| | | | |  | | By Chelsea Cirruzzo and Ben Leonard | With Carmen Paun
| | |  Despite supporting patent waivers at the pandemic's height, President Joe Biden is taking pharma’s side in the treaty negotiations that could guide the world’s response to the next pandemic. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo | PATENT SWITCH-UP — During Covid-19’s darkest days, President Joe Biden reversed longstanding U.S. policy to support patent waivers to allow developing countries to make their own vaccines. But in negotiations over how the world will handle the next pandemic, Biden has reversed course again, Carmen reports. With a May deadline to reach a pandemic accord fast approaching, U.S. negotiators oppose any requirement to share drugmakers’ intellectual property. Why the change? The administration supported waivers in an effort to end the Covid pandemic, an HHS spokesperson told Carmen. But in Geneva, where the World Health Organization is hosting pandemic treaty talks, the top U.S. negotiator, Pamela Hamamoto, argues that requiring more access to U.S. drugmakers’ inventions would undermine the very system that worked in response to Covid without improving access during future pandemics. For Biden, it’s a shift away from the progressive wing of his party back to the center. Last week, centrist Democratic senators joined Republicans in writing to Biden in defense of intellectual property rights. Even so: Biden’s taking heat from the left and the developing world. “There’s a contradiction, [an] enormous amount of hypocrisy,” said James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, a nonprofit that advocates for wider access to health products. What’s next? Treaty negotiations resume on Feb. 19, and a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council suggested in an email to POLITICO that the Biden position could yet evolve. “One of the United States’ core goals in these negotiations is to support more equitable access to, and delivery of, vaccines, tests, treatments and other mitigation measures,” the spokesperson said. “Negotiations of the Pandemic Accord are ongoing, and no Member States have agreed to any final positions.” WELCOME TO MONDAY PULSE. I’m currently reading “In the Form of a Question” by Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider. Hopefully, it’ll improve my own chances of making it on the show one day. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to ccirruzzo@politico.com and bleonard@politico.com and follow along @ChelseaCirruzzo and @_BenLeonard_.
| | |  HHS has established a task force in an effort to regulating artificial intelligence. | Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images | HHS TASK FORCE ON AI REGS — HHS has taken the early steps toward regulating artificial intelligence: According to the White House, the department has propped up a task force responsible for developing policy around regulating the technology, Chelsea reports. Background: President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order last year requiring federal departments to create a regulatory framework around AI tools, including those in health care. An HHS spokesperson told Pulse that Syed Mohiuddin, a counselor to the HHS deputy secretary, and Micky Tripathi, national coordinator for health information technology at HHS, are the task force’s co-chairs. On Monday, the White House said it would also convene top officials from a wide range of federal departments to sit on the White House AI Council. Next steps? HHS will have until April to create strategies for evaluating how equitable AI tools are, how AI tools might comply with nondiscrimination laws and how to provide oversight of tools before and after the tools enter the market.
