Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

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

The Top Three...

CIDRAP: During Chaotic Meeting, CDC Advisers Handpicked By RFK Jr. Postpone Vote On Changing Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendations During a contentious meeting dominated by racial innuendo and anti-vaccine talking points, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today voted to delay a decision on whether to recommend scaling back infant vaccinations for hepatitis B, a virus that kills 1.1 million people around the world each year. Several members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) asked for the postponement after complaining that they hadn't been given sufficient time to consider the wording of the proposal. (Szabo, Van Beusekom and Dall, 12/4)

The Hill: Democrats To Force Senate Vote On 3-Year Extension Of Health Insurance Subsidies Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) announced Thursday that Democrats will force Republican senators to vote next week on a three-year extension of enhanced health insurance premium subsidies that are due to expire in January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) controls the Senate floor schedule but promised to let Democrats have a vote on a proposal to extend the health insurance subsidies as part of a deal with centrist Democrats to reopen the federal government after a 43-day shutdown. (Bolton, 12/4)

NBC News: Trump Administration Threatens To Withhold SNAP Benefits From Blue States Over Immigration Data The Trump administration indicated Tuesday that it will begin withholding SNAP benefits from recipients in most Democratic-led states starting next week after those states refused to provide the Agriculture Department with data including recipients’ names and immigration statuses. (Coronell Uribe, 12/2)

For a Deeper Dive...

The Hill: Bill Cassidy Calls ACIP 'Totally Discredited' Ahead Of Vaccine Guidance Votes Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Thursday called a federal vaccine advisory committee “totally discredited” ahead of a vote on whether to change hepatitis B vaccine guidelines, an issue very close to the Louisiana physician. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is scheduled to vote on a recommendation to no longer advise birth doses of the hepatitis B vaccine for mothers who are negative for the virus or don’t know their status, instead recommending an “individual-based decision-making” approach. (Choi, 12/4)

The New York Times: Former F.D.A. Commissioners Sound Alarm On Plan To Change Vaccine Policy In an article published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, 12 former Food and Drug Administration commissioners sharply criticized anticipated changes to vaccine policy that were detailed in a leaked memo from an agency official. “We are deeply concerned by sweeping new F.D.A. assertions about vaccine safety and proposals that would undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure that vaccines are safe, effective and available when the public needs them most,” the former commissioners wrote. (Kirk, 12/3)

Axios: Kennedy Meets With FDA Official Amid Agency Worker Turmoil Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today met with the FDA's departing top drug regulator amid concerns the agency is in turmoil, two sources familiar with the situation told Axios. The appointment of veteran cancer specialist Rick Pazdur to lead the agency's drug center mere weeks ago came as an enormous relief to the biopharmaceutical industry, and his pending retirement has reignited fears that the agency is imploding. (Owens, 12/3)

NPR: U.S. Health Care Is Broken — And It’s Getting Worse One year after UnitedHealthcare's CEO was shot and killed, the crisis in U.S. health care has gotten even worse — in ways both obvious and hidden. People increasingly can't afford health insurance. The costs of both Obamacare and employer-sponsored insurance plans are set to skyrocket next year, in a country where health care is already the most expensive in the developed world. (Aspan, 12/4)

The Hill: Most Americans Back Extending ObamaCare Subsidies, Survey Finds A majority of Americans want Congress to extend subsidies on ObamaCare set to expire at the end of the year, according to a survey from the health nonprofit KFF released Thursday. Of those enrolled in ObamaCare marketplace plans, KFF found that 84 percent want Congress to extend the credits. These subsidies allow Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees to pay less than the full price of their health insurance premiums, which would balloon if the tax credits expire. (Mancini, 12/4)

ABC News: 1 In 4 Affordable Care Act Enrollees Would 'Very Likely' Forego Health Insurance If Premiums Double: Poll One in four Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are considering going without health insurance if their monthly premiums double next year, a new KFF poll published Thursday finds. Open enrollment for the ACA began last month, and many Americans experienced sticker shock upon receiving their annual notices and discovering their 2026 premiums would be increasing. (Kekatos, 12/4)

Stat: FDA Claims Covid Vaccine Caused Kids’ Deaths. Experts Are Skeptical The Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator asserted in an email to staff sent Friday that the Covid-19 vaccine caused at least 10 deaths in children and called for changes to the way the agency regulates vaccines. But experts told STAT they are skeptical of the memo’s “extraordinary” claim because it was not presented with detailed data. (Herper and Branswell, 11/29)

ABC7: FDNY Union Leaders Demand Answers After Discovery Of Documents About Toxins At World Trade Center Site After 9/11 Attacks Members of the New York City Fire Department and union leaders held an emergency rally in Manhattan [last] Monday afternoon over the discovery of previously undisclosed records about ground zero. They are demanding answers after it was revealed that first responders were exposed to toxins on 9/11 that the city knew about but never shared. Officials say 68 previously undisclosed boxes containing information on the 9/11 toxins were found after legislation was ordered demanding a probe into what and when the city knew about toxins at ground zero. (11/25)

Politico: Americans Are Buckling Under Medical Bills. It Could Get Worse Charities that help people cover their medical bills say they’re seeing an alarming increase in requests for help. Worse yet, they say, it’s coming even before cuts to Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act take effect and the potential expiration of Obamacare subsidies at year’s end. The charities are warning of exploding medical debt and lower survival rates for diseases like cancer if Congress doesn’t act. (Chu, 11/27)

Stat: New Medicare Advantage Proposal Would Create $13B Windfall For Insurers Medicare Advantage insurers scored a Thanksgiving gift, as President Trump’s Medicare agency added back a bonus system that rewards health plans with consistently high marks. (Herman, 11/28)

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For the Visual Among Us...

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