Congressional races and health care policy: 6 contests to watch

WASHINGTON — Election season will convey a reckoning for members who took controversial positions on well being care points over the previous yr, and a possibility for brand new members to make a mark within the subsequent Congress.

Some long-serving members akin to Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Republican Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona danger shedding their seats because the political floor has shifted underneath them. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican operating for the Senate, leads a state that has pursued cutting-edge well being care affordability proposals. And the race to switch Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) attracts a distinction between two totally different philosophies on well being care.

Whereas the presidential candidates for every get together have laid out lofty coverage objectives, a lot of these will want buy-in from Congress. The general make-up of the Home and Senate will probably be instrumental in figuring out what coverage objectives will be achieved, however particular person races will even be necessary indicators for members as they determine easy methods to vote on points sooner or later.

STAT recognized six congressional races that would form well being coverage over the following two years, from spots on key committees to alternatives for bipartisan cooperation.

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Rep. Don Davis (DN.C.)

Davis caught his neck out as one of many solely Democrats prepared to assist pharma-friendly adjustments to water down Democrats’ drug pricing reform legislation. North Carolina is a state with a major biotech presence.

The affected person advocacy group Sufferers for Reasonably priced Medicine Now ran tv advertisements in his district criticizing him for the stance. He’s additionally bucked his get together on votes on funding for Israel and criticizing the Biden administration’s border insurance policies. If Davis wins, it might encourage different Democrats to contemplate backing pharma-friendly laws, too.

Prepare dinner Political Report, an election handicapper, charges the race a toss-up.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)

The race for management of the Senate will probably be an in depth one, and it will be an enormous loss for Democrats if the incumbent Tester loses his re-election bid.

Whereas reproductive rights activists in Montana are optimistic concerning the prospects of a state poll measure to guard the precise to abortion within the state structure, it’s doable that received’t essentially translate to assist for Tester, who favors abortion rights.

Prepare dinner Political Report at present charges the race as leaning towards Tester’s opponent, Tim Sheehy.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)

Baldwin is a long-tenured member of the Senate Well being, Training, Labor and Pensions Committee, and her loss would definitely be felt on the panel if she doesn’t pull out her re-election race.

Baldwin has been a bipartisan chief on well being coverage, notably in distinction together with her Republican counterpart in Wisconsin, Sen. Ron Johnson, who has raised considerations concerning the Covid-19 vaccines. She launched laws this time period on ladies’s well being, drug pricing transparency, increasing analysis into viruses that would spark pandemics, and forcing hospitals to reveal after they plan to terminate companies.

Baldwin’s opponent, Eric Hovde, was recognized with a number of sclerosis within the Nineties and is vital of the Reasonably priced Care Act, saying the legislation “has did not dwell as much as its expectation.”

Prepare dinner Political Report at present charges this race a toss-up.

Changing Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.)

The 2 Democratic candidates to switch Eshoo, a prolific lawmaker on well being coverage who represented Silicon Valley, provide two starkly totally different Democratic visions for well being care.

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Evan Low, a state meeting member, would take the seat in a way more liberal path if he have been elected as a progressive Medicare for All supporter. Sam Liccardo, the previous mayor of San José, is a extra business-friendly reasonable in Eshoo’s mildew who has backed extra modest reforms to pharmacy middlemen.

Though the race is between two Democrats, it’s the Tenth-most costly Home race within the nation, in response to the marketing campaign finance database OpenSecrets.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan

Maryland has been on the chopping fringe of a number of well being care value containment points, with the creation of a prescription drug affordability board and efforts to manage hospital prices. If Hogan is ready to flip the seat, at present held by a Democrat, he’ll convey a novel perspective to the Senate, and may very well be a Republican who’s prepared to work throughout the aisle on well being care points. Hogan says that he opposed GOP efforts in 2017 to repeal and change the Reasonably priced Care Act.

Hogan’s marketing campaign has centered extra on well being care affordability points for pharmaceuticals than on reproductive rights. Whereas Maryland was one of many first states to pioneer a prescription drug affordability board, Hogan tried to veto funding for the entity. As a senator, he’s mentioned he would give attention to bipartisan well being care coverage that targets pharmacy profit managers, retains Medicare Benefit premiums low, and will increase competitors and transparency.

Prepare dinner Political Report charges this race as more likely to be received by Hogan’s Democratic opponent, Angela Alsobrooks.

Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.)

In one among this cycle’s most carefully contested races, Schweikert might lose his seat to emergency room physician Amish Shah. Schweikert is the chair of the oversight subcommittee of the Home Methods and Means Committee and has launched laws on telehealth, synthetic intelligence, and incentivizing remedies for substance abuse.

Shah highlights his ER expertise working with sufferers who have been poisoned by fentanyl. He mentioned if he’s elected he would “stand as much as firms who’re price-gouging vital drugs and requirements” and wouldn’t take company PAC cash. He additionally says he desires to decrease drug costs and shield entry to the abortion drug mifepristone.

Prepare dinner Political Report charges the race as a toss-up.