Modern Healthcare: ACA Enrollment, Eligibility Rule Partially Blocked By Court
A federal court in Maryland has blocked several parts of a health insurance exchange enrollment and eligibility rule days before they were set to take effect. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland temporarily stayed seven provisions from a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule issued June 20 and set to go live Monday. (Early, 8/22)

More on the high cost of health care —

Modern Healthcare: AAFP's Shawn Martin Urges Primary Care To Drop Pay Model
American Academy of Family Physicians CEO Shawn Martin said he is ready to move past the initial shock and anger after Congress handed down more than $1.1 trillion in cuts to healthcare programs. Martin recalled watching the sunset and contemplating the pending cuts July 3, the day before the tax law was signed by President Donald Trump. (Hudson, 8/22)

Politico: Floodwater Engulfed A Hospital. Then Came The Megalaw
When Hurricane Helene forced a rural Tennessee hospital into a dramatic rooftop evacuation last September, its top executive vowed to rebuild the damaged facility as he watched the rescue unfold from a washed-out bridge. That promise is now in peril because of the One Big Beautiful Bill. (Wittenberg, 8/24)

Modern Healthcare: What Trump's Anti-Competition Executive Order Withdrawal Means
Hospitals and other healthcare organizations pursuing mergers and acquisitions may face fewer regulatory hurdles after President Donald Trump revoked antitrust guidance. Trump last week withdrew a 2021 executive order on competition issued by former President Joe Biden. The executive order had broadly reaffirmed federal agencies’ role in breaking up monopolies and boosting competition across all sectors of the economy. (Kacik, 8/22)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage, Site-Neutral Pay, 340B: The GOP's Next Goals
The passage last month of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” represents the biggest overhaul of the nation’s health system since the passage of the Affordable Care Act and probably the greatest rollback of federal healthcare spending in history. But that doesn’t mean conservative groups who led the charge are done. Indeed, there are major items that fell out of the tax-and-spending law many would very much like to continue pursuing, either through further legislation or executive actions. (McAuliff, 8/22)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: BJC Phases Out Pension Benefits, Bars New Participants
BJC Health System is phasing out its pension plan, barring new participants since the start of July. The nonprofit health system in a statement Thursday said current participants will be able to contribute and accrue benefits until 2030, when the plan will be frozen. (Suntrup, 8/22)

FiercePharma: For Now, CVS Declines To Cover Gilead's Long-Acting HIV PrEP Treatment Yeztugo 
The owner of the United States' largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) is declining to cover Gilead Sciences’ long-acting HIV prevention breakthrough, at least for now. CVS Health, the parent of PBM juggernaut CVS Caremark, won’t presently add Gilead’s twice-yearly pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug Yeztugo to its commercial plans or Affordable Care Act formularies, a company spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Pharma. (Kansteiner, 8/21)

Bloomberg: OB-GYNs Clash With RFK Jr. To Back Covid Shots During Pregnancy
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended Covid vaccines for pregnant women in its updated immunization schedule issued Friday, signaling another split between practicing doctors and the nation’s top health official. Women should get immunized when planning to become pregnant, during pregnancy or when lactating, according to the premier US organization for physicians who specialize in women’s health. (Nix, 8/22)

MedPage Today: RFK Jr. Warns Docs Of Liability If They Stray From CDC On Vaccines
The American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) recent pediatric COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, which differ from those of the CDC, have raised concerns from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who responded with an oblique warning to any physicians who might follow the AAP's advice. "AAP should ... be candid with doctors and hospitals that recommendations that diverge from the CDC's official list are not shielded from liability under the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act," Kennedy posted this week on X. (Frieden, 8/22)

Also —

The New York Times: Covid Vaccine Opponent Tapped To Lead Federal Review Team
A task force formed by an influential advisory committee to review the safety of Covid vaccines will be led by a panel member who has described the shots as “the most failing medical product in the history of medical products.” That member, Retsef Levi, is a management and health analytics expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve on the larger advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Jewett, 8/22)

