[Editor’s note: This transcript was generated using transcription software. It has been edited for style and clarity.]
Julie Rovner: Hello from KFF Health News and WAMU Public Radio in Washington, D.C. Welcome to What the Health? I’m Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, and as at all times, I’m joined by a few of the most effective and smartest well being reporters masking Washington. We’re taping early this week prematurely of the vacation on Wednesday, July 1, at 10 a.m. As at all times, information occurs quick and issues might need modified by the point you hear this. So, right here we go.
Today we are joined through videoconference by Alice Miranda Olstein of Politico.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: Hello there.
Rovner: Lizzy Lawrence of Stat News.
Lizzy Lawrence: Hi.
Rovner: And making her What the Health? debut, my KFF Health News colleague Amanda Seitz. Welcome.
Amanda Seitz: Hello, Julie. Thanks for having me.
Rovner: Tons of well being information once more this week. So, we’ll leap proper in. We’re going to start out on the Supreme Court, the place the justices wrapped up the 2025-26 session by deciding that, sure, the 14th Amendment does imply what it says concerning birthright citizenship, which might have been a really massive well being story if it had gone the opposite method. Still, on this final crush of instances, there have been some that may have extra of an influence on well being coverage than may seem at first blush, and even some influence on well being politics. So, coverage first: In a call handed down Monday, the justices mentioned that presidents might hearth members of practically all unbiased companies for any purpose, not simply malfeasance in workplace. Previously, Congress had written into legal guidelines establishing many of those our bodies, just like the Federal Trade Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, that presidents couldn’t dismiss members simply because they disagreed with their coverage positions. In overturning a case that has stood since 1935, the vast majority of justices mentioned, nope, the president can hearth nearly anyone thought of a part of the manager department, besides possibly not members of the Federal Reserve Board. That one remains to be TBD. Still, that is more likely to have a significant influence on companies that do a number of well being coverage, just like the Federal Trade Commission, sure?
Lawrence: Yeah, already we’ve seen a number of the politicization of companies throughout authorities, so that is simply even additional embolden the administration to implement political loyalty, fealty, amongst civil servants.
Rovner: This resolution is making my head spin, as a result of I’m so used to seeing a number of these commissions which have a sure variety of members who are appointed by a president of 1 get together and a sure quantity appointed by a president one other get together to create, a minimum of in idea, steadiness, and this mainly says: Balance schmalance. It’s what the president needs.
Ollstein: I feel it’s particularly impactful given how little lawmaking Congress has been capable of do lately and the way a lot coverage is determined on the company rulemaking and enforcement stage, which is what a number of these beforehand unbiased companies took on, And so I feel delegating much more energy to the manager department in a second the place Congress has already kind of let a number of that go could possibly be large down the street. Of course, whereas that is being forged precisely as a giant win for the Trump administration, we must always, in fact, remind listeners that this cuts each methods and a future Democratic president might do rather a lot extra that conservatives might actually hate.
Rovner: Yeah. I — what goes round comes round. I’m simply considering: Wow, what occurs when a Democrat will get again in workplace? Are they going to simply fully remake all of these companies? And possibly Congress will, at some level, say possibly that wasn’t such an incredible concept. We will see how this one performs out. I think about it is going to be over a for much longer time period.
Well, in a call that was extra about fast politics than coverage, the court docket final week mentioned that individuals who declare they acquired most cancers from the pesticide glyphosate can’t sue below state legal guidelines, as a result of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, not states, decides whether or not to label the chemical compounds, offered below the commerce identify Roundup, as a carcinogen. Needless to say, members of the Make America Healthy Again motion, for whom pesticides are high concern, usually are not completely happy. This is the second loss for MAHA adherence on glyphosate this yr. HHS [Health and Human Services] Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. again in February endorsed an government order from President [Donald] Trump to declare glyphosate vital to nationwide safety to be able to defend the nation’s meals provide. How mad are the MAHA of us at this level? Amanda, I do know you’ve written about this. Alice, you have, too.
