The
2024
election
is
nearing
the
corner
and
has
major
implications
for
the
healthcare
industry,
from
abortion
to
drug
pricing.
During
the
Reuters
Total
Health
Conference
held
in
Chicago
on
Tuesday,
Ceci
Connolly,
CEO
of
the
Alliance
of
Community
Health
Plans,
shared
five
things
she
thinks
the
healthcare
industry
should
know
about
the
upcoming
election.
1.
The
election
is
“Trump’s
to
lose”
Former
President
Donald
Trump
started
this
election
with
the
advantage,
but
this
shifted
when
President
Joe
Biden
dropped
out
of
the
race
and
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
became
the
Democratic
nominee.
Currently,
Harris
has
a
lot
of
momentum,
but
what
really
matters
from
now
until
the
election
is
“the
way
that
Trump
behaves,”
Connolly
said.
“He
is,
in
fact,
an
almost
larger-than-life
player
on
our
political
stage,
if
you
will,”
she
said.
“And
he
is
so
dominant,
both
positively
and
negatively,
that
it
will
likely
come
down
to
him.
At
the
moment,
I
would
say
the
race
is
tied
dead
even,
no
doubt
about
it.
Ignore
the
national
polls.
They
mean
absolutely
nothing.
If
you
are
a
junkie,
you
can
look
at
the
polling
in
those
seven
swing
states.
Those
are
the
only
ones
that
matter.”
2.
A
divided
government
might
be
good
for
healthcare
It’s
possible
that
the
House
may
flip
from
Republican
to
Democrat
and
that
the
Senate
may
flip
from
Democrat
to
Republican
this
election.
This
means
the
U.S.
will
likely
continue
to
have
a
divided
government,
which
could
actually
be
good
for
healthcare
because
it
means
less
happens,
according
to
Connolly.
“If
you’re
in
business,
what
you
don’t
like
is
the
unpredictability
and
the
uncertainty
and
the
constant
change
that
we
are
often
going
through
when
it
comes
to
regulation
and
laws
with
respect
to
healthcare
and
the
health
sector,”
she
said.
“So
this
notion
of
divided
government
truly
is
the
way
the
founding
fathers
designed
it.
It’s
checks
and
balances.”
Connolly
added
that
if
the
Democrats
take
control
of
the
House,
there
could
be
an
extension
on
the
enhanced
subsidies
for
people
buying
their
health
coverage
on
the
Affordable
Care
Act
Marketplaces.
These
enhanced
subsidies
are
currently
slated
to
expire
at
the
end
of
2025,
and
if
they
do,
there
will
be
a
major
increase
in
the
number
of
uninsured
in
the
U.S.,
Connolly
said.
This
could
lead
to
more
people
receiving
care
at
the
emergency
room,
which
they
probably
won’t
be
able
to
pay
for
and
providers
will
go
uncompensated.
3.
The
courts
are
the
new
“playing
field”
for
health
policy
In
a
recent
ruling,
the
Supreme
Court
overturned
the
Chevron
deference.
In
the
past,
federal
agencies
like
CMS
and
the
FDA
were
given
the
flexibility
to
“interpret
statutes
and
issue
more
detailed
regulations,”
Connolly
said.
In
the
short
term,
not
much
is
going
to
happen
due
to
this
ruling,
but
there
are
important
implications
long
term.
“People
are
really
kind
of
looking
out
in
the
landscape
and
they’re
thinking
about,
‘Well,
which
regulation
are
we
going
to
challenge,
saying
that’s
not
what
Congress
meant
when
it
passed
that
law
and
we
think
it
should
be
changed?’”
Connolly
said.
“So
there’s
going
to
be
time,
and
I’m
going
to
forecast
to
you
that
the
biggest
players
in
any
industry
—
healthcare
or
any
other
industry
—
with
the
deepest
pockets
are
the
ones
that
will
spend
to
start
challenging
individual
regulations
that
they
don’t
like,
but
that’s
going
to
be
a
slow
and
a
very,
very
expensive
process.”
This
means
policymaking
will
have
to
be
looked
at
differently.
Courts
are
doing
a
lot
of
the
policymaking
now,
and
“many
players
are
court
shopping
for
where
they
think
they
will
find
a
ruling
that
applies,”
Connolly
argued.
4.
Congress
may
act
on
telehealth,
PBMs
and
patent
reform
during
lame
duck
Regardless
of
who
wins
the
election,
there
will
be
a
lot
of
turnover
in
the
federal
government.
That
means
those
who
are
currently
in
power
will
likely
try
to
get
some
policies
“across
the
finish
line”
during
the
lame
duck
period
(the
period
between
the
election
and
inauguration).
For
example,
Covid-19
telehealth
flexibilities
—
which
are
set
to
expire
at
the
end
of
the
year
—
are
likely
to
be
extended.
However,
they
probably
won’t
be
made
permanent
yet
because
Congress
is
looking
for
more
data
on
whether
virtual
care
actually
creates
savings
or
not.
There
has
also
been
bipartisan
support
for
addressing
pharmacy
benefit
managers,
with
bills
in
both
the
House
and
the
Senate.
“Americans
are
so
fed
up
with
drug
costs,
and
the
politicians
know
that,
and
they
hear
it
when
they
go
home
all
the
time
from
their
constituents,”
Connolly
said.
“And
so
there
is
bipartisan
sentiment
in
Washington
that
more
should
be
done
when
it
comes
to
drug
pricing.”
Similarly,
there
could
be
some
legislation
targeting
pharmaceutical
companies’
use
of
patent
thickets.
This
is
when
there
is
an
overlapping
set
of
patent
rights,
delaying
more
affordable
drugs
from
entering
the
market.
Connolly
gave
the
example
of
GLP-1s,
which
currently
have
market
exclusivity
for
19
years.
5.
Harris
and
Trump
actually
have
some
similarities
in
healthcare
Putting
abortion
aside,
Harris
and
Trump
aren’t
as
different
as
many
may
think
when
it
comes
to
healthcare,
Connolly
declared.
Neither
candidate
is
particularly
passionate
about
healthcare
and
neither
has
an
extensive
record
in
health
policy.
In
addition,
issues
like
the
economy
and
immigration
will
likely
take
precedence
when
one
of
them
takes
office.
However,
there
are
some
exceptions
to
this,
Connolly
noted.
On
drug
pricing,
she
predicts
that
Trump
will
try
to
“out-do”
the
Biden
administration
because
“he
understands
what
a
populist
issue
that
is,
and
he
wants
to
be
able
to
claim
that
he’s
done
something
even
bigger,
grander,
greater
when
it
comes
to
making
drugs
more
affordable.”
The
Biden
administration
has
also
used
its
regulatory
power
to
expand
Medicaid
coverage.
“I
don’t
think
that
you
would
see
that
in
Trump
too,”
Connolly
said.
“I
think
it
would
be
a
very
different
approach
to
Medicaid
in
as
much
as
the
Feds
play
a
role.”
Photo:
MarianVejcik,
Getty
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