| | | | |  | | By Chelsea Cirruzzo and Ben Leonard | | Presented by |  | | | | | | | 
After being diagnosed with Covid-19, President Joe Biden flew to his home in Delaware to recuperate. | Susan Walsh/AP | BIDEN’S SECOND ROUND OF COVID — President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 Wednesday and has returned to his home in Delaware from the campaign trail to isolate, according to the White House. The diagnosis came at the tail end of a two-day swing in Nevada and is the latest in a string of high-profile positive tests in Washington, including HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). Biden, 81, is experiencing mild symptoms and has taken his first dose of the antiviral Paxlovid, per the president’s doctor. POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner and Erin Schumaker report on what to know about the president’s second case: — Biden’s age puts him at higher risk. Adults over 65 have the highest risk of developing severe disease from Covid, and more than 81 percent of Covid-related deaths occur in that age group, according to the CDC — Biden doesn’t have known underlying medical conditions that put him at higher risk. He’s being treated for obstructive sleep apnea, high cholesterol and atrial fibrillation, according to his most recent public health summary in February but hasn’t publicly shared any conditions that could be risk factors for severe Covid like cancer, dementia and heart disease, according to the CDC. — Taking Paxlovid could protect Biden against severe disease, but it could interfere with another medication he takes. The drug interacts with several other meds, including statins to lower cholesterol. Biden takes Crestor to manage his cholesterol level, according to his health summary. His doctor has likely advised him to stop taking the drug during his Paxlovid treatment, per National Institutes of Health guidelines. — The latest Covid variant is gaining steam: The CDC’s latest Covid data shows a significant uptick in emergency room visits due to the disease, and the test positivity rate as of July 6 was 11 percent. WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE. I’m spending my time away from the news cycle by watching “Hacks” on MAX — which just got 16 Emmy nominations! How are you finding time to step back? Let us know at ccirruzzo@politico.com and bleonard@politico.com and follow along @ChelseaCirruzzo and @_BenLeonard_.
| | A message from HCA Healthcare: At HCA Healthcare, we show up to invest in and develop the next generation of healthcare leaders and professionals. Over the next three years, the HCA Healthcare Foundation will donate $1 million to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations to help fund its Career Pathways to a Healthier Florida program, aiming to create and expand healthcare career pathways for underserved high school students across the state. Learn more about our dedication to education and our communities. | | | | | | | 
To the dismay of social conservatives, abortion has taken a back seat to other issues at this year's RNC. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | THE UNSPOKEN ISSUE — MILWAUKEE — Republicans have hit on a lot of major issues at their convention this week, like immigration, crime and foreign policy, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly reports. But one topic has been noticeably absent from the main stage: abortion. As the Republican Party heads into the fourth and final day of its national convention, the issue has barely received a passing mention, Megan writes. The absence of abortion, long an animating force within the GOP, is the latest example of how the Republican Party is departing from decades of party orthodoxy amid a historic realignment that’s increasingly wooing a younger, more diverse and working-class constituency. Most delegates at the convention, though, are fine with that. William Wallis, a delegate from Louisiana and a radio show host, said the core of the Republican Party is “pro-life.” “But a lot of people in the party are realizing that we should not be trying to judge somebody’s life, dictate how somebody lives their life, and they’re focusing more on the policies that are good for all Americans,” he said. But the lack of attention on the abortion issue is angering social conservatives and raising fears that they’re losing their grasp on the party and a chance to advance more anti-abortion policies in the next four years. “I totally understand why so many groups would, even on the watered-down platform, say, ‘This is a pro-life platform, the choice is clear.’ That doesn’t give the pro-life coalition a strong hand to deal with the White House,” said John Shelton, policy director at Advancing American Freedom, the advocacy group established by former Vice President Mike Pence. “This isn’t any longer the party of a Religious Right that could credibly threaten to walk.”
| | | | The CNN-POLITICO Grill has quickly become a key gathering place for policymakers and thought-leaders attending the RNC in Milwaukee.
On Tuesday, POLITICO and Bayer convened two conversations: a discussion with Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) and an executive conversation with Bayer’s Jessica Christiansen, senior vice president and head of crop science and sustainability communications.
The conversations focused on the news of the day in Milwaukee, including deeper discussion centered on the critical challenges faced by the agriculture sector.
