Publications
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- Health Care News
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CDC Makes Major Changes to Vaccine Schedule
Publication -The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) drastically reduced the recommended vaccines on the childhood immunization schedule. Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill announced in a January 5 X post that he updated the schedule to recommend immunization against 11 diseases, down from the 17 that had previously been on the schedule. The total number of […] -
Research & Commentary: Magnolia Student Accounts Would Be a Boon to Mississippi Families
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Legislation introduced in the Mississippi House of Representatives would set up “Magnolia Student Accounts” (MSA), an education savings account (ESA) program open to all Mississippi K–12 students. These accounts would cover tuition, fees, and curricula for eligible children at private and parochial schools, as well as textbooks, uniforms, private tutoring services, school-provided extracurricular activities, and […] -
- Health Care News
Aggressive Organ Procurement Practices Revealed to Congressional Committee
Publication -The House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee held a hearing on December 2 as part of its investigation into the questionable activities of organ procurement organizations (OPOs), the tax-exempt, federally designated monopolies involved in the recovery of organs for transplant. The investigation “revealed troubling clinical practices, misuse of taxpayer dollars, and questionable financial practices,” a December 4 […] -
- Health Care News
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Medicare Medical Savings Accounts Elude Enrollees
Publication -Medicare enrollees shopping for a “Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA)” are coming up short in most states because insurers do not offer them. After a limited demonstration in 1997, the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act made MSAs a permanent option for Medicare enrollees. The plans combine a high-deductible health plan with a medical savings account. […] -
- Health Care News
- Health Care
The GOP’s Option to Fix Medicare Is Right in Front of Their Eyes – Commentary
Publication -Following the federal government shutdown, health care, Medicaid, and Medicare have again surged to the forefront of national debate. Amidst all the finger-pointing, one truth is clear: America’s health care system remains bloated, costly, and unsustainable. For years, Republicans have excelled at identifying what’s wrong but have struggled to offer practical, free-market alternatives. Ironically, one […] -
- Health Care News
- Health Care
Hospitals Spending Billions on New Construction
Publication -Hospital construction is experiencing a boom as the trend of consolidation of medical facilities continues, particularly in urban centers, even as most markets are experiencing net closures. An October 27 article in Becker’s Hospital Review, for example, cited 13 hospital construction projects in 2025 worth at least $1 billion each. IBIS World, in an October […] -
- Health Care News
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For the First Time, CDC Acknowledges Vaccine-Autism Link
Publication -For the First Time, CDC Acknowledges Vaccine-Autism Link Possibility By Ashley Bateman On November 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its website to address questions regarding the relationship between vaccines and autism. “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the […] -
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Trump Eases Marijuana Restrictions
Publication -Continuing the efforts from his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, President Donald Trump called for rescheduling marijuana to a Schedule III drug, which will remove a variety of regulatory and investment hurdles, to expand marijuana usage in the United States. “While this action does not resolve every regulatory hurdle, it meaningfully advances the conversation around […] -
- Health Care News
- Health Care
What the United States Can Learn from Canada’s MAID – Patient Activist
Publication -On December 5, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill making Illinois the 12th state in the United States to legalize medically assisted suicide. The United States can learn from Canada’s expansion of “medical assistance in dying (MAID)” over the past 10 years, says Amanda Achtman, patient advocate and creator of the website, “Dying To Meet […] -
- Health Care News
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CMS Creates Rural Health Grants to Improve Market Competition
Publication -By December 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will announce how it will distribute the $50 billion Congress approved this summer for the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act CMS says 50 percent of the funds will be distributed equally among the states it approves. The […] -
- Health Care News
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Euthanasia Becomes More Mainstream in Canada – United States, Next?
