General Mental Health
- Individuals with mental health conditions are at increased risk of developing a substance use disorder, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), often because they may self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. In its recently released National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), SAMHSA—an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services—reviewed self-reported questionnaire results from nearly 70 000 individuals across the U.S. to better gauge the scope of both issues and the way they interact. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction
- A new study suggests the brain physically adapts to rely on alcohol to relieve stress and anxiety, creating a powerful feedback loop that makes quitting drinking extremely difficult. Researchers at Scripps Research identified a set of brain cells that become more active when drinkers start associating alcohol with relief from withdrawal. The finding pinpoints a biological mechanism behind addiction, offering more evidence that alcoholism is not just about pleasure or willpower but about deep changes in brain function. Read more here.
Government Shutdown – ACA Enhanced Health Insurance Subsidies
- President Donald Trump cracked the door slightly to negotiations with Democrats on the health care subsidies they’ve made central to the shutdown fight, then abruptly closed it, leaving the two sides once again at a seemingly intractable impasse. Read more here.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued the end-of-year deadline to extend subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is an “eternity” away. “We have effectively three months to negotiate. In the White House and in the halls of Congress, that’s like an eternity,” Johnson told MSNBC’s Ali Vitali. Read more here.
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) signaled a willingness to negotiate with Democrats on their health care demands, breaking with her party on an issue at the core of the government shutdown standoff. In a lengthy post on the social platform X, Greene said she’s “absolutely disgusted” that health insurance premiums could double if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expire, even as she stressed her strong opposition to the Obama-era legislation and to health insurance in general. Read more here.
- The looming expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies is at the center of the ongoing government shutdown, with Republicans now pushing to reopen and negotiate a potential extension afterward. Mehmet Oz, M.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), echoed that sentiment in an appearance at the Aspen Institute, calling the government shutdown a "public health emergency." He said there are levers the CMS could use to ease some of the sting of what will most certainly be rising costs for exchange enrollees. Read more here.
- Some moderate Senate Democrats say they are open to placing an income cap on eligibility for Affordable Care Act tax credits to help facilitate a deal with Republicans. The way high earners can tap ACA tax credits is helping drive Republican resistance to renewing the subsidies. An income cap is almost essential to a potential deal, whether as part of negotiations to reopen the government or as part of a health care package later this year. Read more here.
Government Shutdown – Telehealth Flexibilities
- Health care providers across the country are canceling telehealth visits with Medicare beneficiaries or warning patients they will have to pay out of pocket for appointments because Congress let coverage lapse. When government funding expired Sept. 30, so did several health care policies mostly involving payments, and among them are provisions that allowed Medicare to cover telehealth services for millions of people who are 65 and older or have disabilities. Read more here.
Transgender Issues
- A North Dakota judge has upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for children, in a blow to families who have had to travel out of state to obtain the medical treatments they said are crucial for their kids’ well-being. District Judge Jackson Lofgren said in his decision that the law discriminates based on age and medical purpose, not sex, and that there’s little evidence the Legislature passed the law for “an invidious discriminatory purpose.” Read more here.
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