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Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Thursday the global AIDS-fighting program started by President George W. Bush “is certainly in jeopardy” because the Biden administration allowed some of its funding to be spent on abortions. Congressional Republicans had raised concerns about funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief going to groups that support abortion rights or provide abortions in 2023 when they allowed the program’s authorization to expire. They ultimately renewed it for one year last March. (Paun, 1/16)

With the new Congress sworn in and President-elect Trump poised for his second inauguration, Republicans have queued up a number of bills that could widely expand veterans’ access to the private health care system, setting up the latest battle over VA’s reliance on what’s known as community care. Efforts to reform how the Department of Veterans Affairs provides health care to millions of veterans are heating up in 2025 as pressures to bring down costs and lower wait times for care mount. (Marshall-Chalmers, 1/16)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: �鶹Ů�� Health News' 'What The Health?': Hello, Trump. Bye-Bye, Biden

With just days to go before the official launch of a new administration, the GOP-led Congress is putting together plans on how to enact incoming President Donald Trump’s agenda, with a particular emphasis on cutting spending on the Medicaid program. Meanwhile, the Biden administration makes major moves in its last days, including banning a controversial food dye and ordering cigarette companies to minimize their nicotine content. (Rovner, 1/16)

Groups representing employers that offer health insurance are gearing up to defend and try to bolster the largest source of health coverage for people under 65 in the U.S., your host reports. Donald Trump’s election and Republican majorities in Congress have raised some uncertainty on what’s coming down the pike for employer-sponsored health insurance, which covers almost 165 million Americans. (Hooper, 1/16)

On the surface, the US health-care industry is facing a pivotal year in 2025 as President-elect Donald Trump re-enters the White House. Trump has promised to “knock out” drug-industry middlemen, a potential disaster for pharmacy benefit managers. He named prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services, which could wreak havoc on shot developers. And his nomination of celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is considered a boon for companies that offer private versions of government health insurance. (Adegbesan, 1/16)

Paul Mango, an integral part of the Trump administration’s drive to invent coronavirus vaccines and treatments, has died at 65. (Owermohle, 1/16)