More on vaccines and MAHA —

Medical Xpress: US Suspends Chikungunya Vaccine Ixchiq Over 'Serious' Side Effects: Valneva
US health authorities have suspended the license for the Ixchiq vaccine against the chikungunya virus following reports of "serious adverse events," the drug's French maker said Monday. Ixchiq is one of just two vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the mosquito-spread virus, which mainly occurs in tropical and subtropical regions but has recently been discovered in countries worldwide. (Zinin, 8/25)

The Washington Post: How Your Vaccine Access Has Already Changed Under RFK Jr.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised before his confirmation that he would not take away Americans’ vaccines. But in the four months since he took office, Kennedy, who has a lengthy history of disparaging vaccines, has undermined that access while agreeing to recommend some vaccines, such as the seasonal flu shot. (Sun, Weber and Roubein, 8/22)

Stat: RFK Jr.’s MAHA Turns 1 — Momentum Or Veering Out Of Control? 
Nobody knew what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was going to say. Inside Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., a crowd howled as he walked onto a stage sizzling with pyrotechnics, the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” blaring. “I don’t think I’ve ever introduced anyone that got applause like he just got. I must tell you, it’s true,” said then-candidate Donald Trump. (Cueto, 8/25)

Axios: RFK Jr., Allies Rush To Rally The MAHA Movement For 2026
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is already working to rally his MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement as a critical constituency for keeping GOP control of Congress in next year's midterms. The RFK Jr. coalition draws several slices of voters who otherwise might shun MAGA, including some traditionally Democratic- and independent-leaning suburbanites, women and younger voters. (Isenstadt, 8/24)

AP: HHS Moves To Strip Thousands Of Federal Health Workers Of Union Rights
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to strip thousands of federal health agency employees of their collective bargaining rights, according to a union that called the effort illegal. HHS officials confirmed Friday that the department is ending its recognition of unions for a number of employees, and are reclaiming office space and equipment that had been used for union activities. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to put an end to collective bargaining with unions that represent federal employees. (Stobbe, 8/22)

The War Horse: Exodus At VA: 10,000 Employees Are Resigning In September. Here’s The List
It’s been six months since a now-infamous email presented millions of federal workers with a pivotal decision: They could reply “resign” to give up their job and receive full pay and benefits through the end of September. Or they could stay in their positions and hope they didn’t get laid off in the ensuing chaotic months of the second Trump administration. (Frankel, Rohan and Hansen-Dewar, 8/25)

The Wall Street Journal: The Words Scientists Are Changing To Scrub Diversity From Research Grants
Scientists are removing words like “diverse” and “disparities” from hundreds of federal grant renewals to avoid getting flagged in the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows. At least 600 research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health have been modified in the fiscal year starting in October to remove terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, the Journal analysis found. Nearly all of those projects were multiyear grants that had already been approved but were up for routine annual reviews. The modified grants were worth $480 million this cycle. (Randazzo, Ostroff and Shifflett, 8/23)

In news from the FTC —

KFF Health News: FTC Has Long Said Products Must Back Up Health Claims. A MAHA Lawsuit Would Upend That
Don’t get Nathan Jones started on xylitol, the active ingredient in his chewing gum, nasal spray, and other products. He’ll talk your ear off about its wondrous powers against tooth decay, as well as its potential to fight covid, heart disease, Alzheimer’s — you name it. For now, Jones, the founder of Xlear, can’t make those claims in his company’s advertising. But if the lawsuit his company brought against the Federal Trade Commission succeeds, he’ll likely be able to say anything he wants. (Allen, 8/25)

Axios: US Screwworm Human Case Found After Maryland Patient Traveled From El Salvador
A case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite was detected in a person in Maryland who returned to the U.S. after traveling to El Salvador, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday evening. (Falconer, 8/24)

