Friday, November 8, 2024

Trump, tariffs and health care

Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy.
Nov 08, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Chelsea Cirruzzo and Ben Leonard

Donald Trump listens to a question from the audience.

President-elect Donald Trump's tariff plan isn't going over well with the health care industry. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

TARIFF VIBE CHECK — President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to enact across-the-board tariffs isn’t going over well in the health care industry, Ben and POLITICO’s David Lim report.

Some in the sector think they could financially harm hospitals and raise prices for consumers.

“It would be unsustainable for the health care industry,” said Soumi Saha, senior vice president of government affairs at Premier Inc., which helps hospitals get discounts from vendors. “Combined with inflation, rising labor costs, decreasing reimbursement, and the cost with supplies, it would be unsustainable” without a government effort to boost domestic manufacturing.

Angie Boliver, CEO of the Healthcare Supply Chain Association, which represents group purchasing firms that negotiate prices for hospitals, said Trump must exempt critical medical products and supplies to avoid disruptions.

Those concerns come amid broader anxiety from economists who project that Trump’s trade policies could cause inflation and lead companies to pass costs on to consumers. Hospital and pharmaceutical groups have said previously that tariffs could deepen financial stress on health systems and hamper pharmaceutical innovation.

Trump’s message: On the campaign trail, Trump said the tariffs would prevent foreign countries from “ripping off” the U.S. He made them a central part of his economic message, arguing they would boost domestic industry and safeguard against overreliance on adversaries like China for key supplies.

Trump has also pledged corporate tax cuts for companies making their goods in the U.S., which could help lower the costs of medical products.

Trump promised to impose an up to 20 percent across-the-board tariff on trillions of dollars in imports and a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese goods coming into the country in a significant expansion of duties from his first term. Trump spokespeople didn’t directly address concerns about health care.

“President Trump will work quickly to fix and restore an economy that puts American workers [first] by re-shoring American jobs, lowering inflation, raising real wages, lowering taxes, cutting regulations, and unshackling American energy,” RNC spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.

Not all critics: The Trump campaign and some supporters of domestic production see his election as a mandate for action on tariffs — which he can impose without congressional approval — and say they are needed to combat China’s influence.

They also note that many Democrats favor tariffs, at least in some cases. Those include President Joe Biden, who imposed them on medical supplies this year. Lawmakers in Congress in both parties are looking to reduce reliance on China in medical supply chains.

“Trump and [Vice President-elect JD] Vance have made it clear it is very important to them, and one of the main reasons that people voted for them was to make sure that domestic manufacturers are protected and more manufacturing jobs come back to the U.S.,” said Eric Axel, executive director of the American Medical Manufacturers Association. “It's critical for people to understand that it may cost more ... but big things require big ideas and change. Sometimes we just have to go through it.”

WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. What a week! Help us with our post-election coverage by sending your tips, scoops and feedback to ccirruzzo@politico.com and bleonard@politico.com and follow along @ChelseaCirruzzo and @_BenLeonard_.

Congress

CASEY OUT? — A Senate Democrat on two key health committees is continuing to fight in his bid for reelection in Pennsylvania, arguing that the Associated Press is wrong to call the race for his opponent.

The AP reported Thursday that Sen. Bob Casey , who sits on both the Finance and the HELP committees and chairs the Aging Committee, had lost his seat to former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick.

In a statement, Maddy McDaniel, a spokesperson for Casey’s campaign, rejected the call, saying votes are still being tallied.

“As the Pennsylvania Secretary of State said this afternoon, there are tens of thousands of ballots across the Commonwealth still to count, which includes provisional ballots, military and overseas ballots, and mail ballots. This race is within half a point and cannot be called while the votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians are still being counted,” she said.

During his nearly two decades in Congress, Casey supported the Inflation Reduction Act and pushed for additional measures to reduce insulin costs to the commercial market. Earlier this year, he introduced legislation to extend limits on out-of-pocket drug costs included in the IRA to all insurance plans.

At the Agencies

Joseph A. Ladapo (left) gestures with his hands at a news conference with Ron DeSantis in the background in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right) wants Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo to be HHS secretary in the incoming Trump administration. | Wilfredo Lee/AP


LADAPO FOR HHS? — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) are publicly lobbying for Dr. Joe Ladapo, Florida surgeon general, to be Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary, POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard and Andrew Atterbury report.

Ladapo is just one name on a long list of Floridians who could make their way to Washington in the coming months.

The Trump transition team hasn’t mentioned Ladapo as a pick for HHS, but his stance on vaccines is not misaligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump has promised a role overseeing health care in his administration. Late last year, Ladapo called on the FDA to halt the use of mRNA vaccines, citing false information about their safety.

NURSING HOMES

BACKGROUND CHECKS — More than half the states in the U.S. were able to develop a background-check program for long-term care facilities as part of a federal assistance program, according to an HHS Office of Inspector General report.

Why it matters: Most older Americans may need long-term care at some point. According to the OIG, nearly 16 percent of residents living in these settings reported abuse.

The report evaluated a financial assistance program created by the Affordable Care Act to fund states that want to develop background-check programs to screen potential employees. The ACA mandated OIG assess the program.

What the OIG found: Twenty nine states were part of the program starting in 2010. The last two states to participate completed the program this May.

Of those states, 27 were able to set up programs to build systems that disqualify potential employees with certain criminal convictions. Two states left the program before the three-year period was over. Overall, states spent $100 million in federal and state funds to conduct the background checks.

The bigger picture: The OIG said states did not report additional issues hiring staff due to the background checks. Concerns about the quality of care at long-term care facilities prompted the Biden administration to issue a rule requiring facilities to hire more staff, which the nursing home industry hopes the incoming Trump administration will reverse.

Public Health

SYPHILIS GOALS NOT MET — HHS is missing the mark on its goals to reduce the transmission of certain sexually transmitted diseases, particularly syphilis, according to a progress report it put out on Thursday.

Context: HHS has a 2021-2025 roadmap to prevent certain STIs and increase preventive measures, including upping condom use among teens.

However, the latest progress report shows that seven of the roadmap’s goals, mainly to tackle syphilis, were not met as of 2022. In some cases, the goals were further away in 2022 than they were in 2020.

Why it matters: Syphilis rates jumped more than 17 percent over last year’s record-setting rate to reach the highest level since the 1950s, as POLITICO has reported. More than 2.5 million STD cases were reported to the CDC in 2022, though that is likely a significant undercount.

According to the report, HHS is further from its goal of reducing primary and secondary syphilis, as well as decreasing cases of congenital syphilis overall and among certain demographics. The department’s goal to increase condom usage among high school aged men having sex with men is also further away.

Federal health officials said continued work is needed — but that depends on whether the next administration prioritizes reducing STIs and has the funding to do so.

Names in the News

Claire Zangerle is now senior vice president and chief nurse executive of the American Hospital Association as well as chief executive officer of its American Organization for Nursing Leadership. She previously was principal of CMZ Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm focused on nurse leader coaching and nursing organization strategy.

WHAT WE'RE READING

POLITICO’s Marcia Brown reports that human bird flu cases could be undercounted, according to the CDC.

The Atlantic reports on how onions drive foodborne illness.

Reuters reports that the FDA has approved a new Johnson & Johnson device to deal with a condition that causes an abnormal heart rhythm.

 

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