POLITICO's Pulse Check

President Donald Trump has repeatedly relied on HHS to help carry out his sweeping immigration agenda, and a new order that would limit visas to people who aren't "health care burdens" could be the latest dramatic change. Mark Greenberg, who served as the acting assistant secretary for children and families during the Obama administration, sits down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss HHS' role...

Adam Boehler took the reins of the powerful CMS Innovation Center in early 2018, pledging to help shift the U.S. health care system away from fee-for-service. Eighteen months later, he's leaving the agency, having launched a series of payment pilots that Boehler vows will lead to dramatic changes. Boehler sat down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss why he originally took the job, how he evalua...

"Block grants for Medicaid" have been a conservative pipe dream and a progressive bogeyman for decades. Now Tennessee's GOP governor is moving forward with a plan to turn block-grant dreams into reality — if Trump officials and other lawmakers give permission. First, Joan Alker of Georgetown's Center for Children and Families reviews how Trump officials and GOP leaders have changed the Medicaid pr...

Washington is coming back to life after the summer, and POLITICO's Adam Cancryn and Sarah Owermohle join Dan Diamond to give their predictions on suprise billing legislation, new curbs on vaping, drug pricing reforms, the Trump administration's health plan and other hot-button issues and people to watch. (Starts at the 14:30 mark) But first, Paul Demko — longtime health reporter and new editor of...

There are millions of legal immigrants who depend on programs like Medicaid — and now, after the Trump administration revamped a nearly 140-year-old immigration rule, there's growing concern that many will drop out. First, Ted Hesson joins POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss how the new "public charge" rule would work (starts at the 2:00-minute mark), White House official Stephen Miller's role in dr...

A pair of mass shootings have renewed the spotlight on the nation's high rate of gun deaths. POLITICO's Dan Diamond reviews why health care groups say that gun violence deaths represent a "public health crisis" — and how GOP congressmen and the current Surgeon General avoid using that term. Then Dan talks with Amy Barnhorst, a UC Davis psychiatrist who specializes in gun violence research, about h...

"You're wrong" about Medicare-for-all, Sen. Bernie Sanders told former Rep. John Delaney as this week's Democratic debates kicked off — an exchange that set the tone for the first night. Pulse Check host Dan Diamond joined Scott Bland, host of POLITICO's Nerdcast, to discuss the exchange (and Sen. Elizabeth Warren's comments too) for a bonus crossover episode. MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Delaney's "Bett...

Neera Tanden is one of the most prominent voices in the Democratic party — and her organization, the Center for American Progress, has been pumping out policy ideas ahead of the 2020 election, helping shape the Democratic primary. Neera sits down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss CAP's signature Medicare Extra proposal and Democrats' debate over Medicare for All (starts at the 1:00 mark), wha...

Artificial intelligence is poised to transform the world, including the world of health care. In this bonus episode of Pulse Check, we present POLITICO's newest show, Global Translations, which features the White House point person on AI, Lynne Parker, reflecting on the promise of AI in the health field. Global Translations examines big problems that don't respect political boundaries. The first s...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered a series of changes intended to reshape how tens of millions of Americans receive kidney care and boost the number of kidney transplants — a plan, scooped by POLITICO, that's received bipartisan praise. Dr. Carmen Peralta, a nationally known kidney expert at UCSF and chief medical officer for Cricket Health, joins Dan Diamond to discuss the historic prob...

Washington is quiet this week, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and with Congress on recess. So we're featuring excerpts from two classic conversations: doctor-turned-venture capitalist Bijan Salehizadeh on how he invests in health care and why he passed on Theranos (starts at the 1:35 mark) and Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann on how her foundation views public health and what the Uni...

Lamar Alexander is one of the most powerful senators on health care. The Tennessee Republican leads the HELP Committee, which steers much of the key health legislation, and he's now pushing a wide-ranging bill that he says will lower health care costs. Alexander sat down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss his new health care package, what he's learned from guiding bills through Congress and ho...

Tim Hill carved out a nearly three-decade career in the federal government, ultimately rising to a role where he oversaw Medicaid for much of last year. Now at IMPAQ International, Hill sat down with Dan Diamond to discuss the day-to-day operations of programs like Medicaid, balancing civil service with political changes and some CMS initiatives that have been overshadowed. (Starts at the 1:00-min...