Seitz: Yeah, I feel the stress has actually been constructing between this motion and the White House for months, and now it’s, now they’re actually mad. And in the meantime, we’re not seeing a number of motion from HHS to appease the MAHA mothers. They began the yr with this new meals pyramid and the Eat Real Food marketing campaign and some rallies that have been actually promising, however since then issues have been rather a lot quieter. And I feel they’re sort of at the purpose now the place a number of these girls who assist this motion, they lean conservative, they’re white girls, however they’re in all probability not going to flip their vote, essentially, however they could sit these midterms out at this level.
Rovner: And that’s actually the most important concern. It’s not so a lot the individuals who are a part of your base are going to vote for the opponents. It’s that they’re not going to vote, proper?
Ollstein: Yeah, and so they have been already feeling demoralized about a few of the different, what they view as setbacks below this administration. They got here in with such excessive hopes that this administration, particularly with RFK at HHS, would actually be aggressive on each prescription drugs and the meals business and, like I mentioned, are very upset in what we’ve ended up with. And this administration’s resolution to again this company protect on the pesticides is absolutely what some individuals are viewing as a ultimate straw. And we all know the White House is fearful concerning the political fallout of this, as a result of they invited a bunch of those activists to the White House to kind of reassure them, make good. That was a number of months in the past, however the resolution, I feel, actually undermines these charm-offensive efforts.
Seitz: I wished so as to add that, to Alice’s level, this is a gaggle that was informed that they’d see a wholesale shake-up of the meals business from the bottom up, actually, beginning with pesticides. So they’re simply actually upset at this level. They haven’t seen a number of daring motion, actually, because the meals dyes, because the meals pyramid, and people insurance policies are months outdated at this level.
Ollstein: And a number of these are voluntary. They’re not even binding. They’re simply agreements with firms that may be reversed sooner or later.
Rovner: Well we’ll get again to RFK Jr. in just a few minutes, however first, another Supreme Court resolution, an immigration case that does have large well being implications. As a part of the theme of giving the president nonetheless extra energy, a majority of justices mentioned that President Trump might finish so-called Temporary Protected Status for sure lessons of immigrants who come from international locations that are deemed unsafe to return to due to pure catastrophe or civil unrest. In this present case, the international locations in query are Haiti and Syria. This could have an nearly fast influence on healthcare, as a result of there are greater than 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 Haitian immigrants residing within the U.S. below TPS, and many of them work in healthcare, typically as caregivers and staff in nursing properties and different long-term care services. The business group LeadingAge estimates that long-term care services might lose as much as 8% of their workforce because of this ruling. What occurs if 8% of the long-term care workforce will get deported within the subsequent few months?
Seitz: Well, the governor of my dwelling state of Ohio, who’s a Republican by way of and thru, mentioned it will be a job killer for his state, in order that tells you ways involved he’s.
Ollstein: And the long-term care and elder care sector is so closely depending on these staff. Staffing is already an enormous concern. The pay isn’t good. The work is extraordinarily onerous. It’s very onerous to seek out individuals keen to do that work, and in some locations international staff make up a majority of the workforce. They don’t all come from these particular international locations, however a number of them do. This is already a giant blow to all of these assisted residing and other forms of services which have already struggled to recruit and retain employees. And because the child boomer technology will get older, there’s solely going to be far more demand, and so it’s rising demand and lowering provide at a sort of harmful time. And we’ve seen all these studies about what occurs with understaffing. Injuries go up in these services, well being issues go unaddressed, and these are individuals’s grandmas and grandpas. This is actual.
Rovner: And individuals are going to finish up taking good care of their very own grandmas and grandpas, as a result of these services aren’t going to have the beds accessible, as a result of they don’t have the employees there to care for them. I’ll have an interest to comply with this, as a result of I consider all of the issues that we discuss which might be going to have kind of lengthy tails, this one’s going to have fairly fast influence in the event that they actually begin deporting rather a lot and even detaining a number of these individuals. And even a few of them who is probably not instantly deported merely can not go to work, as a result of in the event that they take away their immigration standing, they’ll not be right here, they’ll not be working legally. So this can have in all probability some influence that we are going to see pretty shortly.
