Democratic governors see IVF following a familiar post-Dobbs pattern
So-called personhood laws are on a legal collision course with IVF in some states.
Arizona lawmaker says she announced plans to get abortion to underscore out-of-touch laws
Democratic Sen. Eva Burch of Mesa told fellow lawmakers in a floor speech she was going to get an abortion because her pregnancy is no longer viable.
Arizona lawmaker says she plans to get an abortion in floor speech
Arizona lawmaker says she plans to get an abortion in floor speech
Biden's uneasiness on abortion riles progressives — again
Some on the left are dismayed by what they see as a harmful divide between “good” and “bad” abortions.
POLITICO Health Care Summit: The issues that will shape the 2024 campaign
President Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s rematch will center on concerns about cost, access and quality of care.
Doctors are worried about the ideas bots are putting in patients’ heads
Some are proposing the government needs to ensure artificial intelligence-powered chatbots rely on trustworthy health data.
Tanden: National ban is GOP’s ‘moderate’ position on abortion
Tanden said Republicans are virtually unified in their calls for a federal abortion ban — and that the debate is only over how far to go.
Conway urges Republicans to flip the script on abortion
The former Trump adviser wants the GOP to stop claiming Democrats support abortion “up until the moment of birth.”
Becerra leaves the door open to drug testing welfare recipients
The HHS chief also spoke about reproductive health care, saying he doubts Alabama will be the last state to grapple with how to address IVF.
Harris to visit Planned Parenthood clinic that provides abortions in Minnesota
The visit comes as part of Harris’ nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
5 takeaways from POLITICO’s Health Care Summit
Biden administration officials, lawmakers and policy experts addressed the health policy issues shaping this year’s elections.
Manchin says Biden’s reelection is in jeopardy
At POLITICO’s Health Care Summit, the West Virginia Democrat took aim at the president on fentanyl overdoses and border enforcement.
‘License to kill’: Anti-abortion groups rage against the GOP
Some groups are running ads against longstanding GOP allies that use the same graphic imagery — blood, babies and scalpels — they have long deployed to oppose Democrats and the abortion-rights movement.
The CDC could shrink under a second Trump administration
A CDC reorganization as some conservatives are calling for could impact the agency’s ability to help prevent or mitigate the spread of disease, according to a former agency director.
How Biden’s SOTU guest upended the abortion debate
Kate Cox’s fight for an abortion in Texas highlights Dobbs’ knock-on effects.
Alabama enacts protections for IVF doctors after court rules embryos are children
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the legislation as soon as it reached her desk Wednesday night.
‘Our prayer is that it doesn't even reach the ballot’: Inside Arizona’s abortion battle
Opponents of the reproductive rights referendum are waging a campaign to discourage voters from signing petitions.
Democrats invite doctors, patients to SOTU to highlight Dobbs’ ripple effects
Democrats are working to make abortion and reproductive health care a central issue in the 2024 election.
White House turns to health care in Biden’s latest move against ‘corporate greed’
The announcement is expected to be touted this week, alongside efforts to increase competition in food, housing and other kitchen table issues.
Americans overwhelmingly support keeping IVF legal for women, poll finds
Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said IVF should be legal for women trying to get pregnant.
Duckworth to demand vote on IVF bill
The bill would establish federal protections that override any state policy restricting IVF access.
Republicans have an answer on IVF. It's only raising more questions.
At the same time that they are professing support for IVF, dozens of congressional Republicans have signed onto so-called personhood legislation.
CDC loosens Covid isolation guidance
The guidance for Covid now aligns with RSV and the flu and comes amid a marked decrease in Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths, and as many people tell officials they don’t bother to test when ill.
CVS, Walgreens to begin dispensing abortion pills this month
The move comes just weeks before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could prohibit brick-and-mortar pharmacies from dispensing the commonly used abortion pill.
Senate Dems set up IVF showdown
Any one senator could block the unanimous consent request.
Alabama legislature votes to restore IVF access
The votes in the House and the Senate come nearly two weeks after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen eggs are children, setting off a national debate about how IVF is performed in the U.S.
‘Scratching their heads’: State lawmakers take a closer look at personhood laws in wake of Alabama ruling
The Alabama Supreme Court ruling that granted legal personhood to frozen embryos puts a new spotlight on states with laws that confer rights on fetuses from the moment of fertilization.
