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Kicking of Women’s History Month, Nikki Haley won the primary in the District of Columbia, making her the first woman to win a Republican primary in US history. The other big news of the weekend was that congressional leadership, along with congressional appropriators, released a bipartisan package of six bills to stave off a government shutdown. The goal of both chambers is to pass the spending bills by Friday’s partial government funding deadline.
The Administration
President Biden will deliver the State of the Union this Thursday, as the administration hopes to land a winning message with voters. The President will focus on his accomplishments to include infrastructure and others, while he makes the case for another term. The President will rally around staying the course to continue steady progress as opposed to new leadership. Themes will focus on corporations paying their fair share, protecting democracy, and ending cancer among others. Despite having the bully pulpit, many polls show President Biden losing to Donald Trump if the election was held today.
The Senate
The Senate will take up the bipartisan appropriations bills once they are passed by the House to avoid a partial government shutdown on March 8. All signs appear to point to passage, but we can never be too certain in this environment. The bills included are Agriculture-FDA, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water Development, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD. Both sides of the aisle are claiming victory on this package, as funding in many areas largely remains flat. Funding for the remaining bills will run through March 22 per the earlier passed continuing resolution.
Healthcare
On Wednesday, March 6, the Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing on how primary care improves health efficiency. Additionally on Thursday, the Senate HELP Committee will hold full committee hearing on the Older Americans Act. The OAA is usually met with bipartisan support.
The House
The House is back in on Tuesday, with 5 bipartisan health policy-related bills on the schedule for the week, covering issues including maternal health, pediatric research, dental health, promoting primary care in Medicaid, and reauthorizing the Firefighter Cancer Registry.
Drawing more attention though will be the House’s consideration of a legislative package that was released Sunday that will finalize funding for government programs and agencies through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2024. In the closely divided Congress, the package gives both parties victories to champion while there will certainly be detractors among their ranks as well. While Republicans are celebrating certain cuts and law enforcement provisions, Democrats are touting their own success in stopping many cuts and policy riders that Freedom Caucus members had been pushing. Even with some naysayers, the House is expected to pass the legislation by a large margin before sending it to the Senate later this week.
Healthcare
In addition to funding these agencies and programs, the appropriations package includes expiring programs included the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) Program, the Work Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI) Floor, and funding for Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THC GME), Community Health Centers (CHCs), and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). House Energy & Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) praised the agreement which includes a 10 percent increase for CHCs, a 17% increase for the NHSC, and a 56% increase in THC GME. In addition, after much back and forth, the legislation also provides a 1.68% increase in Medicare physician payments to help mitigate the 3.34% cut in Medicare payments that took effect on January 1.
While the final package also includes measures to reauthorize substance abuse programs under the SUPPORT Act, despite previous optimism, negotiators were unable to reach an agreement on larger health legislation on pharmacy benefit manager reforms, site neutral payment policies, and a reauthorization of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). Conversations continue on these measures with action later this year still very much a possibility.
With a busy week for health policy on the House floor, it will be a little quieter week in most House committees. That said, the House Oversight & Accountability Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will hold what could be an interesting hearing on Wednesday, March 6, titled the “White House Role in Pandemic Preparedness and Response,” where it will hear testimony from Maj. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, M.D. (ret.), the White House’s Director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.
As always, please reach out with any questions as we continue to track the developments of this week!
On February 29, 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss several pieces of legislation related to rare diseases. Representatives and witnesses agreed that more needs to be done to ensure Americans with rare diseases have access to innovative treatments at an affordable price.
On February 8, 2024, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Health Care: Promise and Pitfalls.” The hearing focused on the impact of AI in the health care field, particularly the use of AI in federal health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, which fall under the committee’s jurisdiction. Senators and witnesses alike acknowledged the potential for AI to have both positive and negative implications for those served by these programs. The hearing also showcased some possible policy solutions for Congress to consider related to issues related to AI, health care, and federal health care programs.
Polls take up a lot of time in the coverage of any given election cycle. These polls often focus on the candidates for office themselves. However, issue-based polling gives insight into what voters care about and teaches candidates what issues to focus on in their campaigns. This blog post will look at 2024 Election Polling related to health care issues.
Specifically, we look at an issue-based poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted between October 31, 2023, and November 7, 2023. Respondents to this poll labeled multiple health care issues as very important for presidential candidates to discuss. However, smaller percentages of respondents ranked these issues as the most important. This blog post explores the poll’s findings about these issues and examines the implications of this poll for the 2024 election.
Voters Want Candidates to talk about Health Care
The KFF poll provides evidence that voters care about health care issues.
- 80% of respondents to the poll said that it is very important for 2024 presidential candidates to talk about the affordability of health care. A February 2024 KFF poll found the same percentage of respondents agreeing that it is very important for 2024 presidential candidates to talk about this issue.
- 75% said it is very important for candidates to discuss the future of Medicare and Medicaid. The February 2024 KFF Poll found 73% of respondents said this is a very important issue for 2024 presidential candidates to talk about.
- 70% said access to mental health care is an issue that is very important for candidates to talk about.
- 64% said prescription drug costs is an issue that is very important for candidates to talk about.
- 53% said the opioid crisis is a very important issue for candidates to talk about.
- 52% said abortion is a very important issue for candidates to talk about. Respondents also identified other health care issues as very important for candidates to talk about, even if smaller percentages of respondents answered in the affirmative.
- 49% said the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a very important issue for candidates to talk about.
- 22% said COVID-10 is a very important issue for candidates to talk about.
But Smaller Percentages of Respondents Pick Health Care Issues as Most Important
The KFF poll also asked respondents to identify their most important issue. Respondents asked to pick a most important issue picked a health care issue at much lower rates than non-health care issues.
- Only 8% of respondents said the affordability of health care is most important.
- 6% said the future of Medicare and Medicaid is most important.
- 4% chose abortion as the most important issue.
- 3% picked access to mental health care as the most important issue. Only 1% selected prescription drug prices, the opioid crisis, or the future of the ACA as the most important issue.
- 0% named COVID-19 as the most important issue.
So What’s the Punchline?
The poll shows evidence that the American people care about health care issues, but when asked to name their most important issue, significantly smaller percentages of respondents choose a health care issue.
What This 2024 Election Polling Mean for Candidates
General topics, such as the affordability of health care and the future of Medicare and Medicaid, outrank more specific health care issues, such as prescription drug costs and access to mental health care. Additionally, campaigns need to remember that the race to the White House occurs at that state level. Campaigns looking to maximize message success can look for ways to personalize their messages to meet the specific constituencies in each state they are competing in. The KFF poll provides guidance on how to do this. For example, The KFF poll shows the future of Medicare and Medicaid is the most important health care issue for registered voters 65 years of age and older. This finding supports spending more time on this issue in states where more registered voters are 65 years or older. This type of analysis is a key step for campaigns wanting to ensure their health care platforms are helping propel them to victory.
