Stat: Trump Executive Orders On Health Care: Drug Pricing, ACA, Covid-19
President Trump began his second term Monday with a sweeping order aimed at reversing dozens of former President Biden’s top priorities, from regulations aimed at lowering health care costs, to coronavirus outreach, Affordable Care Act expansions, and protections against gender-based discrimination. (Owermohle, Wilkerson, Zhang and Lawrence, 1/20)

Newsweek: Donald Trump's Medicare Executive Order Explained
President Donald Trump has rescinded former President Joe Biden's executive order 14087, which was put in place to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Americans. Newsweek has reached out to the Trump transition team outside of regular working hours via email for comment. ... While the executive order has been rescinded, existing laws and regulations governing prescription drug pricing and Medicare and Medicaid policies remain in effect. However, the momentum toward developing new cost-saving measures as encouraged by the previous administration has now been disrupted. (McFall, 1/21)

NPR: Medicare Targets 15 More Drugs For Price Cuts, Including Ozempic 
The Biden administration, in its last full weekday in office, announced the next 15 drugs up for Medicare price negotiation. Blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic is on the list. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services negotiated prices for a first batch of drugs last year — something it could only do because of the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022. Those new prices go into effect in January 2026. (Lupkin, 1/17)

Modern Healthcare: ACA Enrollment For 2025 Breaks Another Record
At least 24.2 million people purchased health insurance on the exchange marketplaces during open enrollment for 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Friday. That tally surpasses a record set a year ago, as sign-ups for exchange plans accelerated mostly due to the enhanced subsidies enacted in 2021 and extended in 2022. (Young, 1/17)

AP: Trump Seeks To Designate Drug Cartels As Foreign Terrorist Organizations 
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday saying the United States would designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in a move that could push a militarized agenda for the border and Latin America. The order highlighted Mexican drug cartels and other Latin American criminal groups like Venezuela gang Tren de Aragua and Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), which it said “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.” (Janetsky, 1/21)

The New York Times: Trump Promises Tariffs On Canada And Mexico, And Paves Way For Further Trade Action 
President Trump said on Monday night that he planned to impose a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 and might impose levies on most American imports, as he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to deliver a sweeping review of U.S. trade policies by this spring. Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Monday evening, Mr. Trump said he was thinking of putting tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products because those nations were allowing “mass numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in.” Asked when he might put those in place, Mr. Trump said, “I think we’ll do it Feb. 1.” (Swanson, 1/20)

Mission Local: Mayor Lurie's Fentanyl Plan Is Missing Only One Detail So Far: A Plan
In the days leading up to Daniel Lurie’s swearing-in, political types about town said that, in order to be a successful mayor, he’d have to lead differently than he campaigned. As Mayor Lurie, rather than Candidate Lurie, it would no longer be enough to present broad and vague messaging. A mayor, at some point, has to say not just what they’re going to do but how they’re going to do it. Last week saw the introduction of Lurie’s first piece of legislation, which ostensibly aims to combat fentanyl and mental illness on the streets, boost law-enforcement hiring and other laudable goals by speeding up contracting. But, beyond speeding up contracting, there are no specifics about how this plan would actually accomplish its underlying goals. As such, all this plan is missing — is a plan.  (Eskenazi, 1/20)

The New York Times: Trump Withdraws U.S. From World Health Organization
President Trump moved quickly on Monday to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, a move that public health experts say will undermine the nation’s standing as a global health leader and make it harder to fight the next pandemic. In an executive order issued about eight hours after he took the oath of office, Mr. Trump cited a string of reasons for the withdrawal, including the W.H.O.’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic,” and the “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms.” (Gay Stolberg, 1/20)

The Washington Post: Trump Team Taps Dorothy Fink To Serve As Interim HHS Secretary
Incoming Trump officials have tapped Dorothy Fink, an endocrinologist and career civil servant, as the interim secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Fink, who leads the health agency’s Office on Women’s Health and is a specialist in treating menopause, is in line to lead the nearly $2 trillion agency while Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, undergoes Senate confirmation. (Diamond, 1/19)

The Washington Post: Pressure Builds On RFK Jr. As Confirmation Hearing Remains Unscheduled
Bipartisan critics of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are sharpening their arguments that he is unfit to serve as the nation’s top health official, embracing the extra time they have been given while Kennedy waits for his confirmation hearings to be scheduled. The Office of Government Ethics as of Friday was still evaluating Kennedy’s financial disclosures, which are required for potential Cabinet officials, delaying his anticipated hearings in front of the Senate’s finance and health committees. (Diamond, 1/18)

