Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

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

The Top Three...

CNN: Childhood Vaccines: HHS Planning To Overhaul Schedule To Recommend Fewer Shots, Source Says The US Department of Health and Human Services is planning to overhaul the schedule of recommended vaccines for children in the US, a person familiar with the plans told CNN on Thursday. The proposed new schedule would recommend fewer shots, bringing it closer in line with what’s recommended in other developed countries. The expectation is that the US schedule will be close to, if not identical to, recommendations in Denmark, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the matter. (Cancryn, Tirrell, Goodman and Dillinger, 12/18)

AP: Speaker Johnson Confronts A Centrist Revolt On ACA Subsidies Speaker Mike Johnson had a ready-made refrain when asked why Republicans weren’t moving to extend federal health care subsidies: their party wanted to help 100% of Americans with their costs, not just the 7% of Americans enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans. But not 100% of his conference agreed. A rare revolt from the moderate wing of the party has upended Johnson’s plans. (Cappelletti, 12/18)

The Hill: Moderate GOP Rebels Plot Next Steps On ObamaCare Subsidies With Senators House GOP moderates on Wednesday privately huddled with a bipartisan group of senators to begin plotting the next steps on extending the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies. The meeting came after four Republicans broke ranks and signed a Democratic-led discharge petition, pushing it to the 218 signatures required to force a vote on extending the ObamaCare subsidies for three years. (Kochi and Weixel, 12/17)

For a Deeper Dive...

Modern Healthcare: US Health Spending Projected To Reach $5.6T In 2025 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary projects healthcare spending in 2025 will hit $5.6 trillion. Six months after the independent CMS division’s initial forecast, industry watchers also predict increases. “It’s hard to generalize, but I think many payers and risk-bearing entities are continuing to see elevated cost growth this year and going into next year with quite a bit of volatility,” said Dr. Jeet Guram, associate partner at McKinsey. (Broderick, 12/16)

Stat: Trump Administration Crackdown On Gender-Affirming Care Targets Hospitals The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed on Thursday two rules to withhold federal funds in connection with gender-affirming care for trans minors, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery. The most stringent rule would bar facilities that offer this care from receiving any funding from the federal Medicare or Medicaid programs, a move that would effectively force most medical centers to cease providing it. (Gaffney, Payne and Cirruzzo, 12/18)

The Washington Post: American Academy Of Pediatrics Loses HHS Funding After Criticizing RFK Jr. The Department of Health and Human Services has terminated seven grants totaling millions of dollars to the American Academy of Pediatrics, including for initiatives on reducing sudden infant deaths, improving adolescent health, preventing fetal alcohol syndrome and identifying autism early, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The abrupt loss of funds this week surprised the professional pediatrician association, which has been one of the harshest critics of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to federal vaccine policy. (Sun and Cunningham, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Why Health Care Costs Will Skyrocket In 2026 One key factor could accelerate in the face of federal spending cuts. When hospitals or other entities buy other hospitals or physician practices, that gives the consolidated health system more leverage in negotiations with insurance companies. As a result, prices often spike. (Adams, 12/16)

Politico: Despite A Possible Agreement On ACA Subsidies, Abortion Lurks As A Hurdle The looming expiration of Obamacare subsidies for tens of millions of Americans has more lawmakers — particularly vulnerable Republicans — sweating the political fallout and ready to compromise. But odds for a deal remain slim, and an unresolved fight over abortion could lower them to zero. (Ollstein and King, 12/17)

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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