Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
National Autistic Missing Persons Alert In The Works, HHS Announces
The Hill: HHS Launches Autistic Missing Persons Alert Initiative
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Friday a new federal initiative to improve preparedness and response efforts when individuals with autism are reported missing. The agency will partner with the Department of Justice and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to strengthen coordination among emergency management agencies, law enforcement, first responders and community partners nationwide. (Weixel, 8/21)
CBS News: Trump Puts Autistic Kids In The Spotlight And Cuts Agencies Built To Protect Them
At Chain of Lakes Elementary School in Winter Haven, Florida, Josette Smith's 9-year-old son, Ethan, gets to do what he loves most: crafts, math, and science. That is, when he isn't being pulled out of class. Ethan has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He was diagnosed with autism in kindergarten after displaying behavior that concerned his relatives: He paced, flapped his arms, and became consumed with highly specific interests, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and dachshunds. (Sibonney, 8/24)
More health news from the Trump administration —
The Washington Post: Doctors Say Trump's Weight Poses A Significant Health Risk
President Donald Trump has faced scrutiny for bruising on his hands, swelling in his ankles and apparent drowsiness, among other questions about his health. Some doctors say they’re worried about another risk: the 23 pounds that Trump may have gained since his last campaign for president. (Diamond, 8/23)
Politico: RFK Jr.’s Barnstorming The Country For The GOP
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s August isn’t your typical summer break from Washington: In the last week, he’s podcasted with The Incredible Hulk and fished for bream with the GOP candidate for governor in Iowa. He’s touted fitness with one embattled House Republican in a Des Moines suburb and he praised Nebraskans’ response to a hantavirus outbreak in a competitive Omaha district. (Haslett and Paun, 8/21)
Stat: FDA Digital Health Leader Promises Generative AI Regulatory Guidance Is Coming
The Food and Drug Administration says it is developing a plan for how to regulate medical devices that use generative artificial intelligence. The FDA will eventually release documents spelling out agency policies regarding the technology, Rick Abramson, director of the agency’s Digital Health Center of Excellence, told STAT. (Aguilar, 8/24)
On Medicaid and SNAP —
Politico: Trump Offered State Medicaid Programs Lower Prices On Weight-Loss Drugs. Most Are Rejecting The Deal
President Donald Trump’s pledge to make new but pricey weight-loss drugs widely available for low-income Americans isn’t panning out as planned. Trump promised last year that obese Americans on Medicaid would soon gain access to drugs known as GLP-1s, like Wegovy and Zepbound, if the states where they live signed on with his administration to negotiate prices directly with manufacturers. (Hooper, 8/22)
Stat: New Warning About CMS Rule To Ban Funding Of Gender-Affirming Care
The Trump administration plans to use a new approach to deny Medicaid coverage of drugs for gender-affirming care. The precedent it sets could be used to avoid paying for other drugs, too, upending an expectation that Medicaid covers the vast majority of prescription medication. (Wilkerson, 8/24)
Stat: SNAP Restrictions Led To 12% Drop In Soda Purchases, Study Says
New restrictions on the use of food benefits to purchase soda and candy have been one of the biggest changes enacted by the Make America Healthy Again movement. But a key question has been how profoundly the bans would affect public health, with some economists arguing that people would just use other funds to buy Coke and other sugary drinks instead. (Todd, 8/24)
On the immigration crisis —
NOTUS: Judge To Baby: File An Asylum Application
A 1-year-old baby appeared in immigration court without legal representation this week in Arizona and received an instruction: File an asylum application before the next hearing or face deportation. An attorney from the U.S. Committee for Refugees, one of the groups with a new contract to represent migrant children, was silent as it happened, according to filings Thursday in the legal dispute between a network of nonprofits and the Trump administration. (Llanos, 8/21)
AP: Man Arrested By US Immigration Agents As Son Waits Return From USS Lincoln
When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy — a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea, stirring concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among soldiers. Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years. (Riddle, Taxin and Brook, 8/24)
In other federal government news —
Politico: Nancy Kassebaum, Pioneering Female Senator, Dies At 94
Nancy Kassebaum, a pioneering three-term female senator from Kansas who was one of the architects of bipartisan health care reform in the 1990s, has died. Kassebaum, also known in her later years as Nancy Kassebaum Baker because of her marriage to former Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), was 94. The New York Times reported that her son, William Kassebaum, confirmed her death Friday at a hospice care facility in Manhattan, Kansas. (Cohen, 8/23)
