Healthcare journal calls for radical change in approach, urging policymakers to invest in their communities
An academic journal may inject some optimism into US health policy – a scarce commodity amid the Trump administration’s mass layoffs, funding freezes and the ideological research reviews.
A new issue of Health Affairs Scholar argues the conversation around healthcare can change – and radically – if academics think “bigger” and policymakers invest in their communities.
Continue reading...US citizen girl deported with mixed-status family, who filed complaint over denied healthcare and poor conditions
A family that was recently removed from the United States to Mexico has filed a complaint seeking an investigation into what they describe as “serious abuses” they say they faced during their detention in the US prior to their removal.
The mixed-status family includes two undocumented parents and six children, five of whom are US citizens. On 4 February, five of the children, including four who are US citizens, and the two parents were removed from Texas and sent to Mexico after they were stopped at an immigration checkpoint.
Continue reading...TV doctor and former heart surgeon vows to fight healthcare fraud at Senate hearing for health role
Dr Mehmet Oz promised senators on Friday to fight healthcare fraud and push to make Americans healthier if he becomes the next leader of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
But the former heart surgeon and TV personality dodged several opportunities to say broadly whether he would oppose cuts to Medicaid, the government-funded program for people with low incomes.
Oz, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next CMS administrator, also said technology such as artificial intelligence and telemedicine can be used to make care more efficient and expand its reach.
“We have a generational opportunity to fix our healthcare system and help people stay healthy for longer,” he said in his opening remarks.
He faced over two and a half hours of questioning before the Republican-controlled Senate finance committee, which will vote later on whether to forward his nomination to the full Senate for consideration.
Leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services presents a “monumental opportunity” to make the country healthier, Oz told senators on Friday morning.
“We don’t have to order people to eat healthy, we have to make it easier for people to be healthy,” adding that he considered maintaining good health a “patriotic duty”.
Republicans, who have coalesced around Trump’s nominees for the health agencies, asked Oz about his plans for eliminating fraud from the $1tn programs.
Democrats, meanwhile, tried to pin him down on potential cuts to the state and federally funded Medicaid program that Republicans are considering.
The 64-year-old was a respected heart surgeon who turned into a popular TV pitchman. Now he has his sights on overseeing health insurance for about 150 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage.
Continue reading...Epicenter of latest outbreak had one of state’s highest immunization exemption rates for 2023-24 school year
The measles outbreak in Texas has grown to at least 90 cases, reaching historic levels, according to officials.
Since late January, 90 cases of measles have been identified in the South Plains region, the state’s department of state health services (DSHS) reported Friday. At least 16 patients have been hospitalized as a result.
Continue reading...US workers laid off despite years of experience and stellar performance describe widespread chaos and confusion
As protesters gathered outside the headquarters of US health agencies to call attention to mass layoffs devastating the federal service in recent days, more employees at health agencies were terminated on Wednesday, including employees with years of experience and stellar performance reviews who were not probationary.
Thousands of terminated employees across the federal government are appealing the decision. Some former employees are struggling to apply for unemployment or understand when their benefits expire in the chaotic termination process.
Continue reading...Luigi Mangione expressed gratitude on new website to people writing him, saying they transcend ‘class divisions’
The 26-year-old golf club heir charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive officer in an ambush outside a Manhattan hotel in December has touted receiving support that has “transcended political, racial and even class divisions” in a rare public statement.
“I am overwhelmed by – and grateful for – everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support,” Luigi Mangione said in a statement posted to a website launched on Friday by his defense team.
Continue reading...As certain terms are scrubbed from US health agency websites decades of vital data is vanishing, advocates warn
After Donald Trump signed executive orders ordering for mentions of race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and other terms to be scrubbed from US health agency websites, experts say the implications for health and scientific research are vast.
All pages at US health agencies were told to take down these mentions after Trump signed certain executive orders on his first day in office.
Continue reading...National Institutes of Health said the $4bn loss will affect ‘indirect’ funding of buildings, equipment and staff
The Trump administration is cutting billions of dollars in medical research funding for universities, hospitals and other scientific institutions by reducing the amount they get in associated costs to support such research.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said that it was reducing the amount of “indirect” medical research funding going to institutions, which will cut spending by $4bn a year.
Continue reading...NIH fellows say policy changes including funding freeze would ‘severely limit’ researchers’ ability to do their work
A union representing about 5,000 researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a legally binding demand to bargain over Donald Trump’s sweeping policy changes, including a funding freeze, a communications blackout and a staff travel ban.
The NIH is the largest biomedical institution in the world, providing more than $40bn annually to fund health research, providing grants to more than 300,000 researchers at more thab 2,500 universities, medical schools and other research institutions globally, with nearly 6,000 scientists performing research in its own labs.
