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Trump Administration Pressures Insurers to Streamline Prior Authorization
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has secured a pledge from insurers to streamline the companies’ practice of requiring prior authorizations before covering a claim. “Americans shouldn’t have to negotiate with their insurer to get the care they need,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a June 23, 2025, news release. “Pitting patients…
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Supreme Court Decision Allows Task Force to Mandate HIV Prevention Drugs
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the legality of a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requiring insurers to cover preventative care services without cost sharing, including services that employers may find objectionable. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force determines what services should be covered. The plaintiffs in Kennedy, Sec. of H&HS v. Braidwood Management…
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‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Will Test Value of Medicaid, ACA
Congress and President Donald Trump moved to cut the exploding costs of government-sponsored health-care programs, as part of the $3.4 trillion One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) budget package Trump signed into law on Independence Day. Ballooning enrollment in Medicaid and subsidized Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans has put increasing pressure on the federal budget.…
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Health Savings Account Expansion Survives in ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
After nearly a month of debate, the U.S. Senate sent its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) to the U.S. House for final passage, in time to land on President Donald Trump’s desk by July 4. The House version of the budget reconciliation bill passed on May 22 included provisions to expand…
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Health Coverage Is Not the Only Measure of Success – Commentary
In evaluating the success of Obamacare in general and Medicaid expansion in particular, reporters and commentators have tended to focus on a single measure: health coverage, the increase in the number of people with health insurance. At the same time, in evaluating the health consequences of the House Republican reconciliation measure, almost all the focus…
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Kennedy’s CDC Vaccine Committee Meets for First Time
The new vaccine committee appointed by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took minimal action in its first meeting. The seven members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met on June 25 and 26 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The committee…
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FDA to Ban Sales of Prescription Fluoride
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will remove “ingestible fluoride prescription drug products” or supplements for children from the market effective October 2025 after completing a safety review, the agency announced in a press release on May 13. The FDA says these products were never approved by the agency. “Ingested fluoride has been shown…
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MAHA Commission Report: Sickest Generation in History
The first report by a presidential panel commissioned to “Make America Healthy Again (MAHA)” raises concerns about the rising rate of childhood disease, suggests possible causes, and recommends a 10-step strategy “to close critical research gaps” to guide efforts to solve the problem. The 71-page “Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment,” released on May 22,…
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Supreme Court Affirms State Authority on Medicaid Providers
South Carolina has the constitutional authority to block a provider from its Medicaid program without being vulnerable to lawsuits from recipients, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in late June. Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic weighed in on whether Medicaid enrollees have a right to sue the state government if they believe their right to…
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Grace-Marie Turner, Leading Force for Free Market Health Care, R.I.P.
A nationally respected voice for “individuals, not bureaucracies” in health care, Grace-Marie Turner never lost her belief that health reform was within the nation’s grasp as long as advocates stayed unified and persistent. Turner, aged 77, died on May 29, 2025, from brain cancer, according to the organization, CURE Policy. Turner was the founder and…
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