Unpacking Vance’s health care record

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Jul 16, 2024 View in browser   By Ben Leonard and Chelsea Cirruzzo Presented by  Driving the Day Sen. J.D. Vance's views on abortion haven't been fully aligned with those of former President Donald Trump. | Matt Rourke/AP VANCE NOT ALWAYS WITH TRUMP — Former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), has taken a more aggressive anti-abortion stance than Trump, who enlisted him despite his attempts to neutralize the issue. The first-term senator, 39, has a limited voting record in the chamber and doesn’t serve on its major health care committees. But he has split with Trump’s new leave-it-to-the-states position in the past. He’s described himself as “pro-life as anyone,” and during a 2022 Senate race debate, said he’d support a federal standard restricting abortion. He opposed abortion exceptions for rape and incest in his 2022 campaign. Both positions run counter to Trump, who has said states should determine abortion policy and backs rape and incest exceptions. A shift: Earlier this month, Vance said Trump was a “pragmatic leader” for his position on leaving the issue to the states. In 2022, he said he backs “reasonable” exceptions to abortion bans. The “Hillbilly Elegy” author has turned from a Trump skeptic — comparing him to an opioid in 2016 — to an ardent Trump supporter. Dems’ approach: Democrats and President Joe Biden’s campaign have used abortion as a potent political issue since the Dobbs decision sending abortion rights back to the states and quickly jumped on Vance’s record after Trump drafted him Monday. “This is someone who supports banning abortion nationwide while criticizing exceptions for rape and incest survivors; railed against the Affordable Care Act, including its protections for millions with preexisting conditions,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement Monday. The Trump-Vance ticket isn’t likely to make health care a major campaign issue, given Democrats’ polling advantage on it, but here’s more on Vance’s record: Public health: Vance has voiced frustration with the CDC’s response to a major train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and has hammered the agency’s director, Dr. Mandy Cohen, for spreading Covid-19 vaccine and mask “misinformation.” Gender-affirming care: He introduced legislation that would make it a crime for doctors to provide gender-affirming care to minors and also prohibit taxpayer funding for the care. Opioids: Vance founded a charity in 2016 to help address the opioid crisis, but The Associated Press reported in 2022 that the nonprofit’s “most notable accomplishment” was sending an addiction treatment specialist to Ohio for residency. That was “tainted” by the doctor’s ties to Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, AP reported. Vance's campaign said it wasn’t aware of the ties but “remains proud of [the doctor’s] work to treat patients.” Drug pricing: In 2022, Vance said he supports allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, a major Biden administration accomplishment. Investments: A review of Vance’s investments suggests he’s bullish on new care models and artificial intelligence despite the GOP platform’s pledge to repeal Biden’s AI executive order. WELCOME TO TUESDAY PULSE. POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt has the backstory on how Trump picked Vance. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to bleonard@politico.com and ccirruzzo@politico.com and follow along @_BenLeonard_ and @ChelseaCirruzzo. A message from HCA Healthcare: If you’ve ever been a patient at one of HCA Healthcare’s approximately 2,400 sites of care, there’s a chance you’ve benefitted from the skill and compassion of one of our more than 90,000 nurses. Nurses are the heart of HCA Healthcare – and we actively offer resources, development and education to support them in their day-to-day work. We invite you to read a few stories about how nurses inspire our patients and impact healthcare everywhere.   Abortion Anti-abortion groups decided to tone down their planned objections to the GOP's platform at the RNC. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images ANTI-ABORTION ADVOCATES DROP PLANS — MILWAUKEE — Anti-abortion advocates disappointed by the Republican Party’s move to abandon explicit advocacy for federal abortion limits in its platform dropped their bid to push back after Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly reports from the Republican National Convention. The advocates had planned to escalate their concerns on the GOP convention floor this week after close to two dozen members of the convention’s Platform Committee objected to draft language from the Trump campaign that framed abortion as an issue primarily for the states. They had intended to adopt a “minority report” pushing for a stronger federal role. The reasoning: Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and a Platform Committee member, said the shooting changed things. “Given today, and everything that has occurred, if the opportunity were there [for a floor fight] we wouldn’t take it at this point,” Perkins told POLITICO. “Don’t take our silence as being indifferent to what took place, it’s just timing.” Still, Perkins didn’t expect to have the number of signatures needed to officially submit the minority report. What they wanted to see: The anti-abortion advocates argued the platform should have included a specific call for the 14th Amendment to protect “unborn children” and a proposed constitutional amendment saying life begins at conception. Trump campaign and RNC spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment. Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles have said the adopted platform “articulates [Trump’s] vision to Make America Great Again in a way that is concise and digestible for every voter.”   Understand 2024’s big impacts with Pro’s extensive Campaign Races Dashboard, exclusive insights, and key coverage of federal- and state-level debates. Focus on policy. Learn more.     Lobbying TOP GROUPS: LOWER THE TEMPERATURE — Leading lobbying firms, including those in health care, are denouncing the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and calling for political tensions to ratchet down, POLITICO’s Caitlyn Oprysko reports. Stephen Ubl, CEO of brand-name drug lobby PhRMA, called the attack “horrifying” in a post on X. “Violence is never an appropriate way to resolve our political differences,” Ubl wrote. Bruce Mehlman, partner at Mehlman Consulting and a registered lobbyist for direct health care firm Nomi Health and insurer Elevance Health, started his weekly slide deck with a note that he had written the post before the shooting. “Praying for all those impacted and for our nation,” he added.   A message from HCA Healthcare:   WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS EYES FOR WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS — There’s significant untapped demand for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, according to a new survey from investment firm Rock Health. The survey of 10,000 respondents in partnership with Evidation finds that GLP-1s are the most sought-after weight-loss method, with 10 percent of respondents saying they hadn’t used it but plan to or want to. Seven percent say they use the drugs, which can be pricey. Exercise and dieting were the top two most common methods that respondents say they use. GLP-1 coverage limitations: Medicare doesn’t cover the drugs for obesity, as a 2003 law prevents the program from doing so. But it can cover them for other indications. Last month, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced a narrow version of a bill that would lift the prohibition.   Understand 2024’s big impacts with Pro’s extensive Campaign Races Dashboard, exclusive insights, and key coverage of federal- and state-level debates. Focus on policy. Learn more.     Names in the News Peter Shin is joining the National Association of Community Health Centers as chief science officer. He was previously at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. WHAT WE'RE READING McDermott+Consulting looks at the impact of the Chevron doctrine’s demise on health care policy. MedPage Today reports on former CMS Administrator Gail Wilensky’s death at 81. A message from HCA Healthcare: Every day, our caregivers improve more lives in more ways – showing up to give people a healthier tomorrow. Nurses are the heart of HCA Healthcare – and we support them by providing training, education and professional development resources. To celebrate HCA Healthcare nurses, we are sharing a few stories about our incredible caregivers. In Florida, nurse Camilla was born at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital and spent her childhood admiring two special members of its workforce – her father and mother. Inspired by the nurses around her, Camilla decided to pursue a career in nursing and received support with higher education expenses through HCA Healthcare’s tuition reimbursement program. Additionally, she participated in our Specialty Training Apprenticeship for Registered Nurses program, which allows new graduates to obtain acute care nursing experience through an intensive paid internship. Read more about how our caregivers show up for patients, communities and each other.     Follow us on Twitter Dan Goldberg @dancgoldberg Chelsea Cirruzzo @chelseacirruzzo Lauren Gardner @Gardner_LM Sophie Gardner @sophie_gardnerj Kelly Hooper @kelhoops Robert King @rking_19 Ben Leonard @_BenLeonard_ David Lim @davidalim Megan Messerly @meganmesserly Alice Miranda Ollstein @aliceollstein Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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