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Nebraska is the first state to receive a federal waiver to ban the purchase of soda and energy drinks under the benefit program for low-income Americans long known as food stamps. The move, announced Monday by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, would affect about 152,000 people in Nebraska enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps families pay for groceries. “There’s absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks,” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said in a statement. (Aleccia, 5/20)

Colorado has reversed course and decided to continue covering the cost of GLP-1 medications for state employees who are already using the class of drug for weight loss — with an asterisk. Starting July 1, their copay will increase to $120 from $30. (Paul, 5/20)

A federal judge dismissed Florida Blue’s plea to raise its Medicare Advantage star ratings after a major rainstorm impacted its operations. Judge Amit Mehta, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, granted the Health and Human Services Department’s motion for a summary judgment to uphold its rule allowing for some measure of ratings relief during public health emergencies, or what the agency calls "extreme and uncontrollable circumstances." In the same ruling, Mehta denied the Guidewell subsidiary’s motion for a summary judgment. (Tepper, 5/19)

Demand for pasteurized donor breast milk is rising. More than 10 percent of babies born in North Carolina are premature, according to state data. In 2023, that meant 12,885 premature infants. Breast milk helps protect premature babies’ guts and helps facilitate their growth. The increased demand is due to growing recognition of the health benefits, as well as an uptick in premature infants in North Carolina receiving the milk. (Crumpler, 5/20)

Nurses who treat young sexual assault victims are worried recent changes to parental rights legislation in the New Hampshire State House could jeopardize victims’ care and the collection of evidence for a criminal investigation. Under the new provision, parents would have to agree to medical care for their child — except in the case of an emergency — and to the collection of the child’s DNA and blood for an investigation. But medical experts say there is limited time to collect that evidence and treat sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy in the case of a sexual assault. (Timmins, 5/19)

Mayoral front-runner Andrew Cuomo has hit the airwaves, leaning into his record on an issue his opponents are trying to use against him. This morning, Cuomo released a six-figure, 30-second ad titled “Crisis,” which emphasizes his leadership during the pandemic. “It was the greatest health crisis in our history — and when New Yorkers were desperate for leadership — Andrew Cuomo delivered,” a narrator says in the ad, which will appear on digital and streaming platforms. (Beeferman, 5/19)

The FBI said the 25-year-old man suspected of detonating a bomb outside a Southern California fertility clinic that injured four people over the weekend was “nihilistic” — a term U.S. authorities are increasingly using to describe violence simply for the sake of it, or to hasten the demise of society. Nihilistic violent extremism has been a growing domestic threat in recent years, with a number of incidents defying common ideological markers. The bombing outside of an American Reproductive Centers clinic in Palm Springs, California, shows how difficult the diffuse movement is to combat, say experts. (Edwards, 5/20)