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The murder of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare executive, in late 2024 unearthed a torrent of public outrage against the health insurance industry. And since then, Americans’ anger has solidified into deep mistrust of the companies. Much of the current dissatisfaction stems from rising economic concerns: More and more people cannot afford the increasing costs of insurance premiums and medical bills. (Abelson, 8/14)

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting matter-of-factly that he trailed the executive to an investor conference and gunned him down on a New York City street in 2024. Mangione, 28, said he made a gun with the aid of a 3D printer, traveled to New York and used a ruse — posing as an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm — to contact the company for details on the event. (Sisak, Neumeister and Peltz, 8/14)

Providers are seeing consolidation as a way to weather financial headwinds and keep their doors open. Merger and acquisition activity has risen over the past several years — and 2026 has been no exception. The increase in dealmaking comes as operating and supply costs continue to rise while reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid decrease. Recent cuts to Medicaid and an increase in the uninsured population are expected to exacerbate the issue. (DeSilva, 8/14)

Federal regulators are chipping away at a weedy, but critical, Medicaid tool that could have significant financial implications for providers and states. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is paring down policies enacted via what are known as Medicaid 1115 waivers as it narrows the program to align with President Donald Trump’s fiscal and ideological goals. The changes could increase enrollee churn, undercut finances for providers, drive up administrative costs and leave states less able to innovate, experts said. (Early, 8/15)

Providence Health Plan will seek to wind down its operations after failing to sell its Medicare Advantage business. The insurance division of the Renton, Washington-based nonprofit health system in May said it would exit the commercial and Medicaid markets in 2027, but that it hoped to partner with a national carrier to continue its Medicare Advantage plans. Providence Health Plan and the national insurance company were unable to agree on a deal, a Providence spokesperson said in a Friday statement. The spokesperson declined to specify which national insurer had been interested in operating its Medicare Advantage business. (Tepper, 8/14)

Thousands of Epic Systems’ customers will convene at the electronic health record vendor’s highly anticipated Users Group Meeting next week in Verona, Wisconsin. The company will host more than 20,000 attendees, including representatives from health systems, health plans and tech vendors. Innovations in artificial intelligence and interoperability are some of the event’s main areas of focus, according to an Epic spokesperson. The event runs Monday through Thursday. (Famakinwa, 8/14)

Patients with rare diseases often spend five years or more searching for a diagnosis. Now artificial intelligence is helping some get answers faster. Rachel Hinken long wondered why her son, Oliver, seemed to be missing key growth milestones, including speech and walking delays. He consistently tracked between the zero and first percentile for height. At age 10, he wasn’t more than 4 feet tall. Doctors said he was fine. He would catch up. Hinken wasn’t convinced. (Janin, 8/15)

Tommy John, who won 288 games during a 26-year big league career and became the first pitcher to successfully return following groundbreaking elbow surgery that later was named after him, has died. He was 83. He died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, on Saturday night, agent Mike Maguire said Sunday. He had been in hospice care. (Harris, 8/16)

Active military personnel who decide to freeze their eggs or sperm are eligible for $10,000 maximum reimbursement per year under a new three-year pilot program, according to a Department of Defense notice. Active-duty personnel who have received orders for duty in a dangerous country are eligible, according to the notice. And troops likely to be on an active-duty order in a dangerous country within four months, or separated from their partner for at least six months, are also eligible. (Canino-Quiñones, 8/14)

President Donald Trump’s goal of ending gender-affirming care is not improper and cannot be the basis for quashing a subpoena issued by the Justice Department against a provider of medical treatment for transgender youth, a divided federal appeals court ruled Friday. The Justice Department announced last year that it had issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics that provide gender-affirming care as part of an effort to investigate healthcare fraud. Federal judges have quashed many of the subpoenas as illegitimate efforts to intimidate providers into ending care. (Thanawala, 8/15)

