���ϳԹ���

A federal judge has declined to stop the Trump administration from requiring that chronically ill Medicaid patients prove that they are physically unable to work in order to keep their insurance. While the underlying case against the policy can continue, the ruling leaves the work requirement for low-income people on the program in place as states rush to meet a Jan. 1 implementation deadline. (Ollstein, 7/30)

Patients in Deaconess Illinois’ coverage area who previously carried some Medicaid coverage are losing it – even before the HR-1 Medicaid work requirements go into effect early next year – and a negative financial impact is already surfacing. William Davis, president of the Illinois region at Evansville, Ind.-based Deaconess Health System, is tracking Medicaid enrollment in real time. The current environment is not a risk on the horizon but as a problem already visible in the data. (Dyrda, 7/31)

Nebraska is just days away from becoming the first state to remove people from Medicaid for failing to meet new work requirements signed into law by President Trump last year. The state’s Medicaid Director Drew Gonshorowski told Tradeoffs in an interview that roughly 200 Nebraskans will lose their coverage on Aug. 1, though officials won’t know an exact figure until the end of July. (Wernau and Gorenstein, 7/30)

More and more uninsured patients are showing up in hospital emergency rooms and clinics, having lost their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Executives running some of the biggest hospital systems, including large for-profit chains spanning many states, expressed concern over the unexpectedly sharp rise in uninsured patients and the costs associated with treating them. (Abelson, 7/30)

Syrian natives Karam and Noor have spent long days this summer sitting in the respite of their small New Haven apartment, listening to the gentle buzz of the air conditioner and the hum of Karam’s dialysis machine. Weakened by kidney failure, Karam is unable to work and is tethered 12 hours a day to the machine that cleans the toxins from his blood. (Tillman, 7/31)

Norma Bowe looked at the scene unfolding before her: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, dressed in their camo-colored tactical vests and black face coverings, pushing people with batons and yanking them into the street. (Norwood, 7/30)

Voters in battleground states and congressional districts tend to voice support for proposals in Congress that would expand access to health care or lower drug costs — often irrespective of their party affiliation — according to new polling from the University of Maryland. (DeGroot, 7/30)

Republicans campaigning in swing districts are running ads about healthcare after facing criticism of the cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Many of these ads target voters over 35 years old and focus on three topics: Medicaid fraud, rural hospitals and affordability. An NPR analysis looked at video ads on YouTube that ran this midterm cycle, many of which mirror ads on other digital platforms and on television. The analysis includes advertising for candidates in races that are toss-ups or leaning toward one party or the other, as rated by the Cook Political Report. (Mukherjee, 7/31)

���ϳԹ��� News: They Worked To Protect Public Health. Now They Want The Public’s Votes

A handful of former public health officials are campaigning for top statewide offices across the country, testing whether their experience with covid and other hot-button health issues will appeal to voters in November. The officials, all Democrats, are running at a time when the Trump administration is reducing government funding for scientific research, restricting access to some vaccines, and making it more difficult for some Americans to obtain health insurance. (Galewitz, Mai-Duc and Seitz, 7/31)

Medicaid expansion is one of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms’ top priorities and a central campaign message. But in conversations with rural healthcare providers this week, she struck a more realistic tone about the bipartisan consensus it would take to make it happen. (Bunch, 7/30)

More than 30 years after North Carolina became one of the first states to establish an Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, state lawmakers have eliminated the standalone office dedicated to reducing gaps in health outcomes. (Crumpler, 7/31)

It felt like someone was hammering an ice pick into Lynette Couture’s leg. The 55-year-old was recovering in Plymouth Harborside Healthcare’s rehab unit last fall after a horrific car crash shattered her left leg. Doctors had drilled a metal device into her bones to reconnect them. ... Five years ago, state health officials set minimum staffing levels to help improve care for nursing home residents. But staffing levels in Massachusetts nursing homes are, in some ways, worse now, a New Bedford Light analysis of federal data has found. (Ferguson, 7/30)

She first came to Park Boulevard for the money and the snacks. A friend told her there was a place they could go with free fruit gummies, granola bars, and rice crispy treats — and she could make $20 if she answered some survey questions. It sounded like a dream. (Boodman, 7/31)

A 55-year-old legal permanent resident from Trinidad and Tobago who was deported last year is seeking $10 million from the Trump administration, claiming that he experienced medical neglect and mistreatment while he was detained at a South Texas immigration detention center. (Garcia and Nguyen, 7/30)

