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State and local health departments would no longer be able to track opioid overdoses, provide cancer screenings and help people quit smoking, according to health officials, if Republicans carry out their plans to dramatically shrink the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under a second Donald Trump presidency. Conservatives in Congress and Washington think tanks have proposed eliminating programs they say are not central to fighting infectious disease. Republican House appropriators want to slash the public health agency’s budget by about 20 percent and eliminate two dozen programs they consider “duplicative and controversial,” including initiatives to study the public health impact of climate change. (Sun, 10/29)

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have different stances on health care policy in America, although in the 2024 presidential election, health care has not played as prominent a role in the campaign as it did in 2016 or even in 2020. In those campaigns those on the left proposed a radical overhaul of Obamacare, while Republicans sought to repeal it. (Watson and Tin, 10/30)

Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign has spent more than $9.6 million since Oct. 16 to run this 30-second ad, “Doom Medicare,” on television stations, according to AdImpact. And the campaign has put more than $1 million behind the ad in each of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Here’s a look at the ad, its accuracy and its major takeaway. (Gold and Qiu, 10/29)

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are trying to block proposed cuts to Medicare physician payments next year, with only days remaining until the deadline for regulators to finalize them. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in July proposed a 2.9% pay cut for doctors in the 2025 physician fee schedule. Statute requires the final rule to be published by Nov. 1. In the meantime, physician groups have ramped up efforts to urge Congress to block the planned reduction and overhaul the broader payment system. (Early, 10/29)

Beginning Friday, MD Anderson Cancer Center physicians will no longer be in-network on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) Medicare Part C Advantage plan coverage or Managed Medicaid services, according to the care provider's website. An MD Anderson representative said the health care center was notified by BCBSTX earlier this year that it would be ending its Letter of Agreement. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 and over. Medicaid is a state and federal program that assists in covering medical costs based on income eligibility. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurance companies and offer additional coverage on top of Medicare. (McClenagan, 10/28)

When the ambulances started rolling in and news trickled out that multiple police officers had been shot, Kathy Barnard braced herself for one of the worst days in her 26 years on the job. One thing gave her confidence though. “I pray we never, ever experience that again, but there were military doctors on duty. I had military nurses on duty,” said Barnard, a nurse manager at Atrium Health in Charlotte, N.C. (Lawrence, 10/30)