|
|
| |
 |
By Sophie Gardner and Kelly Hooper |
Presented by |
 |
|
|
With help from Amanda Friedman
|
|
|
|
States haven't been able to obtain the free Covid vaccines the CDC provides to uninsured kids this year. | Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images |
KIDS’ COVID VAX DELAY? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to initiate the process that allows states to order Covid-19 vaccines through a federal program that provides free immunizations to uninsured or underinsured children. “The ordering for Covid vaccines through the [Vaccines for Children] program has not opened yet at the CDC level,” Michelle Fiscus, chief medical officer at the Association of Immunization Managers, told POLITICO in an interview. The delay will also affect adults with insufficient or no health insurance who can access the vaccines through a separate federal program. The lag was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The shots are already available for privately insured children and adults, including at many pharmacies. The Food and Drug Administration approved the updated formulations for the 2026-2027 season in late August. Before the start of the second Trump administration, states could typically place orders for the shots around Labor Day, according to Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned from his position heading the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases last year. The updated vaccines become “shippable” as soon as the FDA authorizes them, he added. HHS’s view: “COVID-19 does not follow the same predictable seasonal pattern as influenza and other respiratory viruses,” said HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard in a statement, adding that Covid circulates year-round and usually increases in both the summer and winter months. “Accordingly, an arbitrary September date should not be treated as a public-health deadline for COVID-19 vaccine procurement.” Amesh Adalja, a senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, agreed that Covid doesn’t follow the same pattern as influenza but said that isn’t a reason to delay making the shot available to kids on the Vaccines for Children program. Under Kennedy’s leadership, the CDC stopped routinely recommending the shots for children unless they have weakened immune systems. “For high-risk people for whom the vaccine is very valuable, they are at risk year-round,” said Adalja. “So if it’s been some time since their last dose and they’re at higher risk, it makes sense to get the updated vaccine as soon as it’s available because there’s always some level of Covid activity.” What’s next: Hilliard also said the CDC is “finalizing decisions regarding COVID-19 vaccine procurement” through the VFC and its Section 317 programs that provide the shot to uninsured or underinsured adults, and added that more information will be released soon. “HHS and CDC have a responsibility to ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources and that vaccines procured through federally funded programs are appropriate for the populations those programs serve,” Hilliard added. WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. Heads up to the DMV folks who read this newsletter: The Maryland Department of Health is alerting residents about a potential measles exposure at several Ocean City locations. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@politico.com and sgardner@politico.com, and follow along @kelhoops and @sophie_gardnerJ.
|
| |
A message from the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare: How many more cuts to care can patients take? Funding cuts can impact patient access to hospitals and health systems through longer waits, fewer services, and closures that could scale back the 24/7 care their communities rely on. Tell Congress to reject cuts and protect timely access to hospital care when patients need it most. Tell Congress: Protect America’s Patients |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Sen. Bill Cassidy, left, doesn't have kind words for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images |
CASSIDY TALKS MEASLES, RFK JR. — Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health Committee, is once again slamming Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his vaccine positions and his handling of the country’s measles outbreaks — but stopping short of saying he regrets voting to confirm Kennedy. “If the way that you, quote unquote, ‘are serving the American people,’ is by confusing them as to the safety and benefits of vaccines, so much so that we have people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases like they haven’t died for decades,” Cassidy, a gastroenterologist, said in an interview this week for POLITICO’s “The Conversation” with Dasha Burns. “That’s not serving the American people — that’s doing wrong to the American people.” Cassidy, who lost a Republican primary in May, also called candidates and backers of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement “bankrupt” and “ideologically driven.” But even so, he deflected questions about whether he regrets casting the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy. “You can’t wallow. You gotta move on,” he said. Watch the full interview here.
