congress
Democrats preview their CDC questions
On Wednesday, Daniel attended a forum held by Senate Democrats that could provide insights into their line of questioning at next week's CDC hearing.
The senators questioned two fired members. Other witnesses included an American Academy of Pediatrics representative, a school nurse, and a parent who credited vaccines with her child's health.
The Democrats' basic line of argument: Kennedy's management of HHS undermines public trust in vaccines and will lead to more illness and death. They also said changes to CDC policy could make vaccines more expensive and difficult to find. The discussion sheds light on how Democrats might push back against Trump on health policies, especially as midterm messaging gets underway.
fda
Make drug ads scary again
The FDA announced plans to require drug companies to list all of a drug's side effects in commercials, Lizzy Lawrence reports.
The agency loosened regulations 30 years ago, allowing drug advertisers to direct patients to an external source for a drug's full safety profile, like a pamphlet or website. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary describes that policy as a loophole, and said he plans to close it with a new regulation.
The announcement offered few details on how the government would ensure "transparent" drug advertising, and it's worth noting that DOGE laid off most of FDA's drug advertising division, so it's not clear who will be enforcing these new rules. The agency said AI will help agency employees review drug ads faster. Read more for responses from public health experts.
vaccine advisers
New ACIP members considered
Federal health officials plan to add members to a panel of vaccine advisers handpicked by Kennedy, a former government official with knowledge of the situation confirmed to STAT.
You can get to know the crew — which includes a pharmacist who has focused on low-income medication distribution, an infectious disease expert who opposed Covid-19 mandates, and a physician who has called for mRNA shots to be pulled off the market — by reading through the profiles compiled by my STAT colleagues.
Their appointments would bring the number of Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices members to at least 13. That's a few short of the slate that Kennedy dismissed in June. Read more for some background on each candidate.
government funding
Enhanced ACA subsidies update
Senate Democrats have been pushing their Republican colleagues to renew enhanced ACA-premium tax credits as part of a deal to end the government shutdown.
But it sounds like a deal on that front is DOA, at least in a government stopgap funding bill — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that Republicans refuse to add the credits to the continuing resolution.
Indeed, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters he wants to pass "clean" legislation temporarily funding the government, then negotiate an extension for premium subsidies later in the appropriations bill, according to Punchbowl News.
This could prove to be a major sticking point for Democrats, who often mention the ACA tax credits as a priority in the government spending fight, along with the undoing of the Medicaid spending cuts in Trump's recently passed tax law. Democratic leadership said Wednesday that they will not vote for a "clean" continuing resolution, but they've not said whether they'll demand an extension of the credits in return for their votes.
An impasse over the issue could lead to a government shutdown in three weeks, though it's difficult to determine the likelihood of that happening.
The credits expire at the end of the year, but ACA marketplace plans will notify enrollees of premium increases starting in October if Congress does not renew the enhanced credits in a stopgap funding bill. That would add pressure to negotiating a deal on the credits in year-end appropriations legislation.
Meanwhile, in the House …
… the appropriations committee on Tuesday passed 2026 HHS-funding legislation on a party-line vote. Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) acknowledged that the bill is a Republican negotiating position.
"We know we're not going to agree on it the first time out," Cole told reporters. "But we can't go to negotiations until we get the bill out of committee, then it'll change. That's the reality because it'll have to morph into something bipartisan."
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