Presented by
With Brianna Ehley and Susannah Luthi
Quick Fix
— Governors are building a shared coronavirus testing strategy and near a deal to purchase millions of rapid tests, POLITICO reports.
— The Pentagon will abandon a proposal to cut military health by billions, President Donald Trump said in response to a POLITICO report.
— Democrats focused on Covid-19 on the first night of their convention, attacking Trump's handling of the outbreak.
THIS IS TUESDAY PULSE — Where all this talk about the Postal Service has PULSE constantly thinking about pop supergroup the Postal Service. (Free tip for future wedding planners; a violin cover of "Such Great Heights" is memorable entrance music.)
PULSE is also old enough to remember when "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" was aptly named our city's unoffical anthem. Send us your own tips, by post or otherwise, to [email protected] and [email protected].
Driving the Day
HOW GOVERNORS WANT TO FIX THE NATION’S TESTING WOES — Fed up with the White House’s refusal to mount a national coronavirus testing strategy, a growing coalition of state leaders is taking a drastic step: Try to build one on their own.
The group of 10 governors led by Maryland Republican Larry Hogan is nearing a deal to purchase 5 million rapid tests, in a first-of-its-kind agreement aimed at fortifying their states ahead of the fall, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn reports.
— The so-called compact grew out of frustration with the feds. Hogan, a critic of Trump’s Covid-19 response, began putting together the group after the White House lobbied last month to slash funding for testing — even as it’s declined to build any kind of federal testing infrastructure.
“I don’t want to argue anymore after five or six months — now, we’re going to get it done,” Hogan said in an interview.
— It’s an imperfect solution to an ongoing problem. Buying 5 million rapid tests — a deal that could be finalized as soon as this week — won’t get the U.S. out of its deep testing hole.
But it may be a starting point ahead of the fall, allowing states to deploy the machines as screening mechanisms at nursing homes and in schools and essential businesses. And it signals to manufacturers that there’s enough demand for them to scale up production.
— One issue to watch: Whether the administration intervenes. HHS spokesperson Mia Heck called a federal initiative to supply all nursing homes with rapid tests the “highest priority” and suggested the federal government could use its authorities to jump the line and ensure it gets first access.
That would further frustrate governors who spent months urging the administration to get off the sideline as testing backlogs grew, and who say their new testing coalition is a direct result of Trump’s refusal to get more involved.
TRUMP REJECTS PENTAGON's PROPOSED MILITARY HEALTH CUTS — The president on Monday said he had rejected a proposal working its way through the Pentagon to cut military health services by $2.2 billion as part of an overall spending review, POLITICO's Dan Diamond and Lara Seligman report.
"A proposal by Pentagon officials to slash Military Healthcare by $2.2 billion dollars has been firmly and totally rejected by me," Trump tweeted on Monday night. "We will do nothing to hurt our great Military professionals & heroes as long as I am your President. Thank you!"
POLITICO on Sunday first reported that Defense Department officials were readying the proposal to be presented to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and that several senior defense officials had raised concerns that the plan could gut military health during the pandemic.
— What Trump didn't mention: the 'Pentagon officials' he overruled are his officials, including the acting director of the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, whom Trump recently nominated to be the full-time director.
The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, which prepares graduates for the medical corps, and the Murtha Cancer Center were among the military health institutions in line for cuts.
FIRST IN PULSE: EMILY MILLER STARTS AS TOP FDA COMMS OFFICIAL — Miller is now assistant commissioner for media affairs, where she’ll be “leading the Office of Media Affairs cadre in communicating the FDA’s important public health developments and actions,” HHS Assistant Secretary Michael Caputo wrote in a memo shared with PULSE.
Miller has held numerous roles in journalism, including at NBC News, ABC News, One America News Network and the Washington Times. She also served as a top State Department press official during the George W. Bush Administration and served as communications director for Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2018 Senate re-election campaign, among other roles in politics.
Miller, who most recently served as a strategic communications consultant, also is well-known for her gun-rights advocacy.