On West Nile virus, measles, and covid —

San Francisco Chronicle: Detection Of West Nile Virus Brings Bay Area Health Advisory
West Nile virus has been detected in a bird found near Goodyear Road in Benicia, according to the Solano County Mosquito Abatement District, which has offered tips to prevent transmission to humans via mosquitoes. Although most people infected with West Nile virus have no symptoms, some may experience fever, headaches and body aches. In severe and rare cases, people have been hospitalized and died. Those with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are more at risk. (Dizikes, 8/23)

CIDRAP: Kansas Declares End Of Measles Outbreak As Wisconsin Total Grows
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) yesterday announced the end of a large measles outbreak in the southwestern part of the state, after two incubation periods passed with no new cases. The outbreak began in January and initially had links to the West Texas outbreak. The state confirmed 87 illnesses linked to the outbreak, 80% of them in children and 90% in people who were not vaccinated. Eight patients were hospitalized. (Schnirring, 8/22)

KFF Health News: As Measles Exploded, Officials In Texas Looked To CDC Scientists. Under Trump, No One Answered
As measles surged in Texas early this year, the Trump administration’s actions sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists that kept them from performing the agency’s most critical function — emergency response — when it mattered most, an investigation from KFF Health News shows. The outbreak soon became the worst the United States has endured in over three decades. (Maxmen, 8/25)

AP: North Carolina Supreme Court Says Bars Can Keep Seeking Damages From COVID-19 Orders
The North Carolina Supreme Court issued favorable rulings Friday for bars and their operators in litigation seeking monetary compensation from the state for COVID-19 restrictions first issued by then-Gov. Roy Cooper that shuttered their doors and, in their view, treated them unfairly compared to restaurants. The majority decisions by the justices mean a pair of lawsuits — one filed by several North Carolina bars and their operators and the second by the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association and other private bars — remain alive, and future court orders directing the state pay them financial damages are possible. (Robertson, 8/22)

CIDRAP: US COVID Markers Continue Upward Trend
COVID-19 markers continue to rise in the United States, with activity increasing in most parts of the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest data updates. Over the past week, test positivity rose a bit from 8.9% to 9.9%, with levels as high as 15% in the south-central part of the country, followed by levels at the 10% to 12% range in western states. The CDC said its modeling estimates suggest COVID infections are likely growing or growing in all states. (Schnirring, 8/22)

On pollution, pesticides, and heat —

The Hill: Air Pollution From U.S. Oil And Gas Causes Health Crisis: Study
Air pollutants from U.S. oil and gas operations are causing 91,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of health issues each year — with racial and ethnic minority populations bearing the biggest burden, a new study has found. The outdoor contaminants, which include fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone, take the biggest toll on Black, Asian, Native American and Hispanic groups, according to the study, published Friday in Science Advances. (Udasin, 8/22)

Missouri Independent: The Unseen Harvest: Pesticides, Cancer And Rural Missouri’s Health Crisis
Nestled in Missouri’s Bootheel is the small town of Kennett, the Dunklin County seat. With just over 10,000 residents, it’s a close-knit community where good-natured teasing is a common show of affection. Once a sprawling swampland, it has since been transformed into an expanse of flat, fertile fields where agriculture stands as the backbone of the region’s economy. (Cox, Halsey, Pehr and Sleevar, 8/23)

AP: Record Heat Makes Cooling Solutions Essential For Millions, Especially The Marginalized
Keith Lambert and his family cope with the extreme heat of summertime Chicago by going in and out of their house as quickly as possible and making sure their insulated shades are always drawn. “It’s really just minimizing the exposure,” Lambert said. “It’s about doing your best to manage your cooling touch points.” Lambert is like tens of millions of Americans navigating major heat waves, with temperatures consistently exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). (Figueroa, 8/22)

Los Angeles Times: ER Doctors Say We Need To Pay More Attention To Heat
Across Southern California, emergency room workers are primed for the wave of patients that pour in as heat waves like the current one drag into their second, third and fourth days. Heat takes an accumulating toll on the body, especially when people cannot cool down at night with air conditioning. Dr. Jennifer Roh, medical director of the adult emergency medicine department at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, said preparation means hydration supplies, ice packs and other cooling devices at the ready. (Magaña, 8/23)