The Trump administration finalized a new health care policy that has been in the works for months: No federal dollars can be used to pay for gender-affirming care for children covered by Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Plan. The news hit one California mom hard. (Simmons-Duffin, 8/16)

The Health Resources and Services Administration announced a $102 million tranche of funding for community health centers Thursday. Congress boosted federally qualified health center funding in a spending bill enacted this year. The dollars will support 158 new and existing community health centers, help establish new sites and promote primary care, the Health and Human Services Department said in a news release. (Early, 8/14)

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants America to “eat real food” as a solution to the chronic disease epidemic, but that message is being lost amid outbreaks of foodborne illness and a health agency that has struggled with effectively tracking the sources and messaging about safety. This summer has seen a record number of cyclosporiasis infections, with nearly 30,000 illnesses and two deaths. Other foodborne outbreaks have also emerged in recent months affecting fresh produce. (Weixel, 8/16)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: �������ýҕ�l Health News’ ‘On Air’: Gounder Brings Clarity To Egg Freezing, AI Virus Creation, And New Trump Vaccine Order

Céline Gounder, �������ýҕ�l Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed Americans’ skepticism toward public health experts and President Donald Trump’s executive order on childhood vaccines on CBS News 24/7 and CBS News’ CBS Mornings, respectively, on Aug. 11. On Aug. 10, Gounder discussed the risks and benefits of egg freezing on CBS Mornings. (8/15)

President Donald Trump has spent more than 18 months demolishing Joe Biden’s expansive green agenda. Yet pieces of the former president’s would-be legacy stubbornly cling to life — along with roughly $600 billion in congressionally approved spending that has so far escaped Trump’s wrecking ball, a new POLITICO analysis has found. The breakdown sheds fresh light on one of the most endlessly repeated pledges of Trump’s second term: his vow to unravel the nearly $1.6 trillion in spending and tax breaks that Biden had set in motion for a sprawling array of climate, clean energy and infrastructure programs. (Blaeser, Storrow and Tamborrino, 8/15)

The Biden administration brought thousands of student loan borrowers closer to debt forgiveness. Now the Trump administration is taking some of it back. Borrowers who work in public service jobs like teaching, nursing or are employed at qualifying nonprofits can have the remainder of their student debt forgiven if they stay on top of their payments and meet other criteria. (Carballo, 8/16)

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday declined a request to appear voluntarily before a second Senate panel after majority Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee voted along partisan lines last week to hold the longtime infectious disease expert in contempt. In a pointed letter to Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, a lawyer for the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said any effort to compel him to appear before a Senate subcommittee, after a contentious July 29 hearing, would be to “impermissibly harass or degrade Dr. Fauci for political purposes.” (Beaumont, 8/15)

The senior U.S. officer overseeing the war in Iran said Sunday that addressing mental health concerns is a high priority for the military, days after reports emerged of burnout and poor conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. But Adm. Brad Cooper also said some of the concerns that had surfaced were “old news.” (Westfall, 8/16)

President Donald Trump downplayed concerns over conditions for sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, amid an uproar from service members’ families as its deployment to the Middle East approaches nine months. Numerous relatives of the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the aircraft carrier have voiced outrage at reports of food shortages, water contamination, moldy showers and long shifts in wartime aboard the vessel. Some family members have said the situation has deteriorated so badly that sailors have attempted to jump ship. (Dymova, Subramanian, and Judson, 8/14)

Annie Morgan wrapped her arms around her eldest daughter’s waist and guided her toward the minivan, the two of them moving in a slow, sideways shuffle. At 13, Ava was nearly as big as Annie, who stands just five feet flat, 110 pounds. The morning in May had started well. Ava was cooperative and calm, and Annie, 34, smiled as her two other children bolted past them and into the car. Then something shifted. As Annie helped Ava into the vehicle, Ava wailed and slammed her body against the seat. The car rocked. (Eunjung Cha, 8/16)

