Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

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

The Top Three...

The New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Abortion Pill Access By Mail To Continue The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a widely used abortion medication could continue to be prescribed by telehealth and sent to patients by mail. Two manufacturers of mifepristone had asked the Supreme Court to intervene after the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit restricted access to the medication. The Supreme Court’s brief order means that the Fifth Circuit’s decision will remain blocked, perhaps for months, while litigation continues in the lower courts. The issue could eventually return to the high court. (Marimow, 5/14)

AP: Makary's Resignation From FDA Widens A Leadership Gap At HHS When the week began, several senior positions at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were already sitting empty. There was no Senate-confirmed U.S. surgeon general. The head of the National Institutes of Health was doubling as the acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration lacked a permanent vaccine chief after that official was ousted for a second time in a year. Then on Tuesday Dr. Marty Makary resigned as head of the FDA, leaving another major health agency with only an acting commissioner. Makary’s departure widens a leadership gap that has plagued HHS throughout Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tenure. (Swenson, Perrone and Stobbe, 5/13)

The Hill: CDC Not Requiring Hantavirus Cruise Passengers To Isolate At Home The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday that the hantavirus remains a low public health risk and while the agency is “encouraging” American passengers of the infected cruise ship to isolate at home, the absence of a formal quarantine order means these individuals can go out in public if they choose. “At this moment, I want to emphasize that the risk to the general public is low. Our top priority is both the passengers who are on the ship and American communities,” David Fitter, incident manager for the CDC’s hantavirus response said in a press briefing. (Choi, 5/13)

For a Deeper Dive...

Politico: RFK Jr.’s Looming Vaccine Decisions To Test White House Midterm Strategy The White House has commanded Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to put aside his vaccine-skeptical views and prioritize food policy wins as he tours the country ahead of the midterms. But deadlines for high-stakes decisions between now and November will reveal more about whether the Trump administration’s rhetorical shift is real or just an election-year expedient. Over the next few months, Kennedy will have to decide whether to recommend new vaccines for flu and Covid-19, sign off on a new Moderna shot that uses mRNA technology — which Kennedy believes is dangerous — and release funding to developing countries for vaccines that he has deemed unsafe. (Gardner and Haslett, 5/13)

The Hill: Trump Administration Launches Moms.Gov On Mother’s Day The Trump administration launched the website Moms.gov on Mother’s Day in an effort to help provide resources to expecting women and their families. The site’s tagline says it’s “addressing the needs of mothers and fathers who face difficult or unexpected pregnancies and ensuring the well-being of mothers and the health of American families.” Information on the website spans from details about Trump Accounts to breastfeeding, mental health, health centers, nutrition facts and adoption. (Fields, 5/10)

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth, CVS, Cigna Earnings See Medical Costs Start To Ease The health insurance industry is showing signs of life after several tough years. Major insurers that reported first-quarter earnings in recent weeks outperformed Wall Street expectations and demonstrated improvements in medical spending, suggesting longstanding cost pressures may be receding. UnitedHealthcare parent company UnitedHealth Group, Aetna parent company CVS Health, Cigna, Elevance Health, Centene and Alignment Healthcare saw medical expenses decline during the period and upgraded their annual earnings guidances. Humana, Molina Healthcare and Clover Health bested earnings projections for the quarter. (Tepper, 5/13)

AP: Trump’s FDA Chief Is Out After Angering Pharma CEOs, Vaping Lobbyists And Anti-Abortion Activists The head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, is resigning after a rocky tenure that drew months of complaints from health industry executives, anti-abortion activists, vaping lobbyists and other allies of President Donald Trump. News of Makary’s departure Tuesday came just 13 months after he was confirmed to lead the powerful regulatory agency. (Perrone and Min Kim, 5/13)

MedPage Today: Here's What Stakeholders Want From The Next FDA Commissioner Stakeholders across the board are calling for a return to regular order at the FDA following the resignation of Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, who said he resigned in protest over the agency's decision to authorize flavored e-cigarettes. At a Future of Health Summit on Wednesday, Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said, "I think what we really need from the next leader of the FDA is to calm the waters and re-establish that certainty and predictability." (Firth, 5/14)

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