Judge Orders Health Officials to Stop Sharing Some Medicaid Data With Immigration Authorities
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said on Aug. 12 that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a component of HHS, failed to 'carry out a reasoned decisionmaking process' before deciding to share the data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
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Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
HHS embraces AI
EXAM ROOM The Department of Health and Human Services has emerged as the leader in artificial intelligence use among all federal agencies. In 2024, HHS reported 116 different ways to use AI for generating content and responses — up from just seven the year before, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, which monitors agencies for Congress. The GAO reported 271 different AI tools in use last year. A recent analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington, reveals how three HHS agencies have implemented AI. Notably, they're largely using chatbots to help them work more efficiently. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: In 2023, the CDC launched ChatCDC, a bot built on OpenAI's large language models that can summarize meeting minutes, internal documents and studies. It also uses the bot to write code for data analysis. The CDC is experimenting with an updated version that uses more internal documents, but as of January, it hadn't yet been released. The Food and Drug Administration: The FDA has launched a chatbot to help staff respond to emails, summarize meeting minutes and perform a wide variety of basic tasks. While FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has promised faster regulatory review turnaround, staff have argued that the tool is prone to mistakes and incapable of assisting with the review process. The FDA has also experimented with using AI for an array of tasks, including labeling drugs and looking for data patterns and anomalies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: CMS uses AI to prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse and analyze prescription drug costs. The takeaway: HHS continues to lead the way for AI use. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he sees digital technology and AI as key tools for improving health care outcomes and reducing costs. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is calling for an investigation into Meta following reporting that the company allowed its chatbots to 'engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.' Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@ Ruth Reader at rreader@ or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@ Want to share a tip securely? Message us on Signal: CarmenP.82, RuthReader.02 or ErinSchumaker.01. INFLUENCERS A newly launched psychedelic medicine foundation wants to become the 'American Cancer Society of ibogaine access.' Mission Within Foundation, which officially launched today, plans to use the $2 million in funding it has secured from private donors and foundations to promote the psychedelic drug ibogaine, derived from an African shrub, as a mental health treatment. The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies ibogaine as a Schedule I drug with no currently acceptable medical use and a high risk of abuse. It can pose heart risks and has been linked to about two dozen deaths in recent decades. The foundation plans to lobby for safe and legal access to ibogaine treatment in the U.S. and offer fully funded psychedelic therapy retreats to veterans and frontline workers with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, depression and addiction. It will also team up with the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas on three ibogaine research studies. Who's who: Dr. Martín Polanco, who runs The Mission Within, a psychedelic medicine clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, is one of the foundation's founders. He's treated more than 5,000 people with traumatic brain injuries and mental health conditions like PTSD, including many veterans, using ibogaine and the psychedelic drug 5-MeO-DMT, a desert toad secretion. Polanco has the ear of Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and Lou Correa (D-Calif.), co-founders of the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies Caucus, who've been working in Washington to advance psychedelic medicine. Correa traveled to Polanco's clinic in Tijuana last year to talk with him in person and see whether his work justified further research on the drugs in the U.S. The foundation, which is also advocating for psychedelic medicine more broadly, is supporting Correa and Bergman's Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act, which the pair introduced in April. The bill seeks $30 million for Veterans Affairs Department research on psychedelic therapies and would create five centers of excellence to research alternative treatments for veterans. What's next: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a law in June putting $50 million in state funding toward clinical trials of ibogaine as a mental health treatment. And the state budget Arizona's Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, signed into law the same month included a commitment of $5 million for studying ibogaine. Mississippi plans to hold a joint hearing of the House and Senate Public Health and Human Services committees on ibogaine on August 28.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Plan For Increases, Perhaps Big Increases, In Medicare Part D Premiums For 2026
The final numbers aren't in yet, but it looks like premiums for Medicare Part D prescription drug insurance policies will increase for 2026, and they could increase substantially. Part D policies are insurance policies issued by private sector companies and overseen and regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The program has been in existence since 2006 and is partly subsidized by the federal government. There were substantial premium increases and reductions in benefits for 2025. Several factors caused those changes, such as higher use of prescription drugs and price increases for some drugs. Another reason Part D premiums increased from 2024-2025 was the change in Medicare's coverage of catastrophic prescription drug expenses. Previously, there was a coverage gap, also known as the doughnut hole. The coverage gap began after a beneficiary's prescription medication spending exceeded a certain level for the year. Then, the beneficiary paid all prescription drug expenses until out-of-pocket spending for the year hit a certain level. After that, the beneficiary paid only 5% of costs for the rest of the year. The Inflation Reduction Act eliminated the coverage gap and phased in a change. For 2025 and later years, a Part D policyholder's out-of-pocket prescription drug spending is capped at $2,000 per year. The law required the insurance companies to pick up most of the cost after a beneficiary's spending exceeded the $2,000 limit. That pushed Part D premiums higher for 2025, despite a $6.2 billion increase in the federal government's subsidies to the insurers for the year. The subsidy is expected to be decreased by about 40% in 2026. Insurers still are developing their plans for 2026 and submitting bids to CMS. But insurers told The Wall Street Journal that premiums are likely to increase significantly for 2026 because of higher costs (due to tariffs and higher claims), regulatory changes and the subsidy reduction. CMS officials told the Journal that premiums are expected to rise about $10 per month solely because of the reduced subsidy. They expect the total increase in the average premium for 2026 to be no more than $50 per month. The increases will vary between policies and insurers. Details of Part D policies won't be known until the Open Enrollment season begins on October 7. But beneficiaries should begin preparing now. Beneficiaries should expect that some current policies won't be available in 2026. They also should expect to pay higher Part D premiums in 2026 and beyond for all policies. CMS said in a Fact Sheet on July 28 that it took unprecedented action to avoid significant year-to-year price increases. Actions it took included negotiating with insurers on their bid terms for 2026 Part D policies and denying bids it considered unacceptable. CMS hasn't published data on the range of 2026 premiums and plan terms. It said data such as average premiums will be released in mid- to late of original Medicare should plan to pay higher Part D premiums in 2026 and beyond. Some beneficiaries might think they can avoid the premium increases and reduced benefits by enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan. Prescription drugs are a component in those plans instead of a separate benefit. But Medicare Advantage plans face the same rules and conditions on their prescription drug benefits as do insurers who offer standalone Part D policies. The changes can't be avoided by enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declares 'loyalty' to Trump, rules out a 2028 presidential bid
WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he's not running for president in 2028 and intends to remain in his position until President Donald Trump leaves office. The leader of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement said in an X post that his "loyalty" lies with Trump, and he dismissed speculation about his political future as part of a "smear campaign" from disgruntled Washington insiders who oppose the MAHA agenda. "They're pushing the flat-out lie that I'm running for president in 2028. Let me be clear: I am not running for president in 2028," Kennedy said. Kennedy competed for the presidency in 2024, first as a Democrat and later as an independent, before suspending his candidacy last August and throwing his support behind Trump. After the election, Trump made him HHS secretary. His comments ruling out a 2028 bid came far-right activist Laura Loomer accused Kennedy aide Stefanie Spear of using her position at HHS to lay the groundwork for Kennedy to run again. Loomer's comment came in a Politico interview and followed an Axios report in July that said Kennedy super PAC head Tony Lyons and Spear convened MAHA supporters on a call that left some attendees with the impression he was mulling another campaign. But in his social media post, Kennedy said, "The president has made himself the answer to my 20-year prayer that God would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic — and that's exactly what my team and I will do until the day he leaves office." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. says he's not running for president in 2028