Fierce Biotech: Krystal Discontinues Melanoma Study After FDA's Replimune Rebuff
The FDA’s rebuff of Replimune’s melanoma candidate has sent waves through the industry, prompting Krystal Biotech to shutter a clinical trial. Krystal Biotech has discontinued a phase 1/2 trial assessing intratumoral injections of KB707, a modified herpes simplex virus type 1-based gene therapy, for patients with advanced skin cancer. (Masson, 8/21)

The New York Times: Where U.S. Medicines Are Made And How Trump’s Tariffs Could Affect Them
President Trump’s repeated threats to impose punishing tariffs on imported medicines have sparked interest in where Americans’ drugs are produced. The picture is complex. Most of the time, drugs are not made in a single country from start to finish. More often, a factory imports raw materials that it uses to make a drug’s active ingredients, which then get shipped to a plant in another country that formulates the drug into a tablet or liquid. (Robbins and Corum, 8/23)

Stat: Amid Cries For Retraction, A Medical Journal Reviews A Discredited, 24-Year-Old Paper On An Antidepressant
Amid demand for retraction, a leading medical journal is reviewing a study published in 2001 that touted the benefits of a depression pill for adolescents, but was subsequently discredited and became the focal point of a searing controversy over inappropriate marketing of the medicine. (Silverman, 8/25)

The Hill: New Side Effect Emerges From Weight Loss Drugs Use: 'Ozempic Teeth'
Patients using Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are reporting a complication not listed among the drug’s most common side effects. We’re not talking about “Ozempic babies,” but that’s also a thing. Dentists warn they’re seeing cases of something nicknamed “Ozempic teeth.” Medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can lead to dry mouth because the active ingredient, semaglutide, affects the salivary glands, explains Adam Taylor, an anatomy professor at Lancaster University, in an article for The Conversation. The medications can also cause people to drink less water because they feel less thirsty. (Martichoux, 8/23)

AP: Alaska Medical Professionals Could Face Disciplinary Action Over Gender-Affirming Care
Alaska medical professionals who provide gender-affirming care for children could risk disciplinary action under proposed changes to state regulations approved by the state medical board on Friday. The board unanimously approved draft language that would add those providing medical or surgical intervention to “treat gender dysphoria or facilitate gender transition” to a state regulation outlining unprofessional conduct. (Thiessen, 8/22)

More health news from across the U.S. —

AP: FDA Faces Lawsuit In US Court In Hawaii Over Mifepristone Restrictions For Abortions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to overly restrict access to mifepristone, a medication for abortions and miscarriage management, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union argued Friday in a lawsuit by a Hawaii doctor and healthcare associations challenging the legality of the restrictions. They are asking a judge to find that the FDA violated the law by restricting a safe medication without scientific justification, but stop short of flat-out seeking an immediate elimination of the restrictions, which currently include special certification for prescribers and pharmacies and requiring patients to review a counseling form. (Sinco Kelleher, 8/23)

AP: Judge Rejects Plea Deal For Colorado Funeral Home Owner Who Abused 191 Corpses
A judge on Friday rejected a plea agreement for a Colorado funeral home owner who acknowledged abusing 191 corpses, after family members described the pain and shame they’ve carried since learning their loved ones’ bodies were left to rot. The rare decision to reject the plea agreement that called for a 20-year prison sentence followed anguished testimony from family members seeking a more severe punishment. (Slevin, Brown and Bedayn, 8/23)

CNN: Mississippi Declares Public Health Emergency Over Rising Infant Mortality Rate 
The Mississippi health department declared a public health emergency Thursday over rising infant mortality rates in the state. There were 9.7 deaths for every 1,000 births in Mississippi in 2024, the highest rate in more than a decade, according to a news release from the state health department. More than 3,500 babies in Mississippi have died before the age of 1 since 2014. (McPhillips, 8/22)

AP: California May Be First State To Make Restaurants Put Food Allergens On Menus
Braxton Kimura dreads eating at restaurants. The California teenager is severely allergic to peanuts, shellfish and most tree nuts. Consuming even a tiny amount could send him to the emergency room. ... Restaurant dining in California could soon become a little less stressful for Braxton and the growing number of Americans with severe food allergies. State lawmakers are set to vote on legislation that would make California the first U.S. state to require restaurants to disclose whether a menu item contains any of the nine most common food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, sesame and soybeans. (Chea, 8/23)

Minnesota Public Radio: University Of Minnesota Medical School’s Duluth Campus Shifts To 4-Year Program 
For the first time since the school’s founding more than a half-century ago, incoming students at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Duluth Campus this fall will be able to complete all four years of their training in Duluth. (Kraker, 8/24)

The Colorado Sun: New Mental Health Project Builds Resiliency Via Colorado National Monument
On a warm June morning, National Park Service Ranger Amber Martin led nearly two dozen children hiking in Colorado National Monument. After examining a pinyon pine tree, Martin referred the kids to a bird identification pamphlet, noting the symbiotic relationship between the tree and the pinyon jay. She explained how the bird harvests the tree’s pine nuts, then buries them throughout the park, where they sprout and grow into trees. But this hike wasn’t just for teaching kids local flora and fauna. Martin, a 40-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran who served tours in Afghanistan and Kuwait, is leading a unique park service program designed to help people improve their mental health by increasing access to the outdoors. (Sullivan, 8/25)

The New York Times: America First? Not When It Comes To Your Health.
These researchers and so many others worked to ensure that Americans had access to the best medical treatments available and that they had first access to those treatments. That is, they worked until Trump administration gutted funding to the National Institutes of Health and froze grants to universities across the country. You can put a dollar amount on how much has been saved, but the cost of what has been lost is incalculable. (Francesca Trianni and Adam Westbrook, 8/24)

The New York Times: Teens Are Using Chatbots As Therapists. That’s Alarming. 
Marketed as conversational agents, chatbots are becoming de facto digital therapists for many teens, for whom this technology now feels native. This raises the stakes for ensuring these tools are safe and governed by enforceable standards. Nearly half of young Americans ages 18 to 25 with mental health needs received no treatment last year — a gap that makes the appeal of 24/7, judgment-free companionship even stronger. (Ryan K. McBain, 8/25)

Stat: What Will Define The Next Generation Of Drug Development? 
Modern medicine has been historically characterized by a well-defined paradigm for drug discovery, centered around the goal of validating a target and developing molecules that interact with the target to alter the course of disease. This approach has fueled the development of therapies across many classes of molecules, from natural products and small molecules to peptides, antibodies, and oligonucleotides. (Sasha Ebrahimi and Milan Mrksich, 8/25)

The New York Times: We Cannot Let America Abandon Female Veterans 
The V.A. is one of the largest health care providers in America, and women are the fastest-growing population of veterans. Still, abortion was excluded from the V.A.’s health services until just three years ago. Now the Trump administration is attempting to reverse course on that long-overdue expansion of women’s care — at a time when abortion is less available than it had been in decades nationally because of the fall of Roe v. Wade. (Chelsea Donaldson, 8/25)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Lead Is The Silent Epidemic Poisoning St. Louis' Children
In the Black shadow of St. Louis’ iconic Gateway Arch, a silent epidemic is poisoning the children. Recent data shows that 6.3% of tested children in the city displayed elevated blood lead levels in 2022, approximately double Missouri’s statewide rate. Hotspots like 63106 zip code reports increased rates as high as 12.4%, with predominantly Black children bearing the brunt of this preventable crisis. Many St. Louis children remain at risk of irreversible harm from lead exposure in their homes, soil and water. (Summer Lander, 8/24)

Stat: Online Testosterone Improved My Life — And Could Have Killed Me 
Last year, I joined the millions of American men now on testosterone therapy — a treatment whose use has quietly tripled over the past two decades, often at doses far above Endocrine Society guidelines. Within weeks, I felt younger, stronger, and sharper. But within months, I was at serious risk of right-heart failure. (Jeffrey T. Junig, 8/25)