Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

Stat: Trump Taps RFK Jr. For HHS: Scientists, Pharma, Biotechs React Leaders throughout the biopharma world and scientific community struggled to process news on Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a move that could have profound implications for drug development, public health policy, and basic research. (Wosen, Feuerstein, DeAngelis, Herper and Silverman, 11/14)

Healthcare Dive: How the healthcare industry is reacting to a second Trump term Donald Trump’s first term was characterized by significant turbulence for government healthcare programs. Here’s how some of the most influential industry groups responded to his reelection. (Pifer, 11/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Demands Republicans Allow Some Nominees To Bypass Senate President-elect Donald Trump demanded that the next Republican leader of the Senate agree to allow him to push through at least some nominees without requiring a vote, a move that would give more power to the White House to get around congressional opposition. The statement by Trump, who prevailed on Election Day by winning all seven of the battleground states, showed him muscling the incoming Senate majority weeks before the Republicans are set to take over the chamber. The GOP senators, who are set to have a 53-47 margin in the next Congress, are voting on a new leader this week. (Hughes and Bravin, 11/10)

For a Deeper Dive...

National Journal: What can Trump do unilaterally on health policy? The election of Donald Trump for a second term holds many implications for the future of health care in the U.S. While policy experts and advocates are watching what a potential Republican Congress could deliver for the president, there are several areas of regulation that the future Trump administration could reverse or reform on its own. This includes rules governing nursing-home staffing minimums, telehealth regulations, reproductive health care, and anti-discrimination protections for transgender individuals, among many others. (Durkin, 11/13)

Roll Call: How RFK Jr.’s Health Proposals Would Stack Up In Practice Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is lined up to advise the incoming Trump administration on its health policy agenda, has floated broad plans to “make America healthy again.” But how he will accomplish his wide-ranging agenda is still a question mark. Kennedy’s suggestions have ranged from gutting parts of the Food and Drug Administration to working to remove fluoride from the water supply. While it’s still unclear whether he will hold a formal position in Donald Trump’s cabinet or serve as an adviser, here’s a look at the viability of Kennedy’s major ideas. (DeGroot, 11/8)

Politico: How RFK Jr. Could Cause An Earthquake For American Public Health If the Senate confirms Kennedy, it will presage the biggest rethinking of the U.S. public health system ever. HHS and its agencies oversee drug approvals, food safety and disease surveillance, in addition to Medicare and Medicaid. A scion of one of America’s most famous Democratic families, Kennedy and his “Make America Healthy Again” movement blame Americans’ poor health in part on a corrupt alliance among the food and drug industries and the regulators supposed to watch over them. They want to replace the bureaucrats and overhaul the systems for overseeing pesticides, food additives and vaccines. Here’s what Kennedy and MAHA want to do. (Payne, Cirruzzo, Brown, Gibson and Snider, 11/14)

NPR: How The CDC Could Change Under The Next Trump Administration In its 78-year history, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has evolved from its origins tackling malaria to an agency that aims to safeguard almost every aspect of Americans' health. But the CDC's sprawling mission could be in for some big changes in the new Trump administration. House Republicans have called for cuts to the CDC's budget, and former Trump administration officials have suggested restructuring the agency in ways that would diminish its reach and influence. (Huang, 11/14)

ABC News: Black Infant Mortality Rate More Than Double The Rate Among White Infants: CDC Infant mortality rates remained relatively unchanged from 2022 to 2023, but racial and ethnic disparities still persist, new provisional federal data released early Thursday finds. The U.S. provisional infant mortality rate in 2023 was 5.61 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, unchanged from the 2022 rate, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The report also found that infants born to Black mothers still died at much higher rates than those born to white and Asian mothers -- more than double the rate of white infant mortality, according to the CDC. (Kekatos and Rayala, 11/14)

Modern Healthcare: New Physical, Occupational Therapy Rule May Ease Hospital Burden A policy change enabling physical and occupational therapy practitioners to treat Medicare beneficiaries with less oversight could benefit health systems and other providers. Tucked inside the Physician Fee Schedule final rule for 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services relaxed supervision requirements for physical and occupational therapist assistants from “direct” to “general.” (Early, 11/12)

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A few years ago I started a weekly e-mail for friends and colleagues who want to keep up on major federal health policy developments but did not have time to plod through all the minutiae--they were busy doing important things like running organizations and taking care of patients! Much to my surprise, it became pretty popular. I have now converted to a weekly newsletter format so you can manage your own subscription preferences and forward to others that might be interested.

These summaries represent my judgement on health policy issues that may not on the front pages, but are relevant to clinicians, administrators, and educators. I monitor many news sources and clipping services to identify content for this newsletter and I try hard to be as factual, balanced, and non-partisan as possible. While the articles are written by others (with credit attributed), the choice of what to include is entirely mine. If you are interested in receiving a daily summary of health policy news, you might consider signing up for the KHN Morning Briefing. If you enjoy podcasts, I suggest What the Health? and Tradeoffs.

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD