| | | | |  | | By Chelsea Cirruzzo and Ben Leonard | | Presented by |  | | | With Robert King and Mackenzie Wilkes
| | |  Vice President Kamala Harris is leaning into abortion to mobilize voters. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | HARRIS REVISITS ABORTION — Vice President Kamala Harris is turning Democrats’ attention back to abortion in her presidential campaign, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly report. Why it matters: Democrats have made abortion rights a cornerstone of the 2024 campaign, but Biden’s disastrous debate and a month’s worth of questions over whether his campaign could continue sidelined the issue that Democrats have used to boost their electoral prospects since Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago. But on Monday, Harris told campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, that she would prevent Republicans from enacting a national ban because “the government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.” On Tuesday, she concluded a rally in a Milwaukee suburb by promising to sign legislation that would “restore reproductive freedoms.” And the Harris campaign said it plans to counter former President Donald Trump’s rally in Charlotte on Wednesday with an abortion-focused event in North Carolina featuring Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was 12. As Harris begins to delineate herself as a presumptive presidential nominee instead of Biden’s running mate, she’s leaning into abortion to mobilize voters as she builds out the rest of her policy platform. “Having her at the top of the ticket, with her proven record, with her authenticity on this issue, with her passion and with her prosecutorial skills, going after the guy — the criminal — who's responsible for this crisis, it’s already so energizing,” said Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom for All, which endorsed Harris on Sunday. Both abortion-rights and anti-abortion groups say they’re eager to have Harris bring the topic back into the spotlight and force GOP candidates to respond. While abortion-rights groups expect Harris to pursue more progressive policies on abortion than Biden, she has so far only pledged to sign legislation protecting “reproductive freedoms” without providing further detail. Her campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment seeking clarification. Anti-abortion groups believe they can use her record of aggressive action on reproductive rights — as an attorney general, senator and vice president — to paint her as extreme in a way that they couldn’t with Biden. “We find Kamala to be a larger threat to the life cause than Joe Biden,” said John Mize, president of Americans United for Life. “In a perverse way, it gives the pro-life movement a bit more juice, or a bit more energy, to combat the radical agenda.” WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. Yes, I’ll explain what “brat summer” means and what it has to do with this election cycle if you want. I’d recommend you listen to Charli XCX’s latest album, too. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to ccirruzzo@politico.com and bleonard@politico.com and follow along @ChelseaCirruzzo and @_BenLeonard_.
| | | | A message from AFP’s Personal Option: I scream, you scream, we all scream for…a Personal Option in healthcare! The Personal Option is the healthcare plan that funds families and individuals, not insurance companies. It offers as many healthcare options as there are ice cream flavors, so Americans get the coverage they want at a price they can afford. And the cherry on top? More personal control of healthcare means lower costs for everyone. Get the scoop at PersonalOption.com. | | | | | | | 
A government program that distributes the free preexposure prophylaxis drug, Truvada, made by Gilead, is being phased out. | Jeff Chiu/AP | FREE PREP PROGRAM SUNSETS — A federal program that distributes free HIV medication to the uninsured is winding down, drawing fire from a prominent Trump administration official who helped design the program, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and David Lim report. Senior health officials confirmed that the Ready, Set, PrEP program will cease new enrollments on July 30, though it will continue providing the preexposure prophylaxis drug, known as PrEP, to existing enrollees, either by mail or pharmacy pick-up. An HHS spokesperson said PrEP is far more accessible today than when the program launched under the Trump administration in 2019, citing the availability of cheaper generics and the several states that have created their own programs to help people afford the preventive drug. Why it matters: The cancellation comes as approximately 32,000 people receive a new HIV diagnosis in the U.S. each year. And while PrEP usage has grown in recent years, with the virus’ uptake surging from 13 percent in 2017 to 30 percent in 2021, it remains far below what public health officials say is needed to end the HIV epidemic. Some participating clinics said they were blindsided by the decision to sunset the program, while other HIV patient advocates argued that the program was flawed from the start and only helped a fraction of its intended population. HHS declined to share how many people have received the drug through the program. One reason for the program’s low uptake, patient advocates said, is that it covered only the costly PrEP medication but not the doctor visits or blood work needed for a prescription. It also didn’t include funding for outreach or education about the drug. Brett Giroir, who pushed for the program’s creation as HHS assistant secretary for health under former President Donald Trump, said the decision to pause new enrollments in the program “does kind of make me sick.” Initial participation in the program was slow, he allowed, but argued it was uniquely positioned to help patients without health insurance in states that didn’t expand Medicaid.
