POLITICO's Pulse Check

President Biden aims to limit short-term health coverage to a maximum of four months, reversing a previous regulation allowing for longer time periods implemented during the Trump administration. Host Kelly Hooper talks with Robert King about an array of recently proposed rules at HHS, DOL and the Treasury Department that the Biden administration believes will safeguard consumers and strengthen the Obamacare exchange by reining in what the president calls “junk insurance” plans.

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Jesse Ehrenfeld, the newly inaugurated president of the American Medical Association, is focusing on the political pressures doctors face as well as their pay. Host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Daniel Payne about what’s on Ehrenfeld’s mind as he takes the helm of one of the most influential groups in Washington.

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Congressional Republicans have recently criticized CMS, claiming the agency ignored input from an appointed board of doctors about how to transition Medicare payment policies using new payment models. The new models switch from a focus on the volume of physician services provided to patients to payment models in which the value of services dominates. Host Carmen Paun talks with Robert King about the board, known as PTAC, and GOP concerns about the way CMS is implementing the switch to value-based care payment models.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has unveiled final guidance explaining how its negotiations with manufacturers over drug prices for Medicare patients will proceed. Congress last year authorized price bargaining on a limited number of medicines. Host Kelly Hooper talks with Robert King about how it will work.

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Today marks CDC Director Rochelle Walensky’s last day at the agency. Host Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with Daniel Payne, who spoke to Walensky about what’s next for the future of the CDC and for her successor.

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As the Alzheimer’s drug landscape shifts, drugmakers are developing the next class of treatments. Host Kelly Hooper talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about the future of such therapies.

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An abortion dispute in Congress threatens to jeopardize the reauthorization of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, credited with saving 25 million lives from the disease in the developing world. Host Megan Messerly talks with Carmen Paun about the debate over whether federal funds should support HIV/AIDS organizations that support abortion rights.

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The FDA released draft guidance for researchers designing clinical trials using psychedelic drugs. Host Ben Leonard talks with Erin Schumaker about the future of psychedelic drug research and development.

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House Republicans want to reform Medicare’s oft-criticized payment system in order to better compensate doctors and reduce their paperwork burdens, but Daniel Payne tells host Kelly Hooper that his reporting shows prospects for legislation this year are slim given competing legislative priorities and the complexity of the problem. 

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It’s been a year since the landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, with Republican and Democrat-controlled states taking opposing approaches to abortion rights. POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly go over the developments that defied predictions.

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