Well, additionally impacted by a federal court docket injunction are college students pursuing healthcare careers. Late final week, a federal district court docket decide right here in Washington, D.C., blocked a part of a brand new regulation from the Department of Education that was imagined to take impact right this moment. The regulation limits how a lot sure graduate college students can borrow from the federal pupil mortgage program. Under the brand new guidelines, these pursuing sure skilled diploma applications, together with docs, dentists, and veterinarians, can borrow as much as $50,000 a yr, as much as a complete of $200,000, whereas these in what’s deemed nonprofessional applications will be restricted to $20,500 a yr and $100,000 in whole. In each instances, these limits are sometimes decrease than what these levels truly price. The administration says that’s an effort to get faculties to decrease tuition. But teams representing nurse practitioners and doctor assistants, whose professions didn’t make the, quote, “professional” diploma listing, sued, and now a minimum of that a part of the regulation is on maintain. But the general caps do take impact right this moment. What’s the potential influence right here? This is one which, as I mentioned, has in all probability a longer tail, proper? That we gained’t see the influence straight away?
Seitz: I feel on its face this appears like a really well-intentioned regulation, proper? You don’t need individuals taking out extra money than they realistically could make, however $20,000 barely covers preschool tuition in main cities today, so that’s going to be extraordinarily limiting. And once more, we’re speaking about professions which might be already going through large shortages. The nursing shortages have gone on for years. They’ve festered. There’s been no actual significant coverage to repair that difficulty. So these industries want staff, and this isn’t going to enhance this outlook. It’s going to make it a lot worse.
Rovner: Yeah, I talked to the pinnacle of one of many nursing teams, and one of many massive issues right here, while you’re speaking about shortages, it’s not a lot not having the ability to prepare nurses however not having the ability to prepare the people who find themselves going to coach the nurses. It’s nurse educators. The restrict is, you may make extra as a nurse than you may make instructing individuals to be nurses, and so it’s actually onerous to get these nurse educators. And so they should restrict — there’s a number of individuals who wish to develop into nurses. It’s a fairly good profession. Pays fairly properly. It’s fairly stable. But as a result of they actually don’t have sufficient lecturers, and limiting who can go pursue these careers isn’t actually going to assist this. I feel that’s a part of what acquired this, a minimum of this a part of the regulation, stayed. But it appears implausible that faculties are going to say, Well, we’ll simply decrease our tuition so you guys can afford to return. It’s going to be extra that folks aren’t going to have the ability to afford to pursue these careers except they will afford non-public loans, or they arrive from households which might be rich sufficient to underwrite their schooling.
Seitz: Yeah, and high-qualified candidates are already turned away yearly from nursing faculty. So now you’re making your pool even smaller, with an business that’s already struggling to fill roles, paying heaps and a number of cash to get individuals into these roles.
Rovner: Yeah, I feel this is a part of a broader effort that we are going to see the influence from, however not instantly. All proper, we’re going to take a fast break. We might be proper again.
Turning to exercise at HHS, Secretary Kennedy has been busy the previous few weeks. As predicted, the division reissued the constitution for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in order that it not requires members to have vaccine analysis experience. The concept right here is to get round a court docket resolution that mentioned the anti-vax members that he had put in earlier weren’t certified. At least that’s the belief. Right, Lizzy?
Lawrence: Right, I feel this is the — ACIP has been on maintain for therefore lengthy now, and they’re looking for a method to convene this committee with out recruiting the standard forms of individuals which might be usually advising on immunization. So, yeah.
Rovner: People with experience in immunization coverage?
Lawrence: Right, so yeah, we’ll see who they give you. I feel this has simply been such a large number from the start, and I’m curious how they’ll interpret the courts saying it is advisable to have individuals with experience right here.
Rovner: I’d say, alongside those self same traces, Lizzy, you have a story on a distinct advisory committee, this one at FDA on compounding pharmacies. Tell us about that one.