| | | | Live briefings, policy trackers, and procedural, industry, and people intelligence from POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy this election cycle. Secure your seat. | | | | | | | | PBMs FACE BIPARTISAN BASHING IN HOUSE — Efforts to rein in drug middlemen have stalled in the Senate — even as House lawmakers fret that they’re hurting smaller pharmacies, Robert reports. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held its third hearing on pharmacy benefit managers’ role in the healthcare industry. Lawmakers complained that PBMs, which manage the drug benefit for employers and some Medicare drug plans, are forcing local pharmacies to close by using tactics such as imposing claw-back fees and steering patients to PBM-owned facilities. Executives for the three largest PBMs — UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx, CVS and Cigna’s Evernorth — testified they have a good relationship with independent pharmacies. The House passed legislation to increase PBM transparency late last year as part of the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. The legislation required PBMs to give detailed drug-spending data to employer health plans. But House lawmakers are waiting on the Senate to act on its own PBM reform package, which hasn’t yet made it to the Senate floor. BAD OMENS FOR HHS FUNDING BILL — The chances of the HHS 2025 fiscal funding package making it to the House floor before August recess are dwindling. The bill — which would cut the HHS budget by 7 percent — passed out of the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month, but there hasn’t yet been a whip count on it, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), who chairs the Appropriations Health Subcommittee, told Mackenzie this week. “I think every chairman always has concerns about Labor-H going to the floor and passing,” he said. “There’s a lot of things up in the air you can’t account for,” he added. “Obviously, it’s an election year, so it’s unclear exactly what might happen.” The bill is supposed to go for a vote next week, but House Republicans have already had a number of setbacks: On Monday, they were forced to yank two other bills from the floor amid GOP divisions over language regarding abortion and contraceptive protections.
| | | | A message from AFP’s Personal Option:   | | | | | MA HOSPITAL DAYS RISE — Nearly half of Medicare hospital inpatient days in 2022 were attributable to Medicare Advantage enrollees, according to an analysis by health policy think tank KFF. Why it matters: The share of Medicare patients enrolled in an MA plan has skyrocketed in recent years — and has worried hospitals, which have called on the Biden administration to do something about care denials. According to the analysis of CMS hospital data, MA grew from 13 percent to 23 percent of inpatient hospital days between 2015 and 2022. The share of inpatient days attributed to traditional Medicare declined from 34 percent to 25 percent during the same period. Other details: Three in 10 hospitals had more inpatient days from MA patients than traditional Medicare patients in 2022, and MA inpatient day shares grew fastest in nonmetropolitan hospitals.
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| | | | A message from AFP’s Personal Option: No one goes to an ice cream shop advertising “One flavor!” Yet that’s how healthcare is for too many Americans. But Americans want healthcare like they want their ice cream – countless flavors and endless toppings at an affordable price.
A Personal Option gives Americans that kind of personal control over their healthcare. How? By expanding access to health savings accounts and direct primary care plans that cut out insurance company middlemen. Price transparency to end surprise billing. And better access to the doctors Americans trust.
Polls show the Personal Option is more popular than ice cream in July – okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But a majority of voters do support it over competing plans. Affordable healthcare shouldn’t be a rocky road. A Personal Option is like a “build your own sundae” bar – you get to do it your way. Get the scoop at PersonalOption.com. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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