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President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that launches a pilot program authorizing Medicare to cover cannabis products for seniors. Trump's embrace of marijuana could be a game-changer for older people who are seeking alternative treatments for common ailments. (Lalljee, 12/18)

Under the new classification, marijuana will remain an illegal drug under federal law. But the move could facilitate additional research into cannabis, federal officials said, even as others warned it would also boost the marijuana industry by allowing major tax breaks that were prohibited under the substance’s current classification. (Facher, 12/18)

Finally, Donald Trump is potentially making America great when it comes to something close to California’s heart: weed. (Garofoli, 12/18)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed on Thursday two rules to withhold federal funds in connection with gender-affirming care for trans minors, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery. The most stringent rule would bar facilities that offer this care from receiving any funding from the federal Medicare or Medicaid programs, a move that would effectively force most medical centers to cease providing it. (Gaffney, Payne and Cirruzzo, 12/18)

In related LGBTQ+ news —

Four Republicans broke with their party to vote against the bill, but three Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and Donald Davis of North Carolina — crossed party lines themselves to pass Greene’s bill out of the chamber. (Riedel, 12/18)

Fewer than half — 46% — of transgender and nonbinary young people ages 13-24 report that most or all of the people in their lives use what they consider to be their pronouns, according to data released by The Trevor Project last week. For teens ages 13-17, that percentage drops to 40%. Transgender and nonbinary young people who were addressed by their pronouns had lower rates of suicide attempts in the past year compared to those whose pronouns were ignored — 11% vs. 17%. That’s a 31% less chance of a past-year suicide attempt, according to the nonprofit that provides crisis support services for LGBTQ+ people. (Modan, 12/18)  

More updates from HHS —

The US Department of Health and Human Services is planning to overhaul the schedule of recommended vaccines for children in the US, a person familiar with the plans told CNN on Thursday. The proposed new schedule would recommend fewer shots, bringing it closer in line with what’s recommended in other developed countries. The expectation is that the US schedule will be close to, if not identical to, recommendations in Denmark, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the matter. (Cancryn, Tirrell, Goodman and Dillinger, 12/18)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded a $1.6 million grant to controversial researchers at the University of Southern Denmark with ties to top Food and Drug Administration official Tracy Beth Høeg. The funding is for a study on hepatitis B vaccines that some experts say may be unethical and is unlikely to generate data relevant to use of the vaccine in this country. (Lawrence and Branswell, 12/18)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Inside The FDA’s Vaccine Uproar
Six days after a senior FDA official sent a sweeping internal email claiming that covid vaccines had caused the deaths of “at least 10 children,” 12 former FDA commissioners released an extraordinary warning in the Dec. 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. They wrote that the claims and policy changes in the memo from Vinay Prasad, the head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, pose “a threat to evidence-based vaccine policy and public health security” and break sharply from long-standing scientific norms. (Gounder, 12/19)

A new program intended to fast-track drug reviews at the Food and Drug Administration is quickly becoming a way for the White House and top political officials at the agency to exert control over which medicines make their way fastest to patients in the United States. (Lawrence, 12/19)

Days after a division chief at the Food and Drug Administration resigned amid accusations that he used his federal power to seek revenge on a former business associate, the scandal took on a new life. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary, and his top deputies brought the matter to the White House as evidence that the F.D.A.’s leadership was in chaos. (Jewett, 12/19)

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all throughout the People’s House, not a deal on healthcare was in sight, or a ban on members trading stocks or their spouse. House Speaker Mike Johnson elected to send the House of Representatives home on Thursday without a vote to stave off the impending expiration of enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. This came even though four Republicans signed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s discharge petition to force a vote on a three-year extension for the tax credits, which expire at the end of the month. ... “It's also like the administration giving the middle finger to the American people,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told The Independent. (Garcia, 12/18)

Speaker Mike Johnson had a ready-made refrain when asked why Republicans weren’t moving to extend federal health care subsidies: their party wanted to help 100% of Americans with their costs, not just the 7% of Americans enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans. But not 100% of his conference agreed. A rare revolt from the moderate wing of the party has upended Johnson’s plans. (Cappelletti, 12/18)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: 'What the Health? From �鶹Ů�� Health News': Time’s Up For Expanded ACA Tax Credits
The enhanced premium tax credits that since 2021 have helped millions of Americans pay for insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will expire Dec. 31, despite a last-ditch effort by Democrats and some moderate Republicans in the House of Representatives to force a vote to continue them. That vote will happen, but not until Congress returns in January. (12/18)

