POLITICO's Pulse Check

The Senate is driving forward on its health care bill, with a vote looming as soon as late June — even though it's still not clear what's in the bill or if they'll have the votes. How should you think about the Senate's push? Rodney Whitlock — who was health care adviser to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley — joins POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss the dynamics of the Senate and what's at stake in the health care fight. Meanwhile: there’s a lot more to health care than the ACA and AHCA. And after the break, Niall Brennan — the former chief data officer for Medicare and Medicaid and the new head of the Health Care Cost Institute — discusses the biggest spending problems in health care and whether we can trust the data that the Trump administration is publishing. 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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There aren’t many health care executives like Jonathan Bush — the outspoken CEO of Athenahealth, a health IT company. (Frankly, there aren’t many executives like Bush anywhere; he seems to ruffle feathers with every interview.) Bush sat down with POLITICO’s Dan Diamond to discuss the health IT landscape, what Washington gets wrong about the industry and why — despite his famous political family — he chose to focus on health care and feels free to say basically anything. 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].

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Republicans’ health care legislation continues to lurch forward, with the Congressional Budget Office this week again predicting the bill will lead to 20-million-plus more uninsured in a decade. On this episode of PULSE CHECK, we discuss how the CBO score is playing in Washington and what’s ahead for the unpopular bill. First, POLITICO’s Jen Haberkorn and Paul Demko discuss their reporting from Capitol Hill, address the latest reports about the health of Obamacare and share how the Senate is approaching its efforts. (Starts at 1:45.) Then, Matt Fiedler of the Brookings Institution — and the former chief economist of the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisers — shares his analysis of the GOP bill and why he thinks the most recent changes made it worse. (Starts at 27:10.) 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].

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How does a major media outlet decide how much to cover Republicans’ health bill when Russia’s the talk of the town? Carrie Budoff Brown would know — she’s the editor of POLITICO and was one of the top reporters covering the health care debate in 2009-2010. Carrie joined Dan Diamond on PULSE CHECK to discuss how the current health care fight compares to Democrats’ battles eight years ago, where Republicans’ health bill ranks as a media priority, what it’s like leading a newsroom in the Trump era, and what she’s learned from hosting her own podcast, WOMEN RULE. We’d appreciate your help: Please share PULSE CHECK and rate us on your favorite podcast app! (And check out WOMEN RULE, too!) Have questions, suggestions or feedback? Email [email protected].

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The Affordable Care Act has polled poorly for years — but Republicans’ health bill is polling even worse. What does it mean for the GOP to have such an unpopular bill, and how can progressives take advantage of it? On this PULSE CHECK, you’ll hear from two experts in political messaging and strategy. First, Jon Favreau, who was the chief speechwriter for President Obama and is a cofounder of Crooked Media, a new liberal political media network, sits down with POLITICO’s Dan Diamond to talk about setting Affordable Care Act strategy, Republicans’ struggles to craft a health bill of their own, and how his views on media have changed since starting a media company. (Starts at the 1:50 mark.) Then after the break, Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist who helped attack the Affordable Care Act, explains why Obamacare’s pre-existing conditions protections are the “nuclear bomb” against critics of the law, why he's no fan of Republicans' current health care strategy, and how the GOP is risking the party’s political future by pushing a bad bill. (Starts at the 38:50 mark.) 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].

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The Republican plan to repeal Obamacare has made it through the House. What are its chances in the Senate, and what's the ripple effect for the industry? That's the focus of this week's PULSE CHECK, with a mix of news analysis and a guest who may have lost his job because of his pro-Obamacare advocacy. First, POLITICO's Jen Haberkorn and Adam Cancryn join Dan Diamond to discuss their reporting about the American Health Care Act and what lies ahead in the Senate (Starts at the 1:30 mark.) Then Mario Molina, the former head of Molina Healthcare who was fired this week, joins PULSE CHECK to discuss his surprising exit, his view on the Republican health bill and why he doesn't regret speaking out in support of Obamacare (Starts at 35:30). 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].

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Republicans' health bill is back, and so is the PULSE CHECK podcast. There’s a lot up in the air as of Thursday — the White House wants a quick vote on the bill before the president’s first 100 days are up, but the House GOP appears to lack the votes. Meanwhile, President Trump is still threatening to stop paying crucial subsidies, which could lead to health insurers pulling out of the Affordable Care Act altogether. First, Ceci Connolly, the former Washington Post health reporter who’s now head of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, joins POLITICO’s Dan Diamond to explain how her health plan members are reacting to the tumult in D.C. Then after the break, Cynthia Cox of the Kaiser Family Foundation goes deeper on the Obamacare subsidies – known as cost-sharing reductions — and the state of the Affordable Care Act exchanges. 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].

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Republicans remain divided on the future of their stalled repeal effort, and President Donald Trump is signaling he’s not ready to give up the fight just yet. In the meantime, Obamacare insurance marketplaces are facing tight deadlines ahead the next enrollment season. Starting this month, insurers in some states will have to start filing 2018 rates amid uncertainty about whether Congress will replace the health care law or if the Trump administration will really let Obamacare fail. Mila Kofman, head of the Obamacare exchange in Washington, D.C., explains what this uncertainty means for the insurance marketplaces as they plan for the next enrollment season.

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There's a lot of fuss around the House GOP's health care plan — but how real is it? POLITICO's Paul Demko talks with Dan Diamond about Republicans' latest push and whether there's any "there" there. (Starts at the 1:30 mark.) Then after the break, Austin Frakt — a well-known health care economist, blogger and New York Times "Upshot" contributor — joins PULSE CHECK to discuss the state of health care research and how to build a career in the public eye (starts at the 14:10 mark.) 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]. Note: Dan is headed off on a reporting project, but Jason Millman will guest host on PULSE CHECK next week.

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Conservatives are feuding with the White House over health care. House Speaker Paul Ryan is warning President Trump against doing a deal with Democrats. If there's a path to health reform, it may run through moderate Republicans — and on this PULSE CHECK, you’re going to hear from two of the most prominent in Congress. First, Rep. Charlie Dent — a leader of the center-right Tuesday Group — joins to discuss last week's collapse of House Republican efforts to repeal the ACA, why he thinks a bipartisan deal is so important, and what it was like to get yelled at by the president. (Starts at the 1:45 mark.) Then Sen. Susan Collins joins PULSE CHECK to discuss "the shrinking center" on Capitol Hill, the path where health reform could go, and why she thinks her bill with Sen. Bill Cassidy is the right compromise for right now. (Starts at 20:20). 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].

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