CNN's Jake Tapper is out with a new interview with retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, and it's worth a look.
The short version: Tillis regrets basically everything, except for his vote against the One Big, Beautiful Bill, which he believes was essential to try to save rural health care.
Here's the full interview:
And here's the portion that relates to rural health care specifically:
It's worth noting that while there's been lots of chatter about the OBBB's effects on rural health care, there's been precious little focus on the effect of drug companies trying to restrict drug discounts they're mandated to provide to poorer rural hospitals under a section of federal law called 340B.
They're doing that through a rebate pilot program, limiting which hospital pharmacies can access discounts in the first place, and by forcing hospitals to hand over sensitive patient medical data they legally cannot hand over without violating federal law in order to get those discounts.
Legislation to block the rebate portion of this has been introduced in the House, but curiously, no counterpart has been introduced in the Senate– including by Tillis.
In Tillis' last election, 2020, he took $319,731 in donations from the drug industry per OpenSecrets.
Thereafter, he took $105,800 from them in 2022, and $148,324 in 2024.
Tillis is, of course retiring. It's interesting that he hasn't decided that between that and his professed worry about rural health care, now would be a good time to forsake his donors' interests and introduce a Senate version of the legislation.
Tillis' potential GOP replacement, Michael Whatley, has taken only $7,508 from the pharmaceutical industry.
By contrast, Democrat Roy Cooper has taken about six times that amount: $44,222.
With Cooper leading Whatley by close to ten points in the Real Clear Politics average, those numbers– and not just Tillis' newfound sorta-kinda cojones– might become highly relevant soon.
It's possible that Tillis' replacement might effect better outcomes on rural health care no matter who wins that race.
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