Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
We told you Tuesday about the Senate races with health care implications, and now we're back with the House races that could have a bearing on Medicare, PBM reform and more next year.
1. Arizona-01: Rep. David Schweikert vs. Amish Shah
Schweikert is in a tight race in one of the top districts that Democrats are targeting to flip, facing Shah, an emergency physician and former Arizona state lawmaker.
- Schweikert has focused on how the use of novel technologies like AI and GLP-1 drugs could lower federal health spending. In 2017, he supported the ACA repeal-and-replace push.
- Shah has told Axios that he was making health care costs a central component of his campaign, viewing it as "a kitchen table issue."
- He has been emphasizing his experience as a physician and his bipartisan bonafides in the state legislature, where he sponsored a number of health care bills centered around health care workers and patient care that passed.
- Shah said in 2019 that he backed single-payer health care, but has since adjusted his stance to say he's also open to multipayer models.
2. Colorado-08: Rep. Yadira Caraveo vs. Gabe Evans
Caraveo, locked in another tight race, is hoping to win a second term in part by touting her experience as a pediatrician and her bipartisan record in her freshman term on the Hill.
- Her campaign is highlighting her role getting a bipartisan bill signed into law to address illicit use of xylazine, and how she broke with her party leaders to support tougher penalties for fentanyl offenses.
- They're also emphasizing how she voted for the bipartisan health care price transparency package that passed the House last year, and how she backs increasing the number of drugs up for Medicare drug price negotiations.
- Caraveo opened up in August about her mental health and how she received treatment for depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
- Evans is a Colorado state representative who's cited his kids' health care conditions as the basis for his policy views, including the need to maintain protection of preexisting conditions.
- Evans also says he supports cutting red tape through initiatives like the "gold card" program, which allows trusted doctors to skip preauthorization procedures, or expanding the kind of care that physician assistants can provide.
3. North Carolina-01: Rep. Don Davis vs. Laurie Buckhout
Davis, in yet another hotly contested race, has been one of the few Democrats in the House willing to sponsor pharma-friendly legislation with Republicans, likely a reflection of drugmaker's and biotech's big presence in his state.
- Davis was the lone Democratic cosponsor on a bill that would have given small molecule drugs the same 13-year exclusivity period as biologics before they're subject to Medicare price negotiations — a stance that patient advocacy groups criticized for weakening the Inflation Reduction Act.
- He also signed to other bills with Democrats from pharma-friendly states, including measures that would allow orphan drugs and drugs using a genetically targeted technology to be exempt from the price talks. And he's opposed the Biden administration's proposed menthol cigarette ban.
- Davis says he wants to work on local issues like addressing health care disparities and infant and maternal mortality.
- Buckhout isn't running on much of a health care platform — the issue isn't mentioned on her campaign website — and instead is focused on touting her military background and policies centered on veterans.
4. Iowa-01: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks vs. Christina Bohannan
Miller-Meeks is seeking a third term in a close race, and Bohannan has been attacking the incumbent on her record addressing drug costs.
- Bohannan has been messaging on how Miller-Meeks' vote against the Inflation Reduction Act was a vote against drug price negotiations and a $35 cap on insulin costs.
- Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist and active member of the GOP Doctors Caucus, has highlighted the health care bills she's worked on this Congress to lower costs, such as on PBM reform.
- Bohannan's health care platform includes creating Medicare dental, vision and hearing benefits and increasing the number of drugs that Medicare can negotiate.
5. Minnesota-03: Kelly Morrison vs. Tad Jude
Morrison is vying to succeed Rep. Dean Phillips in a reliably Democratic district, but her bid is notable because she wants to become the "only pro-choice OB-GYN in Congress."
- She has told Axios that she also wants to expand the list of drugs subject to price talks and apply the insulin price cap to the commercial market.
- Morrison is a former state senator who worked on issues with bipartisan appeal like capping insulin costs and extending Medicaid postpartum coverage while in the Minnesota legislature.
- Jude has said he aligns with the more centrist side of the GOP and supports price transparency and increased access to mental health resources.
6. Oregon-03: Maxine Dexter vs. Joanna Harbour
Dexter is running to succeed retiring Rep. Earl Blumenauer in a safe blue seat, after winning in a competitive Democratic primary that included besting Susheela Jayapal, the sister of Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
- She's a pulmonary and critical care physician and former state legislator who's branded herself as "a doctor and experienced progressive."
- Dexter has told Axios that she wants to take aim at private equity's role in health care, PBMs and issues like health care consolidation she says are "leeching revenue from patient premiums and out-of-pocket costs."
- She's promoting her bipartisan work in the statehouse, including on increasing addiction treatment, while also saying she supports single-payer health care and holding Big Pharma accountable.
- Harbour, her long shot opponent, has emphasized issues outside health care, including affordable housing, homelessness and crime.
