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Republicans are moving forward with a plan to fund the government past an Oct. 1 deadline without making concessions to Democrats demanding health-care policy changes, setting up a standoff that risks a chaotic shutdown. The gambit to brush off Democrats, whose votes are needed in the Senate to pass the funding legislation, also lowers the chances of a deal to avert a large increase in Obamacare premiums that will affect millions of Americans starting Jan. 1. (Wasson and Dennis, 9/11)

Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) Thursday called on federal lawmakers to reauthorize Medicare coverage for telehealth services, which is set to expire at the end of September. “We are still working on reauthorizing it, but it needs to be permanent and done,” Murphy said during The Hill’s event “Smarter Benefits: Redefining the Employer Role,” sponsored by Takeda. (O’Connell-Domenech, 9/11)

Anti-abortion groups and some GOP lawmakers are pushing to attach the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion in most instances, to any subsidy extension. (Sullivan, 9/11)

Eight percent of Americans were uninsured in 2024, on par with the rate found for 2023, according to new federal data. The U.S. Census Bureau released this week its annual look (PDF) at insurance coverage across the country, finding that 92%, or 310 million people, were enrolled in coverage last year. The bulk, or 66.1%, were enrolled in a private health plan, while 35.5% had public coverage. (Minemyer, 9/11)

The United States has the most expensive health care in the developed world. Now it's about to get even more expensive. Some 154 million people get health insurance through their employer — and many could see their paycheck deductions surge next year, by 6% to 7% on average. Some will likely also see their out-of-pocket costs rise as employers pass along the spiking costs of care. (Aspan, 9/12)

Health care inflation hit a three-year high last month, in the latest sign that workers could soon be juggling big premium increases with higher prices for groceries, clothing and other items subject to President Trump's tariffs. (Reed, 9/12)

Impending changes to California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, are expected to make it harder for adults — especially undocumented adults — to retain, enroll in and qualify for Medi-Cal coverage, and to afford coverage and care. Most of the federal changes under HR 1, commonly referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” apply to adults on Medi-Cal, the joint federal-state health insurance plan for low-income Californians. They enact new work requirements, more frequent renewal rules, and new copayments. (Ho, 9/11)

Alissa Wright’s 13-year-old daughter arrived home from her Los Angeles school Wednesday with an announcement: Charlie Kirk was dead, and she had watched a video of it happening. Wright’s stomach dropped, she said. The 47-year-old stay-at-home mom had seen the gory video of the conservative commentator’s killing at a Utah speaking event earlier that day as it spread on TikTok and Reddit. Her daughter said that a boy in her class had sneaked around the school’s phone ban and discovered the video on TikTok. (Hunter and Oremus, 9/12)

In interviews from across the country, people expressed fear and wariness, and said that the country seemed to be spinning out of control. It was not just the gun violence. Charlie Kirk’s death at 31 symbolized for many the collapse of what they thought was a basic, common-sense, need-not-be-debated American value: that people expressing a political opinion should not be shot for it. (Hubler, Sandoval and Burch, 9/12)

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in a state that has permissive gun laws and allows firearms to be concealed or openly carried without a permit in most instances, experts said. Investigators said a high-powered, bolt-action rifle that might have been used in the attack was found hidden in a towel in a wooded area near Utah Valley University. (White, 9/11)

One day after a shooting at Evergreen High School that left three injured and a shooter dead, parents across the Metro region are grappling with a collective trauma over school shootings, leaving them to confront their darkest fears about the safety of their own children. In interviews and exchanges with dozens of parents of school children, there is a pervasive sense of fear, grief and anger. Parents describe a constant, low-level anxiety that permeates their lives every day and they describe how an ordinary task like sending their child to school feels like a significant risk as they worry it may be the last time they see their child. (Brundin, 9/12)  

Colorado has developed a network of laws, reporting systems and mental health programs aimed at stopping violence before it happens. In 2004, in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre, the state launched Safe2Tell as a statewide bystander reporting system. The program is built on the idea that early intervention saves lives and that young people often talk about their plans before hurting themself or others. In addition to Safe2Tell, the state also has an Office of School Safety that oversees many of Colorado’s school-based prevention strategies, including mental health programs and emergency planning. Colorado also offers limited free counseling sessions to all youth under the age of 18 through the I Matter program. (May, 9/12)