|
|
|
TELEHEALTH PRESCRIBING — White House regulators are preparing to hear from four health-sector groups over the next week on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s unpublished final rule on telemedicine-prescribing for certain controlled substances, Amanda reports. In December, the DEA and Department of Health and Human Services extended pandemic-era flexibilities that allow practitioners to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled medications — prescription drugs categorized by the federal government based on their use and potential for abuse — via telehealth without conducting in-person medical evaluations through the end of this year. The American Psychiatric Association is up first, with a meeting scheduled for this afternoon. The American Academy of Physician Associates follows on Sept. 21, the Alliance for Connected Care on Sept. 23 and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists on Sept. 24. Background: The rule would govern how clinicians can remotely prescribe controlled substances, including stimulants and certain pain, anxiety, sleep and opioid use disorder medications, to patients who haven’t been examined in person. The organizations are expected to share their recommendations for the policy with regulators. The APA opposed several aspects of a proposed framework for the rule released by the DEA in January of last year, including a requirement that clinicians be physically located in the same state as the patient to remotely prescribe Schedule II-controlled drugs, like opioid pain medication oxycodone. The group said this requirement would hinder access to care in states with psychiatrist shortages, such as Idaho, Mississippi and Montana. The DEA’s draft rule has been under review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs since Aug. 25. Its text has not been made public.
|
| |
A message from the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare:  
|
| |
|
|
|
|
MEASLES CLASH CONTINUES — The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it’s begun the formal process of requesting an “Epi-Aid” from the CDC to help control a growing measles outbreak in the state. The Department of Health and Human Services says it hasn’t received the request — at least not through the “normal channels.” Timeline: In a statement shared with POLITICO on Thursday, Neil Ruhland, spokesperson for the state’s department of health, said the department’s measles response team contacted staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday to inquire about an Epi-Aid — a team of CDC epidemiologists that can provide outbreak response support. “CDC professional staff acknowledged our outreach was received and shared information about the application process shortly thereafter,” Ruhland said. On Wednesday evening, the state health secretary, Debra Bogen, emailed a letter to CDC director Erica Schwartz informing her that DOH had begun the process of requesting an Epi-Aid. CDC staff also met with state health department staff Thursday to further discuss the Epi-Aid, Ruhland said. Pennsylvania’s potential request for CDC support was first reported by Reuters. In a social media post Thursday, HHS said it hadn’t received an official request through the normal channels. On one condition: According to Bogen’s letter, provided to POLITICO by Ruhland, the state will rescind its request for aid if the CDC continues to omit the four state-reported measles-associated deaths from the agency’s official measles dashboard. “The CDC’s choice not to publicly recognize the deaths undermines our response,” Bogen wrote, adding that death classifications resulted from sound epidemiological investigations, based on the state’s case definition. “To date, CDC has not raised any questions or concerns about our definition.” In its social media post, the HHS said the CDC won’t “submit to political blackmail.” “Pennsylvania may classify deaths as ‘measles-associated’ under its state surveillance definition, but CDC is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to establish a standardized definition for measles deaths to ensure consistent reporting across jurisdictions,” HHS added. Key context: The episode is the latest front in an ongoing feud between HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Shapiro has accused Kennedy — who founded an anti-vaccine nonprofit before becoming health secretary — of spreading misinformation about vaccines that has ultimately contributed to the epidemic, while Kennedy has accused Shapiro of trying to use measles deaths in his state to score political points.
|
|
|
FIRST IN PULSE — Registered voters favor candidates committed to lowering health insurance premiums over those committed to lowering prescription drug prices, according to new polling by Morning Consult and Voters for Cures, an advocacy group launched by PhRMA, the brand-name drug lobby. Two-thirds of respondents said they’d prefer a candidate focused on reducing premiums, while 34 percent said they’d rather their candidate focus on lowering prescription drug prices. The poll also found that 23% of respondents said the cost of prescription medicines is one of the most important health care issues for them, while 30 percent said the cost of health insurance premiums is one of the most important. Details: The researchers surveyed 2,000 registered voters nationwide from August 25-27, and had a 2% margin of error. Read the full findings here.
|
|
|
POLITICO’s Carmen Paun and Lauren Gardner report on Kennedy’s speech to his former colleagues at Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group he founded more than a decade ago.
|
| |
A message from the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare: How many more cuts to care can patients take?
Hospitals and health systems provide 24/7 quality care to everyone who needs it, but they're being forced to absorb billions in unpaid care while facing continued funding cuts from Washington.
More cuts don't just hurt balance sheets — they impact patients, in the form of longer wait times, reduced services, and hospital closures that could leave entire communities without nearby care.
Congress must reject cuts because America’s patients deserve 24/7 quality hospital care.
Tell Congress: Protect America’s Patients |
| |
|
|
| |
Follow us on X
|
| |
Follow us
|
| |
|
Posts
0 Comments