Latest news with #ColoradoWINS
CBS News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Two of Colorado's biggest unions join a state employee in suing Gov. Jared Polis
Colorado WINS, a union representing 27,000 state employees, and the AFL-CIO say they are joining a top official in the Department of Labor and Employment in suing Gov. Jared Polis after they say he ordered state employees to commit illegal acts. "We are outraged as state employees that our governor wanted us to actively support that assault on our community and make us as state workers accomplices in an illegal and morally reprehensible act," says Diane Byrne, President of Colorado WINS. At issue is a subpoena for information -- including addresses and phone numbers -- on 35 individuals who the Department of Homeland Security says are listed as sponsors of unaccompanied children who are in the U.S. illegally. The agency has apparently lost track of the kids and says they may be subject to crimes of human trafficking or other forms of exploitation. While two laws, signed by Polis, bar state employees from sharing personally identifying information for immigration enforcement, they make an exception for criminal investigations. The governor ordered employees at the Department of Labor and Employment to comply with the subpoena. CBS A spokesperson for the governor says, "The decision to respond to this federal subpoena due to concerns about potential crimes against vulnerable minors was carefully considered in accordance with Colorado law, which allows for sharing information to support timely criminal investigations." Scott Moss, a director at the Department of Labor and Employment, disagrees. He notes the subpoena wasn't issued by a judge and is titled "Immigration Enforcement Subpoena." He sued the governor. State Sen. Julie Gonzalez went a step further, suggesting Polis should step down. "I don't know about you but, Jared Polis has broken my trust," she said. She says Polis has also broken the trust of individuals who were promised their information would be protected from immigration agents. David Seligman is Executive Director of Towards Justice, a civil rights organization that has also joined the lawsuit. He says the Governor's directive doesn't make sense. "So why is the governor going out of his way to help Donald Trump and ICE?" Seligman said. The governor's spokesperson says: "Helping federal law enforcement partners locate and, if necessary, rescue children being abused and trafficked is not only in line with the law but also a moral imperative." It's estimated 75%-80% of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are victims of human trafficking. The lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court and will be heard in a couple weeks.
Axios
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Axios
Legal pressure mounts against Gov. Polis over ICE data disclosure
Legal pressure is mounting against Democratic Gov. Jared Polis after revelations that he ordered state officials to comply with an ICE subpoena and hand over personal data of undocumented children in Colorado to federal immigration agents. The latest: Colorado WINS — the union representing more than 27,000 state workers— civil rights group Towards Justice and labor organization Colorado AFL-CIOannounced Monday they're joining as plaintiffs on a whistleblower lawsuit filed last week by Scott Moss, a senior labor official in Polis' administration. The groups accuse the governor of "colluding" with ICE agents and violating multiple state laws that restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement in non-criminal matters. The intrigue: Polis has agreed not to act on the subpoena until after the judge rules on a request for a temporary restraining order and injunction, according to his attorney's court filing last week. The big picture: The backlash highlights growing fractures in Polis' support among labor leaders, civil rights advocates and Latino Democrats — many of whom viewed him as an ally. Just weeks ago, Polis signed a bill prohibiting state and local officials from collecting or sharing information about immigration status unless it directly involves a criminal investigation. What they're saying:"The actions that Gov. Polis has taken are undermining public trust in our state government," Colorado WINS president Diane Byrne said at a news briefing on the steps of Denver City Hall on Monday. "This action by the governor represents a betrayal to the immigrant community of our state," the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus said in a statement Monday, adding that Polis has turned "his back on some of the most vulnerable residents." Catch up quick: On April 24, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed the state labor department for detailed records — including wage data, leave filings and home addresses — for 35 people sponsoring unaccompanied migrant children. According to the records, Polis initially resisted but later reversed, ordering staff to comply or face termination. The other side: The governor's office defends its action, saying it was a criminal matter. "We are committed to partnering on criminal investigations ... including to protect against human trafficking and child exploitation," Polis' spokesperson Eric Maruyama told us. Reality check: The subpoena reviewed by Axios Denver makes no mention of any open criminal investigation, nor is it court-ordered. Instead, the administrative request references broad "investigative activities" to ensure children released to sponsors were safe — citing general risks of trafficking or exploitation. Crucially, a checkbox on the subpoena that would formally classify the request as involving child exploitation was left blank. The bottom line: Polis' office appears to be casting a civil immigration enforcement request as a criminal matter — sidestepping state law to justify a politically risky decision of turning over immigrant data to ICE.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Diet drug boom weighs heavily on state budgets