Continue reading...Department of health reports ‘rapid number of cases in a short amount of time’ and says that there could be more
Kansas is facing an unprecedented outbreak of tuberculosis, one that has been labeled the largest of its kind on record in the US.
According to the Kansas state department of health and environment, as of 24 January, there had been 67 active tuberculosis cases since 2024 and an additional 79 latent or non-active infections. The infections – all since 2024 – were reported in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, which are part of the greater Kansas City area.
Continue reading...Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans and taken months to reconsider, physicians say
American doctors are accusing US health insurance giants of causing deadly delays to vital medical procedures and care – and putting profits ahead of their patients’ health.
Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans, and taken months to reconsider, according to physicians who spoke to the Guardian.
Continue reading...Health and Human Services is expected to be overhauled as Robert F Kennedy Jr waits to take department’s reins
Trump administration appointees are asserting control over the enormous US federal health department after the president’s inauguration this week – pausing public communications and abruptly canceling scientific meetings.
While temporary communications pauses are not entirely abnormal as new administrations find their feet, the orders come at a time of high anxiety for US scientists and public health workers.
Continue reading...Kamala Harris announces removal of billions in medical debt from credit reports of 15 million Americans
Lenders will no longer be able to see whether American borrowers have unpaid medical debt in their credit history, according to a new rule from the outgoing Biden administration.
The vice-president, Kamala Harris, announced early on Tuesday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was removing $49bn of existing unpaid medical bills from the credit reports of 15 million Americans and will ban the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports.
Continue reading...Nearly one in four doctors say the practice of prior authorization has led to serious issues for patients
In the wake of the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, and the outpouring of frustration about insurance coverage, prior authorizations have emerged as a particular roadblock in healthcare.
Prior authorization requires medical providers to get an insurer’s approval before patients receive healthcare or medications.
Continue reading...Bullet casings with the words ‘deny’, ‘defend’ and ‘depose’ found at scene where Brian Thompson was killed
An urgent manhunt continued on Thursday in New York City as police combed through a vast network of private and public surveillance cameras and pursued leads in search of the person who shot and killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, the previous morning.
Investigators deployed drones and dogs as well as sifting through data related to public-use electric bikes from the company Citi Bike, as the suspect remained at large after what police chiefs said was a targeted killing.
Continue reading...Police look for suspect who shot and killed Brian Thompson, 50, outside Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, one of the US’s largest health insurers, was shot dead on Wednesday in midtown Manhattan, police confirmed in a press conference.
Brian Thompson, 50, was shot outside the Hilton hotel at 1335 Avenue of the Americas just after 6.45am after arriving early for the company’s annual investor conference. A man wearing a mask approached him and fired at him repeatedly, police said.
Continue reading...Picking Jay Bhattacharya to lead NIH signals return to controversial and scientifically questionable health policies
Jay Bhattacharya, an unofficial Covid adviser in Trump’s first administration, has been selected as the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the world.
The choice of Bhattacharya, a Stanford economist whose proposal for widespread Covid-19 infection was backed by the White House, signals a return to controversial and scientifically questionable health policies in the second Trump administration, experts say.
Continue reading...Move aims to tackle US’s chronic obesity problem, but poses a challenge to Trump’s incoming administration
The Biden administration is proposing to make “miracle” weight loss drugs free for low-income people and retirees, in a move aimed at tackling America’s chronic obesity problem but which throws down a gauntlet to the incoming president, Donald Trump.
The proposal, unveiled on Tuesday, would see expensive drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound covered by Medicaid and Medicare, the federal government programs for the poor and the elderly.
Continue reading...Richard Besser criticizes Trump’s health secretary pick, and says falsely linking vaccines to autism is a ‘cruel thing to do’
The former acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has criticized Robert F Kennedy Jr’s nomination by Donald Trump as secretary of the country’s health and human services (HHS), calling his false vaccine theories “cruel”.
In a new interview on ABC, Richard Besser, who led the CDC during Barack Obama’s administration, called Kennedy’s push to falsely link vaccines to autism a “cruel thing to do”, adding, “There are things we do for our own health, but there are things we do that are good for ourselves, our families and our communities and vaccination falls into that category.”
Continue reading...A scion of Democratic dynasty, RFK Jr is known for embrace of anti-vaccine beliefs and other conspiracy theories
Donald Trump announced on Thursday he will nominate former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr as the US secretary of health and human services (HHS) in his administration.
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, will be a contentious pick to lead the US health department, and the role will need to be confirmed by the Senate.
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