What’s not in Congress’ health funding deal

Presented by Kidney Care Access: The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Mar 05, 2024 View in browser   By Daniel Payne, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker Presented by WASHINGTON WATCH Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo "This funding deal is not the end of the discussion. It is just the beginning." Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. A bipartisan deal to fund the FDA and the VA would mitigate cuts to doctors’ Medicare reimbursements and boost funding for community health centers. But it’s the policies that didn’t make the funding package unveiled over the weekend that have the chair of the Senate’s health panel, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), perturbed. How’s that? Sanders decried Congress’ inability to pass a larger package — something his committee has worked on for months, gaining bipartisan backing — that would create more stability and predictability in the government’s funding streams. Sanders’ panel in September approved legislation he drafted with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) that would provide billions in funding for community health centers and bolster the doctor, nursing and dentist workforces. But little of that made it into the deal that Congress will likely pass this month. Community health center advocates echoed Sanders’ sentiment, applauding the funding increases while asking leaders to find long-term solutions. And doctors' groups, frustrated that the package eliminated only part of a 3.4 percent pay cut that took effect in January, have for months lobbied Congress to change the reimbursement formula that has caused HHS to seek annual cuts to doctors’ reimbursements. Even so: Leaders in Congress and some provider groups are happy to see even temporary updates to their payments, ending months of limbo. Lawmakers and lobbyists have already begun working to craft — and influence — long-term legislation with an eye toward passing it before the end of the year.   A message from Kidney Care Access: Dialysis patients and their families are being harmed. Employer group health plans can discriminate against patients with kidney failure, disrupting coverage for the patient and their family. A new bipartisan bill will restore essential protections as Congress intended – for these patients and their families. Congress: pass H.R. 6860, the bipartisan Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act. Protect patients and their families. Learn more.   WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Washington, D.C. | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. A key detail is getting lost in the congressional drama over our nation's beleaguered organ donation system, a transplant surgeon writes in a STAT News op-ed: Transplant centers and surgeons are turning kidneys down. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.    A message from Kidney Care Access:   TECH MAZE Johns Hopkins is among the health systems collaborating on new AI standards. | Getty Images Government has allowed health systems to adopt advanced AI tools without much oversight — and even the systems think that's risky. So leading health care organizations, including Johns Hopkins University, the Mayo Clinic and Stanford Medicine, are pushing new guidelines to ensure that artificial intelligence is safe and effective. They helped develop the guidelines as part of the Coalition for Health AI, or CHAI. And the coalition, which also includes tech giants Google and Microsoft, plans to set up private-sector “assurance labs” to start vetting AI tools before summer’s over. “One of the ultimate goals and hopes is building transparency to help build trust and identify spots where AI is not working well,” Dr. Brian Anderson, a co-founder of CHAI and chief digital health physician at MITRE, a nonprofit that advises government agencies on tech issues, told POLITICO’s Ben Leonard. Why it matters: The move by CHAI — the effort includes help from the White House and various federal health agencies — comes as regulators and lawmakers weigh how to regulate the emerging technology. HHS has previously backed the idea of AI assurance labs, and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf has floated them as one alternative to establishing a vast new bureaucracy of civil servants charged with monitoring AI tools. What’s next? Anderson said CHAI hopes to publish report cards about the tools. Dr. John Halamka, who will chair the coalition’s board and is president of the Mayo Clinic Platform, is eyeing a nationwide network of labs — not just one. “The only way to do this is in a very federated and distributed way,” Halamka said, suggesting major universities could host them.   A message from Kidney Care Access: A recent Supreme Court ruling now allows employer group health plans to discriminate against patients with kidney failure and disrupt coverage for the entire family – spouse and kids. The Bipartisan Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act reverses the negative, unintended consequences of the Supreme Court’s ruling by simply restoring long-standing protections put in place by Congress for patients and their families. Congress: restore what’s right. Pass H.R. 6860, the Bipartisan Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act. Learn more.     CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.     FOLLOW THE MONEY FTC Chair Lina Khan is examining private equity's growing role in health care. | Saul Loeb/AP More than 5,000 physicians are joining forces to oppose private equity’s expanding footprint in health care. OrthoForum, the Association for Independent Medicine, and the Physician Empowered Leadership of Transformational Organizations are among the founders of the new Coalition for Patient-Centered Care that’s hoping to influence policy at both the state and federal level. The coalition’s policy goals include:  — Eliminating tax breaks when private equity acquires physician groups — Subjecting private equity to the same requirements and regulations as physician acquisitions — Increasing reporting and transparency requirements for private equity groups that acquire physician practices Why it matters: Private equity firms are buying up physician practices. A report released last year found that private equity acquisitions of doctor practices increased six-fold over the course of a decade, from 75 to 484 deals between 2012 and 2022. The report found private equity-backed groups are associated with higher health care prices, particularly if a group controlled more than 30 percent of the regional market. In addition to higher costs, private equity backing worsens patient care, the coalition argues. The coalition already has allies in Congress, including Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), who criticized the private equity-backed hospital model during a congressional hearing in January, pointing to hospitals in her district that were purchased by private equity and then slated to close. In the Senate, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) launched an investigation last year into private equity ownership of hospitals. Private equity firms dispute the coalition’s assessment of their impact on health care. They cite research that found private equity-backed hospitals have better staff-to-patient ratios and pay than health systems that don’t have private equity owners. What's next? Some coalition members are trying to recruit patient, consumer, and employer groups. Others want to gather more momentum among doctors and eventually get some of the bigger physician groups to participate. The Federal Trade Commission also has eyes on private equity. The FTC is hosting a workshop today examining private equity's impact on health care. Karen Simonton, CEO of the OrthoForum will speak at today's FTC event. In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the general counsel of the industry-backed American Investment Council, Rebekah Goshorn Jurata, said that “private equity investments consistently support quality, affordable health care for patients.”   DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The stakes are high as America's health care community strives to meet the evolving needs of patients and practitioners, adopt new technologies and navigate skeptical public attitudes toward science. Join POLITICO’s annual Health Care Summit on March 13 where we will discuss the future of medicine, including the latest in health tech, new drugs and brain treatments, diagnostics, health equity, workforce strains and more. REGISTER HERE.       Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://login.politico.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service