Colorado's spending on highly effective but costly weight-loss drugs for state workers more than quadrupled from 2023 to 2024 — and costs have been doubling every six months. Now, the state wants to scrap the benefit, arguing that it's financially unsustainable. But the potential removal of the popular benefit has sparked blowback among state workers. The state employees' union argues ending coverage will cost the health plan in other ways — increasing spending on obesity-related diseases and leading to a less healthy workforce. '[State employees] are very upset about this,' said Hilary Glasgow, executive director of the union, Colorado WINS. 'Long-term obesity drives a lot of the major fatal diseases in America, and the employees I've talked to feel like they're losing a lifeline that got thrown to them.' The Colorado case underscores the broader struggle of states — many of which are facing budget shortfalls this year — that cover weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for state workers. Over the past three years, a growing number of states have taken leaps of faith in covering the expensive class of drugs, hoping that the benefit would lead to healthier workforces that would be less expensive to insure. But with the number of prescriptions skyrocketing past projections — more than 1 in 10 Americans reported taking a GLP-1 drug, according to a May 2024 KFF Health Tracking poll — some states are limiting or ending the benefit. At least two others — North Carolina and West Virginia — have already eliminated coverage due to cost concerns. That means state employees seeking the drugs for weight loss in those states will have to pay up to $1,500 a month for the treatments. The issue is forcing states into difficult deliberations: Keep covering the drugs and risk depleting their budgets — and potentially increase premiums for everyone on their plans — or eliminate a benefit that many employees now rely on. The dilemma also comes as states face their toughest budgetary pressures in years, in large part because federal cash they received during the pandemic has disappeared. And the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to slash federal funding threatens to create further fiscal duress for states. In a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, President Donald Trump lambasted the high price of the drugs. "In London you get it for $88. In New York you get it for $1,200,' he said. 'It's very unfair.' And if Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on Denmark, the move could further drive up the costs of Ozempic and Wegovy, which are manufactured by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk — and create even greater fiscal challenges for state policymakers. 'The problem is the near-term cost is so high, and the benefits that you would gain are over a longer-term period,' said Charles Sallee, director of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, which is exploring options to reduce the costs of covering the drugs for state employees. 'But is that person still going to be in your health plan five years from now?' Because states can choose whether to cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, there is a patchwork of coverage for state employees across the country. At least 17 state employee health plans — an almost even mix of red and blue states — cover the drugs for weight loss, according to the Leverage Obesity Coverage Nexus. The potential market for the drugs is massive — more than 40 percent of adults in the U.S. are obese — and has seen explosive growth. The number of Americans taking GLP-1s for weight loss rose more than 700 percent between 2019 and 2023, according to a recent study. North Carolina opted to end coverage of the drugs for weight loss last year after estimating that the costs over the next six years could reach more than $1 billion. And West Virginia last year abruptly ended a subsidy program that helped state employees pay for the weight-loss drugs, saying the treatments were too expensive. Both states still cover the drugs for other conditions, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Delaware started covering GLP-1s for weight loss for state employees in 2023, expecting to spend $1.8 million that year. The state ended up spending $14.2 million. For 2025, the plan expects to spend $52.8 million on weight-loss drugs. The plan raised premiums 27 percent for fiscal year 2025 to address rising costs of prescription drugs and increased health care expenses overall. The state committee that manages the health plan has had discussions about limiting, or potentially ending, coverage. But adding restrictions raises another risk: Drugmakers might threaten to pull back tens of millions of dollars in rebates that plans receive for offering coverage. 'Once you've done it, it is difficult to take it away,' said Shaun O'Brien, a member of the Delaware State Employee Benefits Committee and the policy director of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The health plan for New Mexico's nearly 60,000 state and local government workers is projecting a $85 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2025, according to a presentation from the state Health Care Authority obtained by POLITICO. The agency, which runs the plan, estimates GLP-1 costs for weight loss alone may exceed $20 million in 2025. The Health Care Authority is projecting a $87 million budget shortfall and a more than 10 percent increase in drug spending in fiscal year 2026, largely driven by GLP-1 costs, according to the presentation. That means the plan would need a 29 percent premium increase in 2026 to cover the rising costs of medical and prescription drug claims. New Mexico is struggling to contain the costs without ending coverage, said Sallee, the director of the Legislative Finance Committee. The panel is working with the Health Care Authority on options — including more restrictions on who can access the drugs, like a higher BMI threshold. "Taking away what is widely seen as a highly effective drug at helping people lead healthier lives purely based on cost of a drug could be challenging,' said Sallee. 