February 4, 2026 – The Week in Health Care News
Your digest on the happenings in health care this week | February 4, 2026
Committee News
On Jan. 23, The Guardian published “Meet the OB-GYNs fighting back against Trump’s ‘guerrilla war on science’” with quotes from Committee Board Chair Dr. Kristen Lyerly about the need for medical groups to stand strong against the Trump administration’s attacks on health care.
On Jan. 27, Florida Politics published an op-ed by Committee Advocate Dr. Nancy Staats titled, “Florida will suffer from decreased vaccine access — where are our leaders?” that points out the danger to public health represented by RFK Jr.’s handpicked group of vaccine advisors.
On Jan. 28, Committee Advocate Dr. Abigail La Nou spoke at Opportunity Wisconsin’s press call alongside WI Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Dr. La Nou spoke about the impact of Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s votes that took Medicaid from patients in her community. The event was covered by WIZM.
On Jan. 29, Committee Advocates Dr. Gary Kaplan and Dr. Pablo Sadler spoke at two separate press conferences held by Empire State Voices about Rep. Mike Lawler’s (NY-17) role in the Medicaid cuts and ACA tax credit expiration in the lead up to the end of New York’s open enrollment on the 31st.
Top News Stories
A package of funding bills that passed the House were stalled as negotiators changed measures tied to funding the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) which oversees ICE and CBP, resulting in a partial government shutdown. Tuesday afternoon, the House passed the bills that had already passed the Senate on Friday and that include reforms for hospital billing transparency and Pharmacy Benefit Managers, ending the shutdown. The funding for DHS contained in the bills is for just one week to allow for negotiations on reining in ICE and CBP abuses.
The Washington Post: The cost of health care, not food or rent, is now Americans’ top worry:
Voters say that the issue will alter their election choices, with about three-quarters indicating that health care costs will affect their choices in November, according to the poll released Thursday by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy organization. [...]
“I think it tells you something about where we are — even people with insurance are worried,” said Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a medical ethicist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has worked with the Obama and Biden administrations. The cost “makes people think twice about whether to get an ambulance or even just go to the doctor. This is a terrible place for the country to be.”
The Trump administration on Tuesday asked a federal court to put on hold a lawsuit from Louisiana seeking sweeping national restrictions on abortion pills while the Food and Drug Administration reviews the safety of the drug and decides whether or not to roll back access.
The court filing stresses that the Trump administration is actively considering whether to keep current federal rules in place that allow access to the abortion pill mifepristone via telemedicine, mail delivery, and retail pharmacies. Allowing Louisiana’s lawsuit to move forward before that process is complete, the Justice Department argued, would “threaten to short circuit” sensitive regulatory and scientific work.
Jessica Valenti and Kylie Cheung at ABORTION, EVERY DAY write that the Trump administration is not being honest about the real reason for their request:
Let’s be real about what’s happening here: the Trump administration knows that banning abortion pills by mail—which account for nearly 30% of U.S. abortions and nearly all abortions in ban states—would be political suicide heading into the midterms. It’s also why FDA chief Marty Makary is reportedly slow-walking the agency’s so-called ‘safety review’.
Attacks on Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act
KFF’s recent poll shows that over two-thirds of Americans believe that Republicans in Congress did the wrong thing by refusing to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that made the ACA more affordable.
If you want a glimpse at how bad things are for affordable health care thanks to Republicans’ actions over the past year, here’s a roundup of headlines that tell the tale:
FOX Business: New SNAP work requirements take effect in more states under Trump-backed law
NPR: With an ACA fix uncertain in the Senate, Republicans replay old health care fights
Cleveland.com: Expected rise in uninsured Ohioans could signal new stress for providers, poorer public health
The Baltimore Sun: One in 3 Maryland families skipped or delayed needed medical care in 2025, poll finds
MedPage Today: High-Deductible Health Plans and Cancer a Bad Mix
NBC News: Many Obamacare enrollees have switched to cheaper bronze plans. Here’s why that could be risky.
KFF Health News: When Health Insurance Costs More Than the Mortgage
The Hill: ACA enrollment drops by 1M-plus after subsidies expire
The 19th: Health insurance costs are up. Women and LGBTQ+ people are paying the price.
Trump Administration News
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) & Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) News
AP: ICE claim that a man shattered his skull running into wall triggers tension at a Minnesota hospital:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall,” according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release.
But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year-old’s brain, said three nurses familiar with the case.
“It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about,” said one of the nurses, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss patient care.
Committee Actions
On Jan. 29, Committee Member Dr. Erin Stevens appeared on MS NOW’s: 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle to talk about the impact of ICE’s presence in the health care space on providing care for patients.
On Feb. 1, Committee Member Dr. Antonio Germann was quoted in an article in The Oregonian titled, “ICE fears keep Oregon immigrants from seeking medical care: ‘We’re seeing a massive disruption’”.
