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By Kelly Hooper and Sophie Gardner |
Presented by |
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With help from Alice Miranda Ollstein, Carmen Paun and Simon J. Levien
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Rep. Pramila Jayapal will push her congressional colleagues to mark up a Medicare for All bill next month. | Francis Chung/POLITICO |
THE PROGRESSIVE PLAN — Progressives on Capitol Hill are circulating a new poll, shared first with POLITICO, as they lobby Democratic leaders to back a renewed push for Medicare for All should the party flip control of either chamber of Congress in November, Alice reports. The survey, commissioned by Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s (D-Wash.) Medicare for All political action committee and conducted in August by Democratic pollster Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, shows strong support for a universal, government-run health system among Democrats at 94% — up from 90% last year. The poll also found that 60% of independents, 55% of conservative-leaning battleground districts and 19% of 2024 Trump voters backed the idea. That favorability also proved more resilient than in previous polls. When presented with common arguments against a government-run health system — such as its potential to raise taxes and lead to long wait times for care — support fell by only a few percentage points. GQR surveyed 1,200 likely 2026 voters nationwide and oversampled voters in battleground districts, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points. What’s next: Jayapal and her allies in the House and Senate plan to capitalize on the proposal’s popularity. When Congress returns in October, she intends to buttonhole her colleagues, especially party leaders who’ve been skeptical of the idea in the past, to push for the first-ever markup of a Medicare for All bill. But with President Donald Trump still in power, she said, the next few years will be more about laying the groundwork for 2029 — even if Democrats flip the House or Senate in November. “I’m very clear-eyed that you can’t pass a big bill like universal health care without a trifecta,” Jayapal told Alice. “So what I want to do is use the next two years to move the discussion forward and prepare the world for a trifecta in 2029. If there are disagreements within the [Democratic] caucus, this is our time to be able to start to [work those out] so that we can get the entire caucus on board.” WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that “everything” in his house is organic. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@politico.com and sgardner@politico.com, and follow along @kelhoops and @sophie_gardnerJ.
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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 |
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Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy continue to spar over the ongoing measles outbreak in Pennsylvania. | Win McNamee/Getty Images |
MEASLES FIGHT — The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s confirmation of two more “measles-associated” deaths has reignited a fight between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro over the state’s ongoing outbreak, Sophie reports. The two deaths, reported Tuesday, bring Pennsylvania’s measles-related death count to four. Before this year, Pennsylvania hadn’t reported a measles death for more than 30 years. The state’s health department reported two earlier deaths, both infants, in late August. However, a Lancaster County coroner said one infant died from a ruptured spleen, not measles. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t listed any measles deaths for 2026 on its website. On Tuesday, Shapiro accused Kennedy of covering up the deaths. “It is also deeply concerning to learn that the Secretary personally intervened in an otherwise administrative process to direct the CDC to not report these Pennsylvania deaths, presumably because it doesn’t fit his phony narrative,” he wrote on social media platform, X. Key context: The two deaths the Pennsylvania health department reported Tuesday were consistent with earlier reports of two measles deaths in adults from coroners in Jefferson and Mifflin counties. The outbreak has grown to nearly 700 cases across 38 counties. Meanwhile: Kennedy denied he was covering up the deaths in an X post on Tuesday and said Shapiro was allowing the outbreak to worsen by refusing assistance from the CDC that other states have accepted. “Governor Shapiro’s claim that I directed CDC to suppress Pennsylvania deaths is false,” Kennedy wrote. “CDC is applying a consistent national standard rather than allowing politicians to decide which deaths appear in federal mortality statistics.” |
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Spencer Cox on America’s political divide In the latest episode of On the Road, Jonathan Martin sits down with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to discuss his new book, Off Ramp, the future of the Republican Party, immigration reform and what he says it will take to rebuild trust and community in American life.
Watch now. |
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DEMS PRESS KLOMP ON PHARMA DEALS — Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts pressed Chris Klomp on Tuesday about the details of contracts he negotiated with two dozen pharmaceutical companies, Carmen reports. “I want to know what was given away in these contracts,” Warren told Klomp, who appeared before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing to be deputy health secretary. Klomp has been President Donald Trump’s drug price negotiator since the 45-year-old health entrepreneur served as Medicare director under Administrator Mehmet Oz at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The president has touted Klomp’s success in getting the world’s biggest drug companies to ink deals with his administration to lower their prices as evidence of Klomp’s prowess as a negotiator. At the Tuesday hearing, Klomp said those deals led to lower drug prices on TrumpRx, the president’s direct-to-consumer prescription drug website, and argued the agreements’ confidentiality is needed to secure good deals with other companies the administration continues to negotiate with.
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A message from the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare:  
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NO SURPRISES SESSIONS — A Senate committee held stakeholder roundtables on Tuesday to discuss reforms to the 2020 No Surprises Act, which set up how doctors and insurers are paid for unexpected medical bills, Simon reports. The act, originally co-sponsored by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chair Bill Cassidy, shielded patients from unexpected out-of-network emergency care bills. But it has come under fire for creating a case backlog in a system that critics argue can pay disproportionately in favor of doctors. Employers, physicians, insurers and unions — groups typically at odds — held a cordial, constructive talk about possible solutions, according to four people familiar with the meetings who were granted anonymity to speak candidly. Committee staff also met separately with the arbitrators responsible for overseeing and resolving payment disputes. Over three hours, the stakeholder group didn’t settle on any policy changes, but they agreed on the need to eliminate the dispute backlog by filtering out ineligible claims and encouraging faster payouts. The group emphasized the importance of benchmark rates for medical services, known as qualified payment amounts, when determining payouts and that only emergency care bills should be eligible for arbitration. “It is early, and the devil will be in the details, so to speak, as conversations continue, but overall a positive vibe,” said one of the four people familiar with the discussion. Another of the four, who was a provider attendee, said, “It was pointed but respectful.” Some stakeholders called for better aligning the dispute payouts with QPAs and improving transparency and auditing in the dispute process. Eliminating ineligible claims and enforcing payment deadlines are considered to be quicker fixes, two of the people said, but any QPA change represents a more ambitious revision to the No Surprises Act. One of the people said the group also discussed reconfiguring the arbitrators’ role in the process. What’s next: The Senate HELP Committee will hold a roundtable with members next week to talk through legislative solutions. |
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Canberra Playbook Your morning read on Australian federal politics. Canberra Playbook: clear, impartial and free every weekday before the working day starts. Subscribe free.
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Madeline Peltzer is now a speechwriter at the Department of Health and Human Services for Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She previously served in public affairs for Acting Secretary Keith Sonderling at the Department of Labor.
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POLITICO Influence reports on a veteran health care lobbyist facing more than 30 child pornography-related charges.
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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 |
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