Happy Monday! This week in Washington, lawmakers are pushing deep entitlement reforms, federal agencies are restructuring key healthcare programs, and courts are reshaping the landscape of public access and medical rights. As debate intensifies over the future of Medicaid, vaccine policy, and health data protections, stakeholders across the country are bracing for what comes next.

In this week’s Nimitz Health:

• Federal News: Major Medicaid cuts advance in Congress, the ACA enrollment window narrows, and ICE presence at hospitals stirs backlash among providers.

• State News: The Supreme Court upholds Tennessee’s gender-affirming care ban, states scale back immigrant health coverage, and NIH launches a long-term study in East Palestine.

• Industry News: Novo Nordisk announces a weight-loss drug that outperforms competitors, insurers move to streamline prior authorization, and studies raise concerns over tech addiction and cognitive decline.

WHO’S HAVING EVENTS THIS WEEK?

Tuesday, June 24th

• *House Energy & Commerce: “The FY26 Department of Health and Human Services Budget” at 10am. Watch here.

Wednesday, June 25th

• *House Ways & Means: “Health at Your Fingertips: Harnessing the Power of Digital Health Data” at 9am. Watch here.

• *Senate Appropriations: “Hearings to Examine the Nomination of Susan Monarez to be Director of the CDC” at 10am. Watch here.

• Senate Aging: “Hearings to Examine how Sports Medicine Can Improve Health Outcomes for Seniors” at 3:30pm. 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

Congressional Republicans are pushing major Medicaid cuts through reconciliation, drawing backlash from hospitals and providers. A Senate plan would reduce state-directed payments by 10% annually and limit provider taxes, with South Carolina hospitals warning this could leave no option but Medicaid expansion — long resisted in GOP-led states. Senate leaders hope to pass the legislation by July 4, but internal GOP opposition is growing.

The Trump administration’s vaccine overhaul is rattling both investors and public health leaders. Health Secretary RFK Jr. has removed the federal immunization advisory panel, replacing it with vaccine skeptics. The shakeup raises concerns about future vaccine guidance and could disrupt coverage decisions for HPV, MMR, and childhood immunizations. Separately, CMS finalized new ACA rules restricting DACA and transgender individuals from receiving marketplace assistance, and shortened enrollment windows, moves expected to cut coverage for up to 1.8 million people.

Hospitals and providers are alarmed by the administration’s decision to revoke protections that discouraged ICE enforcement at hospitals. Clinicians report increased ICE presence near ERs, leading many undocumented patients to forgo care. Providers warn this creates an unsafe public health environment and puts frontline staff in ethical jeopardy.

A federal judge struck down NIH guidance that prioritized diversity in grant funding, ruling it violated administrative procedure law. The decision could curtail future efforts to address racial health disparities in research. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers adopted new accounting methods to lower the estimated cost of Trump-era tax extensions from $3.8 trillion to $441 billion, drawing criticism for masking the fiscal impact of cuts to Medicaid and ACA programs.

State News

Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors has been upheld by the Supreme Court in a 6–3 decision, cementing legal ground for similar laws in over a dozen states. National medical groups condemned the ruling as a threat to trans youth health, and Democrats have begun organizing state-level responses. The Court’s move reinforces a broader state-level push against gender care access.

The administration has also moved to defund a national LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline. Advocacy groups warn that the decision removes a key support service amid broader state-level rollbacks on queer health protections.

Multiple blue states, including California and Illinois, are reducing or eliminating health coverage for undocumented immigrants. Dr. Mehmet Oz, now overseeing Medicare and Medicaid, praised the rollbacks as fiscally responsible. Advocates argue the cuts will increase ER usage and deepen existing disparities.

Finally, in East Palestine, Ohio, the NIH launched a long-term study of health outcomes tied to the February train derailment. The effort follows months of resident complaints about chronic symptoms, with the agency aiming to track chemical exposure risks over time.

Industry News

What could be the long-term health effects of technology? A new study finds that children exhibiting addictive digital behavior — compulsive phone use, gaming, and social media — are significantly more likely to experience mental health challenges, including suicidal ideation. Additionally, a separate MIT study suggests that reliance on ChatGPT for writing tasks is associated with long-term declines in critical thinking. Participants performed worse than peers using traditional tools, raising new concerns about AI’s role in professional education and cognition development.

Novo Nordisk’s new injectable amycretin showed up to 24% weight loss in early trials, outperforming both Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. A tablet version is also in development. Novo is betting the drug will restore investor confidence after pipeline setbacks and mounting pressure from Lilly’s growing lead in obesity therapeutics.

Medicare Advantage contractor Episource reported a data breach affecting 5.4 million individuals, raising questions about cybersecurity practices in healthcare analytics firms. Patient data involved sensitive claims information, prompting federal scrutiny.

Lastly, researchers have linked moderate alcohol consumption with a significantly higher risk of pancreatic cancer. The findings, based on large cohort data, are prompting calls for updated alcohol guidelines across the medical community.

FOR FUN

This is not necessarily fun - but make sure you stay hydrated this week! There is a massive heat dome over Washington, DC. Highs are reaching the upper‑90s°F, but humidity pushes heat index values into the 105–110 °F range. Temperatures are expected to drop into the 80s and low 90s by this weekend.

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