'We should be working on getting better prices for the drugs.' The committee has also floated purchasing compounded versions of the drugs, which can be cheaper than brand-name versions sold by drugmakers like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Compounded drugs contain the same basic ingredients as the brand-name versions, but the FDA doesn't review them for safety and efficacy, posing risks for states looking to purchase them directly. Colorado's state employee union is trying to get Democratic Gov. Jared Polis to keep coverage of the drugs, which his administration proposed scrapping in its latest budget request. The state is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, and the threat of suspension of some federal funding is compounding the financial challenges. Colorado WINS and the governor's office are weighing how to continue covering the drugs against how much premiums might increase for everyone on the plan due to rising costs. 'To eliminate GLP-1s is short-sighted because of the cost of life-saving drugs later on for things like heart disease, cancer — the myriad of diseases that are driven by obesity or have obesity as a factor,' said Glasgow, the union executive director. Connecticut's state employee health plan last year took an experimental approach to coverage — requiring employees to enroll in a lifestyle management program called Flyte before receiving the medications. The program offers tools for weight management and personalized care plans. The state hoped adding the requirement would reverse the drugs' cost trend, which was projected to reach $30 million in 2023. The program showed early success in reducing the number of GLP-1 prescriptions, cutting the cost trend in half. The experiment also offered a potential road map for other organizations working through how to afford the drugs. And clinically, the program has been a success: Enrollees have had a 16 percent drop in weight and BMI and a 14 percent drop in blood pressure. The outcomes have led to a happier and more productive workforce, said Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon. But 19 months in, more and more state employees are enrolling in the program. Between October and January, more than 3,500 state employees joined Flyte, bringing the total to nearly 12,000 members. And while the program initially slashed the state's $30 million cost for the drugs in half, those costs are creeping back up. The state now projects it will spend $23 million on the treatments in fiscal year 2025. 'Our cost trend is kind of now going back in the wrong direction,' said Scanlon. 'But at the end of the day, I still believe that this is the right policy.'
Politico
12-02-2025
- Health
- Politico
Diet drug boom weighs heavily on state budgets
Colorado's spending on highly effective but costly weight-loss drugs for state workers more than quadrupled from 2023 to 2024 — and costs have been doubling every six months. Now, the state wants to scrap the benefit, arguing that it's financially unsustainable. But the potential removal of the popular benefit has sparked blowback among state workers. The state employees' union argues ending coverage will cost the health plan in other ways — increasing spending on obesity-related diseases and leading to a less healthy workforce. '[State employees] are very upset about this,' said Hilary Glasgow, executive director of the union, Colorado WINS. 'Long-term obesity drives a lot of the major fatal diseases in America, and the employees I've talked to feel like they're losing a lifeline that got thrown to them.' The Colorado case underscores the broader struggle of states — many of which are facing budget shortfalls this year — that cover weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for state workers. Over the past three years, a growing number of states have taken leaps of faith in covering the expensive class of drugs, hoping that the benefit would lead to healthier workforces that would be less expensive to insure. But with the number of prescriptions skyrocketing past projections — more than 1 in 10 Americans reported taking a GLP-1 drug, according to a May 2024 KFF Health Tracking poll — some states are limiting or ending the benefit. At least two others — North Carolina and West Virginia — have already eliminated coverage due to cost concerns. That means state employees seeking the drugs for weight loss in those states will have to pay up to $1,500 a month for the treatments. The issue is forcing states into difficult deliberations: Keep covering the drugs and risk depleting their budgets — and potentially increase premiums for everyone on their plans — or eliminate a benefit that many employees now rely on. The dilemma also comes as states face their toughest budgetary pressures in years, in large part because federal cash they received during the pandemic has disappeared. And the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to slash federal funding threatens to create further fiscal duress for states. In a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, President Donald Trump lambasted the high price of the drugs. 'In London you get it for $88. In New York you get it for $1,200,' he said. 'It's very unfair.' And if Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on Denmark, the move could further drive up the costs of Ozempic and Wegovy, which are manufactured by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk — and create even greater fiscal challenges for state policymakers. 