They’re in health care and they’re for Harris

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Oct 21, 2024 View in browser   By Ruth Reader, Daniel Payne and Erin Schumaker ELECTION 2024 Harris has touted the support of health care professionals. | SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Some 500 women health care leaders are rallying support for Vice President Kamala Harris in the final weeks before the election.   “We have seen what happened in the first administration under Trump, so we have very clear evidence of — the direction away from science, away from access to care — and we’re deeply concerned,” said Missy Krasner, who led health care projects at Google and Amazon and served as a special adviser to the national coordinator for health information technology in the George W. Bush administration. The group launched their effort in September with a list of 200 women — ranging from corporate executives and investors to academics and doctors — pledging their support for Harris’ presidential bid. Now, the group has more than doubled. The women plan to spend the remainder of this month drumming up support for Harris in their home states and at health conferences this month. Why Harris-Walz? The women say they believe Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, would reduce funding for Medicaid and Medicare spending and repeal the Affordable Care Act. They say that would reduce insurance coverage for Americans and lead to worse health outcomes. Trump has said he would protect Medicare funding. He hasn’t laid out his plans for Medicaid. On Obamacare, he’s said he’ll try again to replace it, but hasn’t said with what. If the law were repealed, an estimated 21 to 24 million people would lose insurance, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a progressive health care advocacy group. “We know that when we take away health care, it leads to worse outcomes, period, full stop,” said Laurie McGraw, executive vice president at employee health navigator Transcarent. She and her compatriots are also concerned about the future of reproductive rights since the Supreme Court ruled that abortion isn’t a federally protected right and sent the matter back to the states — a decision Trump takes credit for. “There are now over 200 pregnancy-related criminalizations since the overturn of Roe — that’s in a one-year time frame,” said Krasner. “That's the beginning. We don’t want that to advance.” Most of the allegations were related to drug use by pregnant people. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Paris | Jeffrey Diaz This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.  Avoiding night lights and seeking daylight might help you live longer, a new study suggests. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. EXAM ROOM AI tools to help doctors with their correspondence are proliferating. | Noreen Nasir/AP Doctors might not love using artificial intelligence to help them write their notes to patients, studies have found — but patients like it when they do, according to new research. Patients were significantly more satisfied with AI responses than notes from their clinicians, Stanford researchers, who published their study in JAMA Network Open, said. But the reasons for satisfaction weren’t clear to the researchers. Patients evaluating the responses gave the highest marks to questions about cardiology, for example, even though the AI responses to questions about endocrinology tended to contain higher-quality information expressed in a more empathetic tone. Longer messages made for higher patient satisfaction when clinicians answered questions without AI’s help — but not when AI drafted the answers. Why it matters: The study is among the first to consider how patients feel about getting medical communications drafted by AI. If patients are open to AI responses, it could drive the technology’s adoption across health systems. Even so: The study had limitations, including a relatively small sample size. The authors said more research is needed to better understand patients’ feelings about getting messages from AI. WASHINGTON WATCH Approved PTSD treatments don't work for many with the condition. | Getty Images Lykos Therapeutics met with Food and Drug Administration officials earlier this month to hash out what it would take to get its psychedelic treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder to market, the drug company said. “The meeting resulted in a path forward, including an additional Phase III trial and a potential independent third-party review of prior Phase III clinical data,” Lykos said in a statement Friday, adding that the company will continue to work with the FDA to finalize the plan. The backstory: The meeting comes two months after the FDA rejected Lykos’ application to offer MDMA, also known as ecstasy, with talk therapy as a PTSD treatment. The FDA had previously told Lykos that it would need to do another Phase III trial to resubmit its application. Shortly after the FDA decision, Lykos cut 75 percent of its staff; CEO Amy Emerson announced she was leaving the company; and Rick Doblin, who pioneered the push to bring MDMA-assisted therapy to the public, left its board. Emerson’s replacement, interim CEO Michael Mullette, and Dr. David Hough, Lykos’ new chief medical officer, were among those at the meeting earlier this month.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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