Sen. Murphy wants to help you make friends

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Jul 18, 2023 View in browser   By Erin Schumaker, Ben Leonard and Evan Peng POLICY PUZZLE Murphy is concerned about our bleak social lives. | Getty Images Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is ready to tackle what he calls one of the most important political issues of our time — loneliness. "Loneliness drives bad health outcomes, but I also think it drives political instability. I think it's a mistake for government to ignore this epidemic," Murphy told Erin. Last month during remarks on the Senate floor, Murphy laid out a case for addressing the nation's social connection crisis as a policy issue. We just need a starting point, he told Congress. That start came Tuesday, when Murphy announced new legislation, the National Strategy for Social Connection Act, targeting loneliness and isolation. The bill would: — Establish an office of social connection policy within the White House to advise the president on how loneliness and isolation affect the economy, public health, national security, the environment and community engagement. — Form an advisory council bringing together stakeholders and federal agencies to improve social infrastructure, quality of life and civic spirit. — Develop a government-wide strategy promoting connection, working across the transportation, housing, health, education and labor agencies. — Launch a public education campaign, including national guidelines and research-backed best practices to help people engage and connect with their communities, similar to existing guidelines on nutrition, sleep and physical activity. — Provide $5 million in annual Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding to research social connection, loneliness and social infrastructure through 2029. Murphy has good company in Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who issued a May report on the loneliness epidemic, including a six-pillar strategy for advancing social connection. "The conversation he helped begin is really important, and I want to make sure it endures. By creating this office of social connection policy, we're guaranteeing that work Dr. Murthy has done becomes a permanent part of our government's focus," Murphy said. Why it matters: Loneliness is a pervasive problem, with 1 in 3 people in the U.S. who are 45 years old and older feeling lonely, according to the CDC. Being socially disconnected is associated with a higher risk for health problems, including cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and suicide, according to the surgeon general report. "Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling — it harms both individual and societal health," Murthy wrote in the report. What's next? Since loneliness doesn't naturally sort people into political camps, Murphy says he's hopeful that he'll be able to draw bipartisan support for his bill. He pointed to a bipartisan measure to regulate kids' access to social media, which is tied to youth loneliness, that he put forth this spring with Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) as a promising example of such partnerships. "I think you'll see some really interesting collaborations between right and left over the course of the next year to attack this problem of aloneness," he said.   UNLEASH THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE WITH POLITICO, A 7/20 INTERACTIVE EVENT: Imagine a future where rare genetic diseases are not only treatable, but potentially curable. Where our approach to chronic illness takes a monumental leap forward. That future is already taking shape in the form of next-generation health care treatments such as gene therapy. Join POLITICO on Thursday, July 20 and delve into the burgeoning field of gene therapies, which hold the power to redefine our health care landscape. Are you ready to explore this new frontier in health care? Don't miss this chance to be part of the conversation. REGISTER NOW.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Marseille, France | Evan Peng This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. The latest collaboration in health care AI: virtual care provider Teladoc is teaming up with Microsoft, integrating Microsoft's artificial intelligence into its telehealth platform with the aim of automating documentation. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Ben Leonard at bleonard@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, Evan talks with Ben, who breaks down the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' proposed changes to Medicare’s physician fees, which the agency says would lower costs and support behavioral health — and the ensuing praise and criticism the plan has garnered. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast CHECKUP Demand for bariatric surgery has spiked in some cities. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Weight-loss drugs are hot. So, it turns out, is weight-loss surgery. A Trilliant Health analysis of national claims data found that the volume of bariatric surgeries performed bounced back from a pandemic dip, particularly in certain geographic areas. Between 2017 and 2022, growth in such surgeries far outpaced obesity diagnoses in some cities and their surrounding metro areas: — Boston: surgeries rose by 34.6 percent; obesity diagnoses rose by 2.9 percent — Philadelphia: surgeries, 33.6 percent; diagnoses, 0.2 percent — Miami: surgeries, 31.4 percent; diagnoses, 9.5 percent — Los Angeles: surgeries, 18.2 percent; diagnoses, 6.5 percent — Washington, D.C.: surgeries, 15.1 percent; diagnoses, 6.2 percent Why it matters: The researchers said it’s still unclear whether drugs will replace bariatric surgeries as the “gold standard” for weight loss. “With healthcare spending approaching 20 percent of U.S. GDP, the increasing demand for expensive weight loss drugs and weight loss surgical procedures will profoundly impact national healthcare expenditures,” the researchers wrote. “Tracking the impact of weight loss drugs on bariatric surgery over time is crucial.” The trend wasn’t uniform, though.  Houston saw obesity-diagnosis and bariatric-surgery growth essentially in line with each other, and Atlanta and New York City saw obesity growth outpace surgery growth.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     DANGER ZONE The "faces of fentanyl" wall at the Drug Enforcement Administration memorializes those who've died. | AFP via Getty Images 1 in 22 The number of deaths in 2021 tied to opioids The number of people dying from drug overdoses in the United States was nearly the same between February 2022 and February 2023, as it was during the same period in 2021, provisional data from the CDC shows. But the flattening of the curve is cold comfort, given the size of the toll, which remains near record levels. New research in JAMA Network Open helped quantify the carnage, finding that fatal opioid overdoses claimed close to 3 million years of life and caused 1 in 22 U.S. deaths in 2021. One in 10 deaths in 15- to 19-year-olds and 1 in 5 of those between ages 20 and 39 in 2021 were tied to opioids. Men were disproportionately impacted, making up 70 percent of the 422,000 deaths studied between 2011 and 2021, during which such deaths close to quadrupled. What’s being done? The landmark SUPPORT Act, a five-year-old, bipartisan effort to combat the crisis, is due for reauthorization this year. But lawmakers are battling over a significant issue: whether to allow states to use Medicaid dollars to fund addiction treatment in large mental health institutions.   Follow us on Twitter Ben Leonard @_BenLeonard_ Ruth Reader @RuthReader Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker Evan Peng @thepngfile   Follow us

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