Becker's Hospital Review: 'Cuts Of This Magnitude Cannot Be Absorbed': Hospitals Slam Republicans' Medicaid Proposal
Rick Pollack, President and CEO of the American Hospital Association, described the cuts as “a devastating blow to the health and well-being of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens and communities.” Bruce Siegel, MD, president and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals, warned that essential hospitals — which often operate on thin margins and serve low-income populations — would be hit hard by the proposed cuts. “Slashing Medicaid funding is not just a numbers game — it is an action that will rip health care access from communities across America. ... These hospitals, which already operate on thin margins, cannot absorb such losses without reducing services or closing their doors altogether.”(Condon, 5/12)

The Hill: Congressional Budget Office Says House GOP Plan Exceeds $880 Billion Savings Target
The Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, surpassed its target of finding $880 billion in savings to help pay for legislation to extend President Trump’s tax cuts and other priorities, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In a brief letter to Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the CBO said the committee’s reconciliation recommendations would reduce deficits by more than $880 billion by 2034 and “would not increase on-budget deficits in any year after 2034.” (Weixel, 5/12)

More on the Medicaid cuts —

The New York Times: In Trump Tax Package, Republicans Target SNAP Food Program
House Republicans on Monday proposed a series of sharp restrictions on the federal anti-hunger program known as food stamps, seeking to limit its funding and benefits as part of a sprawling package to advance President Trump’s tax cuts. The proposal, included in a draft measure to be considered by the House Agriculture Committee this week, would require states to supply some of the funding for food stamps while forcing more of its beneficiaries to obtain employment in exchange for federal aid. (Romm, 5/12)

Bloomberg: Drug Middlemen Reforms Revived By Republicans In Budget Bill
House Republicans revived a set of policies that would change how prescription drug middlemen do business, as President Donald Trump again denounced the industry, sending shares of some of the companies down Monday. The budget proposal from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce includes a set of reforms that Congress considered last year but ultimately didn’t pass. It would remove one method that the companies, which negotiate with drugmakers and pharmacies on behalf of employers, health insurers and government programs, use to boost profits. (Tozzi, 5/12)

Fierce Healthcare: Report: Tax, Medicaid Cuts Largely Benefit High-Income Families
House Republicans have unveiled their plans to cut federal spending and extend tax cuts, but experts warn that funding the cuts by slashing Medicaid and other entitlements will largely benefit families with higher incomes. The House Energy & Commerce Committee released its budget reconciliation proposal late Sunday, after being tasked with identifying at least $880 billion in spending cuts. A preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $912 billion, with $715 billion of that coming from cuts in healthcare. (Minemyer, 5/12)

The Washington Post: Medicaid Cuts May Threaten Care For Nursing Home And Elder-Care Residents
Traversing the halls of his nursing home in a wheelchair, Owen Allen listened to a visiting guitarist play “Sweet Caroline,” then chipped away at a thousand-piece puzzle in the sunroom. Since muscular dystrophy struck and his legs started giving out, the 64-year-old Atlanta native relies on Medicaid to keep him in the 130-bed home where staff help him pull weights to regain his strength. As a House Republican committee examines steep cuts to Medicaid at a pivotal hearing Tuesday, nursing home residents like Allen are among the less well-known recipients who could be affected. (Nirappil, 5/12)

NPR: Medicaid Cuts Could Mean More Drug Overdose Deaths
A coalition of addiction experts said more than 300 physicians, harm reduction workers and researchers signed a letter delivered to Congress late on Monday warning of "dire consequences" if the U.S. cuts funding for programs that help communities battle the drug overdose epidemic. "[W]e are seeing drastic cuts to key agencies," the letter said, pointing to proposals in the White House budget for 2026 that would slash billions of dollars from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and other programs. (Mann, 5/13)

Also —

Politico: Centrists Beat Out Hard-Liners In The New GOP Medicaid Plan. The Fight’s Not Over
House Republican leaders appear to have won support from key moderates by backing off the most controversial proposals to overhaul Medicaid — but it has created new risks for the GOP’s domestic policy megabill. Fierce pressure is now building from hospitals and clinics to the Medicaid cuts that have survived while conservative hard-liners are threatening to withhold their votes if they don’t get deeper trims to the safety-net program. (Leonard and King, 5/12)

The New York Times: Republicans Want Budget Cuts, But Not The Political Consequences 
House Republicans face a fundamental problem as they reach a critical phase in crafting their “one big, beautiful bill” to enact President Trump’s agenda. They want to slice deeply into federal programs without acknowledging that they are doing any meaningful damage to their constituents or states. This vexing situation arises from the natural tension between the conservative determination to roll back federal spending and the tendency of politicians to want to keep their jobs. Doing the former can work against the latter. (Hulse, 5/12)

Modern Healthcare: Exchange Enrollment Hits New High For 2025
A record 24.3 million people signed up for health insurance on federal and state-based marketplaces during the exchange open enrollment period for 2025. Fueled by enhanced subsidies enacted in 2021 and extended in 2022, the number blew past the record set a year ago by nearly 2.9 million — a 13% increase, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported Monday. The more sizable tax credits will expire at the end of this year, barring a congressional renewal. (Tepper, 5/12)

Newsweek: Millions Face Losing Health Insurance Under Republican Proposal 
Republican-led proposal to scale back Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies could result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO estimates were requested by top Democrats in the House Energy and Commerce, House Ways and Means, and Senate Finance Committees, Senator Ron Wyden and Representatives Neal Dunn and Frank Pallone. (Laws, 5/12)

In related news about health care coverage —

KFF Health News: After Promising Universal Health Care, California Governor Must Reconsider Immigrant Coverage
Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t expect to be reckoning with another health care crisis. In March, as President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans escalated a nationwide debate over whether to slash health care for poor and disabled Americans, the Democratic governor had to tell state lawmakers that California’s health care costs had spiraled out of control due to major Medicaid initiatives he backed — including the nation’s largest expansion of taxpayer-financed health care for immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission. (Hart and Mai-Duc, 5/13)

AP: Trump Executive Order Gives Drugmakers 30-Day Deadline To Lower Drug Costs
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay. The order calls on the health department, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to broker new price tags for drugs over the next month. If deals are not reached, Kennedy will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties the price the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries. (Seitz and Min Kim, 5/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Executive Order Spares Pharmaceutical Companies Worst-Case Drug Pricing Scenario For Now
The pharmaceutical industry’s reaction to President Trump’s executive order on drug prices? It could have been worse. Shares of drugmakers surged Monday after Trump signed an executive order designed to lower what Americans pay for prescription drugs that offered pharmaceutical companies room for negotiation. (Hopkins and Loftus, 5/12)

Stat: Why Did Investors Rejoice At Trump Attack On Drug Firms? Think Like A Pharma CEO
In rolling out his plan to lower prescription drug prices, President Trump could have walked softly and carried a big stick. As pharmaceutical investors see it, he instead stomped loudly and wielded a wet noodle. (Herper, 5/13)

Axios: Trump's Drug Price Plan: Why It May Not Amount To Much Change
The White House's executive order to lower drug prices is largely an exercise in applying leverage, rather than actual policymaking — and it may not amount to much, experts said. (Reed and Goldman, 5/12)

Stat: Burning Questions Remain On Trump Drug Price Executive Order 
President Trump’s executive order to lower drug prices through sweeping, cross-agency action left leaders in the pharmaceutical industry scrambling Monday to make sense of what may be ahead — and how to respond. (Payne and Silverman, 5/12)

AP: US Health Officials Advise Older Travelers Not To Get A Chikungunya Vaccine
The U.S. government advised American travelers age 60 and older not get a chikungunya vaccine as it investigates possible side effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration posted notices late last week on the vaccine, Valneva’s Ixchiq. Chikungunya, spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes, is a debilitating tropical illness marked by fever and joint pain. About 100 to 200 cases are reported annually among U.S. travelers. (Stobbe, 5/12)

More news from the Trump administration —

NBC News: RFK Jr. Goes Swimming With Grandchildren In Contaminated DC Creek
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted photos of himself and his grandchildren swimming in waters known to be contaminated during a Mother’s Day hike in Rock Creek Park. In one of the photos from Sunday, Kennedy is seen fully submerged in the water, with his grandchildren swimming, in spite of an ongoing National Park Service advisory against coming in contact with the water in the Washington, D.C., park “due to high bacteria levels.” The same notice says swimming and wading are not permitted due to the health risks. (Richards, 5/13)

