Dems bet on medical debt relief

Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy.

Aug 21, 2024 View in browser   By Ben Leonard and Chelsea Cirruzzo Driving The Day Vice President Kamala Harris has sought to keep medical debt off credit reports, a proposal in line with the party platform introduced at the DNC this week. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP MEDICAL DEBT PROPOSAL UNDER THE MICROSCOPE — Democrats, including presidential nominee Kamala Harris, pledged this week to remove all medical debt from credit scoring as part of the party platform at the Democratic National Convention. The idea of medical debt relief polls well, but the health care industry has mixed feelings about some debt-related proposals. The proposal comes as a key consumer protection agency weighs more regulation on medical debt and sought public comment, which Pulse combed through. The details: In June, Harris and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed regulations to strip medical bills from most credit reports, saying it would close a loophole allowing the information into the credit reporting system. The agency said its research shows medical debt isn’t a good indicator of whether a person would repay a loan. Three major credit reporting firms have said they would remove many bills from credit reports, but not all. Even with that move, the CFPB said 15 million Americans have $49 billion in bills in collections in the credit reporting system. The agency said they remain because reported medical debt is often inaccurate. The supporters: The American Medical Association backed several portions of the CFPB proposal, saying it would help reduce financial impacts on patients. AARP said medical debt is often out of consumers' control and the issue is worsened by medical billing errors. The skeptics: Credit reporting agency Equifax said the CFPB doesn’t have the authority to issue the rules and they wouldn't solve the underlying issues in medical billing. ACA International, a trade association for credit and collection professionals, said that most providers would require cash up front if the rule is finalized, which would make patients pay or finance significant amounts on credit cards at high interest rates. The group said it would cost most consumers more money to get care. The Medical Group Management Association said the proposal encourages payment not to be made for care, adding that it shifts debt for the system’s “shortcomings” to providers and that the group instead pushed for insurance reform. Those who want more: Unions, including National Nurses United, said the proposal is a good start but could go further. NNU added that the agency should weigh expanding the proposal to cover other ways people might pay for medical debt. Labor group AFL-CIO called for the agency to prevent medical debt from being implicated in employment or tenant screening. What’s next: It’s unclear when the rule would be finalized. The administration has likely missed a deadline to safeguard rules from Congress overturning them under a Trump presidency. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. We learned the person in charge of shortening speeches at the DNC has the last name Cutter. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to bleonard@politico.com and ccirruzzo@politico.com and follow along @_BenLeonard_ and @ChelseaCirruzzo. IN THE STATES New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is using public funds earmarked for pandemic relief for medical debt forgiveness. | Daniel Han/POLITICO NJ ACTS ON MEDICAL DEBT — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is using pandemic relief funds to forgive about $100 million in medical debt, the Democrat said Tuesday, POLITICO’s Daniel Han reports. The debt elimination stems from work with nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, which has worked with state and local governments nationwide. New Jersey has set aside $10.5 million for the debt relief program, according to an April grant agreement between the state and the nonprofit. The governor’s office claimed that the roughly $100 million was eliminated by using around $550,000 in pandemic relief funds. The broader trend: Using public funds for medical debt forgiveness has become increasingly popular, with New York City, Arizona and Cook County, Illinois, which have given millions to the group to fund debt forgiveness programs. The nonprofit purchases unpaid medical debt at steep discounts — usually pennies on the dollar — to eliminate the debt for patients. AROUND THE AGENCIES FTC TAKES A LOSS — A federal district court judge in Dallas blocked an FTC rule banning noncompete agreements from taking effect in a win for hospitals, POLITICO's Erin Schumaker reports. Hospitals have used the provisions limiting workers from quitting and joining rivals in employment contracts to stop doctors from leaving their jobs. The FTC rule applying to a broad swath of workers had been set to take effect Sept. 4. Judge Ada E. Brown, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, ruled Tuesday in favor of tax services firm Ryan, the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and two Texas business groups that had challenged the rule. The FTC’s noncompete ban exceeded the agency’s authority and is “the product of an unconstitutional exercise of power,” Brown wrote. The next steps: Conflicting rulings on other lawsuits challenging the FTC mean that appeals will likely end at the Supreme Court. In Congress CHINA-TIED PHARMA SCRUTINY GROWS — Top lawmakers are pressing the FDA for answers about U.S. pharmaceutical companies working on clinical trials with Chinese military-affiliated organizations. Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chair and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, respectively, are concerned about national security risks and that some trials occurred in Xinjiang. That region is where Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said China is committing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. China has denied wrongdoing. Eli Lilly and Pfizer were involved in the trials in question on Alzheimer’s and cancer drugs, respectively, according to documentation the lawmakers provided. Pfizer didn’t respond to a request for comment. A Lilly spokesperson said the company conducts trials across the world to bolster access and is “committed to IP protections.” “While it is the clinical trial sponsors such as biotechnology companies that design clinical trials and enroll patients around the world in these trials, it is the FDA that has the essential role in determining whether products tested in patients around the world should be approved for American patients,” the lawmakers, which also included Reps. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, wrote to the FDA. The response: An FDA spokesperson said the agency would respond directly to the lawmakers. The bigger picture: The move comes amid growing scrutiny on links between China and the U.S. in biotech. House leaders aim to have a floor vote in late September on the BIOSECURE Act, which would effectively ban Chinese biotech firms from doing business in the U.S. Abortion TRUMP DISAPPOINTS ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS — Former President Donald Trump told CBS News that he wouldn’t use a 150-year-old law, the Comstock Act, to ban mail delivery of abortion pills if elected, saying “the federal government should have nothing to do with this issue.” It was his clearest answer to date on the issue, and it’s left anti-abortion groups fuming, POLITCO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. Many leading conservatives and anti-abortion activists were frustrated by the remark, calling it “nonsensical” and “cowardly” and warning that it could dampen turnout and enthusiasm on the right heading into a close election. “It is not a pro-life position, it’s not an acceptable position and it does not provide the contrast on this issue to the degree that we have had in the past between him and Kamala Harris,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. “What President Trump is doing is suppressing his own support.” The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zooming out: Although anti-abortion groups have credited Trump for helping overturn Roe v. Wade, this isn’t their first dispute over policy and messaging. Though abortion opponents are pouring resources into a myriad of legislative, legal and other strategies to cut off access to abortion pills, they’ve seized on Comstock as a means of curtailing their use without going through Congress. The law, passed in the 1870s and named for an official who campaigned against everything from masturbation to women’s suffrage, bans mail delivery of any “lewd or lascivious material,” including any “instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing” that could be used for an abortion. Names in the News Nicolás Ballón is now communications director for Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). He previously was press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). WHAT WE'RE READING The New York Times reports on Dr. Jeffrey Shuren regulating the medical device industry at the FDA while his wife, an attorney, represented device makers’ interests. FierceHealthcare reports on Humana paying $90 million in a False Claims Act settlement. The Associated Press reports that Montana voters will vote on protecting abortion rights in the state constitution in November.   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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