Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS Star Rating Averages Dropped In 2027 For Medicare Advantage Plans
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Slip For UnitedHealthcare, Aetna
Medicare Advantage star ratings dipped slightly amid larger upheaval in the program, the latest federal data show. The average Medicare Advantage star rating dropped to 3.99 for 2027 compared with 4.01 for 2026, according to a report the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued Thursday. Insurers benefited in 2026 because CMS used two different statistical methods to calculate scores and awarded companies the higher of the two ratings. (Tepper and Broderick, 10/9)
Bloomberg: Humana Surges As Medicare Advantage Contract Earns Higher Star Rating
Humana Inc. shares surged as the company improved its performance on crucial Medicare Advantage quality ratings that will boost future revenue. Shares rose 17% in postmarket trading in New York before slightly paring those gains. The company’s largest Medicare Advantage contract with more than 2 million members improved its rating above the threshold to earn bonus payments, according to data released from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday. (Swetlitz and Tozzi, 10/8)
The first public execution in the U.S. in decades —
NBC News: Pentagon Says There Will Be A Livestream Of Firing Squad’s Execution Of The Fort Hood Shooter
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday the public would be able to watch the firing squad execution of a former Army officer convicted of a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. Speaking from the USS Abraham Lincoln to the conservative news outlet Real America’s Voice, Hegseth said Nidal Hasan is “going to get a firing squad of soldiers, and we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it.” (Long and Lubold, 10/8)
The Washington Post: What To Know About Public Executions, And Why They Stopped In The U.S.
If carried out, it would be the first known time that U.S. authorities have broadcast live video of an execution to the public. It would also be the first public execution in the U.S. in decades, the first U.S. military execution since 1961, and the first death by firing squad since World War II according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The announcement has raised many legal and ethical questions, including how such an event would be broadcast and who would be able to view it. (Craw, 10/9)
More updates from the Trump administration —
KFF Health News: AI, Tech Leaders Are Lobbying Trump Health Officials In A Government-Run Chat Room
A cadre of elite techies, financiers, and high-level Trump administration officials have spent a year quietly charting an extraordinary and rapid campaign to persuade Americans to use apps and other artificial intelligence-powered tools to manage their healthcare and medical records. As that campaign has unfolded, administration officials have granted tech companies an unusual opportunity to nudge the nation’s health department toward a loosely regulated future for AI health apps in which the government reimburses them for services as it does medical professionals. (Seitz, Rosenfeld, and Tahir, 10/9)
The Marshall Project: ICE Has Arrested Twice As Many Children This Year
The image of immigration officers arresting 5-year-old Liam Ramos — in a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack — in January sparked outrage across the country. Celebrities from Ms. Rachel to Madonna called for the closure of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the Texas immigrant camp that held Ramos and many children like him. Lawyers filed complaints about contaminated food and shoddy healthcare, and hundreds of activists protested outside the detention camp. (Villagran and Livingston, 10/8)
CIDRAP: Feds Sold Lab Equipment That Exposed US To ‘Severe Bioterrorism Threat,’ Report Says
Federal agencies sold unneeded lab equipment to apparent resellers, exposing it to potential redeployment by people with malicious purposes, creating a national biosecurity risk, per a new US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. “Federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] and the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] can donate or sell lab equipment that they no longer need,” the report said. “But some lab equipment could pose public health or national security threats if it falls into the wrong hands. For example, bad actors could use it to develop bioweapons.” (Van Beusekom, 10/8)
AP: US, Zambia Sign $2.49B Health Financing Pact After Removing Data And Specimen-Sharing Terms
The U.S. government and Zambia signed a health financing deal on Thursday after agreeing to remove specimen-sharing and patient-data clauses that had stalled the conclusion of the pact. The Zambian government also said that the deal does not contain any clauses linked to the country’s abundant mineral resources, which will be negotiated separately. (Zimba, 10/8)
MedPage Today: Four Deaths Prompt FDA Safety Concerns About Novel Schizophrenia Drug
The FDA flagged a potential safety signal after four deaths were reported among patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia who received investigational evenamide in clinical trials, Newron Pharmaceuticals said Thursday. The notice follows an announcement in April that the agency halted patient enrollment in the phase III ENIGMA-TRS 2 trial after the sudden death of a participant in an evenamide clinical trial. That hold remains in place at U.S. study centers but enrollment continues in other countries, and additional clinical sites are being added. (George, 10/8)
From the MAHA movement —
NBC News: MAHA Loyalists Accuse Trump Administration Of ‘Broken Promises’
Some supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement have begun to publicly turn against their leader, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the Trump administration as a whole as they demand tougher crackdowns on food dyes and pesticides. A scorecard released Thursday by MAHA activists, including former members of Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign, claims the Trump administration broke more than 85% of its promises to MAHA on food, agriculture and environmental health. The makers of the scorecard include Dave Murphy, a former fundraiser for Kennedy’s campaign, and Charles Eisenstein, Kennedy’s former chief speechwriter. (Tsirkin and Bendix, 10/8)
Stat: Midterm Elections: MAHA Nearly Invisible On Campaign Trail
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement rushed into American politics with a promise: Let an unlikely coalition of activists reach the masses, and they will deliver revolutionary gains for the Republican Party. (Cueto, Cirruzzo and Payne, 10/9)