'The problem is the near-term cost is so high, and the benefits that you would gain are over a longer-term period,' said Charles Sallee, director of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, which is exploring options to reduce the costs of covering the drugs for state employees. 'But is that person still going to be in your health plan five years from now?' Because states can choose whether to cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, there is a patchwork of coverage for state employees across the country. At least 17 state employee health plans — an almost even mix of red and blue states — cover the drugs for weight loss, according to the Leverage Obesity Coverage Nexus. The potential market for the drugs is massive — more than 40 percent of adults in the U.S. are obese — and has seen explosive growth. The number of Americans taking GLP-1s for weight loss rose more than 700 percent between 2019 and 2023, according to a recent study. North Carolina opted to end coverage of the drugs for weight loss last year after estimating that the costs over the next six years could reach more than $1 billion. And West Virginia last year abruptly ended a subsidy program that helped state employees pay for the weight-loss drugs, saying the treatments were too expensive. Both states still cover the drugs for other conditions, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Delaware started covering GLP-1s for weight loss for state employees in 2023, expecting to spend $1.8 million that year. The state ended up spending $14.2 million. For 2025, the plan expects to spend $52.8 million on weight-loss drugs. The plan raised premiums 27 percent for fiscal year 2025 to address rising costs of prescription drugs and increased health care expenses overall. The state committee that manages the health plan has had discussions about limiting, or potentially ending, coverage. But adding restrictions raises another risk: Drugmakers might threaten to pull back tens of millions of dollars in rebates that plans receive for offering coverage. 'Once you've done it, it is difficult to take it away,' said Shaun O'Brien, a member of the Delaware State Employee Benefits Committee and the policy director of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The health plan for New Mexico's nearly 60,000 state and local government workers is projecting a $85 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2025, according to a presentation from the state Health Care Authority obtained by POLITICO. The agency, which runs the plan, estimates GLP-1 costs for weight loss alone may exceed $20 million in 2025. The Health Care Authority is projecting a $87 million budget shortfall and a more than 10 percent increase in drug spending in fiscal year 2026, largely driven by GLP-1 costs, according to the presentation. That means the plan would need a 29 percent premium increase in 2026 to cover the rising costs of medical and prescription drug claims. New Mexico is struggling to contain the costs without ending coverage, said Sallee, the director of the Legislative Finance Committee. The panel is working with the Health Care Authority on options — including more restrictions on who can access the drugs, like a higher BMI threshold. 'Taking away what is widely seen as a highly effective drug at helping people lead healthier lives purely based on cost of a drug could be challenging,' said Sallee. 'We should be working on getting better prices for the drugs.' The committee has also floated purchasing compounded versions of the drugs, which can be cheaper than brand-name versions sold by drugmakers like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Compounded drugs contain the same basic ingredients as the brand-name versions, but the FDA doesn't review them for safety and efficacy, posing risks for states looking to purchase them directly. Colorado's state employee union is trying to get Democratic Gov. Jared Polis to keep coverage of the drugs, which his administration proposed scrapping in its latest budget request. The state is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, and the threat of suspension of some federal funding is compounding the financial challenges. Colorado WINS and the governor's office are weighing how to continue covering the drugs against how much premiums might increase for everyone on the plan due to rising costs. 'To eliminate GLP-1s is short-sighted because of the cost of life-saving drugs later on for things like heart disease, cancer — the myriad of diseases that are driven by obesity or have obesity as a factor,' said Glasgow, the union executive director. Connecticut's state employee health plan last year took an experimental approach to coverage — requiring employees to enroll in a lifestyle management program called Flyte before receiving the medications. The program offers tools for weight management and personalized care plans. The state hoped adding the requirement would reverse the drugs' cost trend, which was projected to reach $30 million in 2023. The program showed early success in reducing the number of GLP-1 prescriptions, cutting the cost trend in half. The experiment also offered a potential road map for other organizations working through how to afford the drugs. And clinically, the program has been a success: Enrollees have had a 16 percent drop in weight and BMI and a 14 percent drop in blood pressure. The outcomes have led to a happier and more productive workforce, said Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon. But 19 months in, more and more state employees are enrolling in the program. Between October and January, more than 3,500 state employees joined Flyte, bringing the total to nearly 12,000 members. And while the program initially slashed the state's $30 million cost for the drugs in half, those costs are creeping back up. The state now projects it will spend $23 million on the treatments in fiscal year 2025. 'Our cost trend is kind of now going back in the wrong direction,' said Scanlon. 'But at the end of the day, I still believe that this is the right policy.'