Military Times: Trump Promises To Bring Back Troops Booted For Refusing COVID Vaccine
Just minutes after returning to office Monday, President Donald Trump vowed to reinstate more than 8,000 troops dismissed from military service for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, promising them back pay that could cost the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars. The promise, which Trump said will happen sometime this week, came amid a host of military policy priorities for the new administration outlined in Trump’s inauguration speech. He also pledged to rebuild the military and avoid unnecessary wars during his term in office. (Shane III, 1/20)

The New York Times: Trump Revokes Biden Executive Order Related To Use Of Chokeholds 
Donald Trump has revoked a Biden executive order on law enforcement reforms that sought to end the use of chokeholds by federal agents and reduce the number of no-knock warrants, a type of sudden entry into a home that has at times ended in violent confrontations. (Barrett, 1/20)

AP: Trump Signs Death Penalty Order Directing Attorney General To Help States Get Lethal Injection Drugs 
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping execution order Monday on the death penalty that directs the attorney general to “take all necessary and lawful action” to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions. Trump’s order, coming just hours after he returned to the White House, compels the Justice Department to not only seek the death penalty in appropriate federal cases but also to help preserve capital punishment in states that have struggled to maintain adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs. (Richer, 1/20)

Becker's Hospital Review: Health Systems Resume Care Amid LA Wildfires
Many health systems have reopened clinics or resumed surgeries during the second week of deadly wildfires spreading through Los Angeles County. Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai and Pasadena, Calif.-based Huntington Hospital were among the healthcare organizations that temporarily paused some elective surgeries due to fire-related disruptions. Most health systems in the area also shuttered outpatient clinics and physician offices amid evacuation orders and heavy smoke. (Bean, 1/17)

Los Angeles Times: First-Responders Face Mental Health Issues From L.A. Wildfires
Trauma specialists are working to help first responders cope with the mental health strain of battling wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles County. (Baxter, 1/19)

Los Angeles Times: Free Child Care Provides Safe Space For Kids Affected By L.A. Fires
Across Los Angeles County, many families whose lives have been upended by the fires are looking to maintain structure and routine for their children and are turning to disaster pop-up camps including Project:Camp. In partnership with L.A. City Recreation and Parks, the camp is providing free child care during the fire crisis. ... Organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA and Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation are also offering free options for child care. And still other preschools, local businesses and families have taken it into their own hands to create temporary child care in this time of need. (Sequeira and Kaleem, 1/18)

Los Angeles Times: Now That You Can Return Home After The Fires, How Do You Clean Up Safely?
Now that authorities are allowing residents to return to fire evacuation zones to see what’s left of their homes, health experts say it’s safer to wait a while before venturing into the burn areas. But if you plan on seeing with your own eyes what has become of your home, there are some precautions you can take to protect your health. (Garcia and Briscoe, 1/17)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Supervisors Move To Waive Impact Fees For Affordable Housing Developers In Bid To Spur Projects 
Aiming to spur more affordable housing development, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has set a course to waive, at least temporarily, a set of fees charged to new projects and used to offset the public cost of utilities, parks and other services for new residents. (Murphy, 1/18)

East Bay Times: Money Raised On GoFundMe Could Affect Federal Aid For Victims Of LA Wildfires
Among the hundreds of people affected by the Los Angeles wildfires who are turning to GoFundMe for disaster relief, some may no longer qualify for specific forms of FEMA assistance. (Darwish, 1/21)

AP: Fire At Battery Plant In Moss Landing, California, Forces Evacuations
A fire at the world’s largest battery storage plant in Northern California smoldered Friday after sending plumes of toxic smoke into the atmosphere, leading to the evacuation of up to 1,500 people. The blaze also shook up the young battery storage industry. The fire at the Vistra Energy lithium battery plant in Moss Landing generated huge flames and significant amounts of smoke Thursday but had diminished significantly by Friday, Fire Chief Joel Mendoza of the North County Fire Protection District of Monterey County said. Vistra is based in Texas. (Rodriguez and O’Malley, 1/18)

