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Senate Republicans pass massive Medicaid cuts
Senate Republicans on Tuesday passed the largest cuts to Medicaid since the program began in the 1960s, a move that would erode the social safety net and cause a spike in the number of uninsured Americans over the next decade. The tax and spending bill is projected to cost more than $3 trillion during that…
16 states sue Trump over school mental health cuts
Sixteen Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday challenging the Department of Education’s cuts to mental health funding for schools. In April, the Education Department announced the $1 billion cut to mental health funding, citing concerns with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives embedded in the contracts. The states allege the contracts…
GOP leaders looking to expand enhanced Medicaid matching rate to woo Lisa Murkowski
Senate Republican leaders are discussing a proposal to expand an enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) matching rate to five states, including Alaska and Hawaii, which could be critical to locking down Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) vote.
Senate Parliamentarian allows 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood
A Senate GOP provision that would block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood will remain in the massive tax and spending bill after the Senate parliamentarian on Monday advised the language does not violate the chamber’s Byrd Rule. The ruling from Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough comes after Senate Republicans updated the provision late Friday night to change…
DOJ announces takedown of record $14.6B in health care fraud
The Justice Department announced criminal charges Monday against more than 300 individuals over their alleged involvement in more than $14.6 billion worth of health care fraud schemes. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants across 50 federal districts. These defendants include…
Gut microbes can absorb and excrete forever chemicals: Study
Certain types of microbes found in the human gut can absorb toxic “forever chemicals” from their surroundings, a new study has found. When scientists introduced the microbes into the guts of mice to “humanize” their microbiome, they found that the bacteria rapidly accumulated the compounds consumed by the mice. These so-called forever chemicals, also known…
Moderna's flu shot more effective for older adults
Moderna Inc. said Monday its experimental flu shot showed positive results in a late-stage trial. In a Phase 3 study, the company’s mRNA-1010 flu vaccine’s efficacy was nearly 27 percent higher for adults 50 and older than a currently available shot. The shot also showed strong efficacy against each of the major influenza strains…
Collins, Murkowski vote with Democrats on striking Planned Parenthood provision from GOP megabill
Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) on Monday sided with Democrats who were trying to strike a provision from the GOP’s megabill that would bar Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving Medicaid funding for services provided to low-income women across the country. The two were the only Republicans to vote for a…
Thom Tillis becomes third Republican to oppose Senate's GOP megabill
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R) announced after a meeting with Senate GOP leaders and colleagues Saturday afternoon that he will vote “no” on both the motion to proceed and final passage of the Republican megabill to implement President Trump’s agenda because of deep cuts to federal Medicaid funding. Tillis said he wants Senate Republican…
Tillis: Senate bill breaks Trump's promise on Medicaid
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Sunday that the Senate version of President Trump’s massive spending bill “will betray the very promise” the president made when he pledged not to interfere with people’s Medicaid benefits. Tillis — who voted against the bill in a key procedural vote Saturday night and announced Sunday he would not run…
Florida senator proposes $313 billion Medicaid reduction
Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R) and several Republican allies have unveiled an amendment to President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that would reduce Medicaid spending by another $313 billion by limiting the expansion of Medicaid under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. The amendment would prevent new enrollees in Medicaid expansion states from…
GOP tax bill would mean 11.8 million people uninsured, $1.1 trillion in health cuts
The Senate Republicans’ tax and spending bill, which is speeding through the chamber, would result in deeper health care cuts and more people without insurance than the version that passed the House, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The legislation would result in 11.8 million Americans losing insurance by 2034, CBO found:…
NH passes bill banning trans care for minors
New Hampshire lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to bills that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors in the state, sending the measures to Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who has not yet said whether she will sign them. State lawmakers voted to pass House Bill 377, which would prohibit doctors from administering puberty blockers…
Senate proposal boosts rural hospital funding, changes Medicaid language
Senate Republican leaders substantially increased the size of a rural hospital relief fund and rewrote controversial language freezing health care provider taxes in a late-night bid to keep President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on track for a vote Saturday afternoon. Republican leaders increased the size of the proposed rural hospital relief fund from $15 billion…
Reproductive rights groups fear SCOTUS ruling will inspire anti-abortion politicians
Reproductive rights advocates are reeling from Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of South Carolina in a legal case to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which they fear will give other states the green light to do the same.
How Medicaid ruling could blow up Senate GOP's plans on Trump 'big, beautiful bill'
Senate Republicans were dealt a significant blow Thursday when Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough advised that major pieces of the GOP megabill’s Medicaid policy can’t pass with a simple majority. Much of the savings in the bill come from Medicaid cuts, and the ruling impacts several of the largest and most controversial ones, including a plan…
Vaccine panel backs RFK Jr. in opposing thimerosal, a flu shot preservative
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), recently remade by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted Thursday in favor of only recommending flu shots that don’t contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. The ACIP, which provides guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), voted on four draft recommendations, three…
Texans made up nearly 1 in 5 out-of-state abortions in 2024, study shows
More than 150,000 people traveled out of state for an abortion last year, with Texans alone making up roughly a fifth of that number, according to a recent report. That is a slight drop from the more than 170,000 people who traveled out of state for the procedure in 2023, according to the report…
Trump's CDC nominee avoids crossing Kennedy in confirmation hearing
Susan Monarez, a longtime federal health official nominated by President Trump to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), faced senators in a confirmation hearing Wednesday, providing a first glimpse of her personal views and any signs of daylight between herself and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While Monarez…
Nitrate in water tied to low birth weight, preterm birth
Exposure to a common agricultural contaminant in drinking water, even in small doses, may be linked to increased risks of preterm birth, a new study has found. The pollutant, called nitrate, is also associated with low birth weight in infants whose mothers consumed affected water during pregnancy, according to the study, published on Wednesday in PLOS Water.…
Kennedy's CDC vaccine panel to review childhood shots
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly remade federal vaccine advisory panel will examine the cumulative effect of the childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule, the panel’s chair said Wednesday. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will also weigh recommendations for vaccines that have long been on the market, including those…
Tillis warns of Medicaid cuts' political risks for Republicans
Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), one of the most vulnerable Senate Republican incumbents facing re-election in 2026, warned Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) bluntly in a private meeting Tuesday that deep cuts to Medicaid could cost Republicans control of the House and Senate, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Tillis, who has kept…
Washington Democrat: RFK Jr. 'lied' to Bill Cassidy
Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) accused Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) when he told the senator he would maintain a key federal vaccine advisory committee “without changes.” During a budget hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, Schrier, a pediatrician,…
Republican chair asks Kennedy for retraction over vaccine claims
A House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing came to a brief halt Tuesday as the Republican chair asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to retract his accusations that a Democratic member’s stance on vaccines was influenced by campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies. Kennedy appeared before the subcommittee to defend…
Kennedy clashes with Democrats during House hearing
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparred with Democrats throughout a House budget hearing Thursday, with members accusing Kennedy of lying about changes to vaccine oversight, and Kennedy accusing lawmakers of being influenced by campaign contributions from Big Pharma. Kennedy appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to…
Democrats look to spark abortion issue 3 years out from Dobbs decision
Democrats are looking to restart the abortion conversation around the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. That Supreme Court decision in June 2022 turned abortion into one of the most powerful positions Democrats could run on. They saw major victories on the issue in the 2022 midterms and Virginia’s off-year…