The authorities in Colorado on Thursday named the 16-year-old student suspected of shooting two other students at Evergreen High School on Wednesday, and said that he had been “radicalized by an extremist network,” which they did not identify. (Hassan, 9/11)

The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., was placed under lockdown on Thursday after a post on an anonymous chat platform set off concerns that an active shooter was roaming the campus, military officials said. The threat was traced to a laptop belonging to a midshipman who had left the academy and was confirmed to be in his parents’ house in the Midwest, officials said. No active shooter was believed to have been present on the campus. The false report, coming at a moment of heightened tension nationwide, provoked a flood of misinformation on social media and led to an altercation between a law enforcement officer and a midshipman, injuring both. (Ismay, Jaffe and Kirk, 9/11)

Senate Republicans on Thursday bulldozed past Senate precedents and changed the rules to break a Democratic blockade of President Trump’s nominees, in an extraordinary move that is likely to undercut Congress’s future role in vetting executive branch officials. The change, pushed through along party lines, lowered the existing 60-vote threshold for considering a group of presidential nominees to a simple majority, weakening the ability of individual senators to block nominees they find objectionable. It was the latest step in a yearslong back-and-forth between the two parties that has eroded the filibuster, a once-potent Senate tool to protect the rights of the minority and force consensus. (Gold, 9/11)

Top Food and Drug Administration regulator Vinay Prasad has regained his role as the agency’s chief medical and scientific officer after he abruptly departed and then came back to the agency, according to an update on the agency’s website Thursday. Prasad returned as the agency’s top regulator for vaccines and gene therapies as head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research on Aug. 9. (Cohrs Zhang, 9/11)

A U.S. appeals court panel on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to block Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood while legal challenges continue. A federal judge in July ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation’s largest abortion provider fights Trump’s administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation. ... Nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid. (9/12)

Millions of dollars’ worth of birth control pills and other contraceptives destined for people in low-income countries have been destroyed at the direction of the Trump administration, the United States Agency for International Development said on Thursday. The pills, intrauterine devices and hormonal implants, valued at about $9.7 million, had been purchased by the agency before it was largely dismantled earlier this year. (Nolen, Smialek and Wong, 9/11)

A federal lawsuit filed on Thursday in Rhode Island by two organizations that support the homeless claims that, with $75 million in homelessness grants about to expire, the Department of Housing and Urban Development illegally coerced applicants into embracing President Trump’s positions on immigration enforcement, transgender rights and other charged issues. The new conditions on aid are so wide-reaching, the lawsuit says, that they disqualify groups in most states from applying, and critics warn they may foreshadow larger efforts to make federal aid a tool of ideological enforcement. (DeParle, 9/11)

The U.S. government on Thursday sued Uber Technologies, accusing the ride-sharing company of violating federal law by discriminating against passengers with disabilities. In a complaint filed in San Francisco federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice said Uber drivers routinely refuse to serve riders with disabilities, including people who travel with service animals or stowable wheelchairs. (Stempel, 9/11)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Under Trump, FDA Seeks To Abandon Expert Reviews Of New Drugs

FDA leaders under President Donald Trump are moving to abandon a decades-old policy of asking outside experts to review drug applications, a move critics say would shield the agency’s decisions from public scrutiny. The agency “would like to get away” from assembling panels of experts to examine and vote on individual drugs, because “I don’t think they’re needed,” said George Tidmarsh, head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. He relayed the message Tuesday at a meeting of health care product makers and Wednesday to an FDA advocacy group. (Allen, 9/12)

Thanks to a frenzy of grantmaking activity during August, the National Institutes of Health looks, for the first time this year, like it might be able to spend its entire $47 billion budget before the Sept. 30 deadline. After lagging by billions of dollars throughout the spring and summer due to pauses in grant proposal evaluations, agency-wide layoffs, and new layers of political review, the NIH now appears on track to award close to the full tranche of taxpayer money appropriated by Congress. (Molteni, Oza and Parker, 9/12)