Three moms who survived postpartum psychosis describe their experiences — and what they want people following the Clancy trial to know. (Melendez, 8/16)

Even with all the recent rain, much of Iowa’s northern half remains under a moderate health advisory due to smoke from distant wildfires, and a mental health expert says that smoke is affecting more than just people’s lungs. Clinical health psychologist Dr. Kristi White says many of her patients are bringing up the smoky conditions during appointments. (8/17)

By this time of year, both the FDA and CDC normally have weighed in on fall respiratory virus vaccine recommendations. But given ongoing controversies over vaccination spurred by the Trump administration, a wrench has once again been thrown into the gears of that process. The FDA has done its part, making recommendations about vaccine composition for influenza vaccines in March, followed by recommendations for COVID shots in May. But the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) hasn't done its part as it hasn't held its March or June meetings this year. (Henderson, 8/14)

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Sunday reiterated his issues with President Trump’s executive order that seeks to tweak the childhood vaccine schedule, with the directive’s impact on insurance costs among them. “Now instead of your child getting two shots, she has to get six shots,” Cassidy told host Martha Raddatz during the senator’s appearance on ABC News’s “This Week,” referring to Trump splitting up the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different shots. (Rego, 8/16)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Kennedy’s Quiet Hunt For Autism Culprits Stalls As Trump Orders Baseless Changes To Childhood Shots

President Donald Trump has ordered a reduction in childhood vaccines — publicly faulting the shots for an increase in autism cases — even as the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has failed to produce evidence linking vaccinations to the disorder. While the executive order released Aug. 10 does not directly mention autism, Trump’s demand to limit vaccine recommendations has puzzled leading medical groups, doctors, and political analysts alike. The directive landed less than 90 days before midterm elections, which Trump’s own pollsters have warned could be jeopardized by anti-vaccine rhetoric. (Seitz and Armour, 8/17)

The administration signaled that it will push states to rework their vaccine requirements to incorporate the new federal guidelines, effectively upending longstanding practices aimed at improving childhood immunization rates. It’s unclear exactly how officials plan to reinforce this, but the Department of Justice, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services have been directed to tie compliance with federal funding. (McPhillips, 8/16)

Social media has a reputation as a playground for extreme vaccine views and alarmist rhetoric, but, according to a study published yesterday in PLOS Global Public Health, pregnant women discussing the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine on the social media platform Reddit were often looking for more practical things: clear answers, reassurance, and stories of other women navigating similar questions. The study identified fewer outright instances of vaccine hesitancy and refusal than have often been observed for other vaccines. (Bergeson, 8/14)

A pair of new studies confirm that recently developed immunizations against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protect infants in their first year of life. The research, including one study conducted in France and another in the United Kingdom, confirm that the immunizations are effective in the real world, not just in carefully supervised clinical trials. (Szabo, 8/14)

America is experiencing its biggest prescription drug price deflation in generations. Why it matters: By one important measure, there is a striking reversal underway for one of health care's most stubbornly expensive necessities amid a major Washington push to lower drug costs. (Brown, 8/17)

More than 36 million people in the United States have Type 2 diabetes, and roughly 22 percent of them — or about 8 million — require daily insulin injections to control their blood glucose levels. Starting this week, that grueling regimen can be reduced to just one shot a week. Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday that it is rolling out a weekly insulin injection for Type 2 diabetes called Awiqli. It is the first-of-its-kind weekly dose to reach the market, after approval by the Food and Drug Administration in March. (Rowland, 8/16)

Charlotte Touzalin was still a young teenager when she began struggling with weight gain, abnormal periods and unwanted facial hair — the same puzzling symptoms that plagued her mom for decades and that no doctor could piece together. “I’d go home and I’d cry,” said Touzalin, an 18-year-old college student from Colorado. “I didn’t understand why all this weight was coming back or why my friends didn’t have to shave their faces and I had to.” (Ungar, 8/15)

