Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Lead-Up To Midterms, Melania Trump Announces Women’s Health Initiative
The New York Times: Melania Trump Announces White House Women’s Health Initiative
Melania Trump, the first lady, made a rare Rose Garden appearance on Monday to announce a new White House initiative to advance women’s health. The initiative, outlined in an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, will include a new Division of Women’s Health within the National Institutes of Health, and a new Women’s Health Task force within the White House. But the N.I.H. already has an Office of Research on Women’s Health, created in 1990 during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, and it is unclear whether the Trump administration is putting any money behind the new division. (Gay Stolberg and Rabin, 10/19)
In other research and funding news —
CIDRAP: NIH Sees 7,400 Fewer Grants During Fiscal Year 2026 Than In Previous Year
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded nearly 12% fewer grants, or 7,400, in fiscal year 2026 compared to the year before President Donald Trump took office for his second term, according to a new analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges. In fiscal year 2026, NIH awarded 56,600 grants, compared to fiscal year 2024, when the agency awarded 64,000 grants to biomedical researchers. (Soucheray, 10/19)
AP: After Trump's Funding Cuts To Science, US Researchers Are Heading Abroad
Halley Froehlich was sure she’d spend her scientific career in the United States. Her family has been in America since the 1700s. But over the past two years, delayed federal grants and fears about the future motivated her to pack her life into boxes. She moved to Finland with her husband and daughter and is continuing her research — studying how fish, shellfish and seaweed that humans eat are responding to climate change — at the University of Helsinki. When the Trump administration began upending U.S. scientific research last year, dismantling the federal grant-giving process and attempting to exert more political influence over what projects get funded, foreign universities saw an opportunity. (Ramakrishnan, 10/19)
The Washington Post: Scientists Plow Ahead With Research Needed For A Key Climate Report Scrapped Under Trump
After the Trump administration dismissed scientists behind a key national climate report last year, some of them decided they’d keep working on it — but from outside the government. Now, those scientists have published their first paper, part of a new effort they say will provide a home for the type of research that would’ve formed the basis of a National Climate Assessment. (Douglas, 10/20)
On the immigration crisis —
The New York Times: Man Who Died In ICE Custody In Texas Was Denied Medicine, Daughter Says
When Estefani Andrade spoke over video last Friday to her father, who was in an immigration detention center in Texas, he looked pale and unwell, she said. The next day, he was found unconscious in his cell, and she was later told he died. The man, Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, who had a heart condition, diabetes and high blood pressure, had complained to his daughter for months about the lack of medical care at the Rio Grande Processing Center, a detention center in the border city of Laredo, Ms. Andrade said. (Sandoval, 10/19)
The Washington Post: A Maryland Woman's Husband Died Suddenly In ICE Custody. She Wants Answers.
Hospital records say 47-year-old Julian Curo Churata died of “cardiac arrest” because of “septic shock.” (10/20)
The New York Times: U.S. Citizen Hospitalized After Being Detained By ICE, His Family Says
A California man whose family said he was a U.S. citizen was hospitalized in Long Beach over the weekend after an altercation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement left him pinned to the ground in handcuffs. The man, Ricardo Gonzalez, was riding an e-bike when he was struck by an unmarked vehicle, according to Leslie Gonzalez, his daughter, in a post on Instagram. In clips posted to social media, Mr. Gonzalez appears immobilized on his stomach by officers wearing ICE vests. “My arm is broken, stop!” he yells, asking for medical assistance as officers handcuff him, restraining his arms behind his back. (Kircher, 10/19)
ProPublica: House Democrats Introduce Bill To Help Wrongfully Detained Citizens Sue ICE
A New Mexico Democrat in the House introduced a bill last week that would make it easier for U.S. citizens to sue immigration agents and the federal government over wrongful detentions and arrests. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández credited ProPublica’s reporting as the catalyst for the bill, the Justice for Citizens Wrongfully Detained by ICE Act. Earlier this month, we revealed that more than 500 U.S. citizens have been detained in warrantless arrests during the second Trump administration. (Foy, 10/19)
On veterans' healthcare —
Military.com: Exclusive: Veteran Homelessness Fell 8.2% In 2026, The Biggest Drop In 10 Years, New Analysis Finds
A major decrease in veteran homelessness rates is predicted this year, including one that may be historic. Findings by Community Solutions project an 8.2% veteran homelessness decline when compared to 2025. Numbers are also expected to fall below 30,000 in 2026, marking the first time ever since veterans were included in the Point-in-Time count beginning in 2009 (there was no figure in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic). (Mordowanec, 10/19)
Military.com: FEDVIP’s Premium Rates: Dental Up 1%, Vision 1.6% For 2027
Premiums for insurance under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program are going up in 2027. Military retirees may buy vision and dental coverage through FEDVIP; and active-duty families, and beneficiaries enrolled in Tricare Reserve Select, may buy vision coverage. (Wile, 10/19)