Graham opposes IVF ruling: 'Nobody's ever been born in a freezer'
Graham opposes IVF ruling: 'Nobody's ever been born in a freezer'
GAO: Billions wasted on federal health insurance program
The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees health insurance for 8 million federal workers and their families at a cost of more than $60 billion a year, has never checked the eligibility of those on its rolls.
Alabama Republicans want to give IVF doctors immunity after court rules frozen embryos are kids
The proposal comes a little more than a week after the state’s high court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children under a state law on wrongful deaths of minors — leading three fertility clinics to pause their operations, setting off a national debate over in vitro fertilization and challenging Republicans already struggling to…
Alabama said frozen embryos are kids. The GOP isn’t sure what to do about it.
IVF — and specifically how to handle unused, frozen embryos — was rarely, if ever, discussed outside of the rightmost fringes of anti-abortion and religious circles. As Republicans rush to understand what the procedure entails and the ripple effects from the Alabama ruling, conservative leaders warn that a failure to quickly reach a consensus will…
‘Another hot potato’: Alabama’s IVF ruling risks political, legal backlash
“It certainly intersects, badly, with general election politics for Republicans,” said Stan Barnes, a political consultant and former Republican state senator in Arizona. “When a state, any state, takes an aggressive action on this particular topic, people are once again made aware of it and many think: ‘Maybe I can’t support a Republican in the…
Red states hopeful for a 2nd Trump term prepare to curtail Medicaid
The Trump administration authorized 13 states’ work requirements, which tied Medicaid to employment, though only Arkansas’ got off the ground. More than 18,000 people were removed from the rolls in that state before a U.S. District Court judge blocked the program in 2019 and the Biden administration revoked states’ approvals, effectively stifling efforts nationwide. But…
‘No one’s coming to save us’: Abortion campaigns scramble for limited cash
The scramble is pitting abortion-rights supporters in states with near-total bans against those in states where abortion is legal but under threat against those in battleground states where Democrats hope a strong abortion access campaign will juice turnout and propel President Joe Biden and congressional candidates to victory. “If we had an unlimited budget, which…
Advocates hope Jimmy Carter’s endurance in hospice care drives awareness
“It’s been massive to have the Carters be so public,” said Angela Novas, chief medical officer for the Hospice Foundation of America, based in Washington. “It has shed hospice in a new light, and it’s raised questions” for people to learn more. The Carter family released a statement ahead of Sunday, the one-year anniversary of…
Artificial intelligence is making critical health care decisions. The sheriff is MIA
Unlike medical devices or drugs, AI software changes. Rather than issuing a one-time approval, FDA wants to monitor artificial intelligence products over time, something it’s never done proactively. President Joe Biden in October promised a coordinated and fast response from his agencies to ensure AI safety and efficacy. But regulators like the FDA don’t have…
Trump won’t rule out 16-week abortion ban, but won’t commit either
“As President Trump has stated, he would sit down with both sides and negotiate a deal that everyone will be happy with,” Karoline Leavitt, campaign press secretary, said in a statement. Trump’s reported proposal would be less draconian than some state bans implemented by GOP politicians and would allow exceptions for rape, incest and life…
What State of the State addresses tell us about the 2028 presidential race
The partisan, cross-border swipes during the late January speech may say more about American politics in 2028 than in 2024. Many of the country’s highest-profile state executives — several talked up as likely presidential contenders in four years — are using their agenda-setting annual speeches to land blows on their counterparts in far off state…
Alzheimer’s program renewal on the way, lawmakers say
“It could easily be part of this package,” he said. “I’ll certainly push that it should be part of it.” Kaine said he was among those fine-tuning the package for reauthorization. “We want to do it sooner rather than later,” Rep. Brett Guthrie (right) said. | Rod Lamkey Jr. for POLITICO It isn’t just the…
Five takeaways from POLITICO’s ‘How Fast Can We Solve Alzheimer’s’ Event
Here are the top takeaways: 1. The Senate is trying to advance a health care package in 2024. “We need to do it,” Kaine said, pointing to health care workforce and pharmacy benefit manager bills that passed out of the HELP Committee last year. “The discussion that’s happening right now on the committee is —…
Biogen to cease production of controversial Alzheimer’s drug
“When searching for new medicines, one breakthrough can be the foundation that triggers future medicines to be developed,” Christopher A. Viehbacher, Biogen’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “ADUHELM was that groundbreaking discovery that paved the way for a new class of drugs and reinvigorated investments in the field.” While Aduhelm and Leqembi were…
Southern Republicans learn to love Obamacare
The shift is partly a byproduct of a historic realignment that has seen more working-class voters gravitate to the GOP, largely driven by an affinity for the populist rhetoric of Donald Trump. The changing attitudes could reshape health care in the South by allowing nearly half a million uninsured people to obtain coverage, improving the…
Syphilis cases spike as budget cuts threaten efforts to contain outbreaks
“It’s really quite concerning,” Laura Bachmann, acting director of the CDC’s STD office, told POLITICO. “We need to do things differently. We need more investment in infrastructure, innovation, treatment, diagnosis, prevention — there’s a lot of work to be done.” But public health experts worry they won’t have adequate resources to do that work given…
The anti-abortion plan ready for Trump on Day One
Many of the policies they advocate are ones Trump implemented in his first term and President Joe Biden rescinded — rules that would have a far greater impact in a post-Roe landscape. Other items on the wish list are new, ranging from efforts to undo state and federal programs promoting access to abortion to a…
Biden’s got pharma’s back in global pandemic treaty negotiations
For those countries and their advocates, it’s a striking stance — given what happened after Covid arrived: They shared data about new variants only to see the rich world hoard most of the vaccines. “There’s a contradiction, [an] enormous amount of hypocrisy,” said James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, who advocates for wider access…
Covid killed 170,000 in nursing homes. Most residents still haven’t gotten the latest shot.