Military.Com: Trump Orders VA To Build Homeless Veterans Center On West LA Campus
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that aims to create a center for homeless veterans in Los Angeles and to improve medical care across the Department of Veterans Affairs. The order calls for constructing a National Center for Warrior Independence on the campus of the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center that would provide housing and services to 3,000 homeless veterans currently in Los Angeles, with a goal to eventually home 6,000 veterans. (Kime, 5/12)

The Washington Post: 60,000 People Set To Prematurely Lose Federal Housing Assistance 
Nearly 60,000 people in the United States will lose their federal housing assistance years before they anticipated, placing them at imminent risk of eviction and potential homelessness. A sweeping effort launched in 2021 allocated $5 billion to rapidly house the most vulnerable people at the height of the coronavirus pandemic: those living on the streets, facing domestic violence or experiencing human trafficking. The emergency housing vouchers initiative — a beefed-up version of the longtime Section 8 program — was slated to last through 2030, granting recipients housing security through the decade with the expectation that they would have the time and resources to wean off the assistance. (Kaur, 5/13)

The Washington Post: Trump DEI Policies Threaten Millions In Scholarships Raised By Black Doctors
It took Kenneth Davis and his wife more than 20 years to raise the $1.4 million endowment they established for Black medical students entering the University of Cincinnati. Davis had spent 36 years as the only Black general surgeon in Cincinnati before retiring in 2020. Now, according to the Cincinnati Medical Association, which represents Black doctors in the city, there are none. The scholarship, Davis hoped, would help grow the minuscule ranks of Black doctors in the region. The endowment is now one of many across the country caught in the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Washington and pressuring corporations and universities to pull back from such efforts nationwide. (Felton, 5/13)

The New York Times: Not Just More Babies: These Republicans Want More Parents At Home
White House aides have discussed a variety of ideas in recent weeks intended to allow, and in some cases encourage, parents to spend more time at home with their children, according to three people who have been part of the conversations. Ideas under discussion include giving more money to families for each child they have, eliminating federal tax credits for day care and opening up federal lands for the construction of affordable single-family homes. If families can spend less on housing, advocates reason, then more families will be able to survive on only one income. The approach is reflected in legislation recently filed by Republicans in Congress. Senator Jim Banks of Indiana introduced a bill that would effectively pay stay-at-home parents for their labor. Other Republicans want to expand the child tax credit, an annual credit of $2,000 per child, in part by dismantling additional tax breaks reserved for working parents to use on day care. (Kitchener, 5/12)

In updates on former President Joe Biden —

The New York Times: Biden Is Being Evaluated For A ‘Small Nodule’ In His Prostate
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. spent last Friday at a hospital in Philadelphia after a “small nodule” was discovered on his prostate that required “further evaluation,” according to a spokesman. It is common for a man of Mr. Biden’s age — he is 82 — to experience prostate issues, and his spokesman declined to elaborate on any additional details about his care. (McCreesh and Pager, 5/12)

Stat: Federal Court Reopens Question Of Who Owns Key CRISPR Patents 
The now 13-year-long legal saga over who invented CRISPR took yet another unexpected turn on Monday, in a ruling that could not only change U.S. ownership of patent rights to the groundbreaking gene-editing technology but more broadly redefine how the law determines when an invention has been made. (Molteni, 5/12)

CBS News: New Device Helps Patients Cope With Tinnitus, Pennsylvania Audiologist Says
A growing number of patients are turning to a new treatment for a condition that causes ringing in the ears. The device tricks the brain with a tickle to the tongue. Silence really is golden for Clara Flores. Her days used to be filled with the constant buzzing and ringing that comes with tinnitus, which affects 25 million Americans. "This ringing that you hate and can't stand ... you cannot turn it off," Flores said. "You get depressed, you get angry. Your relationships suffer." (Stahl and Nau, 5/12)

Modern Healthcare: Roche To Invest $550M By 2030 In Indianapolis Manufacturing Site
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Roche will invest up to $550 million over the next five years to expand its diagnostics manufacturing site in Indianapolis. The site is slated to become a major manufacturer of the company’s continuous glucose monitoring tools, the company said in a Monday news release. (Dubinsky, 5/12)

In other news from the health care industry —

Chicago Tribune: Carle Health Laying Off 612 Workers
Urbana-based Carle Health is laying off 612 workers as it winds down two of its subsidiary health insurance companies. Carle Health — a system that includes eight hospitals in central Illinois — announced earlier this year that its insurance company subsidiaries Health Alliance and FirstCarolinaCare would cease operating all lines of business, except Medicare Advantage plans. (Schencker, 5/12)

