NBTH — What’s Next in Health Care Policy: Adam Abrams and Annalyse Keller

The American public is calling out for a conversation around health care. But will policymakers and members of Congress pick up the call? And if not now, when?

Adam Abrams is a partner and Annalyse Keller is a managing director at Seven Letter, a strategic communications firm in Washington, D.C. We break down the agenda on Capitol Hill between now and end of year and when health care policy might come to the forefront of the national discussion.

Listen in for what to expect in health policy and legislation for the end of 2023 and beyond.

Episode Transcript:

Adam Abrams

…Using acronyms and legislative language, in my work on Capitol Hill, but when you're actually speaking to people you need to speak to what actually matters to them.

Annalyse Keller

I think it's transparency I think everyone's just really ready, whether it's a hospital trip, you know, drug pricing. I think the American public just wants to know what goes into the cost that they're saying that they're, you know, footing the bill for.

Robert Traynham

Annalyse and Adam, welcome to our wonderful podcast here. I love to start off with just, quite frankly, an icebreaker. You know, what do you do? This town, here we are in Washington, D.C., this town is wound pretty tight. With a lot of “Type A” personalities. You see a lot of people jogging on their cell phone. You see a lot of people at the soccer games, obviously with their smart device because they're constantly wired. But what do you do when no one else is watching? What do you do on a Saturday or Sunday just to kind of decompress? Annalyse, let me start with you.

Keller

So, I really like to escape not only Washington, but I guess this entire world and read science fiction books. So, I recently started the Red Rising series which I'm like super late to the game on but it's post-apocalyptic planetary challenge. I want to really zoom out...

Traynham

Wow. I mean, you... Great, like really to another world!

Abrams

For me I'm chasing around my four-year-old so we live on Capitol Hill here in Washington, you can find us at Eastern Market, run around but yeah, wherever she's going on the bike. I'm usually hot on her tail trying to keep up.

Traynham

So, you got your priority straight, I understand. So the two of you work at Seven Letter and for the best interest or folks that are watching that is a public affairs firm here in Washington, D.C. In full disclosure, you work with us as we think through health care policy, as well as messaging. Tell us about your roles at Seven Letter. Exactly what do you do? Annalyse?

Keller

So you're exactly right. It's a public relations firm. We help associations like yourself, but also corporate clients. We have, you know, industries across the board that we assist, and we assist them primarily with communications here in Washington, D.C. So, we're not necessarily a consumer-focused public affairs company. But we're talking to, you know, opinion elites. We're talking to key stakeholders here in Washington. We're talking to lawmakers, we're talking to policymakers, and we're helping shape the narratives that best resonate with those decision makers on a particular issue.

Traynham

Adam?

Abrams

Yeah, clients come to us most often when they have a challenge or an opportunity, especially when they need to communicate to a niche audience, a special audience, an influential audience, and we have expertise at finding them, building the audience, and communicating, and reaching to them. So, whether it's health care stakeholders, or any number of industries, we find ways to develop, build, and communicate those messages that are important.

Traynham

You know, one of the things I always find challenging, but also quite frankly, creatively interesting, and that is: how do you take really complex domestic policy issues such as health care, which is extremely important, for obvious reasons, and I don't ever want to use the word dumb it down — that’s offensive — but how do you make it digestible or “consumerized,” for our parents or our grandparents to understand? Do you find that challenge or that tension to be hard as well?

Keller

Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, I think a lot of industries can get caught in their own acronyms. And it can be really simple measures. I mean, you're saying the same things. You're just using language that's familiar to people. You know, you have to kind of cater your message to your audience. And if you want an audience, you know, if your audience is the American public, you have to understand that they're not going to understand the same kind of terminology that that we often use here.

Abrams

Yeah. You said it, Annalyse said it too — you both talked about audience. You don't have to dumb anything down you just speak the language the audience will understand right? So, if you're talking to the consumers, you talk about how the price they pay or their experience at the doctor is or is not changing. When you're talking to lawmakers, you're talking about why policy needs to be changed or strengthened to protect consumers. But lawmakers are kind of megaphones for their constituents. Right? So, you need to speak to them in a language they can understand too, so Annalyse is exactly right. I mean, using acronyms and, and legislative language in my work on Capitol Hill, but when you're actually speaking to people, you need to speak to what actually matters to them.

Traynham

Let's talk about health care for a moment. Right? That's the business that we're in. Based on all the polling data that you've seen, all the research that you've done, is it fair to say that health care issues are not a top priority in this Congress for the remainder of the year, or no?

Keller

What I would say is that funding is going to be the top issue, but I think for the American public, the top issues are the economy and inflation, and I bring that up, because I think that relates directly to health care. And I think health care costs are a top issue.

