Healthcare & Policy News
Reporting on health care policy, insurance coverage, and federal health programs. Includes news updates and conservative commentary from The Daily Signal.
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opinion
Republican State Legislators Defying Trump’s Efforts to Lower Health Care Costs
President Donald Trump was swept into office last November with a promise to lower prices for Americans who had suffered under 40-year-high inflation under President Joe Biden. Why, then, are red states defying the president’s efforts to lower prices by passing laws that only feed growing health care costs? Trump is delivering on his campaign… -
news
No Known ‘Causal Link’ Between Vaccines and Autism, CDC Nominee Tells Senate Panel
“I have not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism,” Susan Monarez said at her Senate committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her answer came in response to a question from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and… -
news
Cancer, Blood Clots, Death: Study Exposes Health Risks for Males Who Take Estrogen to ‘Affirm’ Transgender Identity
Biological males who identify as transgender and take estrogen in order to appear female face myriad health risks, from infertility to diabetes, to testicular and breast cancer, and ultimately to early death, according to a new study. The study, published in the academic journal Discover Mental Health earlier this month, highlights adverse reactions to estrogen,… -
opinion
Medicare Needs Major Reform—Sooner Rather Than Later
Medicare’s financial condition is worsening—and it’s time for our ever-reluctant Congress to start the arduous legislative task of making much-needed changes to the program. In its 2025 report, the Medicare Board of Trustees is unambiguous: “The sooner solutions are enacted, the more flexible and gradual they can be. Introducing reforms early would give affected individuals… -
news
HHS Pitches Prior Authorization Reform as Way to Improve Patient Experience for Millions
Millions of Americans will benefit from the Trump administration’s plans for prior authorization reform, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. Oz and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced that major insurers have promised to ease “prior authorization” by creating a common standard for submitting electronic requests by… -
news
In Face of Terrorist Sleeper Cell Threat, DHS Secretary Pledges to ‘Go After Them Before They Do Anything’
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va.—Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sought Monday to reassure the American people that the Trump administration is actively working to protect the homeland following the U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear sites. “We are continuing to evaluate every single threat and to proactively go after them before they do anything or take any… -
news
Senate Finance Health Care Reconciliation Provisions: Some Improvements but Some Glaring Omissions
As the Senate Finance Committee’s reconciliation package continues to make its way through the Senate process, a review of its key provisions as compared to the House-passed version offers some helpful insights and exposes some glaring omissions. The Senate Finance bill follows the House-passed reconciliation bill in a number of ways. First, like the House… -
opinion
Analysis: Blue-Collar Wages Rise as Illegal Immigration Declines
As President Donald Trump and his administration work on expanding deportation operations, the White House is reporting that blue-collar workers have seen the most significant growth in wages in over half a century. “In President Donald Trump’s first five months in office, real wages for hourly workers have seen their largest increase under any administration… -
news
Operation Midnight Hammer Successfully ‘Obliterated’ Iranian Nuclear Facilities, Hegseth Says at Sunday Press Briefing
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth held a press briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine at the Pentagon early Sunday morning, detailing the U.S. military’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. “It was an incredible and overwhelming success,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon. “Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.” At… -
opinion
Foreign Students Who Hate America Don’t Deserve Visas—and We Have Tools to Stop Them
Would you let absolutely anyone in your house, with no conditions? Of course not. If even an invited guest got rowdy, trashed your kitchen, took over your bathroom, insulted your religion, or invited their friends to set up tents on your lawn, you’d send them packing. By the same token, no nation should be forced… -
news
Shattered Trust: Experts Want to Prevent Government Overreach in Future Pandemic Responses
Sen. Rand Paul, along with several medical and policy public experts, highlighted Tuesday how the government’s mishandling of COVID-19 has left in its wake challenges regarding vaccines and a distrust of government and the medical industry. The Kentucky Republican spoke at a Heritage Foundation event titled “Shattered Trust: Parents, COVID, and the Vaccine Reckoning.” He… -
news
Is Britain About to Legalize Abortion Until Birth?
Britain soon could pass the most extreme abortion law Europe has ever seen. Members of Parliament have proposed amendments that would legalize abortion up until the moment of birth. The amendments could also allow for sex-selective abortions and would take away the ability to prosecute abusers who harm unborn children, according to the Society for… -
opinion
To Make American Healthy Again, the Country Needs a More Nuanced Farming Policy
In May, the MAHA Commission report elevated the chronic disease epidemic and laid out, in broad outline, the potential culprits, one of which is “environmental exposures.” The reality of the epidemic, especially among children, is hard to deny. Any effort to identify the cause or causes of that epidemic, however, is bound to be controversial… -
opinion
Seismic Shifts in American Health Policy Have RFK’s Fingerprints All Over Them
To understand where our nation’s health policy currently stands, and where it is headed, one event enlightens our thinking: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent speech before the World Health Assembly, in which he outlined in stark detail the specific reasons why the United States has left the World Health Organization…. -
opinion
Congressional Leaders on the Left Just Relaunched Their Government Health Care Takeover
The Left is nothing if not persistent. While Congress has been exhaustively debating the tax cut and spending details of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful, Bill,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont’s independent socialist, and his House Democrat allies are again honing their comprehensive health policy agenda: the abolition of all Americans’ private and employer-sponsored health insurance… -
opinion
Oklahoma GOP Lawmakers Push Marxist Health Care Scheme
Is Marxism the only way to save rural health care? Most conservatives would recoil from such a claim, but some Oklahoma legislators appear to have swallowed it. The House and Senate passed HB 2048, the 340B Nondiscrimination Act. The bill would lock in and expand Obamacare Medicaid drug policies in the Sooner State, but it… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: RFK Jr. Urged to Make Good on Commitment to Review Safety of Abortion Pill
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A conservative think tank is seeking to hold Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his commitment to review the safety and efficacy of the abortion pill. “I’ve asked Marty Makary, who’s the director of [the Food and Drug Administration], to do a complete review, and to… -
news
‘UNBELIEVABLY DAUNTING’: Kennedy Allies Launch Nonprofit to Help RFK Reform the Public Health Establishment
Allies of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gathered Thursday to launch the Make America Healthy Again Institute, an organization aiming to outsource the Health and Human Services Department’s oversight and reform efforts. “The people in the bureaucracies like the status quo, and so Bobby Kennedy and all of the great people who are at the top… -
opinion
Michigan Court Says State Constitution Allows No Abortion Limits
The Michigan Court of Claims held on May 13 that state laws requiring informed consent for abortion violate the unlimited right to “reproductive freedom” that voters placed in the Michigan Constitution in 2022. This is the first of many lawsuits using these radical state charter provisions to dismantle any limits on abortion and a host… -
opinion
Abortion, Government Funding for Planned Parenthood at an All-Time High
Planned Parenthood released its latest annual report the day after Mother’s Day. For 2023-2024, abortions are at an all-time high. So is government funding. Nearly three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and many states enacted strong pro-life protections, business is still booming. Congress and President Donald Trump can take action—but will…