Lawrence: Yeah, so plainly the peptides committee is the brand new ACIP. So, in July, FDA will talk about whether or not to permit, I feel, 5 to seven peptides, permit compounders to fabricate them. And HHS has been very concerned. This, Secretary Kennedy went on Joe Rogan and mentioned he would love to see these peptides added again to the listing. The FDA doesn’t agree with this. I’ve been informed that HHS was very concerned within the planning of this committee, the choice of the members. Most of these members who they added are longevity wellness physicians whose monetary pursuits in making peptides extra accessible to the general public, and so they don’t seem to be neutral. And I do know that profession employees have raised issues, however these issues have been ignored. However, apparently, the FDA has sort of gotten forward of what might occur at this assembly, as a result of within the assembly supplies, the profession employees mentioned the company doesn’t need to add these peptides to the listing. We don’t suppose that compounders ought to be allowed to make them. And so they’re coming into the dialogue, saying the company truly doesn’t need to do that. So now we’re going to should see what HHS does, what a few of these advisers do, who clearly would love the FDA to ease restrictions. I feel it’ll be very tense. It’s a really weird state of affairs.
Rovner: And simply to backtrack, peptides are dietary supplements, mainly, proper? They’re amino acids, and there’s not a number of good analysis that implies whether or not they’re good for you or not. But they’re tremendous in style, proper?
Lawrence: Right, proper. They are tremendous in style, very a lot hawked by influencers who make claims that they do something from reverse growing older to boosting power to serving to with continual ache. And there’s little or no scientific information, in people, a minimum of, concerning the precise security and efficacy of a number of these merchandise.
Rovner: Yet one other advisory committee for us to look at. Meanwhile, in considered one of his first full-length nationwide interviews since dropping his main, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy went on CBS’ Face the Nation final week and let RFK Jr. have it — rhetorically, a minimum of — saying the secretary violated the agreements that he made with Cassidy to be able to win his vote for affirmation. Now, Kennedy, in a separate interview with News Nation, mentioned that’s not true, that he has saved all the guarantees he made to Cassidy. Amanda, simply wanting on the vaccine difficulty alone would counsel that Cassidy sort of has a stronger case right here, proper?
Seitz: Yes, I’ve had this dialog myself a number of instances with HHS. Kennedy has clearly flouted the guarantees that Cassidy says he extracted from him round ACIP, round vaccinations. They’ve overhauled the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule. They’ve raised repeated doubts about vaccine security. Period. End of story. You can’t simply throw an asterisk proper on a webpage that raises doubts about vaccine security and say that you’ve met the promise. They haven’t met the guarantees that Cassidy says that he extracted from him. But on the finish of the day, Kennedy gave quite a few indicators all through his affirmation hearings that he was by no means actually critical about maintaining these guarantees. He and Cassidy even acquired in disagreements. Everyone noticed these disagreements throughout the hearings over the security and efficacy of vaccines, of the analysis that Kennedy was citing, so I feel the one individual on the finish of the day who thought that Kennedy was going to maintain his guarantees was possibly Cassidy himself.
Rovner: And Cassidy himself mentioned within the interview, I believed this was sort of fascinating, that his selection was to vote for Kennedy and have a minimum of some, he would name them, guardrails, or if Kennedy didn’t get confirmed that Trump was going to nominate him as a White House well being czar, after which he, Cassidy, would haven’t any influence over what Kennedy would be capable of do. So it was higher to have some energy than no energy — that was his justification. Although in neither case does it appear that Cassidy has had any energy over what Kennedy has executed.
Seitz: Yes, after which even when Kennedy have been a White House czar, certain, he would have the ear of Trump, presumably, however he wouldn’t have a microphone over public well being because the well being secretary, the place he will get to broadcast all of his doubts about vaccine security. So I feel that’s a little bit little bit of a disingenuous argument.
Rovner: And to not point out the prospect to remake all of these committees that we’ve simply been speaking about. Well, apparently Kennedy is freelancing in politics, even whereas he’s attempting to run HHS. The Washington Post had a fascinating story final week about RFK Jr. attempting to persuade a Libertarian candidate in Iowa to drop out of a contested U.S. House race to stop him from siphoning off votes from the Republican candidate, as a result of, argued Kennedy, if Democrats take over the bulk within the House after this subsequent election — and this was on tape — quote, “I don’t want to be fighting subpoenas for the next two years instead of improving America’s health.” Apparently, Kennedy was cautious to not spell out that he might make it definitely worth the candidate’s whereas to drop out, as a result of that will be unlawful. But some ethics consultants counsel that what he did might need been unlawful anyway and was definitely unethical. Are we on the level the place no person even cares about stuff like this? I keep in mind when this might have been a big story. Here’s a Cabinet member mainly getting concerned in an election and sort of kind of promising a candidate that if he drops out, they may do one thing to assist him.
