| | | | |  | | By Chelsea Cirruzzo and Ben Leonard | | | With Megan Messerly
| | |  | | ‘SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS’ — Fertility groups aren’t worried about a bevy of new bills making changes to the in vitro fertilization process. It’s the state laws already on the books that scare them, Megan reports. More than a third of states consider fetuses to be people at some point during pregnancy, either because of legislation or case law. And fertility organizations fear any of them could be one court ruling away from becoming the next Alabama, which a little over a week ago set off a national firestorm when its Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered people. “Even if we read a certain bill [one] way and every lawyer who reads the bill interprets it that same way, it takes just one judge to interpret something differently, or in this case, I guess, a group of judges,” Betsy Campbell, chief engagement officer at RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, said. “The concern is that IVF could truly be in the crosshairs. That’s what’s scary now versus before.” That has lawmakers and organizations on both sides of the political spectrum scrambling to understand state statutes — some nearly four decades old — as they seek to protect access to IVF, which is overwhelmingly popular in the U.S. “A lot of state legislators right now are scratching their heads — whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, pro-life, pro-choice — and saying, ‘What are our laws on IVF?’ A lot of politicians have spent little or no time thinking about this. The Alabama decision kind of came out of left field,” said Billy Valentine, vice president of political affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “For us, it’s about making sure that IVF is available but that these embryos aren’t needlessly discarded.” A dozen or so states have broad so-called fetal personhood laws that confer rights on fetuses from the moment of fertilization. Others, like Texas, have tucked in their criminal statutes definitions that specify that personhood begins at conception or rulings that have interpreted the law as saying so. “The real risk is actually not the abortion bans. It’s the other kinds of laws, like Alabama’s, that I’m more concerned about,” Amanda Allen, deputy executive director for legal programs at the Lawyering Project, which advocates for abortion rights, said. Meanwhile, on the Hill: An effort to protect access to in vitro fertilization nationwide was scuttled Wednesday evening. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) blocked the bill on the Senate floor, the first federal clash in the roiling debate over fertility care that an Alabama court sparked earlier this month by granting legal personhood to frozen embryos, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and Robert King report. What’s next? Bill author Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) told POLITICO that she plans to ask for a traditional roll call vote that forces members to take a public stance, though she acknowledged it’s “not going to happen any time soon.” WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE. Enjoy (or not) this extra day of February. It won’t happen again until 2028. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to ccirruzzo@politico.com and bleonard@politico.com and follow along @ChelseaCirruzzo and @_BenLeonard_.
| | | | A message from Coalition for Medicare Choices: There are 33 million reasons to protect Medicare Advantage. That’s how many Americans count on the program for more affordable health care with additional benefits and better health outcomes. In fact, Medicare Advantage saves seniors an average of $2,400 annually compared to fee-for-service Medicare – savings that are particularly important because Medicare Advantage serves a population that is disproportionately low-income. Protect Medicare Advantage. | | | | | | | 
House Speaker Mike Johnson leaves the White House after meeting with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other congressional leaders Tuesday to discuss legislation to keep federal funding going past midnight Friday. | Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images | FUNDING DEAL COMING, DEADLINE PUSHED — Congressional leaders agreed yesterday on six spending bills, including a stopgap measure that averts a shutdown of the FDA, the VA and other agencies until later in March. Top lawmakers closed out negotiations on the Agriculture-FDA, Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, Transportation-HUD, Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science bills. All the bills have a March 8 deadline, POLITICO’s Caitlin Emma, Jennifer Scholtes and Olivia Beavers report. Leaders hope to release text by this weekend and clear the spending bills next week, funding those agencies through September. What’s next? Lawmakers have until midnight Saturday to vote on this latest agreement and avoid a partial shutdown. HHS funding expires March 8, as does money for community health centers, special diabetes programs, teaching health centers and the National Health Service Corps. Provisions avoiding steep cuts to hospitals with a high volume of Medicaid and uninsured patients also sunset then, Ben reports. What’s not in it: The legislation doesn’t address the myriad expired health programs that Congress still must reauthorize, including the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR; the SUPPORT Act, which tackles the opioid epidemic; and the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. It also doesn’t include a deal on pharmacy benefit manager reform, with lawmakers at an impasse.
| | | | CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | | | ANOTHER COVID SHOT OK’D — CDC head Mandy Cohen endorsed a recommendation Wednesday by the agency’s independent vaccine advisers that people 65 and older should receive an additional dose of the Covid-19 vaccine’s current formulation, POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner reports. The recommendation — approved in an 11-1 vote with one abstention by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — reflects public health concerns about disproportionately higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths within the age group — especially those 75 and older — even as disease rates have mediated from their peak in early January. The recommendation applies to individuals who have already received the 2023-2024 Covid vaccine and stipulates that providers should administer the vaccine at least four months after the previous dose.
| | | | A message from Coalition for Medicare Choices:   | | | | | A CULPRIT IN CHANGE HEALTH CARE ATTACK? A cybercrime gang has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on UnitedHealth’s tech subsidiary Change Healthcare, which caused major disruptions at pharmacies nationwide. The group, known as both BlackCat and ALPHV, said Wednesday it had stolen an enormous trove of sensitive health data, including Social Security numbers, health and insurance records and company source code, from Change and its partners. It claimed it exfiltrated 6 terabytes of data overall, POLITICO’s John Sakellariadis reports. Background: UnitedHealth discovered the attack last week, forcing it to take down its systems, according to an SEC filing. The attack led to prescription delays and frozen services at thousands of pharmacies nationwide. Change, owned by UnitedHealth and part of pharmacy benefit manager Optum, connects more than 30,000 pharmacies with health insurers to facilitate payments and process claims. A grain of salt: Ransomware groups, which demand extortion payments in exchange for restoring or not publishing stolen data, often exaggerate their exploits as a negotiating tactic. Tyler Mason, a spokesperson for UnitedHealthcare Group, said the company is aware of the post and looking into its veracity. The FBI and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether BlackCat’s claims were credible.
| | | | YOUR TICKET INSIDE THE GOLDEN STATE POLITICAL ARENA: California Playbook delivers the latest intel, buzzy scoops and exclusive coverage from Sacramento and Los Angeles to Silicon Valley and across the state. Don't miss out on the daily must-read for political aficionados and professionals with an outsized interest in California politics, policy and power. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | EXPANDING MEDICAID IN MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi’s GOP-controlled House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a proposal to expand Medicaid to more low-income people, bucking years of conservative opposition to the state’s policy, Megan reports. Mississippi is one of 10 states that has yet to expand its state-run health insurance program under the Affordable Care Act, though opposition to the policy has started to soften across the once deeply resistant South. The bill’s passage was shepherded by the House’s new speaker, Jason White, who lamented that lawmakers had never “fully vetted and looked at the Medicaid expansion population.” The measure now heads to the Senate. The policy, expected to cover about 200,000 people, requires recipients to work 20 hours a week — though the wording allows the state to move forward with expanding the program even if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services doesn’t approve the policy. The Biden administration has remained steadfastly opposed to work requirements. It’s unclear how Republican Gov. Tate Reeves would respond should the Medicaid expansion proposal reach his desk. Reeves, who’s publicly opposed the policy for years, didn’t mention it in his State of the State address Monday and lambasted it on social media shortly before its passage. On Wednesday, Reeves called the bill “straight Obamacare Medicaid Expansion” in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
| | March of Dimes has appointed Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, a clinical professor at Brown University who previously served as director of the Rhode Island Department of Health; Karen W. Johnson, executive chair at Clever Care Health Plan; and Dana B. Martin, co-founder and CEO of Pascall Software, to its National Board of Trustees. Brian Bouma is joining the board of directors for Tend, a boutique dental chain. He previously was COO of Madison Reed and board director of One Medical.
| | Bloomberg reports on a study linking heart attack risk with regular cannabis use. Reuters reports that the FDA will boost inspections of Indian drug manufacturing units.
| | | | A message from Coalition for Medicare Choices: When 33 million beneficiaries renew their coverage in October 2024, they will be counting on stability in the savings, benefits and choices that are only available through Medicare Advantage. The combination of better care with lower out-of-pocket costs is why Medicare Advantage is such a valued choice for diverse and low-income beneficiaries, and a growing number of seniors in rural communities.
Stability is needed because there are far-reaching reforms to Medicare Advantage still being implemented, and big changes to seniors’ prescription drug coverage going into effect next year as well. Let’s make sure there’s no erosion in the benefits and affordability seniors and people with disabilities count on in Medicare Advantage. Protect Medicare Advantage. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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