Several blue and purple states that typically follow federal vaccine guidance are breaking with the Trump administration and taking steps to bolster immunizations. But tens of millions of people could still be left without access to free shots heading into the fall flu season. A flurry of bills and executive orders in Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other blue and purple states aim to guarantee vaccine availability at pharmacies and push insurance companies to cover the shots regardless of what federal officials recommend. (Ollstein, 9/11)

In new polling designed to gauge American perceptions of the Trump administration’s vaccine policy shifts, only one in four believe that recent recommendations are based on scientific evidence and facts, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos survey. Led by Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a long-time vaccine skeptic, federal agencies have narrowed their recommendations on who should get COVID-19 shots, which now exclude younger healthy people without underlying health conditions as well as pregnant women. (Schnirring, 9/11)

Buffalo, N.Y.-based Kaleida Health plans to close its Millard Fillmore Surgery Center in Williamsville, N.Y., on Oct. 1, laying off 32 employees. “The decision to close the surgery center was based on a number of factors, including pending federal funding reductions, particularly in Medicaid reimbursement, a spokesperson for Kaleida Health said in a Sept. 11 statement shared with Becker’s. “It was also based on a thoughtful review of the overall financial sustainability of the facility and the availability of similar services in the community.” (Ashley, 9/11)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: A Surgical Team Was About To Harvest This Man’s Organs — Until His Doctor Intervened

Lying on top of an operating room table with his chest exposed, Larry Black Jr. was moments away from having his organs harvested when a doctor ran breathlessly into the room. “Get him off the table,” the doctor recalled telling the surgical team at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital as the team cleaned Black’s chest and abdomen. “This is my patient. Get him off the table.” (Anthony, 9/12)

Efforts to include artificial intelligence and remote monitoring services in standard billing codes are gaining traction. The American Medical Association released nearly 300 new Current Procedural Terminology billing codes Thursday as part of its proposed 2026 code set. (Hudson, 9/11)

Hospitals could see another popular procedure move to ambulatory surgery centers if it is reimbursed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Cardiac ablations are among a larger group of procedures CMS is considering adding to the list of procedures they would cover at ASCs and industry groups have advocated for their inclusion for years. Currently, the agency only reimburses the procedures in hospital and hospital outpatient settings. (Dubinsky, 9/11)

The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) change of heart on noncompete agreements has left some healthcare organizations concerned and others applauding the shift. In April 2024, the FTC issued a final rule banning most noncompete agreements in employer contracts. Noncompetes, as they're known, prevent employees from working for a competing employer or from opening a competing business even after the relationship with a prior employer has ended. One in five American workers, or 30 million people nationwide, are subject to noncompete clauses, according to Benjamin Cady, an attorney in the FTC's Office of Policy Planning. (Frieden, 9/11)

AbbVie has struck a deal with generic drugmakers aimed at extending patent protection for its blockbuster autoimmune drug Rinvoq well into the next decade. AbbVie on Thursday said it has settled litigation with all generic manufacturers that have filed applications with the Food and Drug Administration for generic versions of Rinvoq, which is approved for use in several autoimmune diseases. (Kellaher, 9/11)

Consumers can now purchase Exact Sciences’ liquid biopsy early detection test, Cancerguard, and get an indication of whether they might have one of 50 different cancers included in the test’s analysis. The biotechnology company launched the test on Wednesday, and Tom Beer, Exact’s chief medical officer, relayed the news with elation. (Chen, 9/11)

With limited treatment options for stroke patients available, two UConn researchers are developing an experimental drug that is capable of protecting the brain and improving recovery after a cerebral vascular accident also known as a brain attack. (Stanford, 9/11)

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who used GLP-1 receptor agonists had less disease activity and improved cardiovascular biomarkers, a small retrospective study indicated. (Gever, 9/11)

AbbVie’s purchase of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals’ psychedelic compound bretisilocin for up to $1.2 billion last month marked the first time a traditional pharma company has bought an investigational psychedelic drug. The deal suggests pharma is getting more comfortable with psychedelic drugs, despite the Food and Drug Administration’s rejection of MDMA last year. (Goldhill, 9/11)

