Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

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

The Top Three...

Politico: RFK Jr. confirmation could hinge on one senator Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s bid to lead the Department of Health and Human Services could come down to one senator. That senator, Bill Cassidy (R-La.), said he was deeply torn about his vote during a hearing of the Senate committee in charge of health policy on Thursday. Cassidy, the panel’s chair and a gastroenterologist before entering politics, spoke of his own experience with life-saving vaccines and repeatedly asked Kennedy to disavow his past anti-vaccine advocacy. (Payne, Gardner and Cirruzzo, 1/30)

The Hill: States’ Medicaid Portal Access Restored After Lapse Under Trump, But It’s ‘Not Functioning Correctly’ After losing access to a Medicaid federal funding portal after an aid freeze by the Trump administration, states say they’re regaining access, but some are reporting that the site isn’t functioning “correctly.” One day after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo stating agencies must halt “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance,” state Medicaid offices reported they had lost access to the payment portal through which federal funds are drawn. (Choi, 1/28)

The New York Times: Leaving The W.H.O. Could Hurt Americans On A Range Of Health Matters The W.H.O.’s work touches American lives in myriad ways. The agency compiles the International Classification of Diseases, the system of diagnostic codes used by doctors and insurance companies. It assigns generic names to medicines that are recognizable worldwide. Its extensive flu surveillance network helps select the seasonal flu vaccine each year. The agency also closely tracks resistance to antibiotics and other drugs, keeps American travelers apprised of health threats, and studies a wide range of issues such as teen mental health, substance use and aging, which may then inform policies in the United States. (Mandavilli, 1/29)

For a Deeper Dive...

KFF Health News: Trump’s Funding ‘Pause’ Throws States, Health Industry Into Chaos States and the nation’s health industry were thrown into disarray after the Trump administration ordered Monday that the government freeze nearly all federal grants at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, a sweeping directive that at least initially appeared to include funding for Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program that covers more than 70 million Americans. By midmorning Tuesday, state officials around the country reported they had been shut out of a critical online portal that allows states to access federal Medicaid funding. (Galewitz, 1/28)

The New York Times: RFK Jr. Appears Unfamiliar With Key Elements Of Medicare And Medicaid In a tense exchange with Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. displayed a surprising lack of familiarity with Medicare and Medicaid, the government programs responsible for covering more than 150 million Americans. At times, Mr. Kennedy seemed to confuse the two programs. Medicare is a federal program that provides coverage to older and disabled Americans, while Medicaid is a state-federal program that covers low-income people. (Kliff and Abelson, 1/29)

Modern Healthcare: After Hearings, RFK Jr. Hasn't Swayed 3 Key Republicans Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s chances of confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary appeared to hinge Thursday on convincing a handful of Senate Republicans that he would adhere to accepted science when it comes to vaccines. During a hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Kennedy faced tough questioning from Democrats and a few Republicans about his long history advocating against vaccinations and disseminating misinformation about the disproved link between vaccines and autism. In contrast, several Republicans expressed support for Kennedy's stance on vaccines. (McAuliff, 1/30)

The Hill: Republicans Go Easy On Kennedy In Confirmation Hearing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a grilling from Democrats over his past as an anti-vaccine activist and his waffling stance on abortion, but Republicans went easy on President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services during his confirmation hearing Wednesday, foreshadowing a path to confirmation on the Senate floor. Over more than three hours of contentious questioning from Democrats and mostly softballs from Republicans, Kennedy stumbled over basic health care questions, and at times displayed limited knowledge of the complexities of the nearly $2 trillion agency he was nominated to run. (Meyn, 1/29)

The New York Times: Trump Reinstates Longstanding Republican Anti-Abortion Policy President Trump on Friday reinstated a longstanding Republican anti-abortion policy known as the “Mexico City Rule,” which bars federal funding from going to any overseas nongovernmental organization that performs or promotes abortions. The move came after he addressed thousands of abortion opponents in Washington on Friday to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which created a national right to abortion and which the court overturned in 2022. (Gay Stolberg, 1/24)

The Washington Post: How Killing Of UnitedHealthcare CEO Sowed Fear For Executives’ Safety Local police conducted security checks and stood guard at the homes of health-care executives dozens of times in the weeks after UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was killed on Dec. 4 — a sign of the heightened concerns that security professionals say persist after the targeted shooting. In suburban Texas, police arrived at the home of David Joyner, chief executive of CVS, for a “special watch” in the shooting’s immediate aftermath. Later that day, police in Connecticut patrolled the secluded home of Cigna CEO David Cordani. And over the next few days, police officers in Missouri were hired to sit overnight in an unmarked car outside the home of Centene CEO Sarah London. (1/29)

MedPage Today: Trump Firing Of HHS Inspector General Just The Latest In An Ongoing Conflict President Trump's firing of HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm late last week was not the first time that Grimm had come under the president's critical eye. Back in 2020, Trump sought to replace Grimm -- who was running the inspector general's office -- after her office issued a report detailing shortages of personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other supplies in hospitals nationwide during the beginning of the COVID pandemic. (Frieden, 1/29)

KFF Health News: Trump Administration’s Halt Of CDC’s Weekly Scientific Report Stalls Bird Flu Studies The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States. One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have infected their pet cats. The studies were slated to appear in the official journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The distinguished journal has been published without interruption since 1952. (Maxmen, 1/30)

Stat: NIH Eases Restrictions On Staff After Trump Freeze Sparked Chaos The National Institutes of Health’s myriad divisions can start new work on mission-critical research, and continue working on ongoing studies, but cannot publicly communicate about them until the new Trump administration lifts a communications freeze, the acting director said in a memo to leaders of the agency’s 27 institutes and centers on Monday. (Owermohle, 1/27)

AP: CDC Ordered To Stop Working With WHO Immediately U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, John Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling them that all staff who work with the WHO must immediately stop their collaborations and “await further guidance.” Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, as well as brewing global threats. It also comes as health authorities around the world are monitoring bird flu outbreaks among U.S. livestock. (Stobbe, 1/27)

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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