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The ideas and innovators shaping health care | | | | |  | | By Ben Leonard, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker | | | | | 
DeSantis says no one should force you to wear a mask or get a vaccine. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | Conservative blowback to the handling of the Covid pandemic could have far-reaching implications for public health law in GOP-leaning states. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is leading a “medical freedom” movement based on his opposition to lockdowns and vaccine and mask mandates — and it’s catching fire in red regions of the country, POLITICO’s Megan Messlerly, Krista Mahr and Arek Sarkissian report. GOP state lawmakers have introduced hundreds of bills this year under the medical freedom banner, including proposals to put lawmakers in charge of immunization requirements, ban the government from creating nonschool-based vaccine mandates and allow citizens to challenge public health disaster declarations. “Governor DeSantis has been leading the way,” said Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer, chair of the Texas Freedom Caucus, who sponsored his state’s public health disaster declaration bill. “A lot of people are looking to DeSantis to see what he’s doing at this point, and it gives cover to other governors, I think, to step out there.” The momentum also highlights one of DeSantis’ biggest strengths heading into the 2024 presidential election, in which he’s a leading GOP prospect: his handling of Covid-19 in the third-most populous state. NATURAL STATE MEDICAID REVIEW — Arkansas plans to scrub its Medicaid rolls within six months, potentially kicking tens of thousands of people off the government health care program for low- and lower-middle-income people. The high-speed effort in Arkansas, where more than a third of the state’s 3 million residents are on Medicaid, offers an early glimpse at the potential disruption in store for the country as states comb through their Medicaid rolls to ensure enrollees still qualify.
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Huckabee Sanders is scrubbing her Medicaid rolls faster than anyone. | Pool photo by Al Drago | It’s the first time states have done so since the Covid pandemic when Congress ordered states to allow people who found employment, or better jobs, to stay on the rolls during the public health emergency. A new law ends that policy on March 31. The Biden administration has given states a year to review their Medicaid rolls, fearful that enrollees will lose their insurance inadvertently if they don’t submit the paperwork to prove eligibility. The administration also hopes states will use the time to help people no longer eligible for Medicaid to find affordable insurance through federal or state Obamacare exchanges or other government programs. But Megan reports that Arkansas’ truncated timeline — the shortest announced by any state — has many Arkansans fearing that low-income people still eligible for Medicaid will lose access to their doctors and medications because they fail to fill out the requisite forms. “You just know that there’s going to be some people that fall through the cracks,” said Loretta Alexander, health policy director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. But Arkansas, led by GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, says it’s right to move quickly to safeguard taxpayers’ dollars.
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Bruges, Belgium | Sam Oates | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Don't believe everything you see online.
A new study led by Harvard Medical School Prof. Aaron Kesselheim found that the most heavily advertised drugs are often more expensive, but no better than, and sometimes worse than, other treatment options. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Ben Leonard at bleonard@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Krista Mahr talks with Ruth about online therapy company BetterHelp's settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly sharing customers’ sensitive health data with third parties without their consent and why it's another health data warning shot from the FTC.
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The ADHD drug Adderall is among those covered by new DEA prescribing restrictions. | Jenny Kane/AP Photo | Making it harder to get certain medicines via telehealth after the end of the Covid public health emergency will hurt patients, lawmakers of both parties say in reaction to a Drug Enforcement Administration plan. A few takes from both sides of the aisle: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.): “We should be building on the gains in access made during the pandemic and continue the telemedicine services many people on the road of recovery have come to rely on.” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.): “We learned in the pandemic that telehealth treatment for opioid addiction can be done safely and effectively.” Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.): “The controls don’t necessarily need to be an army of bureaucrats.” Why it matters: The DEA proposal would rescind rules adopted during the pandemic that allowed doctors to virtually prescribe controlled substances the agency regulates. The proposed rules, released last week, wouldn’t completely revert to pre-pandemic restrictions, which required in-person visits in most cases. But they would mandate that some patients have in-person visits before starting to use some drugs, such as Adderall for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or the opioid OxyContin for pain relief. And they would require patients using other drugs, including buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, testosterone for gender-affirming care and ketamine for depression, to visit a doctor’s office for a refill after an initial 30-day supply. If finalized, the proposed rules would take effect in November as long as the Biden administration proceeds with its plan to end the Covid public health emergency in May. What’s next: The DEA, which says the rules are needed to rein in online firms that have effectively functioned as pill mills, is taking comments on the proposal till near the end of March. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