— It’s the latest strategy and comms hire at FDA, where John “Wolf” Wagner started in June as FDA’s top external affairs official. The agency has been peppered by press questions and has come under scrutiny from watchdogs and Democrats during the pandemic.
Miller also is joining FDA as a political appointee, a departure for a role that’s often been filled by career appointees.
2020 Watch
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION KICKS OFF WITH HEAVY FOCUS ON COVID — The virtual event was knit together with reminders of what's made 2020 such a tumultuous year, from the death of George Floyd that triggered nationwide protests to the more than 170,000 American deaths from Covid-19, POLITICO's Susannah Luthi reports.
The evening also was sprinkled with interviews and soundbites from health workers and health advocates like Ady Barkan of progressive group Center for Popular Democracy.
— One striking moment: When a woman named Kristin Urquiza told the story of her Trump-supporting father's death from coronavirus. “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old,” she said. “His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.” Urquiza said she’d vote for Biden in November on behalf of her dad.
— Another memorable interlude: A slideshow commemorating the Americans who have died from the coronavirus, set to the soundtrack of John Prine's "I Remember Everything" – the last song he ever recorded. Prine died of Covid-19 earlier in the pandemic.
— But the DNC's choice to have New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO comment on coronavirus became a major target from Trump and conservatives, who noted that Cuomo's state has seen the highest death toll to date and attacked his policies.
"Does the #DemConvention know @NYGovCuomo forced nursing homes across NY to take in COVID positive patients and planted the seeds of infection that killed thousands of grandmothers and grandfathers?" tweeted HHS spokesperson Michael Caputo, a post shared by Trump and one of Caputo's multiple attacks on the New York governor.
— The night ended with Covid-19 too, as former first lady Michelle Obama quoted Trump’s “It is what it is” line about the nation’s coronavirus death toll to characterize Trump as not up to the presidency. Also notable and much-discussed on Twitter was Obama’s pre-recorded reference to the 150,000 Americans who’ve died from the virus, when the total number has jumped by at least 20,000 as of Monday.
— The phrase “MEDICARE FOR ALL” wasn't mentioned last night, Susannah adds, but its champion Sen. Bernie Sanders did talk up Biden’s health plan, even as he acknowledged their policy disagreements and complained that the United States has yet to guarantee health care to all people. Sanders went on to say that Biden's plan “will greatly expand health care and cut the cost of prescription drugs,” while lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60. (He also unknowingly made this memorable appearance on the satellite feed.)
Coronavirus
SENATE GOP PLANS SMALLER COVID PACKAGE — Senate Republicans are planning to introduce a “skinny” coronavirus relief bill with funding for the Postal Service, amid an impasse in negotiations between the White House and top Democratic leaders, POLITICO’s Marianne Levine reports.
The latest GOP coronavirus relief bill is expected to include $300 in boosted weekly federal unemployment benefits until Dec. 27, another round of money for the Paycheck Protection Program and an additional $10 billion for the U.S. Postal Service and liability protections.
The proposal, which aides said would come as soon as today, is also expected to include money for education and testing.
POSTAL SERVICE PRESSURE TURNS TO PRESCRIPTIONS — Doctors and policy experts are increasingly concerned that the turmoil over the Postal Service’s fate could delay prescription drug deliveries, POLITICO’s Sarah Owermohle reports.
How much? About 4.9 percent of prescriptions dispensed in 2019 came through the mail, according to Drug Channel Institute CEO Adam Fein. But that doesn’t factor in the pandemic.
“We know that mail order use has gone up dramatically with COVID-19, too, as people are hoping to avoid going into pharmacies to fill medications,” said Stacie Dusetzina, a Vanderbilt University health policy professor. Mail-order prescriptions shot up 21 percent this March compared to the same period last year, according to one study.
More in Prescription Pulse coming later on Tuesday.
FIRST IN PULSE: HOSPITAL LOBBY CALLS ON CONGRESS TO DELAY LOAN REPAYMENTS — The Federation of American Hospitals is asking congressional leaders to help formally delay recoupment of the loans provided under the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Programs, according to a letter sent today and shared with PULSE.