Publication -Canadians are expressing outrage over the increased normalization of medical-assisted suicide in the country’s single-payer system. Numerous families have reported physicians and nurse practitioners pressuring loved ones into suicide through a practice known colloquially as “medical assistance in dying” or MAID. Benjamin Turland told The Loop about the intense grief he felt when both his […] -
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Ag Department Air-Drops Vaccines to Control Rabies
Publication -The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun airdropping rabies vaccines into fields in several states as part of an ongoing campaign to reduce the spread of the disease in wild animals. The USDA conducted operations in northeastern and mid-Atlantic states starting this summer, followed by drops in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and […] -
- Health Care News
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Organ Donor Retractions Rise in Wake of Government, Media Investigations
Publication -A series of investigative articles and government reform initiatives over the summer has resulted in a record-breaking number of organ donors exiting the system. Several articles published over the summer called nationwide attention to allegations of major inconsistencies and problems within the organ procurement industry. In July 2025, a New York Times news article described […] -
- Emerging Issues Center
- Health Care News
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Longing for the Days of Indemnity-Style Health Insurance – Commentary
Publication -Obamacare plans have reached the edge of a cliff. The U.S. government has shut down because Democrats and Republicans disagree on how much taxpayers should subsidize premiums. Health care is a service, not an entitlement, so why should taxpayers have to support any of it, except for the neediest? Does the government help Americans pay […] -
- Health Care News
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More Hospitals Drop Medicare Advantage
Publication -Thirty-three hospital systems are dropping their Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts, reports Becker’s Hospital Review. The publication has been monitoring participation rates for several years. In 2024, citing contracts ending in 2025, Becker’s lists 33 hospitals as becoming “out of network” for Medicare Advantage contracts. In 2023, 13 hospitals ended their contracts. In 2024, the publication […] -
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What Trump Gets Right About TrumpRX – Commentary
Publication -Donald Trump is the first American president to take an active interest in what is happening to patients when they buy drugs at a local pharmacy. Without any new legislation, private companies are responding. Cigna Scripts, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), just announced that for many of its clients it will end its […] -
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Trump Administration Gives Mixed Signals on Marijuana Market
Publication -The Trump administration has stalled in its effort to determine whether to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug, a new filing by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in an administrative law hearing acknowledges. “This doesn’t constitute a new delay of rescheduling’s consideration, which has been stalled out for months after […] -
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FDA Approves New Generic Abortion Pills
Publication -The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone in October, making chemical abortion more affordable and accessible to pregnant women who wish to terminate the lives of their unborn children. Mifepristone is used in two-thirds of American abortions, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Republicans such as Sen. […] -
The EU AI Act: What Americans Need to Know
Publication -Policy Tip Sheets -The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) is the world’s first comprehensive law governing artificial intelligence. While framed as a consumer-safety measure, the Act’s broad reach and extraterritorial design give European regulators authority over how AI is built and used worldwide, including by American companies. -
- Health Care News
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Costco to Sell Ozempic, Wegovy at Almost Half Current Price
Publication -The company that sells Ozempic and Wegovy, drugs known for promoting easy weight loss, is now selling the products at Costco. Novo Nordisk, which manufactures the injectable pen semaglutide drugs for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, said in October it is making the prescription drugs available at Costco pharmacies for $499 for a four-week […] -
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Florida Becomes First State to End Vaccine Mandates
Publication -Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, M.D., and Gov. Ron DeSantis are working with the legislature to end all vaccine mandates for schoolchildren in the state. The two leaders announced their decision at a September 3, 2025, news conference. “The Florida Dept. of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end […] -
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Merck Leaves UK Over Fears of Drug Price Controls
Publication -Pharmaceutical giant Merck announced the cancellation of a planned $1.3 billion research center in London and the termination of all research and development activities in the United Kingdom (UK). The company said on September 10 its decision “reflects the challenges of the UK not making meaningful progress addressing the lack of investment in the life-science […] -
- Health Care News
Preexisting Conditions Strongly Affect Maternal Mortality: Report
Publication -Maternal mortality rates are on the rise for all races in the United States and are strongly affected by the health of a woman before she conceives, a Texas advisory committee to the U.S Commission on Civil Rights reports. The Texas Advisory Committee gathered testimony from October 2024 to February 2025 and released its report […] -
- Health Care News
In Health Care, Copper Is the New Gold – Commentary
Publication -Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, Americans have faced soaring health insurance premiums, which have more than doubled since 2013. Rising deductibles have compounded the issue, creating a double blow to affordability. Government subsidies, often touted as relief, merely mask this price inflation rather than addressing it, obscuring consumers from the true cost […]
