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Emails and testimonials from workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau document the administration’s efforts to lay off 90 percent of the employees. (Cowley, 4/27)

Just before President Donald Trump took office, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule that would prevent credit reporting agencies from including unpaid medical bills in credit reports and prohibit lenders from considering medical debt when making credit decisions. Republican lawmakers introduced a CRA resolution to repeal the rule in March. ... Meanwhile, multiple trade associations have filed suit to declare the regulation unlawful and set it aside. In February, a federal judge in Texas paused consideration of that case until June, which the new Trump-appointed CFPB leadership agreed to. If the plaintiffs succeed, their win will overturn the regulation. (Ziegler, 4/28)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a little less than a month left to produce a key document that will shape the federal government’s approach to childhood chronic disease. And while administration officials say he is on track to meet that deadline, it’s not clear how the “Make America Healthy Again” commission is conducting its work. (Cueto, 4/29)

A coalition of food safety, public health, and consumer advocacy groups are urging Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to curb the use of antibiotics in the meat industry. ... The groups have been warning for several years that widespread use of these antibiotics—which are also used in human medicine—in cows, pigs, and poultry is accelerating the antibiotic-resistance threat. (Dall, 4/28)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will close its civil rights office in June, according to an email sent to staff Monday and viewed by POLITICO. The office closure is part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s mass reorganization of his department that has seen the agency downsized by roughly 20 percent. Kennedy and President Donald Trump have also focused on programs and agencies they say promote diversity, equity and inclusion. (Cirruzzo, 4/28)

When Marshall Romero came out as a trans male in 2021, he didn’t think his identity would become a political issue. But in the years since, the 16-year-old sophomore at Alief Early College High School in Houston said he has watched the Republican Party increasingly target LGBTQ+ people, and he became more politically active in response. (Sorochinskaia, 4/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: As A Diversity Grant Dies, Young Scientists Fear It Will Haunt Their Careers

Adelaide Tovar, a University of Michigan scientist who researches genes related to diabetes, used to feel like an impostor in a laboratory. Tovar, 32, grew up poor and was the first in her family to graduate from high school. During her first year in college, she realized she didn’t know how to study. But after years of studying biology and genetics, Tovar finally got proof that she belonged. Last fall, the National Institutes of Health awarded her a prestigious grant. It would fund her research and put her on track to be a university professor and eventually launch a laboratory of her own. (Kelman, 4/29)

In 100 days, President Trump and his administration have not only upended the status quo for health care and challenged mainstream science, but slashed the workforce that's supposed to execute on their vision. (Goldman, 4/29)

President Trump has wielded the presidency as an instrument of blunt power, ignoring the howls of outrage from Democrats and daring largely docile Republicans to challenge the limits of his authority. (4/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Trump Administration Retreats From 100% Withholding On Social Security Clawbacks

The Social Security Administration is backing off a plan it announced in March to withhold 100% of many beneficiaries’ monthly payments to claw back money the government had allegedly overpaid them. Instead, the agency will default to withholding 50% of old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits, the agency said in an “emergency message” to staff dated April 25. (Hilzenrath and Fleischer, 4/28)

The Trump administration has dismissed the hundreds of scientists and experts who had been compiling the federal government’s flagship report on how global warming is affecting the country. The move puts the future of the report, which is required by Congress and is known as the National Climate Assessment, into serious jeopardy, experts said. Since 2000, the federal government has published a comprehensive look every few years at how rising temperatures will affect human health, agriculture, fisheries, water supplies, transportation, energy production and other aspects of the U.S. economy. (Plumer, Dzombak, 4/28)

Climate change may exacerbate the spread of infections that don’t respond to common antibiotics, with developing nations being most at risk, according to a new study in Nature Medicine. The study challenges the notion that the rise of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is solely due to the overconsumption of antibiotics, putting a spotlight on factors such as healthcare spending, air pollution and raising temperatures. (Kan, 4/29)

A recent flurry of papers has documented significant and growing levels of climate anxiety in the 25-and-under group, with even preschoolers sometimes showing symptoms. “You come across it in children as young as three,” says Elizabeth Haase, a founding member of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance and a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. “You find them on TikTok, sobbing about losing their teddy bears or sobbing that animals they loved got killed” in an extreme weather event. (Kluger, 4/29)

