Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Scrapping Threat To Punish Hospitals That Provide Trans Care For Minors
NPR: Trump's HHS Backs Off Most Radical Effort To Stop Healthcare For Trans Youth
The Trump administration is abandoning its most aggressive attempt to end gender-affirming care for youth nationally, according to an official document obtained by NPR. The document shows that the Department of Health and Human Services will not be finalizing a proposed rule that would have blocked all Medicaid and Medicare funding for hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care. (Simmons-Duffin, 7/13)
More news about Medicaid funding and cuts —
Politico: Abortion Opponents Press Congress To Defund Planned Parenthood — Again
As House Republicans attempt to push through a party-line bill this week, anti-abortion activists and their allies in Congress are lobbying for their own preferred money-saver: reviving the ban on Medicaid reimbursement for Planned Parenthood that Congress recently allowed to expire, allowing the network of clinics to regain access to hundreds of millions in annual funding. Several groups, including Americans United for Life, Live Action, Students for Life Action and the National Right to Life Council, will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday to demand GOP leaders include the measure in their party-line bill, and will then fan out to lobby individual offices. (Ollstein, 7/13)
Modern Healthcare: Trump's Tax Law Squeezes State Medicaid Budgets
The deepest cuts to the healthcare system from President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax law don’t start until next year, but it is starting to become clear how states will grapple with them. The tax-cut law signed last July will spark some $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts, according to nonpartisan congressional budget estimates, and the administration has proposed cutting deeper by tightening rules around state Medicaid funding. As they enact their 2027 budgets, states as diverse as California, Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina and Oregon are beginning to do the belt-tightening analysts and the government predicted. (McAuliff, 7/13)
Tradeoffs: States Want To Bring Medicaid Behind Bars. Federal Changes Are Making That Harder.
Cody Coughenour landed in jail at least half a dozen times by the time he was 47 years old. First, it was alcohol. Then, when he was 26 years old, his mother died of a meth-induced heart attack. The overwhelming grief led him to the same methamphetamines that killed his mother. “What people are running away from, that’s what they’re going to run into,” he said. Each time Coughenour got out of jail in Washington state, the list of things he was supposed to do to get back on his feet felt overwhelming. He knew that addiction treatment and therapy should be near the top. But to pay for that care, he needed health insurance. (Wernau, 7/14)
CIDRAP: Changes To Medicaid Could Have Severe Consequences For Americans With HIV
Without Medicaid, Deedee Burris, 53, of Chicago might not be here, or at least he'd likely be a lot less healthy. Burris was diagnosed with HIV in 1995, and, for much of the past 15 years, he's been enrolled in Medicaid, a public insurance program that is jointly funded by the federal and state governments. It's provided Burris with affordable, consistent treatment that turned a fatal condition into a chronic illness. "It plays a big role. You're able to get your medication, you're able to go to your doctor's visits, your ER [emergency room] visits," he said. (Boden, 7/13)