CBS News: Maryland Rite Aid Distribution Center To Lay Off More Than 300 Workers After Pharmacy Files For Bankruptcy A Second Time
A Rite Aid distribution center in Harford County, Maryland, is expected to lay off more than 300 workers and close its doors after the Pennsylvania-based pharmacy filed for bankruptcy for a second time. The company announced that it filed for Chapter 11 on May 5. (Lockman, 5/12)

CBS News: Nonprofit Hospitals Are Obligated To Offer Discounted Health Care, But Some Patients Slip Through Cracks
A CBS News analysis of IRS data found some nonprofit hospitals in Philadelphia and across the country attempt to collect hundreds of millions of dollars a year from low-income patients. All the big hospitals in the Philadelphia area are nonprofit, and that means they receive federal, state and local tax breaks. In exchange, nonprofit hospitals are required to provide free or discounted care to those who can't afford to pay. However, our investigation found the law is vague, and some patients may be falling through the cracks. (Crawford, 5/12)

CBS News: Inside The First U.S. Medical School To Fully Incorporate AI Into Its Doctor Training Program
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a part of our daily lives, whether in the office or the classroom, and one medical school is fully embracing the technology. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City has become the first in the nation to incorporate AI into its doctor training program, granting access to OpenAI's ChatGPT Edu to all of its M.D. and graduate students. Faris Gulamali is among the school's future doctors taking full advantage of the AI tool. (Hanson, 5/12)

CIDRAP: Data Suggest COVID-19 Reinfections Less Likely To Cause Long COVID
A new preprint study on the preprint server medRxiv involving healthcare workers in Quebec shows that the risk of long COVID following any initial COVID-19 infection was similar among participants, cumulative risk increased with the number of infections, but reinfections were associated with a much lower risk of long COVID than a person's first infection. (Soucheray, 5/12)

CIDRAP: Korean Study Links Early Antibiotic Use To Higher Risk Of Early Puberty In Girls
A study of South Korean children suggests antibiotic use in girls in the first year of life may be linked to earlier onset of puberty, researchers reported last week at a joint meeting of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and the European Society of Endocrinology. (Dall, 5/12)

KFF Health News: Listen: Black Swimmers Make Waves Overcoming Fear And Old Perceptions
Generations of Black Americans have faced barriers to swimming. A history of systemic exclusion from pools is one factor that has led to higher drowning rates among Black children and adults than their white peers. More than a third of Black adults report they do not know how to swim, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Water safety advocates across the country are providing swim lessons to encourage Black people of all ages to overcome fears and build confidence. (Anthony, 5/13)

In obituaries —

The New York Times: Robert Shapiro, Who Made NutraSweet A Household Name, Dies At 86 
Robert B. Shapiro, a brash former law professor turned corporate executive who performed a marketing miracle by branding aspartame as the sugar substitute NutraSweet and making it a household name that consumers demanded in thousands of products, died on May 2 at his home in Chicago. He was 86. The cause was pancreatic cancer, his son James Shapiro said. Aspartame was invented by chemists at the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle in Illinois in 1965 and approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in soft drinks in 1983, a year after Mr. Shapiro became chief executive and chairman of what the company was already calling its NutraSweet subsidiary. (Roberts, 5/12)

The Colorado Sun: Weld County Oil Well Exposed People To High Levels Of Benzene, Researchers Say
The oil well blowout last month in rural Galeton, which sparked the evacuation of nearby homes, spewed dangerous levels of toxic chemicals as far as 2 miles away, according to preliminary tests by a Colorado State University team. (Jaffe, 5/12)

Minnesota Public Radio: Measles Cases Rise To 11 In North Dakota
The North Dakota Health and Human Services Department reported two new cases of measles in eastern Cass County over the weekend, increasing the state’s total number of infections to 11. Both individuals who contracted measles were unvaccinated and caught the virus while travelling internationally. One of the individuals is currently hospitalized. (Zurek, 5/12)

The Texas Tribune: Chronic Pain Could Qualify Texans For Medical Marijuana Under Bill
The Texas House advanced a bill Monday that would expand the conditions eligible for the state’s medical marijuana program, including chronic pain and Crohn’s disease, and allow for prescribed smokable products to be sold by prescription. (Simpson, 5/12)

