POLITICO's Pulse Check

Thousands of community health workers face layoffs as federal funding tied to the Covid pandemic dries up. Host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Daniel Payne about why many public health officials would like to keep this workforce to tackle other health challenges, like diabetes and obesity. They’re making the case to Congress that it would be foolish to let community health workers go after spending millions to train them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Planned Parenthood and partner organizations are launching an effort to put abortion on Florida’s ballot in 2024, setting the stage for a high-profile battle with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares to run for president. Host Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with Megan Messerly about what this could mean for the 6-week ban DeSantis recently signed into law and the political implications in the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A talker at this week's Milken Institute Global Conference in LA was a pitch from former NIH director Francis Collins to fund eight to 10 genomics centers in Africa for $130 million a year. Carmen Paun talked with host Ruth Reader about the "business plan" put forth by Collins, a current White House adviser, on how the African genomics centers could help advance global pandemic preparedness, vaccine development and control of disease-transmitting vectors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The CDC reports that more Black Americans died from fentanyl overdoses than from any other drug in 2021 and at far higher rates than white or Hispanic Americans. Host Megan Messerly talks with Krista Mahr about how the pandemic, health inequities, discriminatory health policies and other factors have contributed to the rise in overdose deaths in Black communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The next few weeks on Capitol Hill could prove pivotal for efforts in this Congress to lower health care costs, including increased access to cheaper generic drugs. Host Ben Leonard talks with Megan R. Wilson about the legislative proposals in the House and Senate that have bipartisan support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) plans to propose Senate legislation soon to give Medicare patients permanent access to virtual care. Host Ruth Reader talks with Ben Leonard about what's in the Schatz bill, and what's not, as well as where things stand with a Drug Enforcement Administration regulation that could simultaneously curtail telemedicine access to some drugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate HELP committee announced earlier this week that it will consider a set of bills next week aimed at enhancing access to generic drugs and medications for rare diseases. The package also includes a 91-page bill targeting pharmacy benefit managers and their business practices — likely to bring ire from the industry. Megan R. Wilson talks with host Katherine Ellen Foley about the bills under consideration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hospitals want an exemption from a Federal Trade Commission proposal to ban noncompete agreements, saying it would wreak havoc on their finances and harm patients. Erin Schumaker talks with host Megan Messerly about the potential consequences for patients, doctorsand investors if a ban on noncompetes should take effect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As lawmakers push for banning gender-affirming care in their states, the effects are felt by doctors in states where the care is legal. As a result, physicians who provide such care to transgender adolescents say they have been threatened. Megan Messerly talks with host Ben Leonard about the far-reaching effects on doctors and minors nationwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A bipartisan group of representatives has introduced legislation to move more care from the hospital to the home. They say it’s a win-win that will both give patients what they want and shore up Medicare’s teetering finances. Host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Ben Leonard about what’s in the bill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The breach of DC Health Link, uncovered last month, involved the theft of more than 50,000 customers, including at least 17 House members and almost 600 House staffers, according to a top executive from the company in charge of the DC Health Link insurance market. Maggie Miller talks with host Alice Miranda Ollstein about the breach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FDA has simplified the Covid vaccination regimen by updating the emergency use authorizations of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna bivalent mRNA boosters. Katherine Ellen Foley talks to host Ruth Reader about what this means for those who have never been vaccinated and for immunocompromised individuals and those over age 65. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington has become the first state to create data privacy protections specifically related to health information, following the Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade in June. Alfred Ng talks with host Megan Messerly about the impact this might have on companies sharing or collecting consumer health data and the possible far-reaching influence it could have on other states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. John Fetterman returned to Congress this week, and Myah Ward talks to host Ben Leonard about the lawmaker’s experience with depression shows that Washington is more openly talking about mental health, and making the issue a policy priority. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When people check out mental health apps, telehealth services or even hospital websites, they may not know they are capturing detailed personal information used for marketing and advertising. Ruth Reader talks to host Katherine Ellen Foley about what the FTC and HHS are doing to crack down on the practice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simmering tensions at one of the nation’s leading trade organizations for generic drugmakers could threaten its lobbying clout at a crucial time for the industry. Megan R. Wilson talks with host Ruth Reader about the Association for Accessible Medicines, which has lost some members, contributing to budget cuts and layoffs of some top staffers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House has designated a horse tranquilizer as an "emerging threat" to public health because when mixed with fentanyl it could be fatal. The number of overdose deaths where xylazine was detected increased by more than 1,000 percent between 2020 and 2021 in the South. Carmen Paun talks to host Ruth Reader about the steps being taken by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawmakers have introduced several bills this year that could ease the clinician shortage by expanding the roles of health care workers, allowing them to care for more patients than they currently do. But doctors say the proposed changes would put patient safety at risk. Daniel Payne talks with host Megan Messerly about what this means for the future of medical practices around the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration has asked a judge to clarify how it should proceed following differing federal court decisions on the abortion pill mifepristone. The legal turmoil may eventually land before the Supreme Court. Alice Miranda Ollstein unpacks the legal tangle with host Ben Leonard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to a new survey from Common Sense Media, which offers age-based reviews of movies, TV shows, books, games and online content, teenage girls think their social media use is out of control. Ruth Reader talks with host Katherine Ellen Foley about how the poll results show teen views on social media align in many ways with those of lawmakers in Congress and the states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic has negatively impacted kids’ mental health. Daniel Payne talks with host Ben Leonard about the concerns of doctors and the legislation being proposed to help combat Covid’s effect. Plus, Katherine Ellen Foley provides a dispatch from this week’s World Vaccine Congress in Washington, D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal contracts for Covid-19 vaccines are set to end this year. Katherine Ellen Foley talks with host Ruth Reader about her time at the World Vaccine Congress this week and the transition that drugmakers will need to make to sell their Covid vaccines in the commercial market. She also learned a lot about the world of next-gen vaccines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The country is winding down the Covid-19 public health emergency. Meanwhile, doctors studying the effects of long Covid for the National Institutes of Health say the federal government needs to do more than they’re doing now for long Covid patients. Krista Mahr talks with host Ben Leonard about what researchers say should be done to address the issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, the FTC told Illumina to dissolve their acquisition with the multi-cancer early detection test company Grail. David Lim talks with host Ben Leonard about what this move means for the development and commercialization of cancer tests in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A string of victories in red and purple states in the 2022 midterms convinced abortion-rights supporters that ballot initiatives are among their most powerful tools. But internal divisions are splitting the abortion-rights movement over what limits, if any, to keep on abortion as efforts kick off in Missouri, Ohio, and South Dakota to put the issue to a popular vote this year and next. Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about what she's watching out for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans in staunchly conservative states are championing some atypical legislation this session — promoting sex education, government welfare and more birth control. Megan Messerly talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about the proposals that some governors and lawmakers have referred to as a “new pro-life agenda” for the post-Roe era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The nation's drug regulator approved the first over-the-counter opioid overdose reversal nasal spray on Wednesday. Katherine Ellen Foley talks with host Ruth Reader about the significance of Narcan being available without a prescription and the hopes for how it might positively impact the opioid overdose epidemic in the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration has been clashing with Republicans over their attempt to ban abortion pills nationwide. But yesterday, it was Democratic attorneys general who faced off with the administration in court over the FDA’s authority to place certain restrictions on abortion pills. Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with host Megan Messerly about the effect it could have on pharmacies dispensing the pills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National institute on Drug Abuse Deputy Director Dr. Wilson Compton sat down with POLITICO’s Natalie Fertig recently to chat about the known health effects of cannabis, and the limitations on cannabis research. Natalie talks with host Megan Messerly about why Compton argued that he and other researchers need access to cannabis products being sold in state-legal dispensaries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Defense is funding a $3 million project to find the best human decision-making attributes artificial intelligence can imitate. Erin Schumaker talks with host Carmen Paun about the value of training AI to make the most difficult medical decisions people face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden wants to ban TikTok, or force its sale, for fear that the Chinese government is using it to collect data about Americans. While members of the House Energy and Commerce were interested in national security threats, they expressed equal concern about what they see as the site’s corrupting influence on young people. Ruth Reader talks with host Katherine Ellen Foley about TikTok CEO Shou Chew's grilling on Capitol Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Flaws in CDC data led it to overstate how many people received Covid shots, according to a new report by the Covid States Project, a collaboration of researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Rutgers and Northwestern universities. Krista Mahr talks with host Ruth Reader about the data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ decadeslong campaign against what he calls the “greed” of the pharmaceutical industry will take center stage today when Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel defends his company’s plan to sharply raise the price of its Covid-19 vaccine when broad government purchases stop. David Lim talks with host Megan Messerly