The Trump administration is planning to withdraw a lawsuit that seeks to allow Idaho hospitals to perform emergency abortions using an exception to the state's near-total abortion ban, according to a court filing.
Why it matters: This would mark a reversal from Biden administration efforts to clarify that federal directives on emergency health care take precedence over state abortion bans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday sent federal disease experts to assist in the response to the intensifying measlesoutbreak in Texas
Why it matters: The move indicates that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and the Trump administration are starting to prioritize the response after Kennedy downplayed the threat last week, describing such outbreaks as "not unusual."
New York University's Langone Health will use Amazon's palm recognition technology for patient check-ins, the health system announced Monday as a major health information technology conference kicked off.
Why it matters: The new system, which will be optional for patients, aims to make it easier and faster to verify patient identities when they show up to an appointment.
Health care may not feature prominently in President Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night, but whatever he says about Medicaid will be closely parsed.
Why it matters: Trump has said he would "love and cherish" the safety net program, but it still could be in the crosshairs as Congress looks for ways to pay for an extension of the president's 2017 tax cuts.
In nearly three weeks as Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. certainly hasn't allayed concerns that he'll bring his vaccine criticism — most if not all of it unfounded — into his role as the nation's top health care official.
Why it matters: Several of Kennedy's vaccine-related actions have stoked fears that the anti-vaccine movement has gained a powerful foothold within the federal government in the midst of a worsening measles outbreak in Texas, one of the worst flu seasons in more than a decade and a circulating bird flu virus that has pandemic potential.
The big picture: The president has crafted a team of loyalists to advise him on the most pressing and important issues facing the nation both at home and abroad.
Black and Hispanic people paid more in out-of-pocket costs for maternal care than Asian and white people with the same commercial insurance, a new study published in JAMA Health Forum found.
Why it matters: Black mothers in the U.S. facea pregnancy-related death rate that is more than three times the rate for white mothers. About 80% of these deaths are preventable. The maternal mortality rate for Hispanic women is similar to that of white mothers but has surged in recent years.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s move to reduce public comments on certain federal health rules injects new uncertainty into the regulatory landscape and could help him make controversial policy decisions unchecked.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke of the benefits of the MMR vaccine on Sunday in response to a growing measles outbreak in Texas.
Why it matters: Kennedy has a long record of sowing skepticism about vaccines and last week appeared to downplay the situation in Texas when he described such outbreaks as "not unusual."