“Americans look to you as the highest public health official in the land; it would speak volumes if, in addition to other actions, you appealed directly to residents and their family members,” Katie Smith Sloan, president of industry group LeadingAge, wrote in a Dec. 22 letter to Becerra. More than 170,000 nursing home residents have…
Ohio bans gender-affirming care and restricts transgender athletes
Officials expect the law to take effect in roughly 90 days. The Republican-majority House had voted to override the veto earlier this month. Two of Kat Scaglione’s three children are transgender, and the Chagrin Falls artist is devastated, but not surprised, by the new law. Her 14-year-old daughter Amity is already receiving mental health services…
Biden leans into abortion, contraception as 2024 campaign strategy takes shape
The Biden strategy: The ad released Sunday features a Texas OB-GYN forced to travel out of state to terminate her wanted but nonviable pregnancy. On Monday, the White House announced executive actions to improve access to abortion and contraception. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Wisconsin Monday to kick off a national “reproductive freedoms…
Republicans fume over lack of anti-abortion policies in funding fight
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, warned “the majority of the Republican conference” will be “disappointed and upset” if Johnson doesn’t do more to fight for the anti-abortion policy riders that conservatives have demanded since last year. “You’re not going to get everything that you want when you have divided government,”…
States get serious about limiting kids’ social media exposure
The states are moving because they believe social media is contributing to increasing rates of mental illness among children, and because Congress hasn’t. There’s bipartisan support on Capitol Hill to do more, but lawmakers there can’t agree on whether a national privacy standard should override state laws. A national standard that protects all kids would…
Florida gets FDA approval for Canadian drug importation plan
“Florida has demonstrated that [the drug importation plan] will significantly reduce the cost of [drugs] to the American consumer without posing additional risk to the public’s health and safety,” the FDA said in its letter authorizing the Florida plan. Before drugs can be imported, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration needs to submit specific medicines…
DeWine bans gender-affirming surgery for minors one week after veto
DeWine bans gender-affirming surgery for minors one week after veto
When ‘elective’ doesn’t mean optional: Lloyd Austin’s cancer surgery
A prostatectomy, the surgery Austin underwent last month, can be serious and is required for some patients, even if not urgently, said Dr. Quoc-Dien Trinh, co-director of the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Prostate Cancer Center. The procedure removes some or all of the prostate to remove the cancer. There are minimally invasive versions of the surgery,…
A starring role for NASA in Biden’s push to end cancer
Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly interested in space to develop and improve drugs, and to extend their patents. “We’re right on the cusp of some major new developments,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told POLITICO. “They’ve got a full-time laboratory with all of the instruments and dedicated crew time.” Nelson has perspective. He conducted early cancer experiments…
Supreme Court to decide whether hospitals must provide life-saving abortions
The high court’s Friday order also effectively allows Idaho to enforce its prohibition on performing abortions, even in medical emergencies. The order temporarily freezes a lower court decision that blocked the law. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote to hospitals last May reminding them…
The FDA just cleared the way for drug importation. What now?
