June 9, 2025 – The Week in Health Care News
Your digest on the happenings in health care this week | June 9, 2025
Attacks on Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act
The week of June 2, the Committee co-hosted a “Protect Our Medicaid” Tour across Virginia with SEIU, Protect Our Care, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia. Committee Advocate Dr. Heidi Appel spoke at the Alexandria roundtable on June 2 alongside Rep. Don Beyer (VA-8) and advocates from the other organizations. Committee Advocate Dr. Henry Rozycki spoke at the Richmond roundtable on June 4 alongside state Sen. Lamont Bagby and other advocates. Finally, Committee Advocate Dr. Natasha Sriraman spoke at the Norfolk roundtable on June 6 alongside Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Don Scott and other advocates.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its analysis of the House Republicans’ Big, Beautiful Tax Giveaway bill and the numbers are grim:
Adds $2.4 trillion to the federal budget deficit over the next decade
Cuts taxes by $3.7 trillion, primarily for the super-wealthy
16 million people could potentially go uninsured over the next decade
4.8 million people will lose their insurance over the next ten years due to the implementation of draconian Medicaid work requirements alone
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Oz said during an interview on Fox Business that people needing Medicaid who don’t want to comply with the new work requirements need to “prove that you matter”.
The Washington Post’s Natasha Sarin says passage of the bill could mean more than 100,000 avoidable deaths over the next decade. The number is well over 140,000 if you include the impact of the expiring credits.
A recent poll by KFF shows that over half of the public is worried that Medicaid cuts will hurt their family’s ability to obtain and afford health care.
Wendell Potter and Joey Rettino at HEALTH CARE un-covered reveal a little-noticed element in the Big, Beautiful Tax Giveaway Act: A sweeping 10-year freeze on any state or local regulation of artificial intelligence systems.
The inclusion of Medicare cuts is one of a number of major proposed changes being considered as the Senate makes revisions to the House bill.
According to STAT, Senate leaders are not planning to hold any hearings as they work through the changes in private.
Following Sen. Joni Ernst’s comments at a town hall last week, Sen. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has informally renamed it the “Well, We’re All Going to Die Act.”
Reproductive Rights
On June 3, the Trump administration announced that it was rescinding a Biden-era guidance governing the use of abortion in emergency situations. The guidance was originally created in 2022 following the demise of Roe v. Wade, intending to give physicians a more clear path forward when making choices about whether or not to perform an abortion in a medical emergency in states with abortion bans. The overarching law is called the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA.)
Following the administration’s move, there will only be more confusion and fear as doctors weigh saving lives versus potentially going to prison.
At the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates annual meeting, delegates urged the organization to take a stronger stand against the move. They also urged the AMA to be more aggressive in fighting Trump's cuts to NIH and Medicaid. Then, on Tuesday, the AMA issued a statement calling for a Senate investigation into RFK, Jr..
CNN reports that a West Virginia prosecutor is warning women that a miscarriage could lead to criminal charges.
AP: Louisiana lawmakers reject adding exceptions for some rape cases to abortion ban
The Montana Supreme Court has struck down a number of abortion restriction laws passed in 2021, calling them unconstitutional.
The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Republicans want 24-hour abortion waiting period despite judge's injunction
Attorneys general in Massachusetts, California, New Jersey and New York have filed a petition with the FDA, asking the agency to lift restrictions on mifepristone.
In Texas, a state with a nearly total abortion ban, a hospital is being sued for repeatedly sending home a woman with a nonviable, life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. The woman ultimately lost part of her reproductive system after being discharged without any help from her hometown emergency room.
Trump Administration News
On June 8, STAT reported that four members of the 17-person expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccination policy, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), had been terminated. At the time, they hedged, saying it was not clear if the move was intentional. The following day, RFK, Jr. confirmed that the move was not only intentional, it went far further with EVERY ACIP member receiving a pink slip.
In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Kennedy wrote, “The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.” All 17 members were appointed by Pres. Biden, 13 of them just last year.
Last week, HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. threatened to prevent federal researchers from publishing studies in premier medical journals. However, MedPage Today points out that his so-called “MAHA Report” cites them extensively.
CNN reports that, despite RFK, Jr.’s frequent statements to the contrary, there have been hundreds of placebo studies on the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
Trump’s pick for Surgeon General, wellness influencer Dr. Casey Means regularly decries the corruption of our health and food systems by special interests and profiteers. Apparently, she’s one of those who have been corrupted, according to reporting by the AP. “[A]s Dr. Casey Means has criticized scientists, medical schools and regulators for taking money from the food and pharmaceutical industries, she has promoted dozens of health and wellness products — including specialty basil seed supplements, a blood testing service and a prepared meal delivery service — in ways that put money in her own pocket,” they wrote.
Following the Trump administration’s decision to no longer recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for a wide swath of Americans, the head of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has resigned.
[T]he change to the CDC’s vaccine guidance has parents and families confused, NPR reports.
ProPublica reports that doctors at VA hospitals across the country are sounding the alarm about Trump administration cuts to their system. “In March,” wrote ProPublica, “VA officials across the country warned that a critical resource — databases for tracking cancer — would no longer be kept up to date… DOGE had marked it for ‘immediate termination.’”
The New York Times: Trump Bill’s Caps on Grad School Loans Could Worsen Doctor Shortage
Public Citizen reports that 6,000+ doctors, nurses, researchers, and other health professionals have released an open letter to alert the public how the Trump administration’s actions are harming the health of Americans.
Other Health Care News
AXIOS reports that the average annual cost of insuring a family of four has nearly tripled to $35,119 in the past 20 years.
ABC News reports that the U.S. is headed for a 3-year high in measles cases.
Dr. Katherine O’Brien, vaccines director for the World Health Organization, is sounding the alarm, saying, “It’s really a sign of a country going backwards in terms of their ability to protect people.”