Politico
12-02-2025
- Health
- Politico
Ozempic boom weighs on state budgets
Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices Driving The Day DIET DRUGS DRIVE UP COSTS — Soaring costs of weight-loss drugs are leading some states to scrap the benefit for state employees, your host reports. After Colorado's spending on the highly effective but costly drugs classified as GLP-1s, which include Ozempic and Wegovy, more than quadrupled from 2023 to 2024 — with usage doubling every six months — the state health plan is proposing ending coverage, arguing it's financially unsustainable. The potential removal of coverage is sparking blowback among state workers. The state employees' union argues that ending coverage will cost the health plan in other ways: an increase in spending on obesity-related diseases and a less healthy workforce. '[State employees] are very upset about this,' Hilary Glasgow, executive director of the union, Colorado WINS, said. 'Long-term obesity drives a lot of the major fatal diseases in America, and the employees I've talked to feel like they're losing a lifeline that got thrown to them.' Why it matters: Colorado's case illustrates the broader struggles states that choose to cover the drugs for employees face as many states deal with budget shortfalls: Keep covering the drugs and risk depleting their budgets — and potentially increase premiums for everyone on their plans — or eliminate a benefit many employees rely on. At least two others — North Carolina and West Virginia — have already eliminated coverage due to cost concerns. That means those states' employees seeking the drugs for weight loss will have to pay up to $1,500 a month for the treatments. The dilemma also comes as states face their toughest budgetary pressures in years, largely because the federal cash they received during the pandemic has been spent. 'The problem is the near-term cost is so high, and the benefits that you would gain are over a longer-term period,' said Charles Sallee, director of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, which is exploring options to reduce the costs of covering the drugs for state employees. 'But is that person still going to be in your health plan five years from now?' Key context: GLP-1s are growing increasingly popular: The number of Americans taking the drugs for weight loss rose more than 700 percent between 2019 and 2023, according to a recent study. Michigan, which covers about 49,000 state employees, spent $5.2 million on weight-loss drugs in 2022. That number skyrocketed to $17.5 million in 2023 and $36 million in 2024. The state's Civil Service Commission said one struggle in designing coverage is that the drugs are new, so data on the effects of long-term use is limited. 'If weight loss isn't sustained with or without GLP-1s, we aren't going to have good health outcomes, and plan costs are going to go up,' said Bethany Beauchine, director of the Bureau of Benefits Administration at the Michigan Civil Service Commission. 'What we're trying to figure out is whether the plan costs will stay manageable with the use of the GLP-1s.' WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. We hope our D.C. readers are staying warm amid the snowy weather. Send tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and ccirruzzo@ and follow along @Kelhoops and @ChelseaCirruzzo. AROUND THE AGENCIES CMMI TO SCRAP DEMOGRAPHIC DATA — The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation will stop collecting data from its payment model participants on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and preferred language, your host reports. The new policy is aimed at implementing executive orders from President Donald Trump that instruct federal agencies to remove policies and activities that promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, the organization said Tuesday in an email to CMMI managers and obtained by POLITICO. CMMI was created as part of the Affordable Care Act to test alternative payments and care delivery under Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. The organization will also 'consider' continuing to collect self-reported disability status 'pending further review,' the email said. 'In keeping with President Trump's Executive Orders, [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] is reviewing all of its programs and publications to make sure they align with the President's priorities,' said CMMI's parent agency in a statement. Key context: Trump has called DEI policies discriminatory and said they undermine 'the Constitution's promise of colorblind equality.' Why it matters: Health experts have argued that collecting demographic data, including on race and ethnicity, can help identify and correct health disparities. The Biden administration in 2021 launched a strategic redesign of CMMI with a major focus on improving health equity and encouraging rural and underserved medical providers to sign up for value-based care payment models. A key part of the strategy required payment model participants to collect data on the demographic characteristics of beneficiaries to help address health disparities. Eye on Insurers HUMANA DEFENDS MEDICARE ADVANTAGE — Humana CEO Jim Rechtin on Tuesday defended insurers and Medicare Advantage amid a 'volatile few months,' as the industry has come under intense public and congressional scrutiny over care denials and high costs. 