For older adults, minor falls can pose major threats, as their risk of death after a fall has tripled in the U.S. over the last 30 years. Some experts believe that certain medications — a category called fall risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs) — could be to blame. Dr. Thomas A. Farley, a Washington, D.C.–based public health expert, writes in the medical publication JAMA that lifestyle changes alone can’t explain the spike. (Quill, 9/11)

The Lasker Awards, which honor fundamental discoveries and clinical advances that improve human health, were given on Thursday to scientists for discovering hidden complexity in cells, new states of biological matter, and a potent treatment for cystic fibrosis. (Zimmer and Kolata, 9/11)

A school-age child in Los Angeles County who had measles as an infant has died of a rare complication, the county health department said Thursday. The child was infected before they were eligible to receive the measles vaccine, the agency says; the first vaccination is recommended between 12 months and 15 months of age, followed by a second dose between ages 4 and 6. They recovered from that infection but developed a condition called subacute sclerosing panenecephalitis, which affects about 1 in 10,000 unvaccinated people who get measles overall but up to 1 in 600 of those who catch the virus in infancy. (Dillinger, 9/11)

Health officials have said an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Marshall County may be linked to cooling towers. The state has confirmed 34 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the county since the end of August, resulting in the death of one person. (Krebs, 9/11)

Vermont has reported its first human case of Jamestown Canyon virus, a mosquito-borne disease. According to the state’s department of health, the case was confirmed earlier this week in a person from Windsor County. (Soucheray, 9/11)

Scientists are calling on health authorities to classify Chagas disease – sometimes known as the "kissing bug disease" – as endemic to the United States. Chagas disease, a parasitic infection spread by bugs, mostly infects people in Central and South America. Still, human cases have been reported in Missouri and seven other states, and the bug that carries the parasite has been found in both Missouri and Illinois. (Fentem, 9/12)

West Nile virus infections are intense so far this year, with case counts running 40% higher than normal, health officials say. More than 770 cases, including about 490 severe cases, were reported as of early September, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted this week. About 550 cases — 350 of them severe — are usually reported by this time of year. Health officials are ramping up warnings to the public, because most cases of the mosquito-borne disease are reported in August and September. (Stobbe, 9/10)

California lawmakers are weighing whether to ban a group of chemicals known as PFAS, which are often called "forever chemicals," in cookware. The move has pulled in celebrity chefs on one side and environmentalists, including actor Mark Ruffalo, on the other. The proposal, Senate Bill 682, would prohibit PFAS in cookware, cleaning products, dental floss, ski wax, food packaging and certain children's products. (Metz, 9/11)

Months after the smoke from California’s destructive fires cleared from LA skies, residents are still reckoning with a toxic stew of smoke pollutants whose effects on human health are poorly understood. Without federal and local standards on how to deal with contaminants like arsenic and the carcinogen benzene, dozens of researchers and private specialists are combing through yards and homes, work that goes beyond authorities' post-fire testing. (Court, 9/11)

A Ramsey County judge has denied a request to temporarily block a new law requiring jails in the state to continue to provide the medications people were prescribed before their incarceration. The law passed with bipartisan support last session as part of the public safety bill. Chief Judge Sara Grewing had paused the law earlier while she considered whether to grant an injunction. (Collins, 9/11)

Texas’ new parental consent law does not prevent nurses from administering basic health-related services like providing Band-Aids or checking a student’s temperature, according to updated state guidance sent to school district administrators on Thursday. (Edison, 9/11)

Wyoming is eligible to receive between $500 to $800 million in federal dollars over the next five years. The funds are part of the new Rural Health Transformation Program created in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA). The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) is asking for public input on how the funds should be spent. (Kudelska, 9/11)

Toxic “forever chemicals” are altering human liver function at a fundamental level by triggering both fat accumulation and cancer-linked cell damage, a new study has found. Several of these compounds, also known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), interrupt liver cell signaling and immune functions but do so via unique mechanisms, scientists observed in the study, published in Environment International. (Udasin, 9/11)

A nationwide clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Aging is trying to determine if high doses of a synthetic form of vitamin B1 called benfotiamine might be an effective treatment for mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease. Also known as thiamine, Vitamin B1 is important for brain health, and it's known that people with Alzheimer's have a thiamine deficiency. (Kiniry and Rodriguez, 9/11)

Gel manicures are out in most of Europe. The European Union this month banned a key chemical used in gel nail polish that makes manicures last longer. But why are such manicures and nail polish still allowed in the U.S.? (Reddy, 9/11)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Watch: Why Is Having A Baby So Expensive In The US?