The Trump administration will set limits on the amount of “forever chemicals” producers of the toxic substances can discharge into the water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday. The administration said it will set discharge limits for a class of toxic chemicals known as PFAS. The limitations will apply to companies that make these substances, as well as metal finishers. (Frazin, 4/28)

A set of chemicals found in food packaging, plastics, and lotions and shampoos has been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths from heart disease, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal eBioMedicine. These chemicals, known as phthalates (pronounced tha-lates), were responsible for more than 350,000 deaths worldwide in 2018, researchers found. About 75 percent of the deaths were in Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific — reflecting growing concern about the amount of plastic proliferating in developing countries. (Osaka, 4/29)

Mexico has agreed to send water to the United States and temporarily channel more water to the country from their shared rivers, a concession that appeared to defuse a diplomatic crisis sparked by yearslong shortages that left Mexico behind on its treaty-bound contribution of water from the borderlands. Earlier this month, President Trump threatened additional tariffs and other sanctions against Mexico over the water debt, amounting to about 420 billion gallons. (Cameron and Wagner, 4/28)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill aimed at cracking down on the posting of sexual images and videos of people online without their consent, including AI-generated “deepfake” nudes of real people. The bipartisan Take It Down Act, which passed the Senate unanimously in February, now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. (Oremus, 4/28)

When Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) grudgingly supported the budget that paved the way for renewing President Donald Trump's tax cuts, he signaled that the price for his vote included targeting an arcane but growing source of state Medicaid funding: provider taxes. States levy provider taxes to help fund their share of spending in the joint federal-state health program, which effectively shifts a greater portion of Medicaid costs to the federal government. Often, providers volunteer to pay these taxes, or at least don't loudly protest, because they sustain Medicaid. (McAuliff, 4/28)

Nursing homes across the country rely heavily on Medicaid, with the safety net program covering more than 6 in 10 residents in 18 states, according to an analysis of federal data by Assisted Living Magazine shared exclusively with Axios. (Goldman, 4/29)

About one in three people with disabilities is enrolled in the program which helps them access health care and live independently in their communities. Stephanie Sy reports and we hear from people with disabilities and their caretakers about what Medicaid means to them. (4/28)

The Supreme Court appeared sympathetic Monday to the arguments of the parents of a Minnesota teen with severe epilepsy who want schools to do more to accommodate the needs of disabled students. The case focuses on whether families must meet an unfairly high burden to show schools are falling short. It is being closely watched by disability advocates and schools, with officials saying a ruling for the girl — identified as Ava in court filings — could make it easier for millions of students to require educators to do more to tailor teaching to their unique situations. (Jouvenal, 4/28)

Ascension said Monday patients have been exposed to another data breach — this time due to a former third-party vendor getting access to private information from the health system. The January breach involved patients' personal information as well as some healthcare-related information, according to a Monday news release. None of Ascension's electronic health records, systems or networks were impacted by the breach, a spokesperson said. (DeSilva, 4/28)

The personal information of more than 9,300 people may have been exposed in a recent data breach at health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, according to the company. (Schencker, 4/28)

Novant Health lost its bid to grow its North Carolina acute care network as state regulators approved an Atrium Health hospital expansion. Novant and Atrium, Advocate Health’s North Carolina division, are competing for 89 beds that state regulators say Mecklenburg County will need by 2027. The health systems applied for those beds via the certificate of need process, which caps healthcare service expansions and requires the state to sign off on new healthcare projects. (Kacik, 4/28)

A nonprofit EMS provider is stepping up as Delaware County's largest health system gets ready to shut down in just four days. VMSC Emergency Medical Services, based in Lansdale, Montgomery County, has signed an agreement to respond to 911 calls in the City of Chester starting Saturday. The agency will station three ambulances at the Chester Bureau of Fire. "The first priority obviously is making sure there's no lapse in coverage," Shane Wheeler, CEO of VMSC Emergency Medical Services, said. (Wright and Sylves, 4/28)

