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A plan to speed Robert Califf’s nomination for FDA commissioner through the Senate next month is on hold after the Biden administration failed to submit the necessary paperwork to Congress in time, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. The delay means that Califf is now unlikely to get a confirmation hearing until mid-December at the earliest, effectively ruling out the possibility of a full Senate floor vote on his appointment before the end of the year. (Cancryn, 11/23)

Robert Califf, President Biden’s choice to lead the Food and Drug Administration, earned $2.7 million as an executive at Google’s life science arm Verily, and he holds between $1 million and $5 million in equity in the company, according to a recent financial statement filed with the White House. Califf is also coming into the FDA’s top job with a massive stock portfolio. His financial statement lists roughly 30 companies in which he owns more than $100,000 worth of stock as part of a retirement account. His holdings include between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of stock in the pharmaceutical giants Bristol Myers Squibb and Amgen and between $100,000 and $250,000 in Gilead. (Florko, 11/23)

The Department of Health and Human Services has begun distributing billions of dollars to rural health care providers to ease the financial pressures brought by the coronavirus pandemic and to help hospitals stay open. The agency said on Tuesday that it had started doling out $7.5 billion to more than 40,000 health care providers in every state and six U.S. territories through the American Rescue Plan, a sprawling relief bill that Congress passed in March. The infusion of funds will help offset increased expenses and revenue losses among rural physicians during the pandemic, the agency said. (Walker, 11/23)

KHN: Florida Sen. Rick Scott Off Base In Claim That Rise In Medicare Premiums Is Due To Inflation

Republicans blame President Joe Biden for this year’s historic surge in inflation, reflected in higher prices for almost everything — from cars and gas to food and housing. They see last month’s 6.2% annual inflation rate — the highest in decades and mostly driven by an increase in consumer spending and supply issues related to the covid-19 pandemic — as a ticket to taking back control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. A key voting bloc will be older Americans, and the GOP aims to illustrate how much worse life has grown for them under the Biden administration. (Galewitz, 11/24)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The Big Biden Budget Bill Passes The House

President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” social spending bill passed the House last week, but the legislation faces a new and different set of hurdles in the Senate, where it will need the support of every single Democrat, plus approval by the Senate parliamentarian. Meanwhile, covid-19 is surging again in Europe as well as in many parts of the United States, just as travel picks up for the holidays. And the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in an abortion case out of Mississippi that could lead to the weakening or overturning of Roe v. Wade — and could upend the political landscape in the U.S. (11/23)