Texans’ access to a variety of hemp-derived THC products will significantly narrow on Friday. Texas will ban several hemp-derived THC cannabis products, including those containing delta-8 and delta-10 THC variants, punishing people in possession of them with jail time and fines. However, delta-9 THC, the most commonly sold THC product in Texas, will remain legal. (Ma, 7/30)

Baltimore officials are suing kratom manufacturers, alleging the companies falsely marketed their products as health and wellness supplements while failing to disclose potential risks. (Pryce, 7/30)

In the coming weeks, a new food program on the Wind River Reservation is opening four brick-and-mortar food pantries. The area’s only food pantry recently shuttered. (Edwards, 7/30)

Mental health is becoming more and more of a priority, especially for the officers at the Casper Police Department (CPD). "What can we do to support our officers to keep them in the profession and be healthy at the same time?" asked CPD's Public Information Officer, Rebekah Ladd. (Habershaw, 7/30)

While the largest cyclospora outbreak appears to be winding down, others with unknown sources keep popping up. Cyclospora, a parasite that’s now infamous for causing “explosive” diarrhea, among other symptoms, is often traced back to tainted produce. U.S. health officials are actively investigating five outbreaks that don’t currently have an identified source, so it’s not clear what food may be spreading the parasite around. (Martichoux, 7/30)

The number of cases in the Cyclospora outbreak that’s unrelated to the massive nine-state lettuce-related cluster has increased from 72 to 93, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shared yesterday. A trace-back investigation is ongoing to uncover the source of Cyclospora, a parasite that causes the diarrheal illness known as cyclosporiasis. Few details are known about the latest outbreak of Cyclospora, but some experts have noticed a growing number of cases in North Carolina and other southern states. (Holohan, 7/30)

Ohio’s top doctor declared a measles outbreak Thursday, marking the state’s third this year. Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff said there are currently four confirmed cases: three in Ashtabula County and one in Tuscarawas County. The infected individuals were unvaccinated, according to a news release. (Williams, 7/30)

A recent study has drawn attention after it detected some limited interspecies transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions in a lab. But the authors and other experts caution that the findings don’t confirm that the fatal disease is a threat to people; rather, they provide important clues to what infection might look like in humans—which is key in recognizing cases. (Van Beusekom, 7/30)

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to move faster than the response amid “intense” community transmission, with government officials announcing the death toll has surpassed 1,500. (Dall, 7/30)

The Trump administration’s plan to stop funding the Pan American Health Organization, which coordinates public health efforts across dozens of countries including the United States, will leave Americans more vulnerable to infectious disease threats, more than 100 U.S. leaders in health and national security warned in an open letter released on Thursday. They include former health secretaries, directors of health agencies, Pentagon and White House officials and surgeons general who have served in Democratic and Republican administrations. (Mandavilli, 7/30)

The Senate health committee approved two nominees for key health roles Thursday, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a pandemic preparedness leader, after Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) once again set aside his reservations to support Trump administration leadership picks. (Cirruzzo, 7/30)

A new online tracking tool from AcademyHealth shows the sprawling scope of recent grant cancellations by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). More than 100 grants worth over $250 million have been canceled, according to the tracker, and those numbers are only expected to climb, Aaron Carroll, MD, MS, president and CEO of AcademyHealth, told MedPage Today. (Henderson, 7/30)

���ϳԹ��� News: ���ϳԹ��� News’ ‘What The Health?’: The Politics Of Grant Cuts

The Trump administration has conceded in court documents that it used purely political considerations to cancel grant funding previously approved by Congress. But that has provoked a surprisingly muted response from lawmakers, who under the Constitution control the power of the purse. (Rovner, 7/30)

Dr. Anthony Fauci and his lawyers knew that invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional hearing this week was a gamble. The doctor millions trusted through the pandemic risked looking like a man with something to hide. His team decided it was his best play, according to people familiar with his legal strategy— because his alternatives were worse. His lawyers believed that answering could open him up to a perjury charge from Republican opponents hunting for discrepancies in his near constant stream of statements during the chaos of the pandemic. (Siddiqui and Essley Whyte, 7/30)

For almost three hours on Wednesday morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci sat before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and declined to answer questions about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than a hundred times — which later led Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to say he would push to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress next week. (Daniel, 7/30)

The Department of Health and Human Services keeps saying it's turning over a new leaf, but it has only been partially successful — and controversial vaccine policymaking appears to be back on the table. (Owens, 7/31)

