Senate Democrats want to force Republicans to vote on mandating insurance coverage of IVF as part of a debate over the GOP's budget resolution, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: President Trump signed an executive order meant to expand access to IVF this week, but Democrats say the directive is toothless.
The first CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as HHS secretary has been indefinitely postponed, the department confirmed.
Why it matters: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, offers guidance on vaccine approvals and influences which shots insurers cover.
Heat waves can gum up hospitals enough to bring deadly consequences even beyond patients directly afflicted, a new study finds.
Why it matters: It's the first estimate of extreme heat that "unpacks the direct from the indirect effects that arise due to hospital congestion," it states.
Mehmet Oz, Trump's nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, pledged to divest his investments in hospitals and insurers if confirmed to lead the agency, he said in a filing with the Office of Government Ethics.
Why it matters: As CMS chief, Oz — better known as Dr. Oz — would oversee the largest health care purchasers in the U.S. that do business with and regulate many of the companies he's currently invested in.
A Food and Drug Administration division that went through a major reorganization to address concerns about food safety was caught up in the Trump administration's federal workforce cuts.
Why it matters: The fledgling Unified Human Foods Program was created in the wake of high-profile safety failures, including the baby formula crisis, and was the agency's key resource on improving food safety as well as nutrition policy.
The Trump administration told the Supreme Court late Tuesday that it intends to defend the Affordable Care Act's requirement that insurers cover certain recommended preventive services at no cost to patients.
Why it matters: President Trump's past moves to dismantle ACA requirements stoked speculation in health and legal circles that he might not defend the law in a high court review.
Health plans are lobbying the Trump administration to scrap a proposal dating from the final days of the Biden administration that would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover anti-obesity drugs, including GLP-1s, for weight loss.
Why it matters: The final decision, expected in April, is an important barometer of which health care interests have President Trump's ear, since many providers, patients and drugmakers want Medicare to cover the products.