Ollstein: There was one other latest allegation of one thing like this occurring within the race that ousted Cassidy. John Fleming, who was one other candidate within the race that was not profitable, mentioned that he was getting stress from the Trump administration to drop out and was being promised numerous jobs and issues, and so I feel that we are seeing a minimum of an uptick in allegations of meddling, if not an uptick in meddling itself. And yeah, simply a number of makes an attempt to exert management over the end result of those races that some conservatives are fearful might backfire as a result of it’s leading to some possibly much less palatable individuals successful primaries and going through harder races within the common election, not within the ones we simply talked about however in some different locations.
Rovner: Yeah, and that’s occurring on the left, too, though we’ll go away that for an additional day. Well, shifting on, and nonetheless sort of on the RFK beat, we’re nonetheless ready for the administration to call a brand new director for the Food and Drug Administration, however we did get a nominee for deputy [HHS] secretary, Chris Klomp. Now, this shouldn’t be a lot of a shock. Even although he’s formally on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Klomp has been sort of working a number of day-to-day stuff at HHS already, proper Amanda?
Seitz: Yes, he’s very well preferred, each at HHS after which inside the White House, too. He’s seen sort of as this bridge between the 2 companies. And I feel, too, he’s a actually clean operator in an administration that isn’t significantly well-known for its diplomacy. So if the Trump administration has any probability of getting somebody by way of proper now, particularly with the clock ticking on how for much longer Republicans could be in energy, Klomp goes to be you man. So, he sort of makes buddies and allies wherever he goes, and I’d think about that he’s going to be possibly making an argument, even to Democrats, saying that he may be the grownup within the room proper now that HHS actually wants, that he’s confirmed to be that.
Rovner: Yeah, I used to be at a breakfast with him, and he was very spectacular. I’ll say that. And sure, in contrast to a number of the opposite members of this administration, simply in the way in which he offers with individuals. He’s very conciliatory and looking for widespread floor and is aware of his stuff, clearly. So there’s — I’ll have an interest to see what goes on with that. Lizzy, earlier than we go away this, the place are we with naming a brand new FDA commissioner? I’ve seen like a dozen names floated.
Lawrence: I do know. They’re in all places. And a few of the names I had truly heard again in 2024. I keep in mind listening to about Heidi Overton and Jeff Vacirca, a most cancers physician, earlier than. Yeah, like Amanda mentioned, time is ticking. There are nonetheless, the surgeon common has not, there’s not been a listening to scheduled. Or possibly there has been hearings scheduled, however—
Rovner: I feel Cassidy mentioned he needs to go forward in July with hearings for the surgeon common and the brand new head of the CDC. We a minimum of have nominees.
Lawrence: Yes, there are a minimum of nominees, however, yeah, no hearings on the calendar. And then, and clearly, a finite variety of days that Congress is in session. And I’ve heard that they need to identify somebody quickly, and there are particular different, there’s sort of profession FDA officers within the combine. Rick Pazdur’s identify has been floated round. I don’t understand how actual that’s, however—
Rovner: Longtime FDA official.
Lawrence: Longtime FDA official. Yeah, so we’ll see. I do know that they need to get this executed quickly, however time isn’t on their aspect.
