Read today’s Kaiser Health News
About health insurance/insurers
In a significant change, House GOP tax cut bill would start Medicaid work requirements next year: The latest draft of the House tax cut bill calls for starting Medicaid work requirements next year, up from 2029, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).
Roy is among the members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus who fought for starting the requirements sooner. He’s also a member of the House Rules Committee, which started debating the budget reconciliation bill at 1 a.m. At publication time, committee members were still working through the 537 amendments that were submitted. The Rules Committee is the last stop before a House vote, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) aims to pass the bill before the end of the week.
Ans in a related story:
‘Don’t ‘f— with Medicaid,’ Trump tells GOP lawmakers: Several Republican lawmakers had pushed for deeper cuts to Medicaid, which has become a key sticking point in negotiations as fiscal conservatives seek cuts to help offset the bill’s tax provisions, according to the report. The bill also faces pushback from centrist Republicans in high-tax states like New York and California, who are advocating for changes to the $30,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.
“I think it was a meeting of love,” President Trump said, according to the report. “And there were a couple of things we talked about specifically where some people felt a little bit one way or the other. Not a big deal.”
About the public’s health
Diseases are spreading. The CDC isn't warning the public like it was months ago: Many of the CDC's newsletters have stopped being distributed, workers at the CDC say. Health alerts about disease outbreaks, previously sent to health professionals subscribed to the CDC's Health Alert Network, haven't been dispatched since March. The agency's main social media channels have come under new ownership of the Department of Health and Human Services, emails reviewed by NPR show, and most have gone more than a month without posting their own new content.
Poll: 83% of Americans say benefits of MMR vaccines outweigh risks: A new Annenberg Poll shows that 87% of Americans say the benefit of childhood measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination outweighs the risk, and 67% say they know that MMR vaccines don't cause autism.