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With help from Megan R. Wilson

Programming note: We’ll be off this Monday for Presidents Day but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday.

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE — Advocates pushing reforms to pharmacy benefit managers hope the stars align this year on Capitol Hill and that they see some action from lawmakers long critical of the PBM industry who are gearing up for a litany of hearings and legislation, Megan reports.

Yesterday, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) held a hearing on PBM transparency, which highlighted the measure she recently reintroduced with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) — the first in a line of anticipated actions from congressional leaders with jurisdiction over the industry.

Over the years, lawmakers have largely failed to make sweeping changes to the way the industry operates — but Megan talked with congressional staffers and lobbyists working for providers, community pharmacists and drugmakers. They all said a number of factors contribute to a higher sense of hope of getting something — anything — done this session.

In addition to the increasing calls for reform — and panels led by PBM critics with the power to take action — two major factors are at play:

— Under the leadership of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), “all the focus was on manufacturers,” one insurance lobbyist told Megan. But now that the Inflation Reduction Act achieved the nearly 30-year goal of allowing Medicare to negotiate the cost of some drugs, “the decks have been cleared, so there is more of an interest in PBMs.”

— An increasing number of states are passing laws that take aim at the industry. Nearly every state has at least one PBM-related law on the books, enacting more than 100 in total.

PBMs argue that their role is misunderstood, and they can deliver value for patients by negotiating drug discounts and passing the savings to plans, resulting in lower premiums. Many proposals — including those relating to transparency — are policies they already must comply with.

WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. We hope you’re enjoying your new (and apparently unsettling) work-from-home companion, the Bing chatbot. One thing it can’t do: Send us tips. That’s where you come in — drop us a line at [email protected] and [email protected].

TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Carmen Paun talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about a panel of outside experts’ recommendation that the FDA approve a nonprescription version of naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, and its potential impact.

FIRST IN PULSE: BERNIE PLANS HEALTH WORKER LEGISLATION — After presiding over a HELP Committee hearing on health care workforce concerns, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told Pulse he was “absolutely” planning legislation to address the issue.

Though Sanders didn’t share details about coming proposals, he said during the hearing that the national teaching health center program, which allows medical residents to work in community health centers and primary care, should be expanded.

He added that more student debt relief should be made available for health workers who commit to work in areas with provider shortages.

Sanders also said the country’s graduate medical education system needs to be significantly expanded, noting that it’s in the Senate Finance Committee’s jurisdiction.

Sanders said the HELP committee would discuss the issue of mental health worker shortages “at length” in the future.

MORE ABOUT THE FIRST HELP HEARING — Ranking member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) had additional ideas on growing the health care workforce, including reducing doctors’ administrative burden and ensuring health workers can easily further their education largely on-site.

“Why don’t we use the workforce we have more efficiently?” he said.

The providers who testified before the committee brought up other possible solutions, including expanding the training staff and incentivizing graduates to work in settings with shortages.

Witnesses and committee members alike emphasized the need to recruit diverse candidates for training, saying it’s a key to more providers working where they’re needed most. Some argued the government should offer more visas for immigrants looking to work in health care.

A BILL TO BOOST THE MENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE — Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced a bill Thursday to expand an existing program that forgives student loans for those working to treat substance abuse disorder.

The bill would expand loan forgiveness to include other mental health workers, not just those focused on substance abuse disorder. It would also boost the program’s annual funding from $25 million to $50 million and extend it through 2032.

KENTUCKY LEAVES ABORTION BAN IN PLACE — The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday to keep two state abortion restrictions in place — for now.

POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein reports that the move dashed the hope of the state’s clinics, which had sued for the right to resume providing the procedure while legal challenges continue.

In her opinion, Justice Debra Lambert said that Louisville Circuit Court Judge Mitch Perry was wrong to stop the enforcement of the bans last July, adding the appeals court was correct to reinstate the bans in August.

But Lambert also left the door open to hearing a future challenge on whether “the right to abortion exists by implication under the Kentucky Constitution.”

The decision on the injunction comes just a few months after voters in Kentucky overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have amended the state Constitution to say there is no protection for the procedure.

‘HEALTHY’ AND ‘VIGOROUS’ — President Joe Biden’s health report, released Thursday, said he was “fit to successfully execute the duties” of his office, POLITICO’s Myah Ward reports.

The oldest person elected president, Biden’s second annual physical at Walter Reed Medical Center since taking office comes just before a widely expected announcement for a reelection bid.

Challengers have criticized Biden’s age and mental acuity, a line of attack likely to continue on the campaign trail.

HOSPICE GROUPS MEET WITH BROOKS-LASURE — In a meeting with CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, four hospice organizations brought concerns and policy recommendations to the agency.

The groups, LeadingAge, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, said they worry that Medicare certifies hospices without thorough vetting.

They asked the agency to look into a recent growth in certified hospices, temporarily halt new approvals in some areas, create new criteria for certification and address many other policy priorities.

THE FUTURE OF RAPID TESTS — The looming end of the public health emergency is prompting calls from Democrats and public health experts for Medicare to continue providing free rapid tests to older adults, POLITICO’s David Lim and Ben Leonard report.

The medical device industry, Democrats, former health officials and public health experts fear that without ready access to no-cost over-the-counter tests, older Americans most vulnerable to severe disease won’t get rapid diagnosis and treatment. They argue maintaining requirements that Medicare and private insurers reimburse eight rapid tests a month is a critical public health measure with several thousand Americans still dying from the virus every week.

PREVIOUS INFECTIONS PROTECT AGAINST SEVERE DISEASE — A study published Thursday in The Lancet found that people who previously had Covid-19 were very likely to have immunity against severe disease and death for at least 10 months after infection.

Those infected with pre-Omicron strains didn’t carry much protection from being infected by the newer versions, though protection against severe disease remained strong.

The analysis suggests an earlier infection provides protection from reinfection, symptomatic disease and severe illness at a level on par with two doses of an mRNA vaccine.

Still, the authors pointed out that vaccination is the safest way to gain immunity.

EU DROPS TESTS FOR TRAVELERS FROM CHINA — European Union countries have agreed to phase out two travel-related measures, POLITICO’s Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif reports.

The restrictions, recommended after China dropped its “zero-Covid” policy and saw a spike in cases, included a predeparture negative test and random testing among arrivals. The measures will be lifted by mid-March.

SPAIN APPROVES MENSTRUAL LEAVE — On Thursday, the Spanish parliament approved the creation of a sick leave for women with incapacitating periods, becoming the first European country to do so, POLITICO’s Nicolas Camut reports.

The bill was supported by a wide-ranging left-wing coalition including the Socialist Party, far-left Podemos and two pro-Catalan independence parties, while the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox voted against the measure.

Emily Michael is now director of federal government relations at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. She previously was legislative director for House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and is a Sen. John McCain and Rep. Andy Harris alum.

Grant Koster and Ray Shealy have joined IncludeHealth, a musculoskeletal technology company. Koster, a 20-year physical therapy executive, will join the board of directors, and Shealy, a health tech leader, will serve as COO.

Foreign Affairs reports on China’s Covid crises — and what they mean for the future of Xi Jinping’s regime.

NBC News reports that doctors in a Florida hospital allege cost-cutting led to dangerous conditions.