Gregg's Top Three Heath Policy Articles

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

The Top Three...

NBC News: House Republicans Representing Large Shares Of Medicaid, SNAP Beneficiaries Face Tough Budget Test There are a handful of House Republicans who represent parts of the country where sizable shares of the populations receive government assistance from Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to an NBC News analysis of the most recently available Census Bureau data. The lawmakers from the 10 GOP-held districts with the highest percentages of Medicaid or SNAP beneficiaries span the ideological and geographical spectrum. They include members from deep-red districts, such as Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, as well as those in competitive battlegrounds, such as Reps. David Valadao of California. (Zanona, Kapur and Kamisar, 2/21)

KFF Health News: GOP Takes Aim At Medicaid, Putting Enrollees And Providers At Risk Medicaid is under threat — again. Republicans, who narrowly control Congress, are pushing proposals that could sharply cut funding to the government health insurance program for poor and disabled Americans, as a way to finance President Donald Trump’s agenda for tax cuts and border security. Democrats, hoping to block the GOP’s plans and preserve Medicaid funding, are rallying support from hospitals, governors, and consumer advocates. (Galewitz, 2/21)

Fierce Healthcare: Mass Firings At HHS: Thousands Impacted Across CMS, CDC, FDA The nation's most distinguished health agencies fired thousands of probationary workers, starting Feb. 13 and extending into the holiday weekend, in what is becoming informally known among federal workers as the Valentine’s Day Massacre. The firings began at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, before extending throughout virtually all of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) divisions by the end of the weekend, reported numerous media outlets. Impacted workers took to social media to confirm the news. (Tong, 2/17)

For a Deeper Dive...

The Washington Post: CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel Meeting Postponed Indefinitely The Trump administration has directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to indefinitely postpone a public meeting of its vaccine advisory panel, a key forum for the nation’s discussion of information about vaccine safety and effectiveness. The decision came Thursday from officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, CDC’s parent agency, led by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has long criticized the panel and the CDC. (Sun and Nirappil, 2/20)

Politico: Trump Blindsides Staff, Congress With Conflicting Medicaid Messages Trump’s seemingly contradictory comments — shared in a Fox News interview Tuesday evening and then Truth Social Wednesday morning — are also fueling confusion and concern among Republicans on Capitol Hill, who are looking to him for political cover as they contemplate a potentially risky vote. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said he has “concerns” about “the House’s proposal for very deep cuts to Medicaid.” (Leonard, Cancryn and King, 2/19)

Truthout: Trump Backs House GOP Bill Slashing $1 Trillion From Medicaid And Food Stamps On Wednesday, President Donald Trump endorsed a House Republican budget plan that would impose hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, a healthcare program jointly funded by federal and state money, which helps provide coverage for Americans with lower incomes, including pregnant women, children and people with disabilities, among others. Trump endorsed the plan over another Senate proposal, which sought to pass much of his legislative agenda through two separate bills. Trump, who had previously said either plan was fine with him, said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that the House plan was better, in his mind, because it puts most everything he wants into “one big beautiful bill.” (Walker, 2/19)

The New York Times: Trump Cuts Target Next Generation Of Scientists And Public Health Leaders The firings have excised the next generation of leaders at the C.D.C., the N.I.H., the Food and Drug Administration, and other agencies that the department oversees. “It seems like a very destructive strategy to fire the new talent at an agency, and the talent that’s being promoted,” said Dr. David Fleming, the chairman of an advisory committee to the C.D.C. director. He added, “A lot of energy and time has been spent in recruiting those folks, and that’s now tossed out the window.” (Gay Stolberg, 2/18)

The Hill: Trump Administration Targets ACA Navigators The Trump administration slashed funding for Affordable Care Act navigators, which help people sign up for ObamaCare coverage on the law’s exchanges, by 90 percent. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday announced health insurance navigators will receive just $10 million per year over the next four years. Navigators received $98 million in 2024. (Weixel, 2/14)

KFF Health News: Urgent CDC Data And Analyses On Influenza And Bird Flu Go Missing As Outbreaks Escalate Sonya Stokes, an emergency room physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, braces herself for a daily deluge of patients sick with coughs, soreness, fevers, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms. She’s desperate for information, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a critical source of urgent analyses of the flu and other public health threats, has gone quiet in the weeks since President Donald Trump took office. (Maxmen, 2/14)

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