Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Is 'Charting The Course For The Future' With New 'Voyager' Project
MedPage Today: 'Transformation' Project Underway At CDC
The CDC has launched a new "enterprise transformation project" called CDC Voyager that's left employees wondering exactly what it will mean for the agency's future. Sean Slovenski, CDC's principal deputy director and chief operating officer, announced the project in an email late last week, after new director Erica Schwartz, MD, MPH, was sworn in. (Fiore, 8/27)
More from HHS —
Modern Healthcare: HHS Health At Home Challenge Aims To Boost Community Care Hubs
The Health and Human Services Department is pushing the collaboration of health systems and insurers with community service organizations to drive down healthcare costs. The department launched the Health at Home Challenge last spring. The $6 million, two-year initiative is aimed at bolstering community care hubs that connect providers and insurers to smaller community groups offering nonmedical services. The collaborations could help keep dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries and at-risk Medicare beneficiaries healthy and out of the hospital. (Eastabrook, 8/27)
KFF Health News: Trump And Kennedy’s Health Industry Deals Haven’t Been Enforced And Are At Risk Of Vanishing
In the thick of his competitive reelection race in Michigan, Republican Rep. Tom Barrett joined Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a sprawling 400-acre apple orchard, farm, and winery. They touted Trump administration efforts to improve the American diet, including the removal of some artificial dyes from processed foods. “We had a great discussion about healthy options for all Americans and taking back control of our healthcare,” Barrett said in a June Instagram post, after sampling the farm’s apple cider. (Armour, 8/28)
In other Trump administration news —
The Hill: Federal Court Rejects PhRMA Challenge To Medicare Drug Price Negotiation
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled against a lawsuit filed by representatives of the pharmaceutical industry challenging the federal Medicare drug price negotiation program, finding that drugmakers are not entitled to sell their products to Medicare at a price they would prefer. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit affirmed a prior ruling granting summary judgment against the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade group representing the pharmaceutical industry. (Choi, 8/27)
The Hill: New Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration's Title X Plan To Restrict Family Planning Grants
A coalition of states sued the Trump administration Thursday to block changes to a family planning grant program that it alleges would strip federal funding from states and providers unless they align with the administration’s political views and priorities. The lawsuit by officials from 23 states, filed in Maryland federal court, argues that new conditions on Title X funding will unlawfully penalize states and providers that offer gender-affirming care or refuse to adhere to the administration’s ideology on contraception. (Weixel, 8/27)
Stat: Cassidy Abortion Pill Criticism Raises Temperature For FDA Nominee
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) released a report on Thursday criticizing the Food and Drug Administration for not tightening restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, and charging the agency with lackluster oversight of the companies that manufacture the drug. (Manto, 8/27)
WUSF: Healthy School Lunches To Cost More Than Trump Grants Offer
After cutting more than $660 million last year from programs to get locally grown food into school lunchrooms, the Trump administration is announcing a series of smaller grants to improve healthy options in schools. But some district leaders say it’s nowhere near enough. (Sheridan, 8/28)
Also —
NOTUS: Wife Of USS Lincoln Sailor Says He’s Facing Discipline For Apparent Suicide Attempt
A Navy sailor who jumped overboard in an apparent suicide attempt while serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln is facing disciplinary action, the service member’s wife told MS NOW Wednesday. The wife, who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity, said the service member was accused of violating two articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The sailor jumped overboard on Aug. 3 and had been repeatedly denied requests for paternity leave, his wife said. (Orellana Hernandez, 8/27)
ProPublica: Listen To 911 Calls From Inside An Immigration Detention Center
The first emergency call about a detainee trying to harm himself came about a month after Camp East Montana — an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas — started to house immigrants. It was 2:50 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12. “We have a patient currently in holding who is saying he’s got suicidal ideations, swallowed some foreign object, has refused our basic medical care here,” a nurse told the operator. In the audio, you can hear that someone is moaning and yelling in the background. (Trevizo, 8/28)