Days after Elevance Health assured investors it remains optimistic about Medicare Advantage, the health insurance company announced it will stop marketing most products under the program. Effective May 1, the Blue Cross Blue Shield company will remove nearly all of its Medicare Advantage plans from online marketing platforms, according to a notice sent to marketers on Friday. The company will require agents and brokers to submit paper applications for enrollees located in 22 states. (Tepper, 4/28)

Elevance Health is facing a second lawsuit accusing it of maintaining inaccurate provider directories, also known as “ghost networks.” The plaintiffs are three people covered under New York state employee health benefits who allege that Elevance Health division Carelon Behavioral Health misrepresented providers as in-network, causing them financial harm. The attorneys are seeking class-action status. (Berryman, 4/28)

Sutter Health agreed to pay $228.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleges the health system forced insurers into anticompetitive contracts. Northern California residents and businesses sued Sutter in 2012, alleging the Sacramento, California-based nonprofit health system made insurers include all of Sutter’s facilities in their networks, regardless of cost. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California still needs to approve the draft settlement. The court set a hearing for May 22. (Kacik, 4/28)

Early adopters of ambient artificial intelligence have seen positive results from pilots to gauge how effectively the technology saves time and money. Providers are adopting generative AI tools that can automatically chart patient-clinician conversations into their electronic health record systems. A host of vendors — both upstarts and established players – have developed products to win over clinical users and gain market share. (Perna, 4/28)

A new report suggests up to 7.2 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease, an increase of about 300,000 cases of the mind-robbing disease from a year ago. The Alzheimer's Association's annual facts and figures report released April 29 said the total annual cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia will reach $384 billion in 2025. That figure doesn't include the cost of unpaid care from 12 million family members and friends who provide billions of hours of care valued at more than $400 billion, according to the report. (Alltucker, 4/29)

New treatments and simple blood tests could change how doctors detect and treat Alzheimer's disease, according to a new report from the Alzheimer's Association. Blood tests to detect Alzheimer's are not yet approved for everyday use, but in research studies, they have improved the accuracy of diagnosis by up to 91%. ... Blood tests could make it much simpler to find early signs of the disease and be more widely available. (Chang, 4/29)

Alzheimer's disease pathology was common in people diagnosed with other dementias, a large cross-sectional study in Sweden showed. While most patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's had evidence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid and tau pathology, those biomarkers also emerged in people with other dementias, said Tobias Borgh Skillbäck, MD, PhD, of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Molndal, Sweden, and co-authors. (George, 4/28)

Texas voters will likely get a chance to decide whether to spend $3 billion in state funds on dementia research after the House preliminarily approved Senate Joint Resolution 3 on Monday. (Klibanoff, 4/28)

Mike Wood, the founder of the LeapFrog toy company, died earlier this month by physician-assisted suicide. He was 72. His brother confirmed to The New York Times that Wood died “surrounded by family” in Switzerland, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. Wood’s brother told the New York Times that Wood made the decision to end his life due to his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease. Wood wanted to do so “before the disease progressed too far,” the outlet reported. (Van de Riet, 4/28)

A clinical trial run by the National Cancer Institute seems to confirm that a single dose of the vaccine used to prevent infection with the human papilloma virus is just as effective as two — and, therefore, also helps to prevent cancer. (Herper, 4/28)

A closely watched clinical trial testing what could be the world’s first new tuberculosis vaccine in a century has hit its enrollment target, ahead of expectations. (Joseph, 4/28)

When Marty Makary was tapped to lead the Food and Drug Administration, public health experts hoped the Johns Hopkins physician would shield the agency from the vaccine criticism of his boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So far, that hasn’t been the case. Instead, Makary seems just as willing to use his power and position to more harshly scrutinize vaccines and to shift vaccination policy. (Lawrence, 4/29)

Virginia public health officials on Monday released more detail on the areas in local medical facilities where people may have been exposed to a young child with the state’s first 2025 case of measles, a highly contagious disease on the rise across the nation. The child, who was described as age 4 or younger, was contagious while visiting Kaiser Permanente medical facilities in Fredericksburg and Woodbridge on two days in mid-April, according to a statement from the Virginia Department of Health. (Portnoy, 4/28)

