Texas
D.C. Diagnosis: Why is Kamala Harris headed to Texas?
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MAHA moment canceled — momentum still going
President Trump canceled his plan Tuesday to talk with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about chronic illnesses and their causes under the “Make America Healthy Again” banner. A spokesperson told STAT that it was due to scheduling conflicts. (Trump rallied Tuesday night in Greensboro, NC; the virtual town hall with RFK was slated for the afternoon).
But that doesn’t mean Trump’s throwing distance between himself and the MAHA world, to some former officials’ chagrin. The former president will tape an interview with Joe Rogan, host of the extremely popular “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, on Friday. Rogan this month also interviewed Calley Means, one-half of a sibling duo that has risen as public voices of the MAHA movement.
At the HLTH conference in Las Vegas, STAT’s Nicholas St. Fleur moderated a panel on longevity featuring the other half of that duo, Casey Means. She’s the founder of the metabolic health tracking company Levels. On stage, St. Fleur asked Means about her connections with Kennedy, Trump, and MAHA.
“I am so absolutely thrilled and heartened that at the presidential level — I don’t care who’s talking about it, Bobby Kennedy, Trump or Kamala — that these conversations are now making it into the mainstream,” Means said, praising in particular Kennedy’s views on regenerative agriculture, environmental toxins, PFAS, and phthalates.
After Kennedy halted his presidential campaign and moved to Trump’s team, he said that Casey and Calley Means are the type of people he would suggest putting in charge of the nation’s health agencies. When asked if she would take a Trump administration position, Casey said: “My greatest hope is…that we put chronic disease at the center of American health care policy. And if I can have a small part in that I’d be thrilled to do so.”
Harris heads to Texas. Why?
Vice President Harris will take the stage in Houston tomorrow night with Texas Senate candidate Colin Allred. It’s a state she’s projected to lose, though Allred is deadlocked with incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz. But it’s also a reminder of the stakes she wants to keep in front of voters: Abortion bans and the impact they’re having on health care.
This isn’t a last-ditch effort to turn Texas blue, but a bid at reigniting urgency in states she could actually swing, her surrogates say. (“We’re diverting out of the battlegrounds because we think it’ll help us in battlegrounds,” senior campaign adviser David Plouffe told AP).
There are already questions about how much Democrats’ reproductive rights arguments resonate with voters juggling the range of Harris’ and Trump’s political platforms. While many Americans seem to back abortion rights, they aren’t always voting for the Democrats championing them. Harris is clearly hoping to change that: Ahead of her Houston visit, she launched an ad Wednesday that tells the story of a Texas couple who lost their pregnancy at 16 weeks but were refused abortion care.
What to expect in a Harris presidency
So, what would a Harris presidency look like? DCD co-writer Rachel Cohrs Zhang delves into it with a breakdown of her platform on high drug costs, strengthening ACA, and broadening Medicaid coverage, to name a few.
In many ways, these are goals that Democrats couldn’t quite complete during President Biden’s tenure. But others — like canceling medical debt — are newer targets. Rachel expands on what Harris has said and how she might get it done here. (And expect a Trump edition soon!)
Health care issues to watch on Election Day
With less than two weeks until Election Day, it’s no surprise that Vice President Harris and former President Trump’s policy stances are dominating the headlines. But there is a lengthy list of health care proposals and down-ballot races that could heavily shape health policy in the coming years.
More than a dozen states are voting on health care ballots and pivotal races for congressional control. I wrote a rundown of key ballot measures and races that could transform state and federal health care and ignite new debates, from what happens to 340B to more legal psychedelics.
Lame duck cheat sheet
A lot of what happens on health care policy during the lame duck and the next Congress depends on election outcomes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare now by reading John Wilkerson’s cheat sheet on the health care policies to watch following the election.
Health care policies that could be in play during the lame duck include telehealth, Chinese biotech restrictions, Medicare payments for hospitals, and PBM reforms.
No matter what happens, or doesn’t happen, before newly elected officials take office in January, expect a major fight next year over expanded Affordable Care Act premium subsidies and Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, both of which expire at the end of 2025.
State Medicaid programs coming around on GLP-1s
Most state Medicaid programs don’t cover the new class of drugs for obesity — but half of those holdouts are considering it, per a new KFF report.
The potential for expanded coverage of Wegovy and Zepbound under Medicaid comes as private plans are starting to aggressively crack down on covering the medications for obesity. Medicare prohibits coverage of the drugs for that indication, Tara Bannow writes.
