POLITICO's Pulse Check

The health care industry is trying to stop "Medicare for All." It's also a non-starter with Republicans, and some Democrats don't like it either.

But progressives who support single-payer can count on the muscle of one key constituency: Organized labor.

Bonnie Castillo, the head of National Nurses United, joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss why her 150,000-member-strong union has thrown its support behind Medicare for All, why she thinks the legislation would help patients and her members, and how her organization is setting strategy and viewing the 2020 election.

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Activist Ady Barkan, who's testifying at this week's historic Medicare for All hearing, appeared on "Pulse Check" in December 2017, at an earlier stage of fighting ALS.

National Nurses United helped organize a Medicare for All protest outside of the headquarters of PhRMA, the drug lobby, on Monday.

Nursing unions have spent years pushing for policy priorities like nurse-to-patient ratios.

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HHS Secretary Alex Azar and other officials this week unveiled new payment pilots that they say will transform primary care. Are they right?

POLITICO's Rachel Roubein and Paul Demko join Dan Diamond to discuss the payment pilots (starts at the 1:30 mark), the latest Obamacare changes (starts at the 9:35 mark) and new developments in the "Medicare-for-All" debate (starts at the 17:10 mark).

Then Asaf Bitton, the new leader of Ariadne Labs — the Atul Gawande-founded think tank — joins PULSE CHECK to discuss his vision for Ariadne and his experience as an adviser on this week's primary care reforms (starts at the 25:10 mark).

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HHS on Monday unveiled new payment pilots intended to reward primary care providers for high-value care. In a speech, Azar called it a "historic turning point in American health care."

CMS last week finalized new rules for the Obamacare marketplace in 2020, which the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said will hit many consumers' pocketbooks.

A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that "Medicare for All" has fallen behind other priorities like lower drug costs.

POLITICO's Rachana Pradhan and Dan Goldberg looked at blue states' fight to create "public option" health plans.

Meanwhile, Bitton was named the new leader of Ariadne Labs, succeeding Gawande, and laid out his strategy.

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On this week's episode, POLITICO reporters debate two of the biggest stories in health policy.

First, POLITICO's Adam Cancryn and Alice Miranda Ollstein join Dan Diamond to discuss Bernie Sanders' new Medicare for All plan and how Democrats are approaching the fight for coverage expansion.

Then after the break (starts at the 25:30 mark), pharma reporter Sarah Owermohle summarizes recent Congressional hearings into high drug prices and pharmacy benefit managers and previews a possible regulation to come.

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Sanders unveiled his Medicare for All plan last week and touted it aggressively — including on Fox News.

Congressional Republicans have pushed for votes on Medicare for All, seeking to highlight Democrats' splits.

The New York Times profiled the tensions between the Sanders campaign and the Center for American Progress, partly over health care plans. The article sparked outrage from many Democrats, some of whom objected to quoting the 78-year-old mother of CAP's president.

Lawmakers grilled insulin manufacturers and PBMs last week over high drug prices.

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Tony Fauci joined NIH in 1968. He was named head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984.

And on a warm day in April 2019, he sat down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to reflect on his ongoing work — from the emergence of HIV/AIDS nearly 40 years ago to how the Trump administration is trying to end the epidemic.

On the podcast, Fauci also discussed the resurgence of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, his perspective on the Trump administration and what it's like to give advice to a president.

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President Donald Trump has vowed to effectively end HIV transmission within a decade.

Fauci has long argued that we have the tools to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Jen Kates of the Kaiser Family Foundation recently appeared on "Pulse Check" to discuss Trump's HIV policy.

Fauci was a prominent voice during the Ebola epidemic, urging a measured response and even treating one patient himself.

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Rep. Joe Kennedy first appeared on this podcast in early 2017, at House Democrats' lowest moment: The GOP had steamrolled the party, speeding an Affordable Care Act repeal bill that seemed inevitable.

But the GOP's efforts ultimately failed; Democrats retook the House a year later; and Kennedy this week rejoined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to reflect on how House Democrats' health policy has changed as they've become the majority party, why he now supports a Medicare for All bill, how he approaches questioning Trump officials like HHS Secretary Alex Azar and more.

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Kennedy's 2017 appearance on the "Pulse Check" podcast.

House Democrats have worried that the push for "Medicare for All" could divert the caucus' energy from other health care priorities, like preserving the Affordable Care Act.

Kennedy's questioning of HHS Secretary Alex Azar during a hearing last month, which went viral.

Kennedy last week introduced a bill to strengthen Medicaid and CHIP funding.

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Just a year ago, Mike Braun was an underdog in the Republican primary for an Indiana Senate seat. Now he's a freshman senator, installed on the Senate's key health care committee — and pushing his own package of health reforms.

Braun joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to explain his frustration over how Washington regulates the U.S. health system, his criticism of the latest effort to strike down the ACA and why he thinks more Republicans need to make health care a policy priority.

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Scott Gottlieb was nominated to run the FDA in March 2017. Two years — and nearly 500 press announcements — later, the productive and high-profile commissioner is preparing to step down in early April 2019.

Gottlieb joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss why he's leaving FDA (starts at 1:30), his regulatory and communications strategy (4:40), his work on medical device safety (10:30), digital health (16:30), opioid abuse (19:15), the Trump administration's approach to science and the choice of Ned Sharpless as acting FDA commissioner (24:25), what Gottlieb would've pursued if he had more time at FDA (26:30) and if he'll ever return to government (28:30).

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As commissioner, Gottlieb has received bipartisan praise for his activist agenda.

Gottlieb's aggressive moves as commissioner came as a surprise, given his pre-Trump administration reputation as someone with a free-market background.

The conservative Washington Times cheered Gottlieb's departure, suggesting that he became "an avenging angel for the Nanny state" and pushed too much regulation on vaping.

Before rejoining FDA in 2017, Gottlieb was a frequent critic of its actions, such as in a 2010 AEI column where Gottlieb urged FDA to become more transparent on drug company letters.

Gottlieb steered numerous reforms at FDA, including pushing an overhaul of medical device reviews.

FDA recently approved a powerful painkiller called Dsuvia, drawing some criticism.

Gottlieb's January 2018 and November 2018 appearances on "Pulse Check."

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He's tried to cut global HIV funds. He's made moves to roll back LGBTQ protections. He reportedly confused "HIV" and "HPV."

Can we really trust President Donald Trump when he promises to end the HIV epidemic in a decade?

Jen Kates of the Kaiser Family Foundation joins POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss the president's pledge, his latest funding moves and the state of the global fight against HIV.

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Trump promised at the State of the Union that he would end "AIDS in America and beyond."

The strategy unveiled by Trump's health department faces a potential minefield, from skeptical public health experts to conservative religious organizations.

Meanwhile, Trump's budget proposed new money for domestic HIV initiatives — but significantly cut global health efforts.

Anthony Fauci, the federal government's top infectious disease official, says that the recent cure of an HIV patient isn't a path to curing everyone.

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FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb's leaving the Trump administration, and POLITICO reporters react to the monumental news.

In the first panel (starts at the 1:30 mark), Sarah Karlin-Smith and Adam Cancryn join Dan Diamond to react to Gottlieb's resignation and discuss the political implications.

In the second panel (starts at the 21:00 mark), Sarah Owermohle and Helena Bottemiller Evich join Dan to discuss Gottlieb's policies and reflect on his legacy.

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Gottlieb's appeared on PULSE CHECK twice: In January 2018, to discuss his agency's priorities, and November 2018, to unveil his e-cigarette strategy.

POLITICO's Sarah, Sarah and Helena looked at Gottlieb's departure and key milestones.

Bloomberg's Max Nisen argued that Gottlieb was the Trump administration's most popular official.

The shutdown hit FDA especially hard, with Gottlieb and others warning that FDA's food safety inspections were imperiled.

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More than 100 House Democrats on Wednesday, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, unveiled their sweeping Medicare for All legislation. So what comes next — and why is the health care industry so opposed to it?

First, POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein joins Dan Diamond (starts at the 1:05 mark) on Capitol Hill to explain the state of play.

Then Lauren Crawford Shaver, head of the Partnership for America's Health Care Future (starts at the 9:00 mark), explains why her members — groups like the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association — think Medicare for All and Democrats' other proposals are non-starters.

REFERENCED ON THE SHOW

Democrats' Medicare for All bill, released this week, doesn't include a price tag, Alice and POLITICO's Adam Cancryn wrote.

Jayapal appeared on "Pulse Check" in December 2018 to discuss her Medicare for All plans.

The Partnership has been running digital ads against Medicare for All.

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