CRAPO UNVEILS HEALTH CARE PRIORITIES — New Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said Tuesday that his committee will conduct “aggressive oversight” of the Inflation Reduction Act, which allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time. Crapo pledged to “enact policies that mitigate the adverse consequences of this law on patients, innovators and taxpayers” and said he’s optimistic about enacting new regulations for pharmacy benefit managers and creating “long-term payment stability” for doctors in Medicare. He also nodded to the agenda of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his Make America Healthy Again movement. “As we work with the Trump Administration to address America’s epidemic of chronic disease, the Committee must also streamline clinician payment systems and incentivize alternative payment models that reward providing better care at a lower cost. We must improve primary care, support chronic-care benefits in Medicare and provide Medicare doctors with long-term payment stability,” Crapo said in a statement. FIRST IN PULSE: CAMPAIGNS TARGET HHS CONFIRMATION — Two campaigns are calling out Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine messaging with one including the Democratic governor of Hawaii saying, “RFK Jr. puts everyone in harm’s way,” Chelsea reports with POLITICO’s Daniel Payne. The anti-Kennedy campaigns come as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead HHS heads back to Capitol Hill this week to make his case to Democratic senators. Democratic-aligned health group Protect Our Care, which has hammered Kennedy through its Stop RFK War Room effort, will have a mobile billboard circulating the Capitol today, connecting the nominee’s past anti-vaccine activism in Samoa with a measles outbreak that led to more than 80 deaths. That ad will also run in states represented by key Republicans, the group told Pulse exclusively. The group will also deliver a report on Kennedy’s connection to the Samoa outbreak to all 100 senators’ offices today while hoping to corner lawmakers and their staffs to discuss the dangers they say Kennedy poses to public health. Additionally, TV and digital ads with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green were launched yesterday as part of a six-figure campaign by progressive nonprofit PAC 314 Action, which is pushing back on Kennedy’s hopes of being confirmed as HHS secretary. The campaign comes as Kennedy heads back to Capitol Hill today to make his case to Senate Democrats. Green also flew to Washington this week to lobby fellow Democrats to oppose Kennedy. In the days after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Kennedy to lead the sprawling health department, Kennedy told the media he doesn’t plan to restrict vaccines but wants more vaccine efficacy and safety data released. AOC JOINS E&C — Medicare for All proponent Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is joining the House Energy and Commerce Committee along with five other new House Democrats. The addition of Ocasio-Cortez, who has a massive social media following and a knack for viral moments, will inject energy into the Democratic side of the panel, several Democratic committee members told Pulse on Tuesday. A number of panel members have departed Congress, including Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Health Subcommittee. “[E&C] has the power to guarantee health care as a human right to all Americans, fight the global crisis of climate change, and make life easier for the working class,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “The next few years are sure to be challenging, but Democrats must maintain our commitment to fighting for working people, not billionaires. That work goes directly through the Energy and Commerce Committee, and I can’t wait to get to work.” Other additions: Reps. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) are also joining the committee. One more slot remains to be filled. MORE COMMITTEE CHANGES — Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Del. Stacy Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands are joining the House Ways and Means Committee, POLITICO's Eleanor Mueller reports. The panel, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), has significant jurisdiction over health care. DOCS CAUCUS ADDITION — GOP Doctors Caucus co-chairs, Reps. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.), named Catherine Hayes as the caucus’ executive director, a newly created position. She was previously senior director of government relations at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The caucus will have several issues to grapple with in this Congress, including averting pay cuts for doctors in Medicare. “Catherine will work directly with the members of our Caucus and with House leadership, committees of jurisdiction, and stakeholders to ensure that the voices of patients and physicians are heard louder than ever in Washington,” Murphy and Joyce said in a statement. “We look forward to the work ahead as we strive to put patients and physicians back in the driver’s seat.” BIPARTISAN REPORT HAMMERS PRIVATE EQUITY — Bipartisan leaders of the Senate Budget Committee released a bipartisan staff report Tuesday that found private equity in health care hurts patients and leads to hospital closures. Committee chair from the last Congress Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) began the investigation when Democrats had control of the Senate. Private equity firms are increasingly getting involved in health care. The report, focused on two private equity firms, said the firms focused more on financial goals than quality of care. It comes amid growing scrutiny of the firms’ practices in the sector. Private equity supporters are pushing back. “Private equity provides urgently needed capital infusions, which support lifesaving medical innovations and help improve access to care in communities across our country,” Emily Schillinger, senior vice president of public affairs at the American Investment Council, told Pulse. One of the private equity firms in the report, Apollo, told Pulse it invested billions in hospital network Lifepoint Health, leading to improvements in ratings of care quality. A spokesperson for the other named firm, Leonard Green & Partners, said it disagreed with the lawmakers’ findings, saying its investment enabled hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings “to invest in previously closed or failing hospitals.”
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