Measles cases across Europe were up 10-fold in 2024 compared to 2023, while cases in the Americas so far this year are 11-fold higher, according to updates today from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, the ECDC said the 2024 measles cases in the European region followed a seasonal pattern, which was not noted in 2021 through 2023. In 2024, a total of 35,212 measles cases were reported across the European region, compared to 3,973 in 2023. The reports come as US states continue to confirm more infections. (Soucheray, 4/28)

A new survey of pediatricians shows less than half adhere to national recommendations for oseltamivir (Tamiflu) prescribing for children hospitalized with flu, and suggests randomized control trials of the antiviral drug in the pediatric population would help increase uptake. The study was published late last week in Pediatrics, and is based on survey results from 787 physicians from five specialties working at seven US children's hospitals from March to June 2024. (Soucheray, 4/28)

A long-dormant Nevada law requiring parents or guardians to be notified before a minor can have an abortion will not take effect this week following a federal judge’s ruling. The 1985 law has never before been enforced in Nevada because of court rulings that found it was unconstitutional based on Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion access a constitutional right for a half century. The ban on the Nevada’s law was set to expire Wednesday under a recent federal court order citing the 2022 reversal of Roe, but abortion rights activists appealed. (Yamat, 4/29)

The introduction of the pregnancy checkbox on death certificates was responsible for most of the spike in maternal deaths in the U.S. since 2000, other than a jump attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, a longitudinal cross-sectional analysis showed. The addition of the pregnancy checkbox on death certificates in 2003 was associated with an increase of 6.78 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births -- 66% of the total increase in maternal mortality from 2000 to 2019, reported Seth Flaxman, PhD, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues. (Robertson, 4/28)

The budget deal, which will now go to the Legislature for a full vote, includes changes to make it easier to remove people in psychiatric crisis from public spaces to be evaluated for treatment. Gov. Kathy Hochul also successfully pushed for an all-day ban on students having cellphones in schools. But another of the governor’s policy priorities relating to the restriction of the wearing of masks was whittled down by legislators over concerns that it would be selectively enforced and infringe on people’s civil liberties. (Oreskes and Ashford, 4/28)

A Westchester County family says K2, also known as synthetic marijuana, led to the death of their loved one after he became addicted to it. They say the unregulated drug is often sold in gas stations and illegal smoke shops, with packaging marketed towards children. While it has been illegal for more than a decade in New York state, CBS News New York found out it's still easy to buy. (Rozner, 4/28)

The family of fatally stabbed Kansas City firefighter-paramedic Graham Hoffman may receive a one-time, $25,000 payment from Missouri, under a state law that provides death benefits to the survivors of first responders killed in the line of duty. But Hoffman’s next of kin could be among the last to receive the benefit unless Missouri lawmakers act soon. (Shorman and Bayless, 4/28)

For three election cycles in a row, California ballots included initiatives about how the state’s dialysis centers should operate. With that debate tabled — at least for now — the state’s most powerful collection of unions may have identified its next target to take on at the ballot. SEIU California appears to be setting the stage to go after federally qualified health centers, community clinics that rely heavily on public funds to provide primary care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. (Bluth, McCarthy and Schultheis, 4/28)

The Native American Community Clinic held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday at the Minneapolis American Indian Center for a future 30,000-square-foot health care and housing development. The clinic’s executive officer and president Antony Stately says the project will serve as a model for transforming health care for Native American people. (Olson, 4/28)

A long-anticipated transformation comes to life in West Baltimore today as LifeBridge Health marks the completion of a five-year modernization of Grace Medical Center with more than $61 million in investments. The scope of the project is bold — renovated emergency and outpatient departments, state-of-the-art behavioral health clinics and a reimagined campus that includes green space and improved access. But the true significance lies in what this means for an area in the city that has historically been forgotten. Just as importantly, this is a demonstration of collaboration and partnership resulting in legacy investments that will impact generations to come. (Meltzer, 4/29)

Seven years ago, Florida lawmakers responded to the deadly school shooting in Parkland with a pledge: more money for student mental health. Since then, the state’s Mental Health Assistance Allocation has more than doubled, sending over $175 million to school districts this academic year alone. But school officials say the rising need is outpacing resources. (Newhouse, 4/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: In A Broken Mental Health System, A Tiny Jail Cell Becomes An Institution Of Last Resort