CBS News: Government Website Offering Reproductive Health Information Goes Offline
Government website reproductiverights.gov appeared to be offline on the evening of President Donald Trump's inauguration. The site, launched in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of a public awareness campaign, contained information on access to abortion and reproductive health care and a Know-Your-Rights patient fact sheet. (Fichten, 1/20)

The Washington Post: Carol Downer, A Founder Of The Women’s Health Movement, Dies At 91
Carol Downer, a self-described housewife turned feminist activist who helped lead the women’s health movement in the 1970s, mobilizing women to take charge of their bodies and popularizing a controversial method of at-home abortion known as menstrual extraction, died Jan. 13 at a hospital in Glendale, California. She was 91. She had suffered a heart attack two weeks before her death, said her daughter Angela Booth. (Langer, 1/17)

The Texas Tribune: Longtime Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards Dies
Cecile Richards, a lifelong advocate for women’s rights who led Planned Parenthood for 12 years, has died at the age of 67 after a battle with brain cancer, her family said in a statement Monday morning. Richards, the eldest daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, forged her own path as an activist and political force for women across Texas and the United States. (Klibanoff, 1/20)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Data Breaches Topped 700 In 2024
After the worst year for healthcare data breaches, where the number of reported attacks topped 700 for the fourth-straight year and a record 184 million people had their healthcare data compromised, one would be hard-pressed to find a silver lining. John Riggi, national adviser for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association, sees one. "I have never seen the healthcare sector so engaged in cybersecurity," he said, "from the [C-suite] level all the way down to operational staff." (Broderick, 1/17)

MedPage Today: MedPAC Members Vote To Recommend Pay Hikes For Physicians And Hospitals
Physicians would get a 3% Medicare fee-for-service pay increase -- with primary care doctors getting a little more and other doctors getting a little less -- and hospitals would also receive a pay bump if Congress adopted two draft recommendations approved Thursday by the Medicare Payment Assessment Commission (MedPAC). (Frieden, 1/17)

The Washington Post: Medicare Patients Seeking Neurology Appointment Face Weekslong Wait
Medicare patients referred to a neurologist had to wait a median of 34 days before being seen, and nearly 1 in 5 patients waited more than 90 days, in 2018 and 2019, according to a study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The researchers studied a sample of Medicare patients — 163,313 people, average age 73.8 years old — who were referred to a neurologist in 2018 and 2019. The median wait time between referral and appointment was 34 days, and 18 percent of patients waited more than 90 days, the study found. (Docter-Loeb, 1/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Faces ‘Quad-Demic’ As Viral Illnesses Surge Post-Holidays
After the holiday season and an uptick in travel, California is seeing a rise in respiratory illnesses, prompting health experts to talk of a potential “quad-demic.” The term refers to the simultaneous spread of four major viruses: COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and norovirus. While each virus has distinct effects, their combined impact could overwhelm health care systems and disrupt daily life. (Vaziri, 1/17)

ABC News: Moderna Awarded $590M To Help Accelerate Development Of MRNA-Based Bird Flu Vaccine: HHS
Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, alongside other influenza vaccines, health officials announced Friday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a press release that the funding will allow the pharmaceutical company to accelerate the development of an H5N1 mRNA influenza vaccine "that is well matched to strains currently circulating in cows and birds and expands the clinical data supporting the use of mRNA vaccines that may be needed if other influenza strains emerge with pandemic potential." (Benadjaoud and Deliso, 1/18)

KVPR: Bird Flu Has Surged Through California’s Dairy Cattle. So Why Has It Left Beef Cattle Alone?
Avian influenza has now infected cattle at more than 700 of California’s dairies. That encompasses the vast majority of farms that make up the state’s $8-billion-a-year dairy industry. But when it comes to non-dairy cattle, zero have tested positive in California. ... The reason behind the disparity is one of many unanswered questions about the virus–and an area where research is ongoing. Understanding why some cattle get infected and others don’t could provide a better understanding of the virus’s behavior and severity. (Klein, 1/17)

CNN: With Bird Flu Cases Rising, Certain Kinds Of Pet Food May Be Risky For Animals – And People
When Jamila Acfalle decided to get her first cat, she had one requirement: It had to be brave. Acfalle is a dog trainer in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. She works with dogs that have behavior problems that put them at risk of rehoming or euthanasia. She needed a cat who wouldn’t be intimidated by the large, bouncy canines she brings home. (Goodman, 1/18)