Hundreds of women every year die from pregnancy-related complications in the United States — a trend that's been worsening and disproportionately hit minority and rural communities. Katy Kozhimannil, a University of Minnesota researcher who's helped lead national research into maternal mortality, joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss why the problem has gotten worse, what presidential candidate...

"We're doing health policy by litigation these days." The fate of Obamacare and a slew of Trump health care policies — from Medicaid work requirements to Title X family planning changes — now rests in the courts. Georgetown law professor Katie Keith sat down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss the legal fight over the Affordable Care Act, the litigation over Trump-era regulations, the rollback...

With Congress on recess, POLITICO reporters break down a series of recent stories. First, POLITICO's Sarah Owermohle and Paul Demko discuss the FDA's landmark hearing on CBD and separate efforts to legalize marijuana. (Starts at the 0:50 mark.) Then, POLITICO's Rachana Pradhan and Adam Cancryn join Dan to review the policy fights over abortion access, drug pricing and LGBTQ protections, and how th...

Less than three years ago, Lisa Blunt Rochester had never held elected office. Now the Delaware congresswoman — the first African-American and the first woman to represent her state — is emerging as a player in the House's health care efforts. Blunt Rochester joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss her key role in the Obamacare and drug pricing legislation that just passed the House, how she view...

For health care policy wonks, for decades, perhaps there was no more recognizable name than "Uwe" — the Princeton professor who could explain health care's broken economics in a snappy soundbite. Uwe Reinhardt passed away in November 2017 but his new book is out this week. His wife and collaborator, Tsung-Mei (May) Cheng, sat down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss Reinhardt's life, work and l...

Two months ago, Baltimore Sun reporter Luke Broadwater learned that the state's flagship hospital system had paid Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh at least $500,000 for her self-published "Healthy Holly" children's books — even as Pugh sat on the system's board. More stunning details quickly emerged, and the resulting scandal has reshaped Maryland politics — Pugh resigned last week — and sparked new...

The health care industry is trying to stop "Medicare for All." It's also a non-starter with Republicans, and some Democrats don't like it either. But progressives who support single-payer can count on the muscle of one key constituency: Organized labor. Bonnie Castillo, the head of National Nurses United, joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss why her 150,000-member-strong union has thrown its s...

HHS Secretary Alex Azar and other officials this week unveiled new payment pilots that they say will transform primary care. Are they right? POLITICO's Rachel Roubein and Paul Demko join Dan Diamond to discuss the payment pilots (starts at the 1:30 mark), the latest Obamacare changes (starts at the 9:35 mark) and new developments in the "Medicare-for-All" debate (starts at the 17:10 mark). Then As...

On this week's episode, POLITICO reporters debate two of the biggest stories in health policy. First, POLITICO's Adam Cancryn and Alice Miranda Ollstein join Dan Diamond to discuss Bernie Sanders' new Medicare for All plan and how Democrats are approaching the fight for coverage expansion. Then after the break (starts at the 25:30 mark), pharma reporter Sarah Owermohle summarizes recent Congressio...

Tony Fauci joined NIH in 1968. He was named head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984. And on a warm day in April 2019, he sat down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to reflect on his ongoing work — from the emergence of HIV/AIDS nearly 40 years ago to how the Trump administration is trying to end the epidemic. On the podcast, Fauci also discussed the resurgence of measle...

Rep. Joe Kennedy first appeared on this podcast in early 2017, at House Democrats' lowest moment: The GOP had steamrolled the party, speeding an Affordable Care Act repeal bill that seemed inevitable. But the GOP's efforts ultimately failed; Democrats retook the House a year later; and Kennedy this week rejoined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to reflect on how House Democrats' health policy has changed as...

Just a year ago, Mike Braun was an underdog in the Republican primary for an Indiana Senate seat. Now he's a freshman senator, installed on the Senate's key health care committee — and pushing his own package of health reforms. Braun joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to explain his frustration over how Washington regulates the U.S. health system, his criticism of the latest effort to strike down the A...