Extra subsidies that made Affordable Care Act plans more affordable for millions of Americans for the past five years are all but guaranteed to vanish on New Year’s Day. In January, most people who buy plans on HealthCare.gov or a state-run marketplace will see a rise in their monthly premium, ranging from a modest bump to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. (Winfield Cunningham and Whoriskey, 12/18)

One key factor could accelerate in the face of federal spending cuts. When hospitals or other entities buy other hospitals or physician practices, that gives the consolidated health system more leverage in negotiations with insurance companies. As a result, prices often spike. (Adams, 12/16)

News from the Senate —

Senate leaders gave up on trying to pass a government funding package before adjourning for the holidays, punting the issue to the new year — when lawmakers will have just a few weeks left to avoid a partial shutdown on Jan. 30. (Carney, Scholtes and Tully-McManus, 12/18)

What's the best way to make sure providers are encouraged to provide the highest quality care at the lowest price? Witnesses at a Senate hearing on the topic offered different answers to that question. ... "For every dollar a worker receives in wages, the same dollar used for employer-sponsored health insurance is worth $1.51. Over eight decades, this massive tax subsidy has driven American healthcare prices skyward. Employers and insurers have little incentive to control costs or make their workers healthy."(Frieden, 12/18)

Related news about Medicare —

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wants Medicare for All back in the health care debate. The former Congressional Progressive Caucus chair plans to present polling to her House Democratic colleagues next month as she argues for the electoral merits of Medicare for All — even in battleground districts the party must win to flip the House next fall. The research, paid for by Jayapal’s leadership PAC and shared first with POLITICO, found one in five Republicans support a “government-provided system,” as do most independents. Democrats back Medicare for All by 90 percent. (Schneider, 12/18)

Medicare enrollees could save roughly half of what they usually pay for certain drugs next year, according to a study from the AARP. The study, published Thursday, found that the out-of-pocket cost of 10 drugs included in the first round of Medicare drug price negotiation will decrease substantially in five states with high enrollment in the program — California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas — once negotiated prices go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. (Rego, 12/18)

The new year will usher in several key changes to Medicare coverage, and seniors could see significant impact to their health care. While lower prescription drug costs are on the menu, seniors will also face shifts in pricing, insulin caps and a new out-of-pocket limit under Part D. (Blake, 12/18)

ACO REACH will go away after four years and be replaced by a new Medicare accountable care organization model, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Thursday. CMS introduced ACO Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health in 2022 as a successor to the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model. Now, ACO REACH will sunset at the end of next year to make way for yet another iteration, dubbed Long-term Enhanced ACO Design, or LEAD, in 2027. (Early, 12/18)

The federal government has known for years that wildfire fighters, who spend weeks at a time in poisonous smoke, can develop deadly cancers from the exposure. Now, they will be eligible for a payment of nearly $450,000 and college tuition for their family if they die or become debilitated from a smoke-related cancer, under a law signed by President Trump on Thursday. (Dreier, 12/19)

More news from the Trump administration —

A “warrior dividend” bonus check that President Trump announced on Wednesday would go to more than 1.4 million active-duty service members by the end of the year is being funded by money Congress allocated earlier this year for military housing stipends, officials said on Thursday. (Ismay and Watkins, 12/18)

A man held at California’s newest and largest immigration detention center could face “imminent death,” attorneys argued in an emergency motion filed late Tuesday, asking a federal judge to order ICE to immediately provide lifesaving medical care to him and another detainee. (Mejia, 12/17)

The FBI is investigating a prominent surrogacy agency that shuttered abruptly earlier this month, leaving desperate parents-to-be out of tens of thousands of dollars and surrogates missing payments as their pregnancies progressed. The agency’s owner, Megan Hall-Greenberg, 49, effectively disappeared — she deleted her social media accounts, and clients and employees say she hasn’t replied to their messages since Dec. 3. (Abou-Sabe, Chaidez, Kreutz and Blankstein, 12/18)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: States Advance Medical Debt Protections As Federal Support Turns To Opposition
Lawmakers in several states are working to expand medical debt protections for patients, even after the Trump administration reversed course and told states they don’t have authority to take action on credit reporting. In Alaska and Michigan, legislators are nonetheless advancing bills to keep medical debt off consumer credit reports. (Bichell, 12/19)

On funding and research cuts —

The Trump administration said late Thursday that it would appeal a ruling that sided with Harvard University in its fight with the government over free speech and billions of dollars in research funding. The government began blocking grant payments to Harvard on research projects in the spring, but restarted them soon after the Sept. 3 decision by Judge Allison D. Burroughs of the Federal District Court in Boston. On Thursday, the Justice Department, carrying out a pledge from the White House, said in a terse filing that it would pursue an appeal of that ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. (Blinder, 12/19)