Tadalafil – better known by its brand name Cialis – is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for erectile dysfunction. But in some biohacking and wellness circles, it's increasingly being repurposed for an entirely different reason. (Stone, 8/17)

The bag contained a month’s worth of a new pancreatic cancer drug — an experimental pill that has been hailed as a breakthrough treatment for an infamously lethal cancer. Results from a late-stage clinical trial showed the medication could double the life expectancy of people with advanced disease and keep tumors from growing twice as long as standard chemotherapy. Mandinov is among the first people in the country to receive the drug, called daraxonrasib, outside of a clinical trial. The medication is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration but is being made available for free to more patients who qualify through an expanded access program. (Chiu and Spatz, 8/17)

With 101 newly confirmed measles cases nationwide, the US total has now reached 2,566 this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update. This is the second straight week of about 100 new cases after previous weeks’ totals of about half that. Most this week’s cases are in Pennsylvania, though Ohio also saw a substantial increase. (Wappes, 8/14)

The Food and Drug Administration this week gave an egg recall that started last month over salmonella concerns its highest-risk designation, meaning that eating the eggs could cause “serious adverse health consequences or death.” Midwest Poultry Services voluntarily recalled 19 million eggs in July “as a precautionary measure,” the company said. (Cerro, 8/14)

Food and Drug Administration investigators traveled to Taylor Farms’ operation in Mexico for the first time this week to start inspecting the facilities linked to the largest cyclospora outbreak in the U.S., according to four people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Donald Prater, the FDA’s acting deputy commissioner for food, confirmed in an interview Friday that inspectors were on-site at the processing facility and plan to be in the fields next. (Roubein, Sun and Gilbert, 8/14)

The best-if-used-by dates of recalled iceberg lettuce associated with the massive Cyclospora outbreak have passed, according to an update from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday. This means that Cyclospora-tainted Taylor Farms lettuce should no longer be available at stores and restaurants. (Holohan, 8/14)

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now the deadliest in the country’s history with at least 2,325 people dead, according to government data, surpassing the toll from the 2018-20 outbreak. The DRC’s public health institute said confirmed cases had risen to 4,945, including 101 detected in the previous 24 hours. (Badshah and Savage, 8/17)

Every day, community health worker Gédéon Banga Ngbape and his team fan out across communities in eastern Congo looking for people who may have crossed paths with the country’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history. The workers investigate dozens of alerts, search for those exposed to suspected or confirmed cases and try to get anyone showing symptoms into care before the virus spreads further. (Same Bagalwa and Banchereau, 8/15)

Lyme disease is expanding into southern Appalachia, and a town in the Blue Ridge Mountains appears to be on the edge of this growing territory. In an analysis yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 76.9% of the blacklegged (deer) ticks collected (Boden, 8/14)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday granted emergency use authorization for Simparica Trio as another potential treatment New World screwworm (NWS) infestations in puppies and dogs. This is the latest medication with emergency approval for NWS in canines after the agency approved nitenpyram for dogs and cats in June. The FDA noted the scientific evidence indicates the benefits of Simparica Trio outweigh its risks. (Holohan, 8/14)

Bedbugs are sometimes called the vampires of the insect world — hiding during the day and coming out at night to feast on human blood. Generations of children have been told: “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Well, bad news: Bedbug infestations are increasing. This is the time of year when they tend to be at their worst. And some scientists think the reviled pests might be capable of spreading an antibiotic-resistant infection called MRSA. (Stobbe, 8/15)

A federal judge says Idaho can’t prosecute doctors who perform abortions to protect a pregnant person’s health or prevent self-harm. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill made the ruling Thursday, writing that Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act” and “Fetal Heartbeat Act” — which together create a near-total ban on abortion — violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. Physicians who violate the laws can lose their license and face up to five years in prison. (Boone, 8/14)