“The likelihood of this actually materializing is negligible,” said Eric Miller, a Washington-based trade consultant. “[The FDA knows] that the pharmaceutical companies are not going to oversupply the Canadian market.” While the move allows Biden to claim another drug pricing win on the campaign trail, pollsters and political operatives said the fact Americans are unlikely…
Congenital syphilis jumped tenfold over the last decade
Congenital syphilis, which was nearly eliminated at the turn of this century, jumped 755 percent over the last decade, according to CDC data released Tuesday, reaching 3,761 cases in 2022. The rise occurred across all geographic regions as well as racial and ethnic groups, but the worst rates were among American Indian and Alaska natives…
Senate confirms Monica Bertagnolli as NIH director
While Bertagnolli won confirmation with ease, her road there was rocky. After President Joe Biden tapped her to lead NIH in May, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) held up her nomination for months in an effort to extract a comprehensive plan to lower drug prices from the White House. He and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman were…
Five takeaways from the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit
Here are POLITICO’s top takeaways from the summit: Advanced AI can improve care — but it comes with challenges. AI was the hottest topic of the conference — whether on or off the stage. Industry leaders, experts and government officials see a place for the rapidly advancing tech in doctors’ offices, pharmaceutical development, diagnostics and…
Why Democrats can’t rely on abortion ballot initiatives to help them win
Those initiatives are likely to draw some support from Republican voters. The POLITICO analysis of data from five states that have held abortion referendums since 2022 shows varied levels of crossover voting, with a decisive share of voters in some states backing both Republican candidates and abortion rights. That underscores the ambiguity for 2024, when…
Abortion rights win elections, even in deep-red states
When the right to abortion is on the ballot, it wins. It wins in red states that voted for President Donald Trump. It wins in counties President Joe Biden lost by more than 20 points. It wins when popular Republican officials campaign for it and when they ignore it. And it wins even when the…
Donald Trump’s HIV-fighting program is under threat in the GOP House
When POLITICO asked Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), the chair of the subcommittee overseeing the Department of Health and Human Services’ budget, about the reasoning behind the cut, he cited a need to prioritize. “It’s one of those things where it’s like, what do you have to have and what would be nice to have?” said…
The rationing of popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy has already begun
Since July, state health plan members seeking drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss must first take part in a clinical lifestyle management program called Flyte, which offers online tools for weight management. Participants can meet with providers and receive personalized care plans. Those providers might prescribe one of the medications, which…
Mental hospitals warehoused the sick. Congress wants to let them try again.
“It is no longer the 1960s, and there is no longer the same stigma against the treatment of mental health,” said GOP Rep. Michael Burgess, a doctor representing Dallas’ affluent northern suburbs who sponsored a House bill to change the rule. The House passed it Dec. 12. It would give states the option to treat…
‘It was stunning’: Bipartisan anger aimed at Medicare Advantage care denials
“It was stunning how many times senators on both sides of the aisle kept linking constituent problems with denying authorizations for care,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in an interview, referring to a bevy of complaints from colleagues during a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing. Congress has already gone after insurers for their celebrity-filled ads…
AI’s big test: Making sense of $4 trillion in medical expenses
“Everyone’s trying to maximize revenue while towing the line on, effectively, fraud,” said Nick Stepro, chief product and technology officer at Arcadia, a company that works with health care organizations on both sides of the divide looking to build the technology. It’s true, he believes, that advanced AI will bring a host of positive impacts…
Ohio governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care, school sports for trans youth
DeWine said he spoke with physicians, lawmakers and families on all sides of the issue before making his decision. He added that he would pursue regulations to ban gender-affirming surgery on minors and address what he described as ideologically driven clinics that could seek to influence patients’ decisions. “These are parents who have watched their…
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoes bill banning gender-affirming care
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoes bill banning gender-affirming care
No one’s promising you can keep your doctor anymore
“You’re not going to go back to the old days,” Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate panel with responsibility for the nation’s health care, said in an interview. Both Republicans and Democrats agree the old way is no longer feasible — and they’re helping to speed its demise. Sanders has proposed legislation with…
Tobacco settlement architect Mike Moore warns about risks of wasting opioid dollars
There are a lot of tools in the toolbox when it comes to addressing the opioid crisis. But sometimes it seems like state and local governments are grasping at straws when it comes to actually putting them into practice. Do state and local governments know how to effectively put these dollars to use? You can’t…
China says surge in respiratory illnesses caused by flu and other known pathogens
“Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines,” said ministry spokesman Mi Feng. He advised people to wear masks and called on local authorities to focus on preventing the spread of illnesses in crowded places such as schools and nursing…
Georgia’s public health insurance experiment is off to a slow start
Democrats have long tried to persuade red states to expand the federal Medicaid program and bring health insurance to more of their most vulnerable residents. The Biden administration sweetened the pot in 2021 with additional federal money, but GOP officials, including Kemp, have been reluctant to take the offer unless they can tie benefits to…
Chinese hospitals are full of sick children, but don’t worry
Many children have never previously encountered the viruses or bacteria that can cause illness, and are particularly susceptible. Still, last week’s demand by the World Health Organization for information from China on “reported clusters of pneumonia in children in Northern China” reminded the world of the start of the pandemic nearly four years ago, and…
CDC director: Illness in China not caused by new pathogen
CDC director: Illness in China not caused by new pathogen
GOP senators: Halt travel with China to stop ‘mystery illness’
American public health experts seconded that assessment in interviews with POLITICO. They said it was likely that China, which only ended its Covid-19 lockdowns in January, was experiencing the same return of seasonal respiratory diseases that the U.S. and other nations did earlier. The WHO has advised against travel restrictions. But the Republican senators, Marco…
Why an expanded Obamacare is even harder to repeal today
Now, he said in an interview Thursday, while he remains critical of the law, “it’s not that simple.” Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia have expanded Medicaid in the past six years. And the most unpopular piece of the law — the individual mandate penalty for people who don’t…
AI is driving Google’s health care business. Washington doesn’t know what to do about it.
“There is great promise in many of these tools to save more lives,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), adding that “they also have the potential to do exactly the opposite — harm patients and their data, reinforce human bias, and add burdens to providers as they navigate a clinical and legal landscape without clear norms.”…
‘Not where I wanted to be’: PEPFAR champion acknowledges impasse
McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that oversees the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, had been cautiously optimistic for months that he could broker a deal to re-up a program that is credited with saving 25 million lives and long enjoyed bipartisan support. But he has been unable to bridge the divide…
Landmark gene-editing therapy approved: here’s what you need to know
Private insurers may be reluctant to since Americans typically change insurers every few years. An insurer who covers the enormous cost of the therapy won’t necessarily gain savings later when patients no longer need other treatment options: pain medication, blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants. At the same time, the long-term safety profile of the…
Dems want to focus on abortion rights. A Trump ally may have just helped.
“All of this confusion is revealing that Dobbs is not itself workable,” said Greer Donley, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, referring to the case that overturned Roe. “Dobbs is premised on the distinction between elective and therapeutic abortions, that … you can ban one while protecting the other. We’re learning in real…
How America’s coming mining boom could upend local health care
‘It’s a problem’ These primary care and hospital challenges have their own ripple effects. The mines and other large employers, looking to avoid the hospital’s high prices, have contracted with a surgery management company that coordinates out-of-town care, often in Salt Lake, to save money. Patients who have the means travel on their own. Doctors…
Texas woman who sought court permission for abortion leaves state for the procedure, attorneys say
The organization did not disclose where Cox went. On Monday, she would have been 20 weeks and six days pregnant. Hours after the announcement, the Texas Supreme Court issued its decision, ruling against Cox. “These laws reflect the policy choice that the Legislature has made, and the courts must respect that choice,” the court wrote…
Kellyanne Conway pushes Republicans to embrace contraception
Trump himself has blamed anti-abortion groups and the strict laws they support for electoral defeats in 2022 and 2023. And several prominent conservatives have implored Republicans in the post-Roe era to focus on issues such as contraception and maternal care to improve perception of the GOP’s approach to women’s health as Democrats have wielded the…
Conservatives move to keep abortion off the 2024 ballot
The emerging strategy aims to prevent abortion rights groups from notching their third, and largest, set of ballot measure victories since Roe v. Wade was overturned. And while conservatives celebrated the fall of Roe for returning the question of abortion rights to the people, these efforts are seen as an implicit admission that anti-abortion groups…
Biden administration pleads with states after millions of kids lose Medicaid coverage
Becerra also asked the states to remove barriers to Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollment for children no longer eligible for Medicaid, reduce call center times for families and expand their Medicaid programs if they haven’t already. “Because all children deserve to have access to comprehensive health coverage, I urge you to ensure that no child…
230,000 more RSV shots on the way after pressure from Biden officials
“The CDC is still recommending [the shot] on their website even though it’s nowhere to be found,” said Dr. Jesse Hackell, a pediatrician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ New York chapter. “The messaging is not consistent with what’s going on.” The plan to make more shots available early next year follows…