A Trump administration change to how the National Institutes of Health awards grants has reduced early-stage investigators’ odds of securing funding, new data from the agency show. During the 2025 fiscal year, 18.5% of early-stage researchers who applied for grants equivalent to an R01, the agency’s most common type of award, were successful. That’s an 11 percentage point drop compared to the 2023 fiscal year, when the success rate for such applications was 29.8%. (Oza and Wosen, 12/18)

Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, a major trauma center that has the only full-time inpatient pediatric unit between the North Bay and the Oregon border, will close the unit in March — raising concerns among local pediatricians that children who need hospitalization will have to be transferred to San Francisco or as far away as Sacramento. The hospital initially announced the closure in November, citing low usage rates and financial challenges in keeping the unit open, and on Thursday provided a clearer timeline for when it will happen. The unit will no longer admit patients as of March 27, 2026. (Ho, 12/18)

More health industry updates —

UnitedHealthcare will postpone controversial changes to remote patient monitoring coverage, the insurer said Thursday. Last month, UnitedHealthcare said beginning Jan. 1 it would stop covering remote patient monitoring for most chronic conditions for both its commercial and Medicare members. The company, which received negative reactions from remote patient monitoring advocates after announcing the changes, will delay the policy changes until later in 2026 because of that feedback. (DeSilva, 12/18)

BJC Health will stay in Aetna's coverage network next year after both sides agreed to "all key terms," BJC Health said on Thursday. Coverage for Medicare Advantage plans will continue for another year, while employer-sponsored commercial plans will be covered by a "multi-year" deal, BJC said. (Suntrup, 12/18)

Virtua Health and ChristianaCare have ended merger talks. The organizations agreed to terminate their nonbinding letter of intent signed in July, Virtua and ChristianaCare said Thursday in a joint news release. The health systems did not specifically say why they decided to nix merger plans that would have created a roughly $6 billion, nine-hospital combined system across more than 10 contiguous counties in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. (Kacik, 12/18)

Albany, Georgia’s lone hospital — the region’s largest health care provider — is supposed to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay, but many residents have instead turned to the small, free Samaritan Clinic. (Campbell, Toral and Pons, 12/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Scorpion Peppers Caused Him ‘Crippling’ Pain. Two Years Later, The ER Bill Stung Him Again
Maxwell Kruzic said he was in such “crippling” stomach pain on Oct. 5, 2023, that he had to pull off the road twice as he drove himself to the emergency room at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, Colorado. “It was the worst pain of my life,” he said. Kruzic was seen immediately because hospital staff members were pretty sure he had appendicitis. They inserted an IV, called a surgeon, and sent him off for a scan to confirm the diagnosis. (Rosenthal, 12/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Judge In Nursing Home Bankruptcy Case Gives Families Fresh Hope Of Compensation For Injuries, Deaths
A bankruptcy judge blocked an attempt by a nursing home chain’s primary investor to shield himself from settlement payments and liability in lawsuits alleging hundreds of patient injuries and deaths, encouraging those pursuing millions in damages. (Rau, 12/19)

Also —

Hospitals acquired by real estate investment trusts are at greater risk of bankruptcy or closure, according to Harvard researchers. A study, published Thursday in BMJ, examined acute-care hospitals that sold their real estate assets to REITs and subsequently leased the properties between 2005 and 2019. (Eastabrook, 12/18)

An investigation into fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs has broadened significantly, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. The prosecutors told reporters that they were investigating suspicious billing practices in 14 Medicaid-funded programs. Until now, the investigation had focused on only three safety net programs run by state agencies. (Londoño, 12/18)

Gov. Ned Lamont announced more than $41 million Thursday to aid residents losing nutrition assistance and offset vanishing federal funding for reproductive health services. The governor also expanded his own recent commitments to fight homelessness and provide relief for thousands losing federal assistance for health insurance. (Phaneuf and Carlesso, 12/18)

Massachusetts state officials have made drastic improvements to a long-term housing program for homeless families following a 2024 Globe article that highlighted how slow processing times and bureaucratic hurdles had resulted in delays for families and providers. The state program, called HomeBASE, pairs homeless families with landlords who have vacant units and then subsidizes rent and other expenses for up to three years. (Gross, 12/18)