Health officials from California warned on the dangers of acquiring breast milk outside of vetted channels after multiple infants were potentially exposed to HIV from donor milk obtained via social media. It's unclear if infants actually drank the milk in four of the five cases, and they all tested negative for HIV, reported Akanksha Vaidya, MD, MPH, of the Santa Clara Public Health Department, and colleagues in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Henderson, 8/14)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Newsom Promotes Affordable Insulin, But California’s Generic Label Off To A Slow Start

At a Walgreens in this city’s bustling Japantown neighborhood, pharmacist Margaret On stocks two boxes of long-acting insulin pens from California’s new prescription drug label, CalRx, emblazoned with the state’s iconic grizzly bear. Although she hasn’t dispensed any, On plans to keep them on hand. “It’s good to have if a patient comes in and doesn’t have health insurance,” she said. “Or just in case of emergencies.” (Hart, 8/17)

California’s pesticide regulator announced on Monday the state would phase out the herbicide paraquat, which studies increasingly associate with Parkinson’s disease and other health problems. The action by the country’s largest agricultural state highlights the growing concerns over the chemical’s health effects, even as American farmers say it is an essential tool and continue to spray millions of pounds of it on crops each year. (Alcorn, 8/13)

When Adam Zolot was ready to expand his paddleboard business into a warehouse-size space on San Francisco Bay, he wedged in one feature that was mostly just for himself: a sauna and cold plunge. An avid longtime traveler, Zolot had picked up his interest in saunas overseas — in the thermal springs of the Aeolian Islands of Italy, in the onsen bathing culture of Japan, and of course in Scandinavia, the heartland of sauna culture. (Allday, 8/16)

Mobile methadone units did not exist in Connecticut when Frankie DeJesus started his recovery in 2012. He wishes they did. DeJesus, a recovery support specialist for Community Health Resources, has spent nearly all his life in Enfield, right by Connecticut’s northern border. After a Percocet prescription for knee pain developed into a dependence on heroin and other opioids, DeJesus began traveling to Hartford’s Root Center to receive methadone, widely considered the most effective treatment for opioid use disorder. (Oetama, 8/16)

North Carolina’s supply of illicit street drugs is in a constant state of change. People are no longer buying just heroin, fentanyl or opioid pills anymore, as most samples of these illegal drugs have more than one substance in them. People often don’t know what is in their drugs because dealers constantly change the adulterants in the supply. This has made it challenging for advocates who want to help people who use drugs stay safe or get into treatment. (Knopf, 8/17)

Thousands of times a year in Michigan schools, students who are considered a potential danger to themselves and others — many of them children with disabilities — are physically restrained or put in seclusion. That’s despite an almost 10-year-old law aimed at reducing instances where students are secluded or restrained. The broad consensus is that schools should do more to reduce their reliance on these techniques, but there’s disagreement on whether new legislation is needed to make that happen. (Lohman, 8/14)

Not long after St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her announced the city would shut down the Pig’s Eye Park encampment, citing health and safety concerns, Marty Johnson knew what was coming. He had been through this before. Still, when the morning of Aug. 5 arrived, he stood in the middle of the encampment in disbelief. (Spencer, 8/15)

Andrew D. Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, on how pediatricians are working with parents to calm vaccine fears. (Andrew D. Racine, 8/14)

With our Healthy Opportunities Pilots, Medicaid saved an average of $164 per person per month in North Carolina. Let’s bring it nationwide. (Mandy Cohen and Kody Kinsley, 8/17)

Republicans are taking deliberate steps to make health care less affordable. (8/15)

More than six years after the emergence of Covid-19, no one is keeping track of the risky virus experiments that are capable of starting a pandemic. (Alina Chan, 8/17)

The right way to manage the risk is focusing on physical infrastructure, not censorship. (8/14)

Research shows children benefit when fathers are actively engaged from the very beginning. Paid family leave can help. (Nishant Pandya, 8/17)