| | | | |  | | By Krista Mahr and Daniel Payne | | | With help from Alice Miranda Ollstein and Daniel Lippman
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The Biden administration says the Covid-19 emergency is over. The World Health Organization says it's not. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | COVID EMERGENCIES TO END MAY 11 — The Biden administration will end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House said Monday in a major step meant to signal that the crisis era of the pandemic is over, POLITICO’S Adam Cancryn reports. The White House announced its plan in a statement responding to two House Republican measures aimed at immediately ending the emergencies, calling the proposals “a grave disservice to the American people.” Some familiar with the matter said the administration had initially discussed announcing its May 11 end date next week as it approached a Feb. 11 deadline for giving stakeholders advance notice, but the disclosure date was moved up when it became clear House Republicans planned to push measures aimed at ending the emergencies. Ripple effect: Congress has already extended some provisions originally tied to the emergency, including expanded Medicare and high-deductible health plan telehealth access and hospital-at-home care. But the move would still fundamentally restructure the federal government’s coronavirus response. The action will eventually involve shifting responsibility for the distribution of most vaccines and treatments to the private market and unwinding a sprawling set of flexibilities put in place nearly three years ago. Notably, virtual prescribing of controlled substances used to treat opioid use disorder and some mental health conditions, which was allowed during the emergency, could be cut off if it ends before the White House or DEA sets out a process for it to continue. Lifting the health emergency could also mean the abrupt termination of Title 42, a health policy enacted during the Trump administration and used to shut down the southern border. The courts have repeatedly blocked the Biden administration’s attempts to end Title 42, most recently with the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily keep the policy in place. While a ruling by the high court isn’t expected until June, the White House’s move to end the declaration could lead to the case being dismissed as moot. Interesting timing … The administration’s announcement came the same day the WHO announced that the global health emergency posed by Covid is not over, saying the number of Covid deaths, low vaccination rates and the threat of emerging variants still pose a significant threat to human health. Last week, an average of 536 people died per day from Covid in the U.S., according to CDC data. WELCOME TO TUESDAY PULSE — A bill in Maryland proposes the state go the way of Spain and try out a four-day work week. Could you accomplish what you do in four days, not five? (We won’t tell.) Send your news and tips to kmahr@politico.com and dpayne@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Megan Wilson about the rumors spooking health care lobbyists on K Street about incoming Senate HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders.
| | | | | | | A message from PhRMA: In 2021, Insurers and their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) subjected patients to six times the out-of-pocket costs for brand medicines through the use of deductibles or coinsurance compared to patients with only copays — even when these middlemen received a discounted price. That’s not fair. Learn more. | | | | | | | 
Lobbyists are worried their jobs are about to get harder with Sen. Bernie Sanders in charge of HELP. | Bill Pugliano/Getty Images | BIG, BAD BERNIE? At cocktail parties and on phone calls, K Street is swapping stories about what Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is planning to do as the leader of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, POLITICO's Megan Wilson reports. Some health care lobbyists say they’ll have to sign a waiver to meet with HELP staff. Others said all meetings with lobbyists would have to be videotaped or they’ll have to get permission from the committee’s staff director to get a meeting. None of the rumors are true, Sanders’ office says, but their ubiquity underscores how unnerved many on K Street are at the prospect of a Sanders-led Senate HELP Committee and how grim they see their task for the next two years.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   | | | | | | BECERRA PROMOTES NEW BIRTH CONTROL RULE, TALKS TO POLITICO — HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told around 400 abortion rights advocates Monday at Planned Parenthood’s annual Organizing and Patient Advocate Summit that he plans to build on today’s announcement expanding access to birth control with more pro-abortion-rights actions in the months ahead, Alice reports. “I didn’t come to institutionalize discrimination. I came to break us of the habit,” Becerra said of his motivation. “Health care is health care. Abortion is health care.” After Becerra gave his remarks, Alice had a quick Q&A with the secretary to talk about the proposed rule, which, among other provisions, would nix the ability of insurers and employers to claim a “moral exemption” to Obamacare’s birth control coverage mandate. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Why did you move to end the moral exemption but leave the religious exemption in place? The actions we took are consistent with the law — to try to make sure that we are protecting the rights of all Americans to access the health care they need and, at the same time, protecting religious freedoms. And we wanted to make sure that in this very, very critical time that everyone had access to the caregiver they might need, and they should not be obstructed on a basis that is impermissible by law. The Trump-era rule has been on the books since 2018. Why not roll it back earlier? These things take some time because you have to allow the evidence to come in. You have to rely on the science and the facts. You try to do these in a way — not just for purposes of preparing for litigation or to be ready to respond to those who are critics of what you’re trying to do — but because that’s the way you raise the confidence level of the American people. You can show that you went through this in a very studied, methodical way to make sure you got it right. So here we are. There are many interests that are impacted, and we wanted to make sure we did this in a way that was not just compliant with the law but that people of reasonable minds would look at this and say it makes sense.