Healthcare leaders committed to behavioral health "best practices" during an HHS roundtable event on Wednesday, while a key law on insurance coverage for mental health remains in limbo. Insurers, medical societies, and other health industry leaders pledged to "advance evidence-based, high-quality, patient-centered care for individuals experiencing mental health conditions and the chronic disease of addiction." Specific best practices include timely access to treatment and evidence-based and patient-centered care, according to the HHS press release. (Henderson, 7/30)

A senior health official with the State Department presenting at an international AIDS conference in Brazil this week used a map of Africa to illustrate U.S. government funding for H.I.V. programs on the continent. (Tumin, 7/30)

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched a show geared toward teaching Americans how to cook healthy, inexpensive meals. “Thanks to President Trump, we flipped the food pyramid and put real food back where it belongs: at the center of the American plate,” Kennedy said in a video he posted Wednesday to YouTube touting “The Real Food Show.” (Rego, 7/30)

Medicaid managed care organizations say profits are looking up after several challenging years. UnitedHealth Group, Elevance Health, Centene and Molina Healthcare have reported second-quarter earnings and reassured investors that their Medicaid margins will rise in 2027 after sinking this year. Insurers cited cost-cutting strategies targeting services such as autism therapy and state funding increases as reasons for optimism. (Tepper, 7/30)

Health systems are working to simplify their electronic health records, but high costs, staffing constraints and technology limitations stand in their way. Providers are navigating years-long upgrades to their EHR systems, hoping to work more efficiently after consolidating dozens of disparate systems that store and analyze patient data. Health systems have been reworking projects to accommodate reprioritized budgets, mergers and acquisitions and workforce needs. (Kacik, 7/30)

���ϳԹ��� News: The Newest Federally Recognized Tribe Wants Better Healthcare. It May Be On Its Own

Soybean fields surround Angie Lowery’s home in Robeson County, on a plot of rural land in southeastern North Carolina. Dozens of antique gas station signs, 20 feet tall, dominate her front yard. A framed re-creation of The Last Supper, Lone Ranger posters, and a 3-foot-wide tobacco harvesting basket adorn the walls of her home. A collector, Lowery over the years has amassed remnants of her region’s past. But behind the house, the 44-year-old’s backyard garden showcases her goals for the future, one that involves a long, healthy life with her kids: collard greens, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, red and white potatoes, kale. (Jones, 7/31)

The weight-loss drug boom is beginning to show signs of a slowdown as employers and insurers pull back on coverage, signaling the market could be entering a more restrained phase after years of breakneck expansion. In the past few months, growth in prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs for weight loss like Novo Nordisk A/S’ Wegovy and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound have moderated, according to Cigna Group Chief Executive Officer Brian Evanko. (Muller and Swetlitz, 7/30)

A group of outside experts convened by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday voted in favor of Replimune’s experimental treatment for advanced melanoma. (Herper and Chen, 7/30)

Veterans with hard-to-treat PTSD have seen major improvements in their symptoms, thanks to a trial of a new psychedelic therapy treatment involving the drug psilocybin—a controlled substance and the main ingredient in magic mushrooms. Researchers as part of a clinical trial treated 12 former soldiers suffering with PTSD using psilocybin and found that after a month of treatment, nine of the 12 veterans in the trial no longer met the criteria for PTSD, according to the pilot study published July 30 in Communications Medicine. (Plummer, 7/30)

The war with Iran has driven oil prices up, prompting concern that the supply of some medicines will be disrupted. But there is another consideration. In a new report, Unitaid emphasized that essential medicines are exposed to oil price volatility. (Silverman, 7/30)

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly two-thirds of American children aged 2-19 have caffeine in their diet. On any given day, kids consume an average of 19.4 milligrams of caffeine, which is about two-thirds of what's in a can of Coke, according to the report released Thursday. (Sundby, 7/30)

At the soft opening of a shiny new dining hall on the Fort Drum Army base, soldiers placed orders for grilled salmon, steak and flatbreads on touchscreen kiosks. Blenders whirred in the background, mixing protein shakes in flavors like “Apple Pie” and “Cookies and Cream.” Sides of red potatoes and cauliflower sat in sleek black pots. (Bendix, 7/30)

A type of dementia that often affects younger people is more prevalent in one group than originally thought, a new study has suggested. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a group of rare and progressive brain diseases which damage the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, usually affecting people between the ages of 45 and 64. (O'Connor, 7/30)

Older adults who take five or more prescription medications face a significantly higher risk of death compared to those taking fewer drugs, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The research highlights the growing concern over polypharmacy, the medical term for taking five or more daily prescriptions, and its long-term effects on aging populations. (Quill, 7/30)