CATCH UP HERE | | | | | |  J.D. Vance spoke about his mom's struggles with addiction at the Republican National Convention. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | DRUG CRISIS MENTIONED — MILWAUKEE — Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) made his first pitch on health policy as the Republicans’ vice presidential nominee Wednesday night. The first-term senator, whose own record on health care is limited, recounted his personal life story. As detailed in his 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” he spoke of his experiences growing up in a part of the country ravaged by the opioid crisis. “Every now and then, I will get a call from a relative back home who asks, Did you know ‘so and so,’” he said Wednesday night. “And I’ll remember a face from years ago. And then I’ll hear, ‘They died of an overdose.’” In his remarks, he blamed China and Mexican cartels for fueling the rise of the deadly drug fentanyl in the U.S. He congratulated his mother who he said “struggled with money and addiction but never gave up.” “And I am proud to say that tonight, my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober,” he said. As POLITICO has reported, fatal overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, increased by more than half during the pandemic. However, some counties were able to defy the pandemic trend.
| | | | A message from HCA Healthcare:   | | | | | THE STATE OF WOMEN’S HEALTH — Health care quality and access for women of reproductive age varies widely across states, according to a new analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. The analysis, which uses dozens of health care performance measures, including maternal mortality, uninsured rates and postpartum screenings, puts Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas among the lowest performers, while states in New England, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, top the scorecard. Why it matters: The overturning of Roe v. Wade, a patchwork of states that have yet to expand Medicaid and the shrinking of maternity care providers in some parts of the country puts the health of U.S. women in a “perilous place,” Commonwealth researchers wrote. The scorecard also highlights deepening disparities in death rates among women across regions. Top causes of death for women included pregnancy complications, substance use and breast and cervical cancers, with death rates ranging from 70.5 per 100,000 women of reproductive age in Hawaii to 203.6 in West Virginia. More details: The scorecard — which the group says will be updated — also found that: — Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho and Oklahoma had the fewest maternity care providers, and states with abortion restrictions were more likely to have fewer providers than other states. — Among women of reproductive age, women in Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas had the highest uninsured rates, while D.C., Massachusetts and Vermont had the lowest. — Nearly every state has seen a rise in syphilis since 2019, with the highest rates in Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and South Dakota. THE RISE OF GUN DEATHS — Firearm deaths have risen sharply over the past decade — a 35 percent increase from 2012 to 2022, the most recent year CDC data is available, according to an analysis by health policy research group KFF. The analysis of CDC data comes as the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory declaring gun violence a public health crisis. According to the KFF analysis, firearm-related deaths rose from 92 deaths a day in 2012 to 132 deaths a day in 2022, and guns are involved in the majority of all homicides and suicides in the nation. In particular, suicides accounted for just over half of firearm deaths in 2022. More details: The analysis also found that: — Young adults ages 18 to 25 had the highest rate of firearm deaths compared with all other age groups in 2022. But adults ages 26 to 44 have seen the highest growth rate of those deaths over time with a 48 percent rise since 2012. — Men were six times more likely to die from firearms in 2022 than women. And while men are twice as likely to own a gun, firearm purchases by women rose during the pandemic. — Firearm deaths for Black, American Indian and Alaska Native people outpaced white people in 2022. From 2012 to 2022, the firearm death rate rose 22 percent for white people compared with 75 percent for Black people and 90 percent for American Indian and Alaska Native people.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | | Margaret Kabat is now chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She previously was a principal senior adviser at the VA. The Senate Finance Committee has hired Andrew Dell’Orto, formerly at Blackstone, as a policy adviser; Phoebe Keller, formerly at the American Enterprise Institute, as a communications adviser; Amy Nabozny, formerly at the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions, as a health policy adviser; and Eric Oman, formerly at the House Ways and Means Committee as a senior tax policy adviser.
| | The Wall Street Journal reports on the early results of an anti-obesity drug in trials. The New York Times reports on why more people aren’t getting tested for avian flu.
| | A message from HCA Healthcare: Every day, HCA Healthcare serves patients across our 188 hospitals and approximately 2,400 sites of care in 20 states. To develop a strong workforce that reflects the patients we serve, we partner with local organizations, colleges and universities to create opportunities for future healthcare leaders to learn and confidently serve in their communities.
Over the next three years, the HCA Healthcare Foundation will donate $1 million to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations to help create and expand healthcare career pathways for underserved high school students across the state. In addition, as part of our commitment to invest $10 million in partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions to advance diversity in healthcare, HCA Healthcare will gift $650,000 to Savannah State University and $200,000 to St. Mary’s University’s Greehey School of Business.
Read more about our commitment to investing in education and our communities. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment