1. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Feb. 25 targeted at boosting healthcare price transparency. The order directs HHS and the Labor and Treasury departments to “rapidly implement and enforce” healthcare price transparency enforcement regulations. The order refers to regulations that President Trump introduced during his first term, which he said the Biden administration was “slow walking,” according to a Feb. 25 White House fact sheet.
2. President Trump also signed a Feb. 19 executive order focused on limiting public benefits for undocumented immigrants. The order does not specify what kind of benefits would be targeted, but it directs each federal agency to identify programs that currently allow undocumented immigrants to receive federal benefits and to take necessary actions to align under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which generally prohibits nonresidents from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.
3. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a request from 14 Democratic state attorneys general to immediately enforce broad restrictions against the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.
4. President Trump’s nominee for CMS administrator, Mehmet Oz, MD, vowed to divest from multiple healthcare companies if confirmed to lead the agency.
In a Feb. 16 filing with the Office of Government Ethics, Dr. Oz detailed his commitments to avoid any conflicts of interest. If confirmed, he would divest from a wide range of organizations, including HCA Healthcare and UnitedHealth Group, as well as pharmaceutical companies and tech companies that are heavily involved in the healthcare sector.
5. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as HHS secretary following a 52-48 Senate vote. His responsibilities will include overseeing HHS agencies and programs with a nearly $2 trillion budget, including the CDC, CMS, FDA, and National Institutes of Health.
6. A federal judge on Feb. 13 issued a temporary restraining order to block President Trump’s executive order restricting access to gender-affirming care to individuals under age 19.
7. A federal judge in Boston extended a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration from implementing a new policy that would significantly cut federal grant funding for medical research projects nationwide
8. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered HHS, the CDC and the FDA to restore webpages that were taken down in early February to comply with President Trump’s executive order on gender ideology.