The CT Mirror: Culture War Comes To CT In Debate On Trans Rights In Nursing Homes
In rising last week to make his first speech to the Connecticut House of Representatives, Rep. MJ Shannon, D-Milford, stepped onto one of America’s culture-war battlefields: a debate over transgender rights that President Donald J. Trump is intent on erasing. (Pazniokas, 5/13)

Los Angeles Times: Gov. Newsom Again Urges Cities To Ban Homeless Camps
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday again urged California cities and counties to ban homeless encampments, increasing his pressure campaign on local governments to follow the state’s lead and remove tents from sidewalks and other public property. “It is time to take back the streets,” Newsom said during a virtual press conference. “It’s time to take back the sidewalks. It’s time to take these encampments and provide alternatives and the state is giving you more resources than ever, and it’s time, I think, to just end the excuses.” (Luna and Goldberg, 5/12)

St. Louis Public Radio: ICE Detainee Didn't Get Mental Health Care Before Suicide In Missouri 
A St. Louis man who died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement never received a mental health evaluation, ICE said. Previous reporting by St. Louis Public Radio uncovered that Brayan Garzón-Rayo died by suicide. (Munoz and Davis, 5/12)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Sued Over Excessive Heat At Prison In Jefferson City
A St. Louis-based nonprofit legal advocacy firm has sued the State of Missouri, saying that the excessive heat at a prison in Jefferson City during the summer months violates the constitutional rights of the people who are held there. The MacArthur Justice Center filed a class-action case on Monday on behalf of six inmates at Algoa Correctional Center. All of them are especially sensitive to heat due to their age or underlying medical conditions, or have spent time in solitary confinement. (Lippmann, 5/12)

Also —

Chicago Tribune: Alzheimer's Foundation Offers Free Conference In Chicago
Anyone who wants to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease, research or caregiver resources is invited to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s free Alzheimer’s & Caregiving Educational Conference, set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 14 at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 E. Monroe St. in Chicago. (Moore, 5/12)

Bloomberg: Fairer Global Drug Prices Could Help Lower Costs For Americans
The price of Wegovy, Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drug, is $1,349 a month in the US; in Germany, it’s $328. The US price for Keytruda, a cancer treatment, is $191,000 a year; in Japan, it’s $44,000. The US pays three times more for branded prescription drugs, on average, than other rich countries. It certainly looks as though Americans are getting a bad deal. (5/13)

The Washington Post: For Medicaid, Democrats Should Follow Oregon’s Model
The party needs to come up with a better solution, which would both improve the program and save money. We did it in Oregon. Since 2012, my state has provided Medicaid through community-based coordinated care organizations (CCOs). Faced with rising costs, inefficiencies in care delivery and inequities in outcomes, we looked for ways to focus on health rather than disease, and to reward techniques that worked. (Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, 5/12)

Bloomberg: FDA Appointee Vinay Prasad Is A Drug Critic With A Lot To Prove 
The controversial appointment of oncologist Vinay Prasad — an outspoken critic of the pharmaceutical industry and US health agencies — to a key role within the Food and Drug Administration was a shock for drug companies. Biotech stocks immediately fell over fears that the bar for drug approvals suddenly got a lot higher. (Lisa Jarvis, 5/13)

Chicago Tribune: Let's Learn From 'The Last Of Us'
If you watch HBO’s “The Last of Us,” you see how a pandemic didn’t destroy the world — failure to communicate did. Trust collapsed. Institutions froze. And the people paid the price. That’s fiction. But it’s also a warning. In 2025, it’s not a zombie-creating fungus we face — it’s a slow-motion unraveling of America’s public health and civic response systems. Bird flu is spreading through cattle. Measles cases are surging. Misinformation is everywhere. (Justin Angel Knighten, 5/12)

Stat: Former CDC Director On What New Docs, Scientists Need To Know 
One of my first tasks even before my tenure began as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was to pen an op-ed for the New York Times. It said, “I will lead with facts, science and integrity.” In retrospect, I would have refined that point and added, “and that science will change.” Why? Because science, by its very nature, is a self-correcting process. (Rochelle Walensky, 5/13)

Stat: Casey Means Might Be The Right Surgeon General Pick 
I don’t know Casey Means at all, but I have met and interviewed the previous two surgeon generals, Vivek Murthy and Jerome Adams, on several occasions. I found both doctors to be well suited to be the U.S. surgeon general of their times. The role of surgeon general is to oversee the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps but also to function as a main communicator of health information to the American public. (Marc Siegel, 5/13)