'Americans understandably want high-quality, affordable care that is easy to navigate,' he said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. 'Too often, that is not what they are receiving today. There is no one company and there is no one sector that is responsible for this. It is a system challenge.' Rechtin touted what he called the benefits of Medicare Advantage — the privately run alternative to Medicare that enrolls more than half of the eligible population — over traditional Medicare, including more affordable care and better access to care. But he emphasized the need to improve the program, including simplifying navigation for patients and providing better customer service. Rechtin said the company will invest heavily over the next year in improving operations and quality of its MA plans. Why it matters: The comments come as insurers have come under fire for how often they deny care, especially after the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December, with the incident sparking outrage on social media pointed toward the industry. Lawmakers in Congress also have grown increasingly critical of insurers' prior authorization practices. Other major insurers, like Cigna, have since announced plans to focus on and improve customer satisfaction rates. Key context: A forecast profit for 2025 that fell below Wall Street's expectations accompanied Rechtin's comments. Humana and other MA insurers continue to deal with elevated medical costs and an uncertain regulatory environment. Rechtin said the company isn't yet providing an outlook for 2026 because of those uncertainties, including not knowing what CMS' final payment rate notice for 2026 will be and ongoing litigation against the agency over a downgrade in Humana's star ratings — a key metric assessing plan quality that the government uses to determine bonus payments. In Congress PRESSURE IS ON ARRINGTON — House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has the opportunity to make the enormous cuts to federal spending he's always wanted, POLITICO's Rachael Bade and Meredith Lee Hill report. But the Texas Republican is at risk of being outmaneuvered by fellow chairs, senior leaders and the Senate as frustration mounts over his struggle to advance President Donald Trump's vast policy agenda. The House Republicans' budget blueprint, blessed by Speaker Mike Johnson, has long been stalled in the chamber. On Tuesday, Arrington called for a Thursday committee meeting to resolve vast differences on and advance the plan — and he now has less than 48 hours to figure out how to make it all work. 'We'll soon find out if Jodey is in over his head,' one GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak candidly, texted shortly after Arrington announced the Thursday markup. Arrington will have to take on the difficult task of bridging the deficit-minded politics of the hard right with the more pragmatic concerns of swing-district Republicans wary of political blowback. He's also facing increasing pressure from top House leaders as they try to swiftly deliver Trump's legislative agenda. Key context: Arrington made clear that his heart lies with the panel's most conservative members, who want to seize the opportunity to get the nation's fiscal trajectory on track. He's long agitated for Republicans to get control of skyrocketing spending on the mandatory programs — including Medicare and Medicaid — that largely drive federal budget deficits. Names in the News Dr. Daniel Knecht is joining EmblemHealth as chief medical officer. Knecht most recently served as chief clinical innovation officer at CVS Caremark. Marvin Figueroa is joining BGR Group as a vice president in the health and life sciences practice. Figueroa was most recently chief of staff to former Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.). WHAT WE'RE READING POLITICO's Kyle Cheney reports on President Donald Trump's escalating clashes with federal courts. STAT's Sarah Owermohle and Rachel Cohrs Zhang report on how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could revive a dormant task force to scrutinize vaccine safety. KFF Health News' Daniel Chang reports on the big perks a small Florida town is offering to attract a new doctor.