On Jan. 23, Dr. Stevens was quoted in an article by Medpage Today titled, “Minneapolis Patients Avoid Care, Say They Feel ‘Hunted’ by ICE, Doctor Says”, on Jan. 29, she appeared on The Parnas Perspective for a show titled, “Democrats Block ICE Funding Bill as Trump Seeks Draw Down in ICE Forces”, on Jan. 30, she was quoted in an article by The 19th titled, “Fear of ICE is keeping pregnant immigrants in Minnesota from critical care”, and on Feb. 1, she was quoted in an article in The Guardian titled, “Public health crisis unfolding in Minneapolis as residents avoid healthcare”.
More Headlines
The 19th: Children with disabilities particularly vulnerable to Minneapolis ICE crackdown
KFF Health News: ‘I Can’t Tell You’: Attorneys, Relatives Struggle To Find Hospitalized ICE Detainees
Verite News: A pregnant mother in ICE detention says she’s bleeding — and hasn’t seen a doctor in weeks
CNN Health: Case of measles confirmed in Arizona ICE facility
The Washington Post: Measles cases identified at ICE’s largest detention facility for children
The Washington Post: VA leaders have barely acknowledged Alex Pretti’s death, workers say
Other Trump Administration News
The Guardian: US committee is reconsidering all vaccine recommendations:
All vaccine recommendations are being reconsidered by the US’s vaccines committee, according to its top adviser, who in recent interviews slammed vaccination requirements for attending school and said vaccines should be taken on the advice of an individual’s doctor.
MedPage Today reports that several Democratic Senators say Trump’s “TrumpRx” website, which plans to connect consumers directly to manufacturers to buy lower-priced prescription drugs may not be legal. They also raised concerns about the potential for “inappropriate prescribing…and inadequate care”.
NBC News: Medicare will negotiate the price of Botox and 14 other drugs this year (NOTE: This action is a result of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.)
The Washington Post: RFK Jr. picks promoters of debunked vaccine-autism claims for key panel
RFK Jr.’s anti-vaxx fan base is now targeting states and which shots they require for children to attend day cares and public schools.
Reuters (via MSN): US conditions funding to global vaccine group on dropping mercury-based preservative from shots
Leaders of the AMA met with RFK Jr. and some AMA members are none too pleased:
A meeting this month between the head of the American Medical Association and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has prompted infighting within the nation’s leading lobbying group for doctors.
Following the Jan. 7 meeting, a contingent of member doctors wrote to the AMA’s board chair because they view Kennedy as a threat to public health whom the group should shun, according to correspondence obtained by POLITICO.
Reproductive Rights/Attacks on Medication Abortion
Texas is suing another abortion provider for allegedly mailing pills into the state. This time, [Attorney General Ken] Paxton is suing Delaware nurse practitioner Debra Lynch of Her Safe Harbor.
Unlike past suits and charges—which focused on specific patients who used the pills—Paxton is suing over Lynch’s own words. The complaint states that “Lynch has boasted to media outlets” that she mails abortion medication into the state…
In Arkansas, a new lawsuit is challenging the state’s abortion ban:
Emily Waldorf’s water broke just 17 weeks into her pregnancy — far too early for her child to survive. Despite a nonviable pregnancy and a growing risk of serious infection, the Arkansas mom was denied both an abortion and antibiotics. When she contacted Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office to beg for help, “the only advice she received was to ‘get a lawyer.’”
Well, she did. And now Waldorf is suing to overturn the law that nearly killed her.
The 40-year-old mother is joined by three other women and a doctor harmed by Arkansas’ abortion ban. Their suit was brought by Amplify Legal—the new litigation arm of Abortion in America. [...]
Another plaintiff, Theresa Van, was forced to carry a nonviable pregnancy for nearly two months. According to the complaint, after also being diagnosed with placenta previa, Van and her husband “started talking about her own wishes for her funeral if she did not survive the pregnancy.”
MS NOW: ‘We’re going to disrupt this country’: Pardoned anti-abortion activists plot mass clinic protests
Military.com: VA Halts Abortion Care for Veterans After DOJ Opinion
Mother Jones: HHS Will Allow Pharmacies to Boycott Lifesaving Drugs Used in Medication Abortion
Other Health Care News
CIDRAP: After 3-week decline, flu cases rise across the US; RSV, COVID activity high in certain states
NBC News: Unvaccinated kids hit hard with flu as pediatric deaths rise to 52:
Fifty-two children have died of the flu so far this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday, seemingly putting pediatric deaths on track to outpace last season’s record-breaking high.
Ninety percent of those children had not received the annual flu shot, the CDC said.
Biopharma Dive: Express Scripts considering settlement in FTC insulin price lawsuit
Freedom Virginia has a very funny new ad titled, “Happy People Saving Money”, that advocates for the establishment of a Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) through the Affordable Medicine Act (AMA). The ad will air in the Richmond area.
NBC News: South Carolina measles outbreak reaches 789 cases, surpassing Texas:
Measles in South Carolina has spread to at least 789 people, surpassing the 2025 West Texas outbreak that sickened 762 people and killed two young girls.
The majority of cases remain centered in Spartanburg County, mostly among people who were either unvaccinated or didn’t know their status, the South Carolina Department of Public Health reported Tuesday. There have been 89 new cases confirmed since Friday, a clear sign that the outbreak isn’t under control.