Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Restrictions On Fetal Tissue Research Lifted By Biden Administration
The New York Times: Biden Administration Ends Limit On Fetal Tissue Research
The Biden administration on Friday lifted restrictions on the use of fetal tissue for medical research, reversing rules imposed in 2019 by President Donald J. Trump. The new rules, disclosed by the National Institutes of Health, allow scientists to use tissue derived from elective abortions to study and develop treatments for diseases including diabetes, cancer, AIDS and Covid-19. (Mandavilli, 4/17)
NPR: Biden Administration Reverses Trump Fetal Tissue Research Rules
Fetal tissue is uniquely valuable to medical researchers - useful for developing treatments and better understanding diseases like HIV, Parkinson's, and COVID-19. But many anti-abortion rights groups oppose it on moral or religious grounds. Now, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says he's reversing several restrictions on fetal tissue research put in place during the Trump administration. (McCammon, 4/16)
Politico: Biden Administration Reverses Trump Restrictions On Fetal Tissue Research
The Trump administration, under pressure from allied anti-abortion groups, ended fetal tissue research at the National Institutes of Health and established an ethics board to review government support for the research at universities and other labs. The board, which was filled with critics of the research, met just once and rejected 13 of 14 projects that NIH scientists had deemed worthy of support. (Ollstein, 4/16)
KHN: The Great Undoing: Which Of Trump’s Policies Will Biden Reverse?
KHN has put together an interactive tool of significant health policies implemented by the Trump administration using its own authority — executive orders, agency guidance or formal regulations — and is tracking Biden administration and court actions. (Rovner)
In updates on HHS housing of migrant children —
ABC News: 'Unbearable' Conditions Push Biden Administration To Close Houston Migrant Center
The Biden administration over the weekend shuttered a Houston warehouse that housed unaccompanied migrant children following allegations that the nonprofit organization running the site failed to provide adequate living conditions for hundreds of young girls, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) opened the warehouse early this month in response to the surge of migrants arriving at the southern border. (Vega, Kim, Bruggeman and Scholz, 4/19)
Houston Chronicle: Feds Abruptly Decide To Move Migrant Children From Emergency Shelter In Houston
Federal authorities on Saturday abruptly emptied an emergency shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, loading the 450 girls on buses and sending them to other facilities or placements with sponsors. Authorities gave few reasons for the sudden move, but it came just days after the Houston Chronicle reported that immigrant advocates were raising concerns about crowding and other conditions at the shelter, which was operating in a warehouse near George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Compounding the chaos was the sudden death Friday night of an adult staffer from the Department of Health and Human Services working at the shelter. (Serrano and de Luna, 4/17)
In updates on covid's economic toll —
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments To Begin Arriving In July
Monthly payments of a new child tax care credit provided under President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief law will start hitting bank accounts in July, the head of the IRS announced this week. Eligible families have the potential to receive up to $3,600 per child in the form of $300 monthly installments on top of the $1,400 stimulus checks and unemployment benefits that have already been doled out to millions of Americans still struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Lee, 4/16)
CNBC: Will There Be A Fourth Stimulus Check? What We Know So Far
As the IRS sends out the last of the third round of stimulus checks and tops off payments for millions of other Americans, some lawmakers are already pushing for a fourth check. ... The continued economic fallout from the pandemic is why a group of 21 Democratic Senators recently sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions in his long-term economic plan. The lawmakers, including Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., argue that the third stimulus payment, a provision of Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) signed into law in early March, would not last many cash-strapped families long. (Adamczyk, 4/16)
