June 3, 2026 – The Week in Health Care News
Your digest on the happenings in health care this week | June 3, 2026
ICYMI! Be sure to watch Committee Executive Director Dr. Rob Davidson administer the cognitive test Trump brags he “aced” to journalist Jim Acosta HERE!
Money Out of Politics
Last week, the ballot proposal group Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) turned in over 562,000 signatures. They will need 356,958 valid signatures in order to put the measure on the November ballot. If voters approve it, it will prohibit public utilities and large state government contractors from donating to political causes. The Committee to Protect Health Care has been working to help secure enough valid signatures and was on hand for their delivery in Lansing. Committee Member Dr. Aisha Harris spoke at the event. From reporting by Michigan Public:
Dr. Aisha Harris is with one of the coalition groups behind the measure. She said she has seen the influence-peddling system take a real-life toll.
“When insurance companies and corporate interests can spend enormous amounts of money influencing the political system, what is best for the patients is too often pushed to the sidelines. That creates a system where lawmakers hear more from lobbyists and donors than from physicians, nurses, and people struggling to afford care,” Harris said during a press conference Wednesday.
Aside from limiting political giving, the ballot initiative would also expand policies that require outside groups spending money on Michigan campaigns to reveal their donors.
Dr. Harris was joined by Committee Advocates Dr. BreeOna Namukowa and Dr. Judi Suess.
You can watch a video from the signature turn-in event featuring Dr. Harris HERE.
Reproductive Rights/Attacks on Medication Abortion
Michigan Advance: Federal appeals court affirms dismissal of Right to Life challenge to Michigan abortion protections:
A panel of judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Right to Life of Michigan challenging the state’s constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights, agreeing with the initial dismissal that the plaintiffs lack standing in their suit. [...]
“From the start, this lawsuit was a procedurally flawed, meritless, and politically motivated attack on reproductive rights that Michigan voters overwhelmingly supported,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement.
In an op-ed in The Hill, professors Sonia Suter and Naomi Cahn point out the hypocrisy of the Moms.gov website, calling it a “shiny new…website [that] hides a tarnished record that actually harms women and children.”
Health Care Affordability
Dr. Mitchell B. Hollander makes the case for site-neutral payment policies for lowering the cost of health care in an op-ed in The Detroit News titled, “Michigan’s health care pricing system needs reform”:
Policymakers should focus on site-of-care optimization ― that is, ensuring that patients receive care in the most appropriate, cost-effective setting.
In practical terms, that means paying the same amount for the same service, regardless of where it is performed. Physicians should decide on where to deliver care based on what’s best for their patients, not on which setting commands the highest reimbursement.
The potential savings are substantial. In my specialty, urology, Medicare’s total reimbursement for a cystourethroscopy ― a common, often outpatient, procedure a physician uses to examine the urethra and bladder ― is three times higher in the hospital outpatient department than in the medical office.
Fierce Healthcare: GoodRx launches subscription program for low-cost generic medications, telehealth services:
GoodRx announced Wednesday the launch of GoodRx Companion, a subscription program that offers access to virtual healthcare services and prescription medications at discounted prices.
Through the $14.99 monthly GoodRx Companion subscription, users can access free and low-cost generic medications, online care visits and additional healthcare services. The company says the new subscription advances its strategy by adding broader offerings alongside its weight loss, erectile dysfunction and hair loss programs. [...]
Members are also eligible to save on dental care, vision care and common lab and imaging services.
Trump Administration News
NBC News: Americans who get Ebola will go to Europe for treatment, not U.S., officials say. Prior to this decision, they were going to send them to Kenya which has had no cases, so far. The Kenyan government quickly put an end to that plan, at least for now.
Trump finally released the results of his recent visit to the doctor for a “six month checkup” last Friday. AXIOS reports that key items were left out of it, like why he’s getting physicals so frequently. Trump bragged once again that he crushed a cognitive test, his fourth, saying it shows “extreme intelligence.” As Dr. Rob Davidson pointed out after administering the same test to journalist Jim Acosta, this is a test designed to monitor cognitive decline and is not an IQ test. It is typically only administered when mental decline is a concern.
The Hill has more:
Clinicians also questioned why [Trump’s doctor] and the White House were citing an “AI-enhanced” electrocardiogram, which estimated his cardiac age “to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.” This is not a clinically utilized tool and describing a patient being younger in cardiac age isn’t a proper diagnostic finding, they said.
Jonathan Reiner, former Vice President Cheney’s heart doctor, questioned why Trump has needed multiple CT scans of his coronary arteries.
“We don’t typically scan patients 6 months later unless we are concerned about a finding on the initial scan. What prompted the repeat CT?” Reiner wrote on X.
Reiner also noted the three-page report mentioned that the president’s ankle edema is improved compared with last year, but last year’s exam made no mention of such a condition.
You can read the full results of his exam HERE.
Trying to shore up support from rural farmers, RFK Jr. compared an Obama-era policy limiting whole milk in schools to child abuse. “We deprived two generations of children of whole milk,” he said. “It really was almost a form of child abuse.”
Trump doubled down on his support of RFK Jr. changing the childhood vaccine schedule with an Executive Order this week. Via CNN:
Trump’s order adds weight behind the study at a time when the administration had appeared to be trying to shift focus away from Kennedy’s more contentious vaccine policies and toward more mainstream topics like healthy eating.
The order directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review the study and “take any appropriate steps” to update its vaccine recommendations. It says the CDC should “provide maximum flexibility to parents and doctors” and directs agencies to make sure all actions, regulations and funding are aligned with the study. [...]
The order adds that any changes should ensure that Americans retain their current access to vaccines.
Other Health Care News
Nearly 250 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo have died during the current Ebola outbreak that has sickened over 1,000 people.
Despite what RFK Jr. says, a new study reveals that, while parental depression is strongly linked to child neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, taking anti-depressant medications does not.
The percentage of uninsured Americans held steady last year, as it had for several years prior. Next year, following the decimation of the Affordable Care Act by Trump and Congressional Republicans, that fact will likely seem like a quaint bit of news.
Following the passage of Trump’s big, beautiful millionaire tax giveaway, hospital closures seemed inevitable. Turns out they were. FORBES has a list of 446 hospitals that are currently at risk of closing.