Now, whether or not Congress is able to sort of get it together and get anything done with respect to health care, you know I think that's another question. And I think there's been a lot of important work on health care done across the year in Congress. You know, it's just like many other things and unfortunate that fall into the wayside of the dysfunction.

Traynham

Let’s translate this because I think the American people at home are saying, “Can we just get something done on behalf of health care? This is this is important to me.” Right? So, I hear and see a lot of bickering, but I'm not sure I see any solutions. Is that fair?

Keller

Yeah. I think that's absolutely fair. I do think what's been interesting to watch is the presidential conversation around health care, because I think that's kind of a good litmus test as to how much the American public is sort of calling out for a conversation around health care. You're hearing kind of a more populist message from Republicans.

If you watch the, you know, Republican debates, I think the candidates are very, very focused on transparency. But they're also, you know, kind of not talking about health care in the way that we've traditionally seen Republicans talk about it. I mean, and with respect to Democrats, I'll let Adam jump in on this one, but my, you know, my two cents is that while I think Democrats will still be interested in an ultimate goal of Medicare for all, I don't think you're going to see a Biden administration pushing for that in the same, you know, there's not going to be the same conversation around “Medicare for all” that we saw in 2020, when we had a Bernie Sanders primary. I think the Biden Administration is going to be more focused on sharing and defending and publicizing their record of the things that they've been able to do for health care.

Traynham

Anything you want to share?

Abrams

Sure, I mean, I think she's right. I think the fact that the Republicans have kind of — the national Republicans I should say, the Republican presidential contenders — have kind of left the field open on the health care policy issue. It gives the Biden Administration a chance to talk about strengthening the ACA, finding ways to increase affordability and transparency, finding ways to, whether through executive action or those few glimmers of bipartisanship that exist on Capitol Hill, get a couple of things across the finish line that actually impact the price people pay or the experience that they have. And I think that that will be an opportunity for them. I agree. I don't think there's going to be any sweeping, especially with divided government, policy proposal on health care. But I think that the Biden administration, will continue to talk about ways to strengthen the ACA.

Traynham

All right. We got to talk about the elephant and the donkey in the room and that's 2024. Is health care going to be a dominant issue between President Biden running for reelection and whomever the Republicans nominate as their nominee?

Abrams

I'll take this one. First. I think, you know, the nature of an open primary, like we see on the Republican side, means that it's kind of being defined week over week as those candidates kind of take their positions. And I think that it's also being defined by former President Trump as the big elephant in the room there. And I think that it's not exactly so far — and I'm not sure it will be — exactly a laboratory for policy ideas, right? It's going to be them making the case for their constituency, for their base. And I think that gives, like I said earlier, the Biden administration and the Biden campaign the chance to run as to run on the record.

Keller

Yeah, I think that's right. Generally speaking. I think, you know, Republicans, they all kind of pivoted quickly in the second debate when they got the one health care question they were like, but you know, “But I want to talk about, I want to go back to foreign policy.” So, I think, you know, you could kind of see that they, you know, don't really have a lot to talk about, and maybe that will change.

I think Nikki Haley had a little bit more to say there in her response and so you know, it doesn't seem too on its face, be one of the biggest issues, but I think where it will continue to come up is with costs. And I know I've said that before, but I think the American public are really concerned about the economy right now. And I think that's a big part of the economy and just the fact that health care prices have gone up, so high. It's far exceeding the other inflationary cost that Americans are grappling with right now. So, I don't see it as being a big laboratory or a laboratory of ideas either, unfortunately.

Abrams

But our research shows over and over again, our firm, you know, we do a lot of survey research, we talk to a lot of people in focus groups — and people are informed what their health care costs are and they know what they pay, they know how it feels for them. And so, when you ask them, what's their number one issue, health care might not be the number one issue, but cost is probably one or two. And if you ask them to pick three top issues, health care is usually one of the top three. So that's interesting.

Traynham

We got a few seconds left. I love to ask this question at the end. And that is: the next big thing in health, according to you. Annalyse?

Keller

I think is transparency. I think everybody's just really ready. Whether it's a hospital trip, you know, drug pricing. I think the American public just wants to know what goes into the cost that they're seeing, that they're, you know, footing the bill for.

Traynham

Adam, the next big thing in health for you?

Abrams

So go a little bit different I'm gonna say AI I think both challenges and opportunities in how consumers interact and how companies interact with consumers on it, but also the potential for breakthroughs on actual health care delivery side. But it's there's so much unknown so many people trying to tap into it. It'll be interesting.

Traynham

Thank you both, really appreciate it.

Abrams

Thank you.