The AI counselor is in

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Nov 25, 2024 View in browser   By Carmen Paun, Gregory Svirnovskiy and Erin Schumaker PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Dec. 2. INNOVATORS Researchers think they can offer underserved communities better health advice by using AI. | AFP via Getty Images An AI app will provide personalized advice on preventing diabetes and other diseases if a team of researchers at the University of Houston is successful. How so: The team received half a million dollars from the National Institutes of Health to study the use of artificial intelligence to improve health behaviors and outcomes in underserved communities. Researchers will use AI to analyze patient data from audio, video and biometric sensors, then develop a virtual counselor to provide tailored advice on adopting a healthier lifestyle, according to the university. The AI will target behavior that could lead to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, which disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities. Why it matters: “Underserved populations often lack access to consistent behavior change counseling due to clinician shortages and time constraints,” said Lola Adepoju, one of the team members, who’s a clinical associate professor at the university’s Fertitta College of Medicine. The AI tool her team is developing aims to bridge that gap, she said in a statement, adding that it’s designed to resonate with the communities it will serve. What’s next: The project runs until October 2025. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Brooklyn, N.Y. | Erin Schumaker/POLITICO This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.  Bioengineers are designing a new drug delivery device inspired by the mechanism squid use to propel themselves and eject ink. The blueberry-sized device squirts drugs into the digestive tissue lining after being swallowed, STAT News reports. 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.    Want to know what's really happening with Congress's make-or-break spending fights? Get daily insider analysis of Hill negotiations, funding deadlines, and breaking developments—free in your inbox with Inside Congress. Subscribe now.     POLICY PUZZLE A rule meant to remove medical debt from credit scores is in danger after President-elect Donald Trump's victory. | AP Medical debt could remain on 15 million Americans’ credit reports despite recent reform efforts to remove it. Why’s that? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hasn’t finalized a rule it proposed in June to remove medical debt from most credit reports, which banks, credit card companies and landlords, among others, check to verify credit-worthiness. Advocates worry that whoever President-elect Donald Trump appoints to lead the agency could kill it. Even if the CFPB were to finalize the rule before President Joe Biden leaves office, Republicans in Congress could challenge it. A 1996 law provides an expedited process for Congress to overturn rules finalized in the waning days of an administration. The CFPB declined a request for comment. The backstory: The CFPB planned to impose the rule next year. The agency said medical debt is rarely an indicator of actual credit risk, and credit reports listing medical debt are often inaccurate. Listing medical debt on credit reports, the agency said, prevents credit-worthy borrowers from getting loans. Bankers and congressional Republicans don’t see it that way. Even so: During the campaign, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), expressed sympathy for some medical debtors. He lamented surprise invoices patients sometimes receive when they see out-of-network providers and touted a bill he proposed last year to bar employers from reclaiming health care premiums from employees who don’t return to work after taking leave following the birth of a child. In response to a question about Trump’s plans for the rule, the Trump transition team didn’t directly respond. “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “He will deliver.” Advocates of medical debt relief are holding out hope. “Trump himself has not spoken about this at all,” said Allison Sesso, CEO of Undue Medical Debt, which helps patients pay off their debts. “Everyone’s guessing.” What’s next? Trump is expected to fire Rohit Chopra, the current CFPB director appointed by Biden in 2021, as soon as he takes office. During Trump’s first term, his CFPB director, Mick Mulvaney, tried to zero out the agency’s funding. A Democratic Congress and then-President Barack Obama created the agency in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank law enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis on Wall Street.   Don't just read headlines—guide your organization's next move. POLITICO Pro's comprehensive Data Analysis tracks power shifts in Congress, ballot measures, and committee turnovers, giving you the deep context behind every policy decision. Learn more about what POLITICO Pro can do for you.     WASHINGTON WATCH A new interest group wants to get the word out about psychedelic medicine. | AFP via Getty Images The Association for Prescription Psychedelics, a new psychedelics interest group, launched this month to advocate for developing safe and effective psychedelic medicine. Advocates believe psychedelics have the potential to treat serious mental health conditions, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance-use disorder. Yes, but: The field suffered a major setback in August when the Food and Drug Administration rejected drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics' application to treat PTSD with MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and talk therapy. The agency’s outside advisers said Lykos’ regimen wasn’t effective, and the company hadn’t shown that the therapy’s benefits outweighed its risks. The decision sent a chill through the psychedelic drugmaking community, contributing to one Lykos competitor, Compass Pathways, delaying the release of study results and laying off staff. Who's who: APP's founding members include Lykos, Compass and two other psychedelics developers, MindMed and B. More Inc. "What's good for one company or organization going through drug development is good for the rest of them and good for the whole field," Jon Kostas, executive director of APP and CEO of Apollo Pact, a psychedelic research advocacy group, told Erin. Psychedelic policy in the Trump era: Many in the psychedelics space are optimistic about the next four years, according to Kostas. Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr., has said ending the “aggressive suppression of psychedelics” is among his health care agenda items. In Congress, Republican Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) believe the FDA should fast-track approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans. “It’s overall a good sign that folks are talking about it,” Kostas said. “This is such a bipartisan issue — and many things aren't these days.”   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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