Happy Monday! It is going to be a busy week on Capitol Hill as lawmakers continue FY26 appropriations discussions and tee-up PBM reform yet again. Here is your weekly look-ahead.

In this week’s Nimitz Health:

• Federal News: PBM crackdown revived, $108B HHS bill, and a GOP rift over RFK Jr.

• State News: Florida targets school vaccine mandates and New Jersey–unions strike health-benefits deal.

• Industry News: WHO touts benefits of GLP-1s, Kenvue stock slides, and mpox emergency is lifted

WHO’S HAVING EVENTS THIS WEEK?

Tuesday, September 9th

• House Appropriations: “Full Committee Markup of the FY26 Labor, HHS, & Education Bill” at 11am. Watch here.

• *House Oversight: “Better Meals, Fewer Pills: Making Our Children Healthy Again” at 2pm. Watch here.

• *Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs: “Hearings to Examine how the Corruption of Science has Impacted Public Perception and Policies Regarding Vaccines” at 2pm. Watch here.

*Will be covered by Nimitz Health. Please email [email protected] if you would like a readout of any other hearings.

NEWS DRIVING THE WEEK

Federal News

House appropriators advanced a $108B HHS bill that includes $100M for Secretary Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative and boosts for rural health. However, even supporters admit its path to law is tenuous, with a full-committee markup penciled in for Sept. 9.

Both parties are reviving a fall push to rein in PBMs, with supporters aiming to attach reforms to must-pass bills even as leadership remains split. The leading ideas include delinking PBM pay from list prices and banning Medicaid “spread pricing.” They have broad appeal but stalled last winter and now must compete with spending fights and ACA politics.

House Republicans, led by Rep. Jen Kiggans, introduced a one-year extension of the enhanced ACA premium tax credits to avert premium spikes if the subsidies lapse. Top leaders have not signed on, and anti-abortion groups are mobilizing against any new “Obamacare” funding.

At the same time, talk of a second GOP “megabill” is losing steam amid razor-thin margins and warnings that further Medicaid cuts are a political dead end before the midterms. Even senior Senate Republicans doubt there’s a forcing event to bind a new package together.

The administration’s Medicare drug-price negotiation program notched another legal win. The Third Circuit rejected Bristol Myers Squibb and Janssen’s constitutional claims, though a dissent could preview arguments for a Supreme Court appeal.

Inside the GOP, support for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is fraying after his CDC shake-up and vaccine policies drew sharp rebukes from Sens. Cassidy, Barrasso and Tillis. Members of the Kennedy family publicly urged him to resign, even as Sen. Roger Marshall defended him on Sunday shows.

State News

Florida’s surgeon general acknowledged his team conducted no studies before pushing to end state vaccine mandates, framing the move as a parents’-rights issue. The rollback still needs sign-off from the state health department and GOP legislature. Notably, President Trump distanced himself, reiterating that “vaccines…work.”

New Jersey struck a truce between Gov. Phil Murphy and public-sector unions to stabilize the State Health Benefits Program, projecting $75M in savings in the first half of 2026 while capping 2026 member contributions and imposing “modest” out-of-pocket hikes. The agreement adds standardized deductibles, new copays for anti-obesity GLP-1 drugs, lab/imaging copays, limits some out-of-network PT, and launches a reverse-auction approach to cut pharmacy costs. A labor–state working group will pursue further provider-price and overpayment reforms. A state committee review is expected later this month.

Industry News

WHO added GLP-1s—including semaglutide and tirzepatide—to its Essential Medicines List for patients with diabetes and obesity plus CVD/CKD, signaling countries to prioritize access and reimbursement while flagging price barriers. The listing does not endorse GLP-1s for obesity alone.

Kenvue shares fell 9.4% after reports that HHS Secretary Kennedy may link prenatal acetaminophen use to autism in an upcoming report. HHS called any claims “speculation” pending the final document, and Kenvue defended acetaminophen’s safety record.

On trade and IP, PhRMA urged the administration to use its Brazil probe to secure regulatory data protection and speed patent reviews—moves industry argues would reward innovation, and critics warn would curb access.

A first-in-human study implanted CRISPR-edited donor islet cells that are engineered to evade immune attack, and those cells produced insulin for months without any anti-rejection drugs. While full insulin independence was not achieved, it does point to a path where people with Type 1 diabetes could one day receive durable cell-replacement therapy without the risks and costs of lifelong immunosuppression.

WHO declared mpox no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, though Africa CDC still treats it as a regional emergency and warns about waning support and expiring vaccine stock; in parallel, the U.S., Global Fund and Gilead are partnering to expand access to twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention abroad.

FOR FUN

GovCIO is hosting a Health IT Summit on September 23rd. Industry leaders will discuss the latest development in public health including EHR modernization, data, tech, and more. Get your tickets here!

Florida State Football News (sorry not sorry, I’ll be doing this all season): This past Saturday, FSU beat East Texas A&M 77-3 and rose to #10 in the AP rankings. Go Noles.

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