The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched a new initiative, “Active People, Healthy Nation,” with a goal of helping 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. The initiative uses five steps to coordinate actions to achieve its goal through supporting physical activity initiatives at the national, state, and local…
Read More »This week, Congress approved final federal appropriations packages for Fiscal Year 2020, which officially began on October 1, 2019. Totaling $1.4 trillion, all of the various appropriations bills were bundled into two separate “minibus” packages – one is for most domestic programs and priorities (plus international assistance) and the other is for national security and…
Read More »The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans on Wednesday struck down the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, ruling on a 2-1 vote that the coverage requirement was unconstitutional after Congress in 2017 eliminated the tax penalty that was intended to enforce it. Despite ruling against a core component of the…
Read More »The U.S. Senate recently confirmed Stephen Hahn, M.D. as the 24th Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hahn was confirmed by the Senate on a 72-18 vote. Hahn was previously a professor of radiation oncology and the chief medical officer of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and had not…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Trump Administration issued a final rule tightening Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) processes in which states can waive a requirement that able-bodied adults without children work at least 20 hours per week. Under current law, able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) are individuals 18 to 49 who are not elderly, women who are…
Read More »Two notable actions related to electronic cigarettes occurred this week, both on the state and federal levels. We detail these actions below: AG Becerra Alleges JUUL Labs Unlawfully Targeted Minors On Monday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the State of California has filed a lawsuit in the Alameda County Superior Court against JUUL Labs,…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the proposed federal rule, “Medicaid Financing and Accountability Regulation (MFAR)” which would broadly expand federal oversight of Medicaid supplemental payments and recast current rules and regulations governing how supplemental payments are structured, financed, and distributed. According to CMS, the proposed rule is an effort…
Read More »Following an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in June, the Trump Administration today announced two actions to compel hospitals and insurers to provide patients with more information on the cost of health services prior to their utilization. The Trump Administration finalized a rule that requires hospitals to make public their secret, negotiated rates…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) estimating the proportion of adult health problems attributable to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The CDC’s Vital Signs report also covers the topic of ACEs and details opportunities for preventing ACEs. According to the…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) and others, launched the 2019-20 flu vaccine campaign to promote the CDC’s recommendation for everyone age six months and older to get an annual flu vaccine. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar announced…
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