New moms all over social media are breaking down their incredibly expensive hospital bills after giving birth. So why is giving birth so pricey in the U.S.? And given the Trump administration’s anti-abortion, pro-natalist policies, is anything on the table to make having a child more affordable? (Norman, 9/12)

Apple Inc. said its hypertension detection system for its smart watch will arrive next week after receiving clearance Thursday from the US Food and Drug Administration. The feature, which was announced at Apple’s most recent product launch event in early September, will be available in 150 countries and regions, including the US, Hong Kong and the European Union. The company previously said it was waiting for approval from the FDA and other regulators. (Kelly, 9/12)

In a three‐year study involving more than 5,000 residents of Israel before and after the mass traumatic events of October 7, 2023, those who watched extensive media coverage of the attacks were found to be more likely to develop post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). (9/10)

U.S. defendants must be able to understand the charges against them — but many who can’t remain behind bars waiting for mental health treatment. (Aspinwall, 9/6)

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy, or A.N.E., can result from influenza or other infections, including Covid-19. (Mandavilli, 9/12)

Research, much if it by companies with deep investment in AI, suggests that chatbot interactions alter how users think. (Skibba, 9/12)

Peter Hotez is a prominent vaccine scientist. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a prominent vaccine skeptic. In 2023, podcast host Joe Rogan invited the two to debate — promising $100,000 to the charity of Hotez's choice as a payoff. The debate didn't happen. (More on that later.) But the incident inspired Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, to write his sixth book, Science Under Siege. He co-authored it with Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. (Ruprecht, 9/10)

Australia has approved a world-first vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia. This disease causes infertility and death in the endangered species. (McGuirk, 9/12)

On behalf of the misleadingly named Make America Healthy Again movement, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched an undisciplined assault on biomedical science and public health: defunding research at the National Institutes of Health, canceling mRNA vaccine studies, purging dedicated government scientists, gutting the Preventive Services Task Force and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and trying to force millions off Medicaid. (Richard L. Kravitz, 9/12)

Despite Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s assurances that anyone who wants a coronavirus vaccine can receive one, many readers wrote about their difficulties accessing the updated 2025-2026 shot. In today’s newsletter, I wanted to share their stories and provide some advice for people seeking the vaccines. (Leana S. Wen, 9/11)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to undermine vaccines in America are not just scientifically absurd. They’re also financially ruinous. The costs of medical care in the United States have been skyrocketing for years, forcing health insurers to raise their premiums faster than overall inflation and pushing Medicare’s trust fund ever deeper into trouble. (Donald G. McNeil Jr., 9/12)

Health insurance costs in the United States are on track for their biggest jump in at least five years, according to multiple surveys, adding turbulence to an uncertain economy and boosting expenses for millions of Americans already beset by inflation. (Peter Whoriskey and Paige Winfield Cunningham, 9/12)

President Trump has turned Make America Healthy Again into one of his administration’s signature promises. It is a laudable goal, too. By several measures, the United States is the world’s least healthy high-income country. As is so often the case with Mr. Trump, however, he has both identified a real problem and enacted a set of policies that will worsen that problem. (9/12)

Few diseases cause as much misery as migraine headaches, the world’s most prevalent neurological malady. More than 1 billion people get migraines. Almost all are young, and most are female. Migraines are a common cause of missed work. They affect about 10% of school children and 20% of women, and generate an emergency room visit every 10 seconds. Lost productivity and migraine-associated medical expenses are estimated at more than $40 billion per year. (John C. Hagan III, 9/11)