When someone accused of a crime in this small northwestern Montana town needs mental health care, chances are they’ll be locked in a basement jail cell the size of a walk-in closet. Prisoners, some held in this isolation cell for months, have scratched initials and the phrase “love hurts” into the metal door’s brown paint. Their pacing has worn a path into the cement floor. Many are held in a sort of limbo, not convicted of a crime but not stable enough to be released. They sleep on a narrow cot next to a toilet. The only view is a fluorescent-lit hallway visible through a small window in the door. (Houghton, 4/29)

The explosion of compounded GLP-1 offerings over the past two years is coming to an end, and many patients are left with no good options. Blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs — such as Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro — are no longer deemed by regulators to be in shortage, so compounding pharmacies and the telehealth companies they work with must stop offering copies of the treatments. (Palmer and Chen, 4/29)

A poll of 640 GLP-1 users found that over a third (36 percent) are currently microdosing, while another 32 percent have tried it in the past. Gen Z is leading the charge: nearly 9 in 10 younger users reported microdosing at some point. Wealth also plays a role — higher-income patients were far more likely to microdose compared to lower-income users. The reasons for microdosing were surprisingly practical: 66 percent wanted to cut side effects, 40 percent hoped to ease into treatment more gently, and 38 percent were looking to save money. (4/28)

People taking GLP-1 receptor agonists appeared to be at elevated risk of rejection episodes after lung transplantation, a small, single-center cohort study suggested. (Phend, 4/28)

The Food and Drug Administration is nearly halfway through a review of Capricor Therapeutics’ cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Even with the tumult inside the agency, interactions between the company and the agency staff have been unaffected, according to the company’s chief executive. (Feuerstein, 4/28)

For the second year in a row, the pharmaceutical industry has dipped further out of favor with patient groups around the world. The industry’s reputation surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to PatientView’s annual survey of patient groups, peaking two years ago, when 60% of those surveyed said pharma’s reputation was “good” or “excellent.” Last year’s edition of the survey, however, saw that number decline to 57%. (Park, 4/29)

After 15 years, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has survived its share of challenges at the Supreme Court. On April 21, I attended the court’s first hearing in the latest of the series of ACA challenges, Kennedy v. Braidwood, which is focused on the ACA’s preventive services coverage requirement. I proudly represented 20 HIV advocacy organizations as amici in the case, urging the court to uphold the law, which requires payer coverage of items and services recommended with an A or B rating by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. (Richard Hughes IV, 4/29)

According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, paid parental leave improves maternal and infant health, including their physical health and well-being; women who receive paid leave have a lower chance of reporting intimate partner violence; and an increase in paid parental leave decreases rates of infant mortality. (Robin Epley, 4/29)

Lost amid the turmoil of DOGE’s federal workforce cuts was a mid-February executive order directing DOGE to repeal regulations that impede innovation, are overly burdensome, or not clearly authorized by statute. Now it appears that DOGE and the Trump administration are taking action on that order. The administration has even created a website, regulations.gov, where members of the public can suggest regulations to revoke. (David Howard, 4/29)

A lot has changed since I began practicing medicine over 30 years ago at a public hospital in San Francisco. Today, we have powerful electronic health systems, a staggering array of specialty referrals and stronger partnerships with advanced practice professionals, to name just a few advancements. (Dr. Mitchell Katz, 4/29)

About 37 million Americans suffer from kidney disease, and more than 800,000 live with kidney failure. At this advanced stage, patients either receive a kidney transplant or remain on dialysis — an expensive and often debilitating treatment — for the rest of their lives. Of the more than 90,000 Americans placed on the kidney transplant waitlist, only about 1 in 4 in 2024 received a kidney. (Steven Levitt and Ruby Rorty, 4/29)

Connecticut lawmakers recently advanced a bill to decriminalize small amounts of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in “magic mushrooms.” The bill, HB 7065, was celebrated by some as a forward-thinking, therapeutic step toward a more humane drug policy. And yet, I find myself asking: Why psilocybin? Why now? Why is this bill moving forward while cannabis justice — long overdue and already legally enacted in spirit — continues to stall? (Josiah Schlee, 4/29)