Women on social media are sharing stories of becoming pregnant after taking GLP-1 medications, saying the drugs helped them conceive after struggling with infertility. Many of the videos have garnered millions of views on TikTok. Molly Orr is among the women documenting her experience online. In an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" on Thursday, Orr said she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, a common hormonal disorder that can make it harder to become pregnant. (Najib and Battu, 7/30)

Nichole Sims started using a tanning bed at 15 because she said everyone around her was doing it, especially before events like homecoming dances and prom. Eight years later, she was diagnosed with melanoma — a potentially life-threatening skin cancer. During that time, Sims has seen tanning become even more popular among young people online. She tries to counter the misinformation on social media that touts tanning as a mood booster and beauty requirement by sharing her own experience. (Ding, 7/30)

When your side hurts or your child’s big toe is throbbing and you don’t know why – or what to do about it – do you call a doctor, or do you ask your favorite AI for a diagnosis and plan of action? (Christensen, 7/30)

As a clinician, Jill Harrington has counseled first responders through some of their darkest thoughts following traumatic deaths and suicides they experienced on the job or in their families. There are people who “wouldn’t be on the planet if it wouldn’t have been for her,” said Adam Workman, a veteran and firefighter who has referred first responders in Virginia to Harrington as part of a peer-support network. But for the past four-and-a-half months, Harrington has been haunted by one life that wasn’t saved: her son’s. In his moment of need, she said, he didn’t receive what he deserved: “competent and compassionate lifesaving care.” (Golden, 7/26)

Just beyond an ambulance and wheelchair ramp wait Dr. Moodswing and Dr. Feelgood, dressed in starched white lab coats and ready to check you in with a neon orange patient wristband. At this hospital though, it’s not your vitals that will be examined, but your feelings. The “Hospital of Emotions” is an immersive art experience that explores different facets of being human inside the long-shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center near downtown Los Angeles. (Furman, 7/29)

More light at the day’s end comes at a price: much later winter sunrises across much of the U.S. Scientists have documented consequences for public health and the economy. (Peeples, 7/27)

Some people reach their 80s and 90s with memories as sharp as adults decades younger and longevity fanatics have always wondered why. Scientists have long worked to understand whether these so-called "SuperAgers" simply won the genetic lottery by inheriting little risk for Alzheimer's disease, or if their impressive cognition is down to something else. A new study sought to gain answers. Researchers led by teams at the Healthy Aging & Alzheimer’s Research Care (HAARC) Center at the University of Chicago and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) found that SuperAgers cannot be distinguished from their cognitively average peers based on inherited Alzheimer's risk genes. (Fleur Afshar, 7/28)

On a winter morning in a Long Island town about two hours east of New York City’s skyscrapers, a Dutch researcher told local officials that their concerns about mixing heavily caffeinated energy drinks with alcohol were overblown. (Chavkin, Okwuosa, Ruiz and Colman, 7/30)

As scientists link oral bacteria to heart disease and cognitive decline, a push is under way to treat the mouth as a source of bodywide inflammation. (Landro, 7/26)

David Cifaldi and his two hiking companions were crossing Montana’s ominous Froze-to-Death Plateau and approaching the top of the state’s highest peak when their adventure took a bizarre and dangerous turn: Cifaldi slipped and impaled himself on his trekking pole as he fell. The 44-inch (112-centimeter) steel-tipped pole passed through the flesh beneath Cifaldi’s left arm, missing any vital organs, and protruded from his back. After conferring with his friends — and considering the high cost of a helicopter rescue — Cifaldi knew who would save him: himself. (Brown, 7/30)

With no statewide standard in Illinois for children's outdoor activity in poor air quality, program policies represent a patchwork. (Victoria Johnson and Sheetal Khedkar Rao, 7/31)

Policies that gave addicts clean needles and places to use drugs were intended to reduce harm. They created a “zombie apocalypse.” (Michael Powell, 7/30)

When I was first diagnosed with limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), I was devastated to learn there wasn’t any treatment or cure. For those of us living with progressive diseases, time is not neutral. Every month a promising therapy is delayed, we will have irreversible loss of muscle function. (Kat Bryant Knudson, 7/31)

If you have the wherewithal, money can buy you all sorts of purported roadmaps to optimal health. But will your wealth be enough to gatekeep your wellbeing? (Howard Chua-Eoan, 7/30)

Nine years ago in these pages, we — columnists for STAT at the time — praised the American Diabetes Association for standing up to a researcher in Brazil who had sued the group in U.S. federal court for issuing expressions of concern on four of his published articles. We even named the ADA the inaugural winner of our Doing the Right Thing award. (Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky, 7/31)