Rovner: We will see. All proper, subsequent subject. In his interview with Face the Nation, Sen. Cassidy mentioned one of many issues he’s most happy with is passing the No Surprises Act, which spares sufferers usually from these nasty shock payments after they inadvertently get care outdoors of their well being plan’s community. And whereas that a part of the regulation does appear to be working fairly properly, the half the place insurers and healthcare suppliers battle out how a lot ought to be paid isn’t, and we’ve got two nice blockbuster tales this week detailing that in fairly vivid element. First from our podcast buddies Margo Sanger-Katz and Sarah Kliff at The New York Times, a story about how surgical assistants are utilizing the No Surprises Act to win charges from insurance coverage firms which might be multiples greater than the surgeons they’re aiding, 25 instances greater in some instances. Second, from Lizzy’s colleague at Stat, Tara Bannow, the story of hospitals who’re getting across the surprise-bill regulation by declining to take Medicare, which is the federal set off to get them coated below the principles. Instead, the hospitals are utilizing the identical arbitration course of that the surgical assistants are utilizing, and, to cite from Tara’s story, “It’s been a gold mine, quadrupling its revenue.” So clearly, the arbitration a part of this regulation isn’t working as supposed. Why aren’t we seeing efforts in Congress to repair this? This would usually be one thing that Congress would say: OK, this didn’t work. Let’s return and see what may.
Seitz: Because Congress isn’t doing something proper now? I feel it’s actually fascinating. These tales are popping out at a very unhealthy time for the hospitals and well being methods particularly, as a result of they’re at all times attempting to level fingers at insurance coverage firms and pharmaceutical firms for excessive healthcare costs. But Congress has actually been pushing again on the hospitals and scrutinizing them a lot nearer, their function in driving up healthcare prices, and that is simply such damning proof of how these doctor teams are outright gaming the system. So when you don’t see Congress possibly taking motion, it’s actually coming at a nasty time for these healthcare methods who’re arguing that they’re going to be going through these deep cuts and potential closures due to the actions that Congress has taken with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It sort of begins to really feel a little bit just like the boy who cried wolf, as a result of in the beginning when the surprise-billing act handed, you probably did see a number of hospitals come out and say: This is actually horrible for us. We’re not getting the honest deal out of those arbitrations. There have been some hospitals that have been even suggesting that they may shut over this. So you’re sort of, to see how a lot they’re making off of all of these arbitrations is actually simply unhealthy timing for these healthcare methods which might be saying: We’re not driving up prices. We’re dropping cash hand over fist due to all these cuts that Congress has made.
Rovner: Yeah, mainly it appears just like the suppliers are successful the arbitration method as a rule and getting a lot greater funds than they’d have gotten in any other case, definitely a lot greater funds than they’d have gotten from attempting to invoice sufferers who didn’t have the cash. Put it this fashion: It isn’t saving cash, as I consider the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] estimated when the invoice was first handed.
Lawrence: It’s a actually unhealthy look, and simply to shout out Tara’s story, which was improbable, I feel she will get at, too, how this may additionally have an effect on affected person care. She zeroed in on a hospital that’s making a lot cash on this arbitration course of and can also be nonetheless attempting to disclaim people who find themselves coming into an emergency, what they suppose is an emergency room, the place below EMTALA [the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act] they’re not imagined to make you pay earlier than treating you, and that’s not occurring. And so there’s some very damning particulars in that.
Rovner: Yeah, as a result of in the event you don’t take Medicare you don’t should obey EMTALA both. Kind of useful for them. Well, lastly this week, drug costs. And talking of issues that aren’t working as anticipated, Medicare this week begins momentary protection of these costly weight reduction medicine, GLP-1s. Originally this protection was going to be supplied by way of Medicare Part D prescription plans, however insurers balked. They have been fearful that it will drive up premiums for everyone else, which it in all probability would have. So CMS officers minimize a deal straight with the makers of the principle medicine, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, to promote their blockbusters Wegovy and Zepbound at $50 a month every, together with one other Lilly drug, Foundayo, however solely till the top of 2027. Then what occurs? This seems like both the most important bait and swap of all time or a change to dig Medicare’s financing gap even deeper. Or am I lacking one thing?
Seitz: Or let the subsequent administration decide up the problem, proper? That’s sort of what the Biden administration did on this difficulty—
Rovner: Sure.
Seitz: —earlier than it walked out the door. I feel possibly it offers them an opportunity to kind of see how a lot, as a result of we’re coming into into the unknown, how a lot it’ll price. And I’ve talked to individuals inside the administration about their strategy to protection, and though Kennedy has traditionally opposed GLP-1s, I feel there’s additionally this recognition that Medicare is so costly at this level that the GLP-1s do supply potential to trim down a few of these bills if individuals, older individuals, do develop into more healthy from utilizing them. So I’d think about that it is a little little bit of a check of that.
