Read today’s Kaiser Health News
In other news:
Senate passes Trump’s tax bill, sending it to House for final passage: Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote for the measure, which extends trillions of dollars in tax cuts from Trump’s first term and implements new campaign promises — such as eliminating income taxes on tips and overtime wages — while spending hundreds of billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and defense.
To offset the cost, the legislation cuts about $1 trillion from Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income individuals and people with disabilities, and other health care programs. It would also make cuts to SNAP, the anti-hunger Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. Nearly 12 million people will lose health care coverage if the bill becomes law, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Experts Skeptical of Trump's So-Called 'Gold Standard Science': Federal health agencies are expected to adopt so-called "gold standard science" in line with an executive orderopens in a new tab or window, but many in the research community worry this framework creates yet another avenue for political appointees to control what is deemed legitimate evidence.
Characteristics of gold standard science listed in the order include being reproducible, transparent, communicative of error and uncertainty, accepting of negative results, and without conflicts of interest, among others…
Federal agencies must submit their plans to implement gold standard science by Aug. 22, according to a memo from the president's science advisor, Michael Kratsios, head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Senior appointees at each agency, designated by agency heads, are expected to evaluate and correct violations and discipline those who veer from the gold standard science framework.
About health insurance/insurers
Prior authorization in 2025: What to know A great summary worth reading in its entirety.
Feds unveil largest healthcare fraud takedown: $14.6B in alleged schemes, 324 charged ICYMI yesterday.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Best Buy divests home care company it bought for $400M: Best Buy has sold Current Health, a remote patient monitoring company it bought in 2021 for $400 million.
Current Health co-founder Christopher McGhee reacquired the company from the tech retailer, according to a June 24 LinkedIn post. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
About pharma
State PBM regulation hits a SCOTUS roadblock: The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider an appellate court’s 2023 decision overturning portions of an Oklahoma law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, raising questions about the implications for state actions to rein in the companies’ business practices.
The 10th Circuit appeals court ruled that federal laws regulating private employer-sponsored health plans and Medicare’s drug benefit preempt the 2019 state law’s provisions that aimed to bolster independent pharmacies’ bargaining power with PBMs, which help negotiate retail drug prices between drugmakers and payers. Community pharmacies have long panned the middlemen — which are responsible for 80 percent of the market — for steering customers toward pharmacy chains they own.
About the public’s health
A Canadian City Brings Fluoride Back to Its Drinking Water: Calgary removed fluoride from its water supply in 2011, but residents voted to reverse course after studies linked the move to worse dental health among children.
Comment: So why are some Red States and cities removing safe fluoride levels form the drinking water?