversight of dangerous gain-of-function research approved by the Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health," Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), House Committee on Oversight and Accountability chair, said in a statement to POLITICO. "We know U.S. taxpayer dollars were funneled to the Wuhan lab to conduct risky research on bat coronaviruses — research that may have caused the pandemic — and the NIH grantee was out of compliance with the terms of its contract for years." Energy and Commerce also signaled similar investigations to come, with Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) saying the committee "will continue pushing for more accountability and oversight to start rebuilding public trust in these research agencies." The report accuses the department of not being transparent about its grantee monitoring and providing insufficient "assurance" that it flags pertinent research for review. HHS is supposed to review research grant proposals that are "reasonably anticipated" to involve enhanced pathogens that could cause a pandemic. But, as the GAO noted, there isn't a standard for what "reasonably anticipated" means. The lack of a definition leaves the door open to subjectivity, the GAO said. "Consequently, HHS cannot ensure that funding agencies are referring all proposed research involving enhanced potential pandemic pathogens for departmental review," the report said. The watchdog also said that publicly releasing more information about the review process would boost confidence in the process' effectiveness. The GAO report is the latest target for Republicans in the House, who have vowed to investigate pandemic policies and funding well beyond HHS' research funding. Expect hearings this Congress across issues — not only in the House but also in the Senate.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | LONG COVID ASSOCIATIONS — New research has found that being unvaccinated, experiencing more severe initial illness and having certain comorbidities were associated with a higher risk of long Covid. The study, which followed more than 1,800 Covid patients, found that being vaccinated before — and after — infection was tied to a reduced risk of symptoms six months after infection. Being vaccinated before infection was associated with fewer lingering symptoms 28 days or longer. More severe infections were also associated with longer-lasting symptoms, and more days spent in the hospital with Covid were linked with a heightened risk of residual symptoms. The analysis also found that study participants had an increased likelihood of more medical encounters for pulmonary, diabetes, mental health and neurological concerns six months after infection compared with encounters before infection.
| | | BENEFITS OF HYBRID IMMUNITY — A new paper published in the Lancet found that protection from vaccines and earlier infections combined offer greater protection than infection alone, with health experts saying it provides more evidence to get the shot, even after getting sick. After reviewing 26 studies, the authors found that those who got the shot and became infected — compared with those who became infected but weren't vaccinated — were less likely to have a severe case of Covid and less likely to get infected at all one year later.
| | | ANTI-ABORTION GROUP'S 2023 PLAN — Leaders of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the country's leading anti-abortion groups, said they see "opportunities" to pass abortion restrictions in Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina and Virginia, POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein writes. The group's leaders told reporters they'd continue to press Congress for a vote on anti-abortion policies even if they won't pass — as well as push 2024 hopefuls to endorse federal abortion restrictions. Still, focus is shifting to the states, with the group expanding its lobbying operation at the state level.
| | | DESANTIS TARGETS TRANS HEALTH CARE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is requesting a trove of information on individuals who receive gender-affirming treatments at Florida universities, furthering its practice of questioning or scaling back treatment for transgender people, POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury reports. In a blanket request to 12 state universities, top officials with the Republican governor seek data on the number of individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria or received treatment in campus clinics across Florida. It's unclear what exactly DeSantis intends to do with the information, but his administration says it involves "governing institutional resources and protecting the public interest."
| | | CONGRESSIONAL OUTLOOK — The Medical Group Management Association released its 2023 advocacy agenda, one of many provider strategies taking form for the coming year. More detail on those priorities is expected soon, including plans to push for: — Boosting reimbursements for practices — Reducing prior authorization volumes — Maintaining telehealth flexibilities — Moving toward value-based care — Building a larger physician workforce But don't take this (or other) agendas as a sign of a productive year to come on the Hill. Some lobbyists are considering how to better allocate resources away from a divided Congress, anticipating little forward movement in the coming months.
| | | Ben Pearlman joined the National Association of Chain Drug Stores as director of state government affairs. Most recently, he served as senior director of government and public affairs for Shipt, Inc. The National Association of ACOs announced its 2023 board of directors.
| | | The New York Times writes about a doula program showing the impact of "home visiting" programs that won congressional funding last year. JAMA writes that the NIH is piloting a program that allows telehealth consultations and antiviral treatments without leaving home.
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