KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Politics of Vaccine Mandates

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Should covid vaccines be mandated? The answer to that question has become predictably partisan, as with almost everything else associated with the pandemic. Even as the federal government prepares to issue rules requiring large employers to ensure their workers are vaccinated, GOP governors are trying to ban such mandates, leaving employers caught in the middle.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Democrats are still working to reach a consensus on a package of social-spending improvements, the size of which will depend largely on how much they can cut prices for prescription drugs.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• Congressional Democrats’ struggle to find a compromise on a $3.5 trillion spending package for health and other social programs looks likely to push them past their self-imposed deadline of the end of October to pass a bill. Leaders are wrestling with what to cut as they meet demands from moderates in the party to bring the spending down.
• Everything in that package appears vulnerable at this stage in the negotiations. Party leaders are considering a variety of strategies, including throwing out some proposals or setting up the new benefits over a shorter time frame to test whether they work and the public appreciates them.
• It appears that Democrats’ priorities will include proposals to enhance benefits for children. But the health programs at stake — new benefits for Medicare, providing insurance to low-income residents of states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs, and extending the enhanced premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act — each have strong constituencies and will be hard for leaders to settle on.
• The proposal to add billions of dollars to long-term care programs may draw the short straw. However, it does have some strong allies in Congress, including Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).
• Democratic leaders hope to fund some of the initiatives in this package by cutting Medicare’s drug spending. A poll by KFF this week showed that is a very popular notion, even among Republicans. But drugmakers are fighting that strategy with major ad campaigns and political donations. They need to pick off only a couple of vulnerable lawmakers to thwart the effort since Democrats have razor-thin majorities in both the House and Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, appears determined to get some sort of provision on drug price negotiations in the bill, even without the full effect of her original plan.
• The Department of Labor reportedly has sent a proposed rule requiring large employers to have their workforce vaccinated to the Office of Management and Budget for review. That means the rule could be coming soon. But it is bound to run headlong into opposition in conservative states, like Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has banned mandates. The issue will likely end up in federal court.
• The fight over vaccine mandates highlights a divide in the Republican Party between the business-oriented faction that wants to move past the pandemic and the more libertarian wing of the party. Some of the most conservative political leaders lean toward that libertarian wing and see the vaccine mandate as a way to excite the base. The experience of some major companies, however, suggests that businesses and many workers don’t object to mandates. One example is United Airlines, where 99% of workers have been vaccinated.
• As the federal courts bat the Texas abortion law back and forth, it appears headed for a review by the Supreme Court. Some analysts suggest that the urgency of the issue could push the court to take on the Texas issue before they hear a case in December about a different law seeking to limit abortion in Mississippi. But the Supreme Court generally likes to have cases fully debated in lower courts before coming to the justices, so a decision on the Texas law may have to wait.
• The issue of abortion is getting a good bit of advertising time in the Virginia gubernatorial race. Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe is telling voters he will work to keep abortions legal in the state and suggesting his opponent, Glenn Youngkin, will not. It’s a strategy that California Gov. Gavin Newsom used as he successfully fought a recall in an election last month.

Also this week, Rovner interviews Beth Macy, author of the best-selling “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America” and an executive producer of a miniseries of the same name now streaming on Hulu.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: KHN’s “6 Months to Live or Die: How Long Should an Alcoholic Liver Disease Patient Wait for a Transplant,” by Aneri Pattani

Jen Haberkorn: The Washington Post’s “Covid and Cancer: A Dangerous Combination, Especially for People of Color,” by Laurie McGinley

Mary Ellen McIntire: NPR’s “Judging ‘Sincerely Held’ Religious Belief Is Tricky for Employers Mandating Vaccines,” by Laurel Wamsley

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The 19th’s “Kansas Has Become a Beacon for Abortion Access. Next Year, That Could Disappear,” by Shefali Luthra

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KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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