Currently, just 13 state Medicaid programs cover GLP-1s for obesity; most others cite the drugs’ high cost. The report notes increased spending on the class of drugs starting in 2021. Dive into the findings.
Meet the new CDRH director
It’s official: Michelle Tarver will be the new leader of the FDA’s medical devices center, STAT’s Lizzy Lawrence scooped this week.
Tarver has temporarily served in the role since veteran devices head Jeffrey Shuren announced his departure in July. The agency conducted a nationwide search for Shuren’s replacement, but Tarver quickly seemed to be the top pick, shadowing Shuren at conferences and town halls, Lizzy writes.
Tarver joined the center in 2009, eventually becoming the director of the Office of Transformation and helping to launch the agency’s patient engagement advisory committee. Read more.
Jill Biden calls on industry to support women’s health
Addressing a packed main stage hall on the last day of the HLTH conference, Jill Biden touted her husband’s track record on womens’ health — and called on industry to investigate and fund key gaps in medical knowledge about womens’ health care.
“The potential in this space is too great to ignore,” Biden said.
As of Wednesday, Joe Biden-founded health agency ARPA-H has awarded $110 million — more than it had originally pledged — to a few dozen projects, the White House announced in conjunction with HLTH.
What we’re reading
- Frustrated with Change Healthcare breach, senators propose removing limits on HIPAA fines, STAT
- “Not Medically Necessary”: Inside the company helping America’s biggest health insurers deny coverage for care, ProPublica
- Opinion: Primary care physicians should receive abortion training, STAT
- CDC told McDonald’s about potential E. coli outbreak late last week, CNBC
“Radical Islamist terrorist groups are anti-American, and the infiltration of these dangerous individuals into Texas must be stopped,” said Texas A-G regarding terrorist org. CAIR.
Air traffic controllers lost communication for about 10 minutes with a small Mexican Navy plane carrying a young medical patient and seven others before it crashed off the Texas coast, killing at least five people, Mexico’s president said Tuesday.
Authorities initially believed the plane had landed safely at its destination in Galveston, near Houston, before learning it had gone down Monday afternoon, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. A search-and-resuce operation in waters near Galveston pulled two survivors from the plane’s wreckage, Mexico’s Navy said, while one remained missing.
Four of the eight people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child, Mexico’s Navy said. Two of the passengers were affiliated with a nonprofit that helps transport Mexican children with severe burns to a hospital in Galveston.
“My condolences to the families of the sailors who unfortunately died in this accident and to the people who were traveling on board,” Sheinbaum said in her morning press briefing, without elaborating on a possible cause. “What happened is very tragic.”
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.
The plane crashed Monday afternoon in a bay near the base of the causeway connecting Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He picked up two police officers who guided him through thick fog to a nearly submerged plane. Decker jumped into the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.
“I couldn’t believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in,” he said. “And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.”
He said he also pulled out a man seated in front of her who had already died. Both were wearing civilian clothes.
It’s not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.
Mexico’s Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation. In a social media post, the foundation said: “We express our deepest solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honoring their memory and reaffirming our commitment to providing humane, sensitive, and dignified care to children with burns.”
Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were at the crash site Monday, the Texas Department of Public Safety said, and a spokesperson for the NTSB said the agency was gathering information about the crash. The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol responded the crash.
A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a 1-year-old medical patient along with seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least two people, officials said.
Emergency officials rescued four people and were searching for two that were inside the aircraft, Mexico’s Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press. Four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, according to the Navy. It was not immediately clear which ones were missing and which had been killed.
Two of the people aboard were members from the Michou and Mau Foundation, which is a nonprofit that provides aid to Mexican children who have suffered severe burns.
The crash took place Monday near the base of a causeway near Galveston, along the Texas coast about 50 miles southeast of Houston.
Mexico’s Navy said in a statement that the plane was helping with a medical mission and had an “accident.” It promised to investigate the cause of the crash.
The Navy is helping local authorities with the search and rescue operation, it said in a post on the social media platform X.
Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on X.
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.
“The incident remains under investigation, and additional information will be released as it becomes available,” the sheriff’s office said in a post on Facebook, adding that the public should avoid the area so emergency responders can work safely.
Galveston is an island that is a popular beach destination.
It’s not immediately clear if weather was a factor. However, the area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility. The foggy conditions are expected to persist through Tuesday morning.
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