Rovner: Yeah, and there’s all this tantalizing proof that GLP-1s don’t simply let individuals lose weight however they truly do make them more healthy. They make it much less more likely to have coronary heart assaults and strokes and issues, or get, Type 2 diabetes, issues that do price Medicare rather a lot extra money. But there may be nonetheless in regulation, talking of Congress, a ban on Medicare paying for medicine merely for weight reduction, as a result of, as we’ve mentioned earlier than, again in 2003 when Congress handed this regulation, there weren’t efficient weight reduction medicine, and the burden loss medicine that have been on the market have been, in some instances, harmful. So on the time, it made sense to have this ban. It doesn’t essentially make sense anymore now that we’ve got the GLP-1s. But one other place the place Congress might change it and hasn’t but. So we should see how this one performs out.
Well, lastly, the Trump administration remains to be hoping to convey down drug costs within the U.S. by getting different international locations to boost theirs. Germany is below a U.S. commerce investigation for threatening to pay much less for U.S.-made medicine to be able to deal with a price range shortfall of its personal, though it seems to be pushing forward with these plans, regardless of U.S. threats to impose extra tariffs. Can the U.S. actually drive international locations to pay extra for his or her medicine? This looks like a little bit of a tilting-at-windmills factor.
Ollstein: They’ve been scrambling for years to do something aside from straight regulate the businesses which might be right here and are charging rather a lot, as a result of that’s extra politically difficult. And so they’re twisting themselves into pretzels to do that financial institution shot through different international locations, which have fully totally different healthcare methods which might be way more centralized, way more closely regulated by the federal government. And as a substitute of considering, Well, what can we imitate from a few of these international locations which have efficiently saved costs low?, as a substitute, Let’s strive to make them increase them, so ours are much less as compared. So it’s simply very fascinating to see the place the hassle goes on this house.
Rovner: Yeah, as a result of we do, it’s the one affordability difficulty that the president has been throughout since his first time period. He needs to convey down drug costs. He finds it, as most individuals do, unfair that the U.S. is mainly footing the invoice for many pharmaceutical analysis, as a result of different international locations have value controls. But yeah, there does appear to be a number of attempting workarounds, each workaround they presumably can besides imposing value controls of our personal.
Ollstein: Right, as a result of there are issues they may do. They might develop the variety of medicine that Medicare negotiates, as an example, now that we’ve got a kind of a toehold in that house established below the Biden administration. But such as you mentioned, as a substitute we’re seeing a few of these extra elaborate workarounds, together with importation makes an attempt and all types of issues.
Rovner: Yeah, properly, offers us a lot extra to speak about. All proper, that’s this week’s information. Now it’s time for our extra-credit phase. That’s the place we every acknowledge a narrative we learn this week we predict you need to learn, too. Don’t fear in the event you miss it. We will put up the hyperlinks in our present notes in your cellphone or different cellular machine. Alice, why don’t you go first this week?
Ollstein: Yeah, so I’ve a bit on an vital difficulty that has flown sort of below the radar. This is from Stateline by Kelcie Moseley-Morris, and it is known as “Federal Health Agency Cancels Most of its Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants.” And she paperwork that the company is canceling 53 out of 67 grants value a complete of about $68 million to totally different organizations across the nation — universities, group teams, metropolis and state well being departments, freestanding clinics which have been utilizing this funding for applications to assist improve entry to contraception for teenagers, intercourse schooling. And these have been very, very profitable over the previous a number of a long time. The teen being pregnant charges have gone method, method down, largely due to improved intercourse schooling and contraception entry. And now there may be fear about backsliding from consultants who spoke for this piece. And it’s value understanding that the Trump administration tried to do one thing fairly related, throughout the first Trump administration, and there was a lawsuit, and it acquired efficiently blocked, a profitable lawsuit that blocked this try to defund these applications. So that very properly might occur once more. At least the lawsuit is very seemingly. The final result is unknown.
Rovner: Yeah, once more, a lot occurring, it’s simpler to overlook a few of these items. Lizzy.
