Trump Admin Clawing Back Authority Over States’ Medical Debt Protections
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau contends federal law invalidates state laws that prevent patients' medical debts from being reported to credit bureaus. Separately, male veterans who have breast cancer will find it harder to get health care coverage. Plus, Texas sues the maker of Tylenol.
AP:
Trump Administration Moves To Overrule State Laws Protecting Credit Reports From Medical Debt
The Trump administration is moving to overrule any state laws that may protect consumers’ credit reports from medical debt and other debt issues. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has drafted what’s known as an interpretative rule related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, interpreting the law in a way that says the FCRA should preempt any state laws or regulations when it comes to how debt should be reported to the credit bureaus like Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. (Sweet, 10/28)
KFF Health News:
Trump Team Takes Aim At State Laws Shielding Consumers' Credit Scores From Medical Debt
The Trump administration took another step Tuesday to weaken protections for Americans with medical debt, issuing new guidance that threatens ongoing state efforts to keep that debt off consumers’ credit reports. More than a dozen states, including Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Maryland, New York, and most of New England, have enacted laws in recent years to keep medical debt from affecting consumers’ credit. (Levey, 10/28)
On the surgeon general and inspector general posts —
ABC News:
Surgeon General Nominee Casey Means Says She'll Focus On 'Healing And Prevention' Instead Of 'Overmedicalization'
Dr. Casey Means, the wellness entrepreneur President Donald Trump nominated in May to be his surgeon general, will testify Thursday at her confirmation hearing that she would work to put "Americans back on the road toward wholeness and health," according to a copy of her prepared testimony obtained by ABC News. Means, whom Trump nominated in May to the position often referred to as America's top doctor, would be one of the last major health nominees to appear for a Senate hearing and confirmation vote. (Benadjaoud and McDuffie, 10/28)
The Hill:
Warren Has ‘Serious Doubt’ About Trump’s HHS Inspector General Nominee
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told President Trump’s nominee for inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that his professional history has raised “serious doubt” about his ability to be an “impartial investigator” for the agency. In a letter provided first to The Hill, Warren addressed Thomas March Bell, Trump’s nominee for HHS inspector general, and brought up accusations that he mismanaged taxpayer funds as well as her own misgivings that his “highly partisan positions” will influence his conduct should he be confirmed. (Choi, 10/28)
More health news from the Trump administration —
ProPublica:
VA Makes It Harder For Male Veterans With Breast Cancer To Get Coverage
The Trump administration is making it more difficult for veterans with a rare but deadly cancer to get their health care needs covered by the government. The new policy, involving breast cancer in men, is laid out in a Department of Veterans Affairs memo obtained by ProPublica. The previously undisclosed document does not cite any evolving science. Rather, it relies on an order that President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office titled: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” (Umansky, 10/29)
AP:
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Pulling Funding For Sex Ed On Gender Diversity
A federal judge in Oregon has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from pulling sexual education funding over curricula mentioning diverse gender identities. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken issued the preliminary injunction Monday as part of a lawsuit filed against the Health and Human Services Department by 16 states and the District of Columbia, which argued that pulling such money violated the separation of powers and federal law. (Rush, 10/28)
Bloomberg:
RFK Jr. Orders CDC To Study Alleged Harms Of Offshore Wind Farms
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff to probe the potential harms of offshore wind farms, according to people familiar with the matter, as President Donald Trump marshals his administration to thwart the clean energy source he loathes. (Eidelson and Natter, 10/28)
The New York Times:
Radiation Fears Bring MAHA And MAGA Movements Into Conflict
The Trump administration is considering tighter safety rules on the weak radiations of cellphones even as it pursues looser regulations on the deadly emanations of the nuclear industry. (Broad, 10/28)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Sam Whitehead reads the week’s news: More men are developing osteoporosis, but insurance often won’t pay to screen them, and the Trump administration’s cuts to a digital equity program are setting back efforts to help some rural committees access telehealth. (10/28)
On autism and Tylenol —
CNN:
Texas Attorney General Sues Tylenol Makers, Claiming Links To Autism
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the companies Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue, claiming that they “deceptively” marketed Tylenol to pregnant mothers and that the medication is tied to an increased risk of autism. Kenvue said in a statement that the medication is safe and the company will “vigorously defend” against the claims. The lawsuit, dated Monday and filed in the District Court of Panola County, Texas, comes about a month after President Donald Trump publicly claimed that the use of Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with an increased risk of autism in the child, despite decades of evidence that the medication is safe. (Howard, 10/28)
