Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
DOGE's 'Defend The Spend' Initiative Puts Health Care Grantees In A Pinch
The Washington Post: DOGE Pauses Health-Care Grants, Freezing Payments For Review
The U.S. DOGE Service is putting new curbs on billions of dollars in federal health-care grants, requiring government officials to manually review and approve previously routine payments — and paralyzing grant awards to tens of thousands of organizations, according to 12 people familiar with the new arrangements. The effort, which DOGE has dubbed “Defend the Spend,” has left thousands of payments backed up, including funding for doctors’ and nurses’ salaries at federal health centers for the poor. Some grantees are waiting on payments they expected last week. (Diamond, Johnson and Natanson, 4/17)
Modern Healthcare: Draft White House Budget Expands Hospital Cost Report Auditing
Health systems would be subject to greater oversight under a White House proposal to expand hospital cost report audits. The White House Office of Management and Budget is seeking information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as it weighs whether to increase funding for hospital cost report auditing, according to a leaked draft of its fiscal 2026 budget plan, dated April 10. (Early, 4/17)
More about the Trump administration —
CBS News: FDA Making Plans To End Its Routine Food Safety Inspections, Sources Say
The Food and Drug Administration is drawing up plans that would end most of its routine food safety inspections work, multiple federal health officials tell CBS News, and effectively outsource this oversight to state and local authorities. The plans have not been finalized and might need congressional action to fully fund, said the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly. Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, denied that the FDA was making plans to do this. (Tin, 4/17)
Stat: Makary Says FDA Will Remove Pharma Representatives From Advisory Panels
The Food and Drug Administration will remove industry representatives from advisory committees and replace them with patients and caregivers, Commissioner Marty Makary announced Thursday. (Wilkerson, 4/17)
The Washington Post: China’s Restrictions On Rare Earths Could Hurt U.S. Health Care
Americans suffering from brain tumors, liver cancer and heart attacks may find their medical care disrupted if President Donald Trump’s trade war cuts off access to rare earth minerals with health-care applications. China processes almost all the world’s rare earths, a group of 17 metals used in a wide array of products in the defense, health-care and technology sectors. But as part of its retaliation against escalating U.S. tariffs, Beijing this month restricted the export of several rare earth minerals, raising the risk that U.S. industries will face shortages. (Northrop and Li, 4/18)
Stat: Big Changes Coming To Federal Health IT Regulator?
Buried in a leaked draft budget from the Trump administration is an ask that may alarm (or elate?) health tech watchers. The administration is proposing to create a new office of the chief technology officer within the federal health department that would house the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, the department’s health IT regulator, and an “Office of Chief Information.” Under the proposal, ASTP would be funded with $9 million, compared to the $66 million appropriated in the 2023 budget. (Aguilar, 4/17)
AP: Federal Judge In Baltimore Temporarily Limits DOGE Access To Social Security Data
A federal judge on Thursday imposed new restrictions on billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, limiting its access to Social Security systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans. U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander issued a preliminary injunction in the case, which was brought by a group of labor unions and retirees who allege DOGE’s recent actions violate privacy laws and present massive information security risks. Hollander had previously issued a temporary restraining order. (Skene, 4/18)
On birthright citizenship and the ACA —
The New York Times: Supreme Court To Hear Arguments On Trump Plan To End Birthright Citizenship
The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it would hear arguments in a few weeks over President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. The brief order by the justices was unsigned and gave no reasoning, as is typical in such emergency cases. But the unusual move is a sign that the justices consider the matter significant enough that they would immediately hold oral argument on the government’s request to lift a nationwide pause on the policy. (VanSickle, 4/17)
Stat: Health Care Industry, Worried Millions Could Lose ACA Insurance, Pushes To Trump To Delay Changes
Hospitals, health insurers, and insurance agents are asking President Trump to pump the brakes on a regulation that would lead to potentially millions of people losing their health insurance. (Herman, 4/18)
