Social media reformers seek a vote

Presented by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research: The ideas and innovators shaping health care

May 03, 2024 View in browser   By Shawn Zeller, Carmen Paun, Daniel Payne, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker Presented by  WASHINGTON WATCH The Kids Online Safety Act could come to a vote as soon as next week. | Getty Images Legislation that would for the first time regulate social media sites to shield kids from content deemed harmful could hitch a ride on Senate legislation to set aviation policy. How’s that? The Kids Online Safety Act has 69 Senate co-sponsors and ample support on both sides of the aisle, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t yet brought it to the floor for a vote. So the two chief sponsors, Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), filed an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration bill the Senate is considering next week. That doesn’t mean Schumer has to call a vote on their amendment, and it was not included in the version of the aviation bill the House passed last July. Schumer, who is a co-sponsor of the social media bill, didn’t respond to our Rebecca Kern’s request for comment. Why it matters: The amendment strategy is a signal that the sponsors are eager to find a way to pass the bill this session. If the Senate were to add it to the aviation bill, it and the kids safety measure would go back to the House for another vote that would send it to President Joe Biden. KOSA, which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced last year, would require tech companies to take steps to prevent harmful content, like material related to suicide or eating disorders, from reaching children who use their sites. A message from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research: Help create a world without Parkinson's. Learn more.     THE GOLD STANDARD OF HEALTHCARE POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like healthcare, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced and better sourced than any other. Our healthcare reporting team—including Alice Miranda Ollstein, Megan Messerly and Robert King—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of health policy and the healthcare industry. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE New York, N.Y. | Erin Schumaker/POLITICO This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Constantly feeling angry might be bad for your heart, research suggests. In a study published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers found a link between frequent anger and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Other negative emotions, like sadness and anxiety, didn’t provoke a similar response. 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 The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research:   WORLD VIEW British Work and Pensions Minister Mel Stride wants to see more people with mild mental illness working. | Getty Images People with “milder mental health conditions” could lose disability benefits in the U.K., Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride told The Times of London this week. It’s part of a broader overhaul from the ruling Conservative Party that, Stride said, aims to help people with mild anxiety and depression by getting them back to work while also cutting the British government’s costs. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned the U.K. is grappling with a “sick note culture” that he aims to remedy, our European colleagues reported. What’s the plan? Stride told The Times the government planned to end the “personal independence payments” of some people with mental health conditions, require them to work and offer treatment for their illnesses. The number of people with mental health disorders receiving the payments has doubled since 2019, from 2,200 to 5,300, according to The Independent. The blowback: Advocates for people with disabilities criticized the decision, calling it a pre-election ploy to demonize “welfare scroungers” and noted that many in the U.K. can’t get mental health treatment because of a wait list of 1.9 million people. A message from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research: We can see a future without Parkinson's. Help get us closer this Parkinson's Awareness Month. Learn more.   PANDEMIC GOP senators are on the same page when it comes to the WHO. | Getty Images ​If the Biden administration endorses any expansion of the World Health Organization’s power to declare public health emergencies or to require the United States to do anything, it will have a big obstacle to overcome: Senate Republicans. Every Republican senator, all 49 of them, wrote to President Joe Biden Wednesday to oppose any such language in pending revisions to the WHO’s international health regulations and a pandemic agreement diplomats are negotiating. The senators say the WHO failed in its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and needs reform, not more authority. The letter doesn’t list specific failures but indicates the GOP lawmakers think they were big. “The WHO’s failure during the COVID-19 pandemic was as total as it was predictable and did lasting harm to our country,” they wrote. What’s this about? The international health regulations govern how the WHO declares global health emergencies and the response from national governments, but they are unenforceable. WHO member countries have negotiated over changes for the past few years, trying to fine-tune the levels of alarm WHO can sound when a disease is spreading. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra called for the changes three years ago. The pandemic agreement, which is more controversial, is supposed to set national obligations for how governments should prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics. But disagreement between rich and poorer countries about how to ensure equity in a future outbreak, including on sharing intellectual property and pathogen information, have slowed progress. What’s next? Republican senators said changes to the international health regulations shouldn’t be considered at a WHO meeting this month, because it doesn’t give countries the four months required by the regulations to consider amendments. And they said they oppose the pandemic agreement because they fear it will focus “on mandated resource and technology transfers, shredding intellectual property rights, infringing free speech, and supercharging the WHO.” The WHO and member country negotiators have pushed back against assertions that the WHO would get more power from any agreement. But developing countries and health advocacy groups have warned that if nothing changes, the inequity in access to tests, treatments and vaccines that played out during Covid-19 for low- and middle-income countries will happen again whenever the next pandemic arrives.   POLITICO IS BACK AT THE 2024 MILKEN GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO will again be your eyes and ears at the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles from May 5-8 with exclusive, daily, reporting in our Global Playbook newsletter. Suzanne Lynch will be on the ground covering the biggest moments, behind-the-scenes buzz and on-stage insights from global leaders in health, finance, tech, philanthropy and beyond. Get a front-row seat to where the most interesting minds and top global leaders confront the world’s most pressing and complex challenges — subscribe today.       Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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