OnPoint NYC, the nonprofit that was the first in the nation to openly offer supervised drug consumption services, celebrated its fourth anniversary Thursday by trumpeting its positive community impact, making its case triumphantly and with a touch of defiance following nearly a year of uncertainty and hostility from the federal government. (Facher, 12/18)

The Polk County Health Department identified the state's ninth case of measles this year in an infant who is too young to be vaccinated. Officials said Thursday that the child recently traveled to an area where the virus is spreading, and there are no known local public exposure locations. (Krebs, 12/18)

Five cases of measles have been identified in Fremont County, bringing the state’s total this year to 14. The Wyoming Department of Health says all five were close contacts and spread it to each other. The initial exposure happened out of state. (Ouellet, 12/18)

On the gun violence epidemic —

The body of a man suspected in the killing of two students at Brown University and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was found in a storage unit in New Hampshire on Thursday night, law enforcement officials said. The authorities had swarmed the storage facility, in Salem, N.H., earlier in the evening in pursuit of a man wanted in connection with the two deadly attacks, which had stunned New England and set off days of frustrated searching. (Thrush, Marcius, Cramer and Blinder, 12/19)

Even as gun deaths in Hawaii have increased at a rate faster than most states over the past decade, the group meant to bring public health officials and law enforcement together to share and discuss trends hasn’t met in over a year. The Gun Violence and Violent Crimes Commission, created by lawmakers in 2020, has struggled to get off the ground. It’s never really been funded. There have even been several efforts to dissolve it, first by merging it with the also defunct Criminal Justice Data Sharing Working Group, then by moving the commission into a new state office for gun violence prevention. Both efforts failed. (Thompson, 12/17)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Guns Marketed For Personal Safety Fuel Public Health Crisis In Black Communities
Leon Harris, 35, is intimately familiar with the devastation guns can inflict. Robbers shot him in the back nearly two decades ago, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. The bullet remains lodged in his spine. “When you get shot,” he said, “you stop thinking about the future.” He is anchored by his wife and child and faith. He once wanted to work as a forklift driver but has built a stable career in information technology. He finds camaraderie with other gunshot survivors and in advocacy. (Clasen-Kelly and Chang, 12/19)

Cuts to the Human Genome Research Institute’s communication offices left a bioethics vacuum. (Molteni and Oza, 12/18)

Videogame executive Xu Bo, said to have more than 100 children, and other elites build mega-families, testing citizenship laws and drawing on nannies, IVF and legal firms set up to help them. (Long, Foldy and Wei, 12/13)

Guardian says its products can’t eliminate the risk of concussions, and some researchers have cast doubt on whether the helmet covers do much to prevent head injuries at all. Still, high schools across the country are giving them a try. (Lovinger, 12/17)

The same global food system that is fueling rising obesity rates is also accelerating climate change, according to a sweeping new scientific review that argues both crises share common roots and solutions. The review, published Thursday in Frontiers in Science, links the rise of ultra-processed foods and beef-heavy diets to worsening health outcomes and growing environmental damage. (Valliyil, 12/18)

Also —

Gov. Newsom called for 'accountability' on homelessness with CARE Court. Three years later, the state has rarely compelled mental health treatment. (Yu and Yee, 12/17)

Ronda Deplazes thought Gov. Newsom’s CARE Court could save her son as he struggled with mental illness. Two years later, she and other families say little has changed for them. (Wiener, 12/17)

Ida and COVID unveiled the city’s vulnerabilities and the urgent need for a more resilient public health system. New Yorkers carried those lessons. When they elected Zohran Mamdani on an affordability platform, they weren’t just demanding lower costs—they were seeking relief from the health consequences of living in a city stretched to its limits. (Thoai D Ngo, 12/17)

As 2025 comes to a close, I have been reflecting on medical advances that offer reason for hope. One area that stands out is cervical cancer screening, which is about to become more accessible and effective. (Leana S. Wen, 12/18)

If they had not voted for it, it would not have passed. Yes, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) is generally right that the party needs to be a “big tent” and allow some ideological diversity. But there are some lines that should not be crossed, and this is one of them. (Alex Bollinger, 12/18)

The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that flu hospitalizations are climbing across all age groups in the US. Several states, including Colorado, New York, New Jersey and Louisiana, are being hit particularly hard. (Lisa Jarvis, 12/19)

In 1984, during my intern year, I admitted the first of what would become thousands of young men dying from a disease we were only beginning to understand. Our wards and ICUs overflowed with patients suffering from infections that should not have been possible — many we could not even name, let alone treat. We careened forward while looking only in the rearview mirror, each death teaching us what we should have known the week before. (Robert B. Shpiner, 12/19)