Lawrence: Yeah, so my further credit score is from The Wall Street Journal: “The Baby Formula Probe Produced a Pile of Evidence, Then the DOJ Dropped the Case,” by Dave Michaels, Sadie Gurman, and Liz Essley Whyte. This piece actually caught my eye as a result of, much like what we have been speaking about with pesticides, it’s one other space the place MAHA HHS is saying one factor after which the opposite areas of presidency are doing the exact opposite, the place there was this media blitz initiative, Operation Stork Speed, to enhance the newborn formulation provide, make it safer, take a look at contaminants. Meanwhile, you’ve the DOJ [Department of Justice], and the Journal reported that prosecutors actually thought that they had case. They have been investigating Abbott, an Abbott facility the place doubtlessly lethal micro organism was found and triggered toddler deaths, and they also wished to criminally cost Abbott. But then, however there may be this effort below the Trump administration to not pursue felony instances in opposition to firms. And so I simply thought this was a very telling piece concerning the differing, conflicting insurance policies and narratives popping out of the administration.
Rovner: Yeah, it raised a number of questions. Good story. Amanda.
Seitz: My further credit score is “‘Digital Colonialism’: U.S. Demands To Access Africans’ Data Raises Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns,” by Sharon Lerner and Anna Maria Barry-Jester in ProfessionalPublica. And this text checked out how the State Department wouldn’t launch billions of {dollars} in financial assist to African international locations for lifesaving remedy to handle HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, till the international locations agreed to share the private well being information of their residents with the U.S. So, in Uganda, for instance, they acquired a contract, the reporters acquired a contract that claims the U.S. will get, quote, “direct, real-time access to nine of the nation’s health data systems for seven years.” And the privateness and well being consultants consulted within the story raised issues about how uncovered this might go away a number of the residents which might be inadvertently sharing their information with the U.S. I believed this was a very fascinating article as a result of the Trump administration, we’ve been reporting on how the Trump administration has been very in acquiring vast swaths of private well being information of U.S. residents. But this reveals that their curiosity apparently goes very world, and it raises a number of questions on why the U.S. is so on this information and what precisely they’re doing with it.
Rovner: Yeah, it does. Wow. All proper. Well, earlier than I do my further credit score, an replace on my extra credit from last week about Tennessee successfully chopping off a program that gives medical assist to undocumented households with youngsters with disabilities. Last Friday, a federal decide ordered the state Department of Health to not share with federal immigration authorities the names and addresses of the households of the 400 youngsters in this system, a minimum of for now. We’ll maintain following this story, although.
OK, my further credit score this week is a wonky however actually vital story from Modern Healthcare referred to as “Carbon Health Settles ‘Corporate Practice of Medicine’ Case.” It’s by Michael McAuliff, and it solutions a query I’ve been asking for years concerning the acquisition of docs’ practices by non-public fairness and different companies, which is: What occurred to all these state “corporate practice of medicine” legal guidelines? Just about each state bans what’s referred to as the company follow of drugs, which mainly says that medical selections should be made by licensed medical professionals, not by laypeople with revenue as their major motive. Well, it seems that states are beefing up a few of these outdated legal guidelines, and California has now penalized the primary firm below its new statute. So, we’ll see if different states comply with swimsuit. We can even watch that house.
OK, that’s this week’s present. Thanks to our editor, Emmarie Huetteman, and our producer-engineer, Francis Ying. A reminder: What the Health? is now accessible on WAMU platforms, the NPR app, and wherever you get your podcasts, in addition to, in fact, kffhealthnews.org. Also, as at all times, you’ll be able to e-mail us your feedback or questions. We’re at [email protected]. Or you’ll be able to nonetheless discover me on X, @jrovner, and on Bluesky, @julierovner. Where are you guys hanging about today? Alice.
Ollstein: On Bluesky, @alicemiranda, and on X, @AliceOllstein.
Rovner: Lizzy.
Lawrence: On Bluesky, @lizzylawrence, and on X, @LizzyLaw_.
Rovner: Amanda.
Seitz: And I’m on X, @AmandaSeitz.
Rovner: We might be again in your feed subsequent week. Until then, be wholesome.
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