| | | SPEND MORE, DO LESS — A new study from the Commonwealth Fund has found that the U.S., despite spending far more on health care than other high-income countries, has worse health outcomes. Like what, you ask? The lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest maternal and infant mortality, the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, the highest death rates for assault, the highest rate of people with multiple chronic conditions and an obesity rate nearly twice the average of the other predominantly high-income countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The U.S. is also among those countries with the highest suicide rates. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that list, Americans also see doctors less often than people in other OECD countries and have among the lowest number of doctors and hospital beds per 1,000 people.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Every day, patients at the pharmacy counter discover their commercial insurance coverage does not provide the level of access and affordability they need. New data from a study by IQVIA reveal the harmful practices of insurers and their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) can lead to significantly higher out-of-pocket costs for medicines — causing some patients to abandon their medicines completely. Learn more. | | | | | | COURT OF APPEALS RULES FOR DRUGMAKERS IN 340B CASE — Pharmaceutical companies were handed a victory from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, with judges ruling that providers could not use the 340B drug discount program through an unlimited number of contract pharmacies. The case, between Sanofi Aventis and HHS, stemmed from over a decade of shifting rules about how and where drug companies must offer discounts for certain providers. HHS argued the program should allow hospitals to get discounts through an unlimited number of contract pharmacies — and that it should be able to enforce such a policy. But the court rejected that claim, saying Congress, not providers or HHS, sets the program’s terms. Monday’s win for drug companies is largely seen as a loss for the hospitals and clinics that get the discount, with the stage now set for them to be more limited in where they can get the program’s discounts. But the court also suggested drug companies would be required under the law to allow the discounts for at least one contract pharmacy where no other options are available — a detail some providers welcomed.
| | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 2/9 TO HEAR FROM AMERICA’S GOVERNORS: In a divided Congress, more legislative and policy enforcement will shift to the states, meaning governors will take a leading role in setting the agenda for the nation. Join POLITICO on Thursday, Feb. 9 at World Wide Technology's D.C. Innovation Center for The Fifty: America's Governors, where we will examine where innovations are taking shape and new regulatory red lines, the future of reproductive health, and how climate change is being addressed across a series of one-on-one interviews. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | Big changes at HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration: Diana Espinosa, who has been HRSA’s deputy administrator, has been named principal deputy administrator; chief of staff Jordan Grossman has been named deputy administrator; and Garrett Devenney, who has been serving on the HELP Committee, is joining the agency as chief of staff. Maryam Zaringhalam is now assistant director for public access and research policy for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She most recently was National Library of Medicine data science and open science officer at NIH. Liz Jurinka, previously special assistant to President Joe Biden,is now operating director for health care policy at the Vistria Group. Matt Sommer, previously a legislative assistant with Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), is now staff director for Braun on the Senate Aging Committee.
| | | A health reporter for The Washington Post writes about her experience trying to get insurance to cover the rare drug her toddler needed. KHN reports on the men in Illinois who prepare graves for the youngest victims of the gun violence epidemic. China’s stringent Covid lockdowns forced some young people to rethink their lives, the Los Angeles Times reports.
| | | | JOIN TUESDAY TO HEAR FROM MAYORS AROUND AMERICA: 2022 brought in a new class of mayors leading “majority minority” cities, reshaping who is at the nation’s power tables and what their priorities are. Join POLITICO to hear from local leaders on how they’re responding to being tested by unequal Covid-19 outcomes, upticks in hate crimes, homelessness, lack of affordable housing, inflation and a potential recession. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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