Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Lists No Measles Deaths For 2026 After It Changes Its Tracking Method
The Guardian: Trump Administration Changes How It Counts Measles Deaths Amid Pennsylvania Outbreak
The Trump administration has changed the way it counts measles deaths amid an outbreak in Pennsylvania, which on Sunday saw the third apparent measles-related death in the state reported by a local coroner. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now using data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is a way to track mortality trends over time, according to a note published to the agency’s website on Sept. 4. It’s a “puzzling” move, said Debra Houry, a former CDC chief medical officer. “The change doesn’t make any sense,” she added. (Schreiber, 9/14)
The Hill: RFK Jr. To Address Anti-Vaccine Group At D.C. Conference
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to give a keynote address this week at a conference for Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine advocacy organization he co-founded and led prior to becoming head of the nation’s health agency. For the past year Kennedy has worked to distance himself from the efforts of Children’s Health Defense, a group that questions the safety and efficacy of childhood vaccines and is a leading force of the anti-vaccination movement. (Weixel, 9/14)
Updates from the FDA —
Fierce Biotech: FDA Holds Psychedelic Hearing As Historic Approval Looms
As the FDA marches toward the likely first approval of a psychedelic medicine, the agency today convened a hearing seeking public input on how these drugs should be used, monitored and continuously studied in the real world. The biggest question swirling around the hearing was one of access. Should a psychedelic medicine be approved, who would the FDA allow to administer it? And how would that decision impact patients' ability to actually receive the treatment? (Incorvaia, 9/14)
MedPage Today: Photodynamic Therapy For The Most Common Skin Cancer Wins Approval
The FDA approved aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride 10% (Ameluz) in combination with photodynamic therapy for treating adults with superficial basal cell carcinoma, maker Biofrontera announced on Monday. The approval represents a non-surgical option for the most common type of skin cancer. The photosensitizing gel must be applied by a healthcare provider and is meant to be used with the company's BF-RhodoLED lamp. The same topical gel/red-light device combination was previously approved for actinic keratoses of the face and scalp in adults. (Ingram, 9/14)
On Medicaid work requirements —
Modern Healthcare: CMS Medicaid Work Requirement Guidance Adds Medical Frailty Rules
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services has provided the greatest detail to date about how states can determine who is exempt from Medicaid work requirements for “medical frailty.” The guidance, issued in the form of a slide presentation last Tuesday, offers a blueprint for states as they hustle to figure out how to implement the “medical frailty” exemption, which has been a sticking point. Yet it leaves many questions for states, providers and insurers to sort out. (Early, 9/14)
Fierce Healthcare: How Medicaid Work Requirements Could Impact Young Adults
New research from the Urban Institute finds that millions of young adults could lose Medicaid coverage when work requirements are implemented next year. The report, released Monday by the left-leaning think tank, found that as many as 2.3 million people between the ages of 19 and 24 could drop out of Medicaid due to the work requirements, particularly as the need for more frequent check-ins ramps up. (Minemyer, 9/14)
KFF Health News: A Cancer Survivor Hoped To Work — Then She Lost Her Medicaid Disability Coverage
Taya Hailstone has been in remission from childhood Hodgkin lymphoma for five years. But the cancer’s lasting damage to her organs and nerves can make basic tasks, like loading a dishwasher, hard. Still, Montana’s health department decided last year that Hailstone is no longer eligible for low-cost disability health coverage through Medicaid. The department switched her coverage to the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, another Medicaid program — three months before she aged out. (Houghton, 9/15)
EEOC goes to court over definition of 'disability' —
HR Dive: Hemorrhoid Pain Can Be A Disability, EEOC Argues To Court
At the heart of the dispute is the interpretation of “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which defines a person with a disability as someone who “has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” According to court documents, the worker in Butler v. FedEx Supply Chain Inc. had a hemorrhoids condition that, when he experienced a flareup, caused pain and bleeding during bowel movements, as well as pain when sitting, walking and standing. The pain “was far from trivial,” EEOC noted, requiring him to use a special pillow to sit and sometimes even be on bed rest. (9/11)
Company led by Trump donor tops list of methane 'super emitters' —
The Guardian: US ‘Super-Emitters’ Of Planet Heating Methane Identified By Satellite Analysis
Down a short gravel track in a largely nondescript corner of Louisiana sits a gas processing facility, operated by a company whose chief executive is a major donor to Donald Trump. It may be the largest emitter of methane in the US. The Energy Transfer site, located near the city of Shreveport, is named as the biggest single “super emitter” in new rankings of US oil and gas operations for the largest releases of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is rapidly overheating our planet, according to a new UCLA study, which is based on satellite data. (Milman, 9/14)
