Newsom on his Covid response: mea culpa

Presented by Arnold Ventures: The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Sep 11, 2023 View in browser   By Shawn Zeller, Carmen Paun, Daniel Payne and Erin Schumaker Presented by Arnold Ventures PANDEMIC Newsom laments how politics has engulfed public health. | AP “I think all of us in terms of our collective wisdom, we've evolved. We didn't know what we didn't know. We're experts in hindsight. We're all geniuses now.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom on his Covid response If he had a Covid response redo, Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom says “we would've done everything differently.” The second-term Democrat told NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday that criticism of California’s tough Covid restrictions was valid, and implied, without providing specifics, that he would have been more lenient knowing what we know now about how the virus spreads and the danger it poses, POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago reports. How so? Host Chuck Todd pressed Newsom for more details, including whether Newsom and state officials were too accommodating to the film industry when Newsom's emergency decree had made going to church indoors illegal. “I think there's a lot of humility. And we didn't know what we didn't know. And it was hardly I; it was we, collectively,” Newsom responded. There “were few states that didn't go on aggressive lockdowns, including Florida's Ron DeSantis.” Later in the interview Newsom responded to criticism of his state’s decisions by saying: “All of it is legitimate.” Newsom was widely criticized for sending his children to a private school that offered in-person instruction in 2020 at a time when public schools were shuttered, and then for attending a dinner at the Michelin three-stars French Laundry when his administration was discouraging Californians from gathering for Thanksgiving. Why it matters: A December 2021 POLITICO review of state responses to the virus rated California average, finding it performed better than most other states on health and social metrics, but worse on economic and educational ones. Despite concerns among some public health officials and academics about a recent uptick in Covid cases and hospitalizations, key Democratic politicians are reassuring the public that lockdowns and mask mandates aren’t coming back. Last week, for instance, after his wife came down with the disease, President Joe Biden cracked a joke to draw attention to his decision to disregard Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advice that he wear a mask. Republicans, meanwhile, are arguing over which of them most vigorously opposed pandemic precautions. GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s campaign is calling Trump rival DeSantis “Lockdown Ron,” while DeSantis is campaigning on his decision to reopen his state earlier than others. What’s next? Newsom highlighted an after-action review his administration has undertaken to report on lessons learned from the pandemic and called for a similar effort on the national level.   A message from Arnold Ventures: Same service, same price. You should be charged the same price when you receive the same medical service, no matter where you get it. But today, patients, employers, and taxpayers are charged billions because big hospital systems are buying up small physician practices. And when the logo on the door changes, you pay over 14% more for the same routine services. It's time to make site-neutral health care a reality. Learn more.   WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Bretton Woods, N.H. | Herbert Zeller This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Best to read the fine print about your new car. The Mozilla Foundation reviewed privacy disclosures about vehicles’ onboard computers and found that Japanese automaker Nissan says it could sell information its cars collect about sexual activity, intelligence and health to data brokers, law enforcement agencies and others. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Evan Peng at epeng@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Robert King talks with POLITICO health care reporter Kelly Hooper about the steps some states are taking to warn consumers no longer eligible for Medicaid not to sign up for health insurance plans that don't meet Obamacare standards. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast   A message from Arnold Ventures:     JOIN US ON 9/12 FOR A TALK ON THE NEW AGE OF TRAVELING: In this new era of American travel, trending preferences like wellness tourism, alternative lodging and work-from-anywhere culture provide new but challenging opportunities for industry and policy leaders alike. Join POLITICO on Sept. 12 for an expert discussion examining how the resilience of the tourism and travel industries is driving post-pandemic recovery. REGISTER HERE.     WORLD VIEW A better mosquito net could help prevent malaria. | AP The Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria is making an improved mosquito net more affordable to help prevent the diseases the pests spread. The backstory: In Tanzania and Benin, mosquitoes have become resistant to pyrethroid, the insecticide traditionally used to treat bed nets people sleep under to avoid being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The World Health Organization recommended this spring that those countries and others switch to a new generation of nets treated with different insecticides — pyrethroid-chlorfenapyr and pyrethroid-pyriproxyfen — which have proven more effective than those treated with only pyrethroid. Let’s make a deal: The new nets are more expensive than the old ones, so the Global Fund — to which the U.S. is a major financial backer — developed a plan to negotiate better prices. The fund struck an agreement with Danish bed net producer Vestergaard, promising a certain volume of sales in exchange for a price cut. “We are signaling to the market that there is a sustainable interest and requirements for such a product,” said Hui Yang, head of supply operations at the Global Fund. What’s next? The organization hopes its deal with Vestergaard will prompt other manufacturers to enter the market and further reduce prices.   A message from Arnold Ventures: When hospitals consolidate, prices go up, and everyone loses. As big hospitals are gaming the system, patients and taxpayers are paying the price. Site-neutral payment policies would put an end to hospital consolidation, and protect Americans from more than $140 billion in overpayments every year. It’s no wonder that 85% of voters from both sides support site-neutral policy solutions. Now, Congress has the opportunity to protect patients and save taxpayer dollars. It’s time to put patients before profits and enact site-neutral health care. Learn more.   FOLLOW THE MONEY Nonprofit hospitals are evaluating their post-pandemic finances. | AP The pandemic grants that buoyed the finances of nonproft hospitals early in the pandemic are long spent, according to a new analysis from Moody’s Investors Services. That means the Medicare reimbursement debate is taking on renewed urgency, especially as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services disappointed hospitals when it announced a 3.1 percent bump for 2024 last month. Long gone: The pandemic grants dried up in 2022, Moody’s found, just as inflation and increased labor costs began to rise. The median expense growth rate in 2022, at 8.9 percent, was up slightly from the year before. But the 2022 median revenue growth of 5.1 percent was less than half the figure from the year before, 11.3 percent. Patients returning to providers following 2020’s lockdowns plus federal pandemic funding bolstered the 2021 figure. Comparing last year’s expenses and revenue left median operating margins among the 218 health systems in the analysis at a five-year low. Those trends held for both the 50 largest and 50 smallest nonprofits. What’s next? The Moody’s report predicted a more stable financial environment this year, though labor costs are worrying some hospital executives. Another recent analysis of the sector, from credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings, argued that 2023 would be a “make-or-break” year for the nonprofits.   DON’T MISS POLITICO’S TECH & AI SUMMIT: America’s ability to lead and champion emerging innovations in technology like generative AI will shape our industries, manufacturing base and future economy. Do we have the right policies in place to secure that future? How will the U.S. retain its status as the global tech leader? Join POLITICO on Sept. 27 for our Tech & AI Summit to hear what the public and private sectors need to do to sharpen our competitive edge amidst rising global competitors and rapidly evolving disruptive technologies. REGISTER HERE.       Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker Evan Peng @thepngfile   Follow us

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