"[W]e urge you to immediately call on CMS and the White House to exercise their administrative authority to formally delay recoupment of MAAPP loans – with public guidance to providers," FAH's letter reads. "While the intent of the Programs is that these funds are loans and would be repaid, repayment should not begin while hospitals are still battling the pandemic and new hotspots emerge."
FIRST IN PULSE: DEMOCRATS PUSH ON VACCINE PLAN FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS — A letter led by Rep. Raul Ruiz and co-signed by about 60 fellow House Democrats urges the administration to move swiftly to devise a vaccine roll-out plan that reaches high-risk populations, especially communities of color that have been hard-hit by the virus.
"Health equity must be a priority and not an afterthought," Ruiz and co-signers write to HHS Secretary Alex Azar. "We must plan now to ensure equitable allocation and distribution."
THINK TANK LAUNCHES COVID MONEY TRACKER — The bipartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget on Monday unveiled a money-tracking tool to trace allocations from the White House, Congress and Federal Reserve toward Covid-19 efforts from paycheck programs and economic relief to vaccine funding.
So far: Policymakers have committed trillions of dollars, much of it toward paycheck protection, unemployment benefits and other economic relief. There has been roughly $114 billion in health-related spending, the committee said. Lawmakers have authorized $89.6 million in supplemental FDA spending.
Around the Nation
WHAT UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA REVEALS ON COVID — Less than a week after re-opening, UNC’s flagship campus is ending in-person instruction for undergrads after dozens of students living in dorms and a fraternity house tested positive for coronavirus, POLITICO’s Bianca Quintalan writes.
— UNC's Chapel Hill campus faced an explosion of cases as students returned, from 10 students testing positive in the first week of August, with a test positivity rate of 2.8 percent, to 130 students testing positive last week, with a positivity rate of 13.6 percent.
“After only one week of campus operations, with growing numbers of clusters and insufficient control over the off-campus behavior of students (and others), it is time for an off-ramp,” Barbara Rimer, dean of UNC’s public health school, wrote on Monday. “We have tried to make this work, but it is not working.”
— And other campuses are seeing outbreaks too, Bianca writes, with schools in Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma also reporting surges in cases as students return. Only a handful of schools have begun their fall semesters.
— It’s a vivid reminder: College campuses have all the factors to be hotbeds of virus, with students sharing close quarters and following social patterns. And even if most infected students will experience only few or mild symptoms, health experts worry about their potential to spread the disease to higher-risk populations, like faculty, staff and family members.
In the Courts
JUDGE BLOCKS HHS TRANSGENDER ROLLBACK — A federal judge on Monday froze the Trump administration's rollback of Obama-era anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients, citing a recent landmark Supreme Court decision awarding workplace discrimination protections to LGBTQ employees, POLITICO’s Susannah Luthi writes.
U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block halted the new policy one day before it was slated to take effect and admonished the Trump administration for pursuing the change after the Supreme Court ruling.
LGBTQ advocacy groups had argued that the Trump administration was flouting the high court by pursuing its changes anyway. However, the Obama rules have also been stalled in court under separate litigation, Susannah writes, so the decision will change little for now.
Public Health
CDC: 1 IN 20 CONSIDERED HEAVY DRINKERS — New CDC data from 2018 show roughly 1 in 20 women and men engaged in heavy drinking, which is considered an average of seven drinks per week for women and 14 drinks weekly for men, POLITICO’s Brianna Ehley reports.
Among the report’s takeaways:
— Adults who felt depressed or anxious were more likely to engage in heavy drinking than those who did not report those feelings.
— Non-Hispanic white adults were more likely to engage in heavy drinking than Black, Hispanic or non-Hispanic Asian adults.
The report comes as officials worry that alcohol consumption and other substance use has gone up amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"strategy" - Google News
August 18, 2020 at 09:14PM
https://ift.tt/3kTp2iZ
Governors devise their own testing strategy - POLITICO - Politico
"strategy" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Ys7QbK
https://ift.tt/2zRd1Yo
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Governors devise their own testing strategy - POLITICO - Politico"
Post a Comment