POLITICO's Pulse Check - TopPodcast.com

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What we can learn about experiments in remote care Oct 24, 2022

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Large health systems are investing big money into providing more care at home — everything from post-operative care to treatments for chronic disease. Even as successive administrations have touted remote patient monitoring programs as key to improving health and reducing unnecessary government spending, state Medicaid offices often remain an impediment to scaling them nationally. Ruth Reader talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about why.

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Telehealth’s double-edged sword Oct 21, 2022

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As lawmakers weigh whether to extend pandemic-era rules that made it easier for Medicare beneficiaries to go to virtual visits, advocates for people with disabilities fear providers’ financial incentives could turn what’s been a benefit into a danger. Ben Leonard talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about the calculus in Congress. Plus, a dispatch from Pennsylvania, where a Pennsylvania statehouse race is testing whether the GOP’s last abortion rights supporters can survive.

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Biden's bivalent booster scramble Oct 20, 2022

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The Biden administration is racing against the dropping temperatures to convince more Americans to get the updated Covid-19 booster shot amid low uptake numbers driven by confusion over the shot, declining infection numbers and profound pandemic fatigue. Krista Mahr talks with Grace Scullion about what the Biden administration's messaging strategy is and whether it's working. Plus, William Schaffner, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, on the limitations of the CDC.

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Inside Biden's new pandemic preparedness and biodefense strategy Oct 19, 2022

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President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum Tuesday that aims to ensure the U.S. is ready to detect and respond to the next large-scale viral or biological threat. Erin Banco talks with Ben Leonard about the administration’s preparedness plans. Plus, Micky Tripathi, the national coordinator for Health IT speaks about HHS's deadline this month requiring health care organizations to share all electronic health care data.

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How a battle over a pregnancy drug highlights risks in FDA's expediting process Oct 18, 2022

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The FDA will make its case this week to do something it hasn’t in over a decade — order a drug it expedited to the market to be pulled. A panel of independent expert advisers on obstetric and reproductive drugs will decide whether to recommend that Makena, an injection marketed as lowering the risk of preterm birth, remain available for at least some patients. Lauren Gardner talks with Daniel Payne about why the years-long effort to yank the drug’s approval offers a case study of the agency’s accelerated approval program.

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Congress is primed for action on mental health Oct 17, 2022

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Americans are now more concerned about their mental health than Covid, according to a recent poll from Ipsos, and the situation is motivating lawmakers in both parties to provide an increasingly stressed, depressed and anxious populace with the appropriate care. Grace Scullion talks with Lauren Gardner. Plus, David Lim on the FDA’s new rule allowing over-the-counter hearing aids that goes into effect today.

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What could help the global monkeypox vaccine situation? A couple of brothers. Oct 14, 2022

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Top Biden White House and health officials are looking to Japan to potentially make its smallpox vaccine available to countries that need doses to help combat monkeypox. Erin Banco talks with Megan Wilson about why Japan’s smallpox doses could be crucial for low and middle-income countries. Plus, Rep. Elissa Slotkin told Alice Miranda Ollstein why she's still frustrated with Democratic leadership over lack of preparation on abortion access.

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Warning to your health care bills: more inflation is on the way Oct 13, 2022

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Rising health care costs are poised to become the next big battle in President Joe Biden’s war against inflation. Sam Sutton talks with Carmen Paun about why your health coverage and out-of-pocket medical bills are about to go through the roof.

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Doctors campaign for their candidates? Oct 12, 2022

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Physicians across Pennsylvania are politicking in unprecedented ways with less than a month to go before the midterm election, making the case that the abortion restrictions proposed by Republicans would threaten one of the state’s most important economic sectors. Alice Miranda Ollstein shares a dispatch from Pennsylvania and Michigan with Krista Mahr. Plus, Dr. Katie McHugh on moving her abortion practice to other states.

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Why the U.S. lags in approving a nasal Covid vaccine Oct 11, 2022

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Foreign rivals are developing nasal vaccines that could stop Covid transmission and a U.S. company invented the nasal vaccine that an Indian drugmaker licensed. But in the United States, Congress can’t agree on how to pay for additional money to fund next-generation Covid vaccines. Carmen Paun about her reporting with Megan Messerly. Plus, Dr. David Curiel on developing the nasal Covid-19 vaccine that Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech has licensed.

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