| | | | JOIN 1/31 FOR A TALK ON THE RACE TO SOLVE ALZHEIMER’S: Breakthrough drugs and treatments are giving new hope for slowing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and ALS. But if that progress slows, the societal and economic cost to the U.S. could be high. Join POLITICO, alongside lawmakers, official and experts, on Jan. 31 to discuss a path forward for better collaboration among health systems, industry and government. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | FIRST IN PULSE: MA JOCKEYING — With the Biden administration weighing its annual update of Medicare Advantage policy, lawmakers are lobbying CMS to strengthen the program, Ben reports. A group of close to 60 senators led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) are calling on CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to “protect and strengthen” Medicare Advantage. In a letter first obtained by Pulse, they wrote that they also want more transparency on coverage options and hope to work with the agency to take on “predatory and deceptive marketing practices” and make provider directories more accurate. “We urge CMS to look at meaningful ways to continue to sustain and strengthen Medicare Advantage to protect beneficiaries’ affordability and access,” wrote the bipartisan group of senators — including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). CMS didn’t respond to a request for comment. Leading progressives Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) struck a different tone in a letter to the agency Friday, telling the administration to crack down on overpayments and “address perverse incentives.” As enrollment in Medicare’s private sector alternative has surged, lawmakers have raised concerns about overpayments and excessive care denials. A recent report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission found that the federal government is expected to pay Medicare Advantage plans $88 billion more this year than it should. Insurer advocacy group the Better Medicare Alliance raised concerns about the methodology. The administration last week launched a bid to improve the program, seeking feedback on how to bolster data and transparency. FUNDING DEAL IN THE WORKS — The numbers for 12 funding bills, which will keep federal agencies running for the current fiscal year, have been agreed upon by top appropriators, POLITICO’s Caitlin Emma reports. The deal brings Congress closer to securing a broader government funding deal before its deadline in less than five weeks. Funding for veterans, agriculture and energy programs runs out March 1. Funding for the rest of the government, including HHS, expires March 8. Also on Capitol Hill, three major pharmaceutical CEOs have agreed to testify about their drug prices before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next month, POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner reports. — The Senate Finance Committee will hold a markup Wednesday to vote on the confirmation of Rebecca Lee Haffajee to be assistant HHS secretary for planning and evaluation. — The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Wednesday will hold a hearing on health care spending. — The House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will hold a hearing on HHS’ compliance with Congress. Melanie Egorin, HHS assistant secretary for legislation, will testify.
| | HEADING TO CHINA FOR FENTANYL TALKS — Deputy Homeland Security adviser Jen Daskal will lead an American delegation of health officials, including DEA head Anne Milgram, to Beijing on Tuesday to launch the U.S.-China counternarcotics working group, Carmen reports. The group was formed to crack down on shipments from China of chemicals used to produce illicit fentanyl, which has been driving a record number of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in past years. The meeting follows an agreement between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their meeting in California in November to restart cooperation on the issue. The U.S. lifted sanctions on a Chinese forensic lab accused of being involved in human rights violations against Uyghurs as part of the deal. Senior administration officials told reporters Sunday that they’ve already started seeing improvements in the fight against fentanyl since that meeting, such as a reduction in the amount of chemicals used for fentanyl production seized at U.S. airports.
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S GOVERNORS SUMMIT: Join POLITICO on Feb. 22 to dive into how Governors are wielding immense power. While Washington remains gridlocked, governors are at the center of landmark decisions in AI and tech, economic development, infrastructure, housing, reproductive health and energy. How are they setting the stage for the future of American politics, policies and priorities? How are they confronting major challenges? Explore these questions and more at the 2024 Governors Summit. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | HHS’ NEW LONG COVID LEADER — The HHS’ Office of Long Covid Research and Practice has a new director starting today, Chelsea reports. Why it matters: As many as 23 million people in the U.S. could have long Covid, suffering from symptoms that range from mild to debilitating. Many patients, doctors and members of Congress have chided the administration for moving too slowly to address the issue. Ian Simon joins the office from the White House, where he was assistant director for health strategy and biopreparedness in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Prior to the White House, Simon was a senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Simon was a principal adviser at the institute’s response to Covid-19, according to HHS. He’s received a positive reception from #MEAction, which advocates for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and has pivoted in recent years to support the recognition and treatment of long Covid. A meeting with Simon earlier this month included a “strong emphasis on listening to people with lived experience,” the group said.
| | | | Sarah-Lloyd Stevenson, senior manager within public policy at Amazon, has been named chair of the American Telemedicine Association’s policy council.
| | The Washington Post reports on what survivors of prostate cancer say was a missed opportunity by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Associated Press reports on how sleuths uncover plagiarism in scientific research after allegations of fakery at a leading cancer center. POLITICO’s Gregory Svirnovskiy reports on how hospitals are wary of cyber mandates. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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