Andy Slavitt has been busy: Since leaving office in January, the man who ran Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA has mounted a whirlwind defense of Obamacare, holding town halls coast to coast and being ever-present on social media. And in a repeat podcast appearance, Slavitt rejoins POLITICO's Dan Diamond to explain his strategy — and what this year has been like as his profile exploded. Andy discusses how he morphed from Obama administration official to the ACA's most visible advocate (starts at the 3:00 mark), the bipartisan solutions he thinks are necessary in health care (6:30), what he thinks HHS will do and why he thinks his criticism of the GOP is fair (12:00), whether he'd ever run for office (25:00), if he still needs the media as someone with 100,000-plus Twitter followers (34:30), and what he's learned about communications strategy since leaving office (42:20). Note: This conversation was recorded in late July, a few days before the Senate GOP health bill failed on the floor. We’d appreciate your help: Please share PULSE CHECK and rate us on your favorite podcast app! Have questions, suggestions or feedback? Email [email protected] or tweet him @ddiamond.

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