about what to expect during the hearing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of anticipation, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would contract with Civica, a Utah-based generic pharmaceutical company, to start producing California-branded insulin, available for $30 for a 10 mL vial. Once the Food and Drug Administration approves the new insulin, Civica can begin manufacturing. Reporter Rachel Bluth talks with host Ben Leonard about about the deal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GOP lawmakers are making a play to head off abortion ballot measures. While the bills vary in wording, they would have the same impact: making it harder for voters to undo the abortion restrictions that lawmakers were finally allowed to put in place after 50 years under Roe v. Wade. Megan Messerly talks with host Katherine Ellen Foley about the states she's tracking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said Wednesday that the VA should renegotiate its contract with Oracle Cerner, the vendor managing a mistake-ridden electronic health records system at VA medical centers. Ben Leonard talks with host Alice Miranda Ollstein about fixing the VA's electronic health records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The number of maternal deaths shot up nearly 40 percent in the U.S. in 2021, according to CDC data released Thursday, cementing America’s status as one of the most dangerous wealthy nations to be pregnant and give birth. Krista Mahr talks with host Ben Leonard about the stark rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Health Administration announced earlier this week that it will cover Leqembi, a new Alzheimer’s drug that appears to slow the disease’s progression. Host Megan Messerly talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about why the VHA’s decision differs from other federal agencies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Silicon Valley Bank had many health care and biotech startups among its client base. Now, the bank’s failure last Friday is raising questions about how much this could hurt emerging health companies. Host Ruth Reader talks with Michael Yang, a managing partner with OMERS Ventures, a global early-stage technology venture firm, to get the industry’s read. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate passed Marco Rubio’s bill making daylight saving time permanent unanimously last year, but it's since stalled in the House. Erin Schumaker talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about past efforts to make daylight saving time permanent and why many scientists oppose it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quality-adjusted life years — or QALYs — is a tool designed to help measure the cost effectiveness of drugs and other medical treatments. But detractors say the statistic discriminates against people with disabilities by undervaluing how much treatments help them. Ben Leonard talks with host Carmen Paun about the debate over the use of the statistic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden is not expected to seek significant new Covid funding as part of his forthcoming budget proposal, the latest sign that the White House is preparing to wind down its emergency response operation later this year. Adam Cancryn talks with host Ruth Reader about the most notable health care priorities in the budget. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the first year and a half of the pandemic, a handful of small companies developing next-generation Covid-19 vaccines hired lobbyists in hopes of winning contracts to fund research, manufacturing and testing. Megan R. Wilson talks with host Ben Leonard about why, nearly three years in, many have abandoned their Washington, D.C., footprint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain confirmed last week that it will not sell an abortion pill in 20 states after threats of legal action — including several states where they remain legal. Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with host Megan Messerly about what influenced Walgreens' decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration is implementing a new law that makes it easier for doctors to prescribe a lifesaving drug — buprenorphine — to treat opioid use disorder, but one of its agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration, subjects the drug to such strict regulation that many are reluctant to dispense it. Krista Mahr talks with host Katherine Ellen Foley about the paradox and what’s ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with online therapy company BetterHelp over allegations it shared customers’ sensitive health data with third parties. Ruth Reader talks to host Krista Mahr about what we know about the deal and why it's another health data warning shot from the FTC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressional Republicans are anxious to use new Covid-19 lab leak reports to lash out at the ruling Chinese Communist Party and paint President Joe Biden’s administration as soft on Beijing. But they have reached little consensus on how exactly to do that. Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with host Ruth Reader about the spectrum of responses we've seen and what's next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The “medical freedom” movement, mostly known for its opposition to vaccine requirements, was long consigned to the fringes of libertarian and left-wing politics. Then came Ron DeSantis. Krista Mahr and host Megan Messerly talk about how the Florida governor is influencing GOP lawmakers across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden is giving states a year to check whether millions of low-income Americans are still eligible to receive health insurance through their government’s Medicaid program. Arkansas plans to do it in half that time. Megan Messerly talks with host Alice Miranda Ollstein about what could be in store for Medicaid in Arkansas and other states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve likely heard the term social determinants of health used to describe how nonmedical factors like education, socioeconomic status or zip code can improve or worsen health. Erin Schumaker talks with host Katherine Ellen Foley about research presented at a recent panel at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on the science of sleep